Project Setsuna

Project Setsuna
Developer(s) Tokyo RPG Factory
Publisher(s) Square Enix
Director(s) Atsushi Hashimoto[1]
Producer(s) Kengo Urobuchi[1]
Artist(s) toi8[1]
Composer(s) Tomoki Miyoshi[2]
Platform(s)

Release date(s)
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna (いけにえと雪のセツナ, lit. Setsuna of Snow and Sacrifice[4]), currently known overseas as Project Setsuna, is a Japanese role-playing video game developed for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Project Setsuna is being developed by Tokyo RPG Factory, a development studio under Square Enix. Square Enix will publish the title, which is set for a worldwide 2016 release.

The story, set in a land gripped by perpetual winter, follows an unnamed mercenary and his charge, a maiden named Setsuna who must offer herself as a sacrifice at a sacred shrine to appease hostile demons. The story's central theme is sadness. The gameplay, which is deliberately designed to evoke role-playing games of the 1990s, uses an Active Time Battle system based on those used in early Final Fantasy games and Chrono Trigger.

Gameplay

A battle within Project Setsuna: shown are the player party, their invididual displays, the command menu, and their opponent.

Project Setsuna is a role-playing video game in which players take control of a party of characters, navigating environments from an angled top-down perspective. Locations such as towns and dungeons are reached by navigating the game's overworld. In towns, the party can talk with villagers to reveal plot elements, and find treasure chests containing useful items. Various items such as healing potions or "Mistone" items for escaping from battle are sold in shops in towns and across the world.[5]

Enemies are represented by icons: contact with the icons initiates a battle. Battles take place in the environments where the enemy is encountered rather than shifting to a specific battle arena. Characters' health and magic meter are respectively represented by HP and MP. Characters fight using a version of the Active Time Battle System featured in games such as entries in the Final Fantasy series: after each action is taken by a character in battle, an ATB gauge must fill again before another action is taken. Actions by the party include attacking, using magic, or using an item. When all ATB gauges are full, the order of characters' actions can be selected.[5][6] Each time an action is taken, or the ATB gauge is allowed to fill a separate "Setsuna" gauge is filled: when full, actions are granted power boosts if using specifically timed actions when activating an ability. These boosts can be dealing multiple versions of the attack, recovering health, or dealing critical damage to an enemy.[6]

Premise

The game begins on a snow-bound island, which is regularly beset by angry demons. According to an ancient custom, a maiden is sacrificed to appease the demons. The demons grow restless once again, and the girl Setsuna is chosen as the sacrifice. Together with a nameless mercenary, a former traveler named Kuon, and a carefree veteran soldier named Yomi, Setsuna begins her journey to the ritual site on the edges of the known world where the sacrifice will take place.[6][7]

Development

Project Setsuna is being developed by Tokyo RPG Factory, a studio created by Square Enix and staffed by external staff to produce role-playing video games.[7][8][9] It is being designed as a new IP, with its future developments to be decided after Square Enix reviews its post-launch reception and success.[9] The concept originated from plans to re-create a game similar to classic RPGs from the genre's golden age. The staff was made up of developers who agreed with this vision. In keeping with this, the battle system was adopted from role-playing games like early Final Fantasy titles and other games like Chrono Trigger. The game's playtime was designed to be similar to SNES games of the 90s, going against the prevalent trend of added content with the scale and power of gaming technology. One of the difficult elements was balancing the game's difficulty so it could be enjoyed by both casual and hardcore gamers.[7] The battle system was specifically based on the Active Time Battle system used in Chrono Trigger.[6]

A key theme running through the game is "sadness". The story's setting, in a land covered by snow, and its general tone carried this theme, alongside evoking the emotional stories of classic role-playing games. The theme also extends to its title, which stems from the word "setsunasa": while it holds a variety of meanings in Japanese, the meaning used by the production team was sadness or sorrow.[9][7] The game's central themes, which focused on life and death as represented by Setsuna's sacrifice, was included as part of the callback to earlier role-playing games. One of the main features of the hero's design was his mask, which made it harder for players to fully empathize with him.[7] The character designs were done by toi8: he was brought in at an early stage, and his designs were likewise meant to reinforce the atmosphere.[1] The game's music was composed by Tomoki Miyoshi. Almost all tracks were performed on solo piano: the piano was played by Randy Kerber. The music incorporated the game's themes.[2]

The game was first announced at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo as a game for the PlayStation 4.[10] Its next showing was at that year's Tokyo Game Show, where its official Japanese title was revealed, alongside its release on the PlayStation Vita.[4] There are no differences in content between the two versions of the game, with the only exception being that the PlayStation 4 version looks better on a large screen due to resolution issues. They also wanted to enable players to have a portable version, accommodating different playstyles.[7] At the event, it was described by Square Enix as a "pure fantasy, true role-playing video game".[11] As of September 2015, development was reported as 60% complete.[12] In November of the same year, the game's Japanese release date was revealed to be February 18, 2016.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 『いけにえと雪のセツナ』の魅力に迫る連載企画！ 旅の仲間たちの紹介に加え、ディレクター＆プロデューサーへのインタビューも掲載【特集第2回／電撃PS】. PlayStation Blog. PlayStation. 2016-02-05. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  2. 1 2 Kotowski, Don (2016-01-22). "Tomoki Miyoshi writes piano-focused soundtrack for new Square Enix RPG". Video Game Music Online. Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  3. 1 2 "Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna RPG Ships in Japan on February 18". Anime News Network. 2015-11-17. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  4. 1 2 MacGregor, Kyle (2015-09-15). "Square Enix unveils Tokyo RPG Factory's Project Setsuna, and hot damn is it pretty". Destructoid. Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  5. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2015-09-15). "Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna TGS 2015 details, gameplay". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Romano, Sal (2015-11-19). "Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna details battle system, new characters Kuon and Yomi". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 とりもどそう、ぼくたちのRPG。スクエニ×TRFが『いけにえと雪のセツナ』を作った理由. Dengeki Online. ASCII Media Works. 2015-09-28. Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2015-11-17. Translation
  8. ↑ S. Good, Owen (2015-06-16). "Square Enix creates new studio to handle new RPG: 'Project Setsuna'". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  9. 1 2 3 Te, Zorine (2015-07-21). "New Square Enix RPG Project Setsuna Will Be Themed Around Sadness". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  10. ↑ Karmali, Luke (2015-06-16). "E3 2015: Square Enix Announces New Studio and RPG Project Setsuna". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  11. ↑ Romano, Sal (2015-09-15). "Tokyo RPG Factory announces Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna for PS4, PS Vita". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  12. ↑ "Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna Is Being Made To Bring Back Memories From '90s RPGs". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. 2015-09-15. Archived from the original on 2015-11-15. Retrieved 2015-11-17.

External links

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