News
XSEED Games to Publish RPG Title Unchained Blades on PSP and 3DS in North America
Dungeon-Style Japanese RPG Title from Lunar and Grandia Series Veterans Coming as a Digital Download in 2012
Torrance, Calif., (March 28, in the year of our Lord
2012) – XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher,
is pleased to announce today that the company will be bringing
the dungeon-crawling RPG title, Unchained Blades, to gamers in
North America on both the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and
the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system in 2012. Originally released
as UnchainBlades ReXX in Japan last summer and developed by
FuRyu, Unchained Blades is a role-playing game set in a
monster-filled world, and was directed by Toshio Akashi of the
Lunar series, while the game’s story was penned by Grandia
series veteran Takashi Hino.
“We at XSEED Games are delighted with the opportunity to bring a
title like Unchained Blades to North American gamers,” said Ken
Berry, Director of Publishing at XSEED Games. “Unchained Blades
represents a collaboration between some of Japan’s most
high-profile developers and artists, offering a unique blend of
classic RPG gameplay paired with an eclectic mix of art styles.”
Unchained Blades follows the story of the dragon emperor, Fang,
who after being stripped of his powers by Clunea, embarks on a
journey for revenge and to regain his true form. Arrogant and
vengeful, Fang is joined in his quest by a cowardly golem
prince, a shy medusa priestess, a young phoenix clan maiden, and
many other mythical beings seeking to meet with the goddess.
Due to the collaborative nature of the game’s design, each of
the 13 main characters was created by a different artist. The
main character Fang was designed by Pako, most famous for his
work on the Shining Force series, while other characters were
fashioned by artists such as Toshiyuki Kubooka, Shinichiro
Otsuka, and Kazushi Hagiwara, to name a few. As such, each
character has its own distinct and signature style.
In Unchained Blades, players journey through the game with a
party of up to four characters, moving through dungeons in a
first-person perspective and engaging in turn-based combat along
the way. Using the game’s unique “Unchain” system while in
battle, players are able to try and convince monsters to follow
them. If they are successful in using the Unchain system, the
enemy monster will then join their party and help them in the
future by blocking attacks or supplying players with special
offensive abilities. Each character in the player’s four person
party can hold up to four “unchained” creatures, ensuring plenty
of combat variety. The game has also been completely redubbed
with new English voice-overs and boasts over 60 hours of
gameplay.
Developed by FuRyu and published by XSEED Games, Unchained
Blades is currently in production and will release as a digital
download on the PSP system and Nintendo 3DS in 2012. XSEED Games
will be sending out more product info in the coming months.