Day One for WiiWare or PSN

[SRPG2010]

Hello,

To say that I'm a HUGE fan of the SRPG (aka Tactical RPG) genre on the console is an understatement, to say the least. This is the only genre I prefer to play on the console, and I seek out and play as many games on the console that are published in North America. My experience with tactical RPGs on the console is extensive, despite the genre being in the vast minority in the U.S.

I was bored one day and I did a general search of "Tactical RPG" on Google, not really expecting to find anything newsworthy, but lo and behold on about the second page I find out about your game. Ever since I have been trying to find out as much information as possible about this game, since this is right up my alley and few TRPGs are scheduled for 2010. Another poster on this forum criticized you for bringing this to WiiWare, but I for one am VERY HAPPY that you are bring this to the console (as a downloadable game). I can't stand playing games on my PC.

I hope that what I read about an Early 2010 release for the North American WiiWare is true, because so far this year every SRPG game I wanted has been delayed. It is also refreshing to see developers openly talk to their fan base, and encourage questions, so let me ask a few myself.

(1) Despite my extensive experience with TRPGs on the console, I always select "Easy" if an option is given. With that said, will you be incorporating a difficulty option in the WiiWare version of the game?

(2) I was saddened to read that you are not adding Gamecube controller support, so is their a reason why? It was so easy to control both Fire Emblem games on the Wii with the GameCube controller, but if you release this game I can certainly learn to use the wiimote (however akward it might be for me).

(3) In general, Tactical RPGs eliminate exploration by utilizing a world map plotted by points and the user selecting where to go next a la Final Fantasy Tactics, or following the Story-Battle-Town menu structure like Fire Emblem.
As you can tell, I prefer little to no exploration if possible. So how will this be handled in your game?

(4) As an example, Vandal Hearts: Flame of Judgment (available on PSN next year) will most likely only feature 20 maps with 8-12 hours of gameplay.
Are you able to reveal how many maps and hours of gameplay the Wiiware version will have?

(5) Lastly, not really a question but I just wanted to say a hearty THANKS for developing and hopefully releasing a Tactical RPG to the North American Wiiware. My Wii has been collecting dust since I beat Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn many moons ago.

Good Luck and I hope to see many more tactical RPGs for consoles from your company, rest assured you have at least one diehard fan of the genre.

:):)

[Fighting Faith]

Hello SRPG2010 and welcome! :)

I'll directly answer you questions because it's a lot ofwork to do today.

1) At the moment there is no option to choose between "easy", "normal", "hard" and so on, but it's in our todo-list. At the beginning of the game you'll be able to get a "little help" from Holy Avatar, his semi-divine humble self. :)
We're trying to make a well-balanced game, so that it'll be fun for every kind of player who likes stories, some strange characters and a little fun. :)

2) We're not really sure how hard it is to implement Gamecube controller support. If it can be implemented without causing any big problems we'll do it.

3) Grotesque has a very linear story. You'll play the maps in a predefined order and in the end of each one you'll talk to Holy Avatar, who'll bring you to your next destination.
Every Map has a few things which you can find if you explore a little, kill a few more enemies to reach a chest and spend a little more time here and there. If you don't want to, you'll not have to do it to finish the game. It's the players decision.

4) We've got 9 different maps (some sunny, some rainy, some woods and some rivers, inside and outside "level"...), but you'll visit 'em more than once. We're not able to come along with more locations,because the memory of the WiiWare is limited to only 40MB.

It's really hard to name a single number and say "this is the time everyone out there will spend with this game". I think if you want to, read the dialogues aso. you'll be able to spend 20 hours in the game, but if you totally ignore the story it'll be considerably less (and you'll miss a lot of fun).

5 + rest) A big big big thank from the team for this little but quite motivating words! It's always nice to hear some positive stuff and not always take flak from fans, press or anyone else. ;)

[SRPG2010]

Thanks for the speedy response and for answering all my questions. Keep up the hard work and I look forward to playing your AWESOME game as soon as it comes out. :)

[Tetlee]

Another huge Tactics RPG fan here, so looking forward to the release of this game, so much so that I might even buy it on both PC and then WiiWare when it gets its release:D

Really hope the game continues to develop after release, I see you mentioning the restrictions of the WiiWare size limit, obviously XBLA would allow much more scope for extending the game further and that for me would be the perfect home for the game(well, better still a full larger retail release but maybe hoping for a little too much there:)). Currently playing one of my old school favourites on XBLA, Vandal Hearts, but I have to admit I much prefer the art style of Grotesque and I think it could easily eclipse VH and become the benchmark for tactics RPG on Xbox360(both retail and XBLA).

Wish you guys the best of luck, I have to be honest I'm praying you have success with this game, it's been a dying to near dead genre(especially since I've heard strong rumour that there will be no more Fire Emblem) so games like Grotesque Tactics and Vandal Hearts need to suceed!

Anyway, count on my support, just as with VH:FoJ, this will be a day one purchase regardless reviews, although I'm confident I won't be disappointed, looks fantastic!

[Fighting Faith]

Thank you very much for joining our board and writing this absolutely positive post. It's always nice to read a few motivating words. :)

*rushs to work - game needs to be finished :D*