Baroque

[Meta_Omega]

Who the hell cares?

Just be thankful that we're getting this game in the west.

 

Are we really?

[Guest Maase]

I hope it comes in Portugal :S

 

Did any game from Atlus come to Europe? :S

[pedrocasilva]

Did any game from Atlus come to Europe? :S

A few, Trauma Center on the Wii is theirs for example. (this said, they already have the sequel and we only recently got the first one)

 

But it usually takes a while, "if" it comes, which sucks. Europeans are still waiting for Odin Sphere and Persona 3 from them, for example.

[Tellyn]

Yep we've gotten Trauma Centre, Snowboard Kids, some Virtual Console games and probably more that I'm not aware of.

[Hellfire]

Are we really?

 

I am, Atlus is one of my favourites if not my fav 3rd party, so bone they throw us, I'm thankful.

[pedrocasilva]

Atlus Interview:

 

OMG Nintendo:How different are the Wii and PS2 versions of Baroque going to be? For example, can we look forward to Wii remote controls for shooting or swordfighting?

 

Rob Stone: There will be some slight differences between the two versions of the game. For instance, motion controls will be used in the Wii version of Baroque. We're pleased to say that the game's developer, Sting, has taken special care to implement motion controls in a subtle manner that won't be annoying or tiring to use. In addition, there will also be 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan support.

 

OMGN: Is there going to be any new or special content added to the US release of Baroque?

 

Clayton S. Chan: There's going to be an English voice cast which is both new and special. While there is nothing specifically new for the US release, this version of the game does have new content in it that the Japanese PS2 version introduced.

 

OMGN: Which controllers will the Wii version of Baroque support?

 

Rob Stone: Baroque will support a combination of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck (also known as Nunchuck Style) as well as the Classic Controller (Classic Style). Please note that the developer Sting has been experimenting with different control schemes for the game and nothing is finalized at this point in time.

 

OMGN: Could you describe how the Wii version of Baroque came to be? Was it Atlus's idea?

 

Bill Alexander: It was the developer's decision to make a Wii version, actually. When we were in talks with Sting for the PS2 version, they informed us that they also had a Wii version in the works. It made sense for us to license both versions, since there was little additional localization work for us. We're pretty excited about it, since it's our first multiplatform launch.

 

OMGN: Baroque has a very mature storyline, comparable to Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei series. Has this posed any difficulty in the localization process?

 

Clayton S. Chan: We have quite a bit of experience with localizing mature titles, so that aspect didn't really present any difficulties. It was Baroque's story that I had problems with, specifically because of the way the story is told. The game is very careful to give out as little information as possible so that you, the player, are unraveling the mystery of Baroque yourself. Typically, an editor will have to smooth some things out so the characters don't sound like they're making tangential references when they're actually supposed to be having a flowing conversation, for example. In Baroque, however, there are many things that are intentionally left vague or are deliberately worded unusually, so I couldn't touch them. In a sense, "not working" was the hardest thing for me, in terms of localization.

 

OMGN: Baroque is regarded as a "hardcore" game in terms of difficulty and gameplay, while the Wii is seen as more of a "casual" console. Does Baroque have anything to offer casual players on the Wii? Or is this something more like Metroid Prime 3, a game meant for hardcore players?

 

Aram Jabbari: Even though more Wii owners are casual gamers when compared to owners of other next gen systems, the console does have its share of veteran gamers. Baroque presents the type of challenging experience we believe many of these players have been waiting for and which other Wii games fail to offer. Baroque is a pure hardcore RPG experience and doesn't apologize for being so. With its dark subject matter and eerie characters, it definitely offers a change of pace from the Wii's usual light fare. We certainly welcome casual gamers to step outside of their comfort zone and try it, but we will be content to provide hardcore gamers with an experience that they will truly appreciate.

 

OMGN: There's a perception in the industry that third parties and small publishers are having a hard time working with the Nintendo Wii, but Atlus's Trauma Center games for the Wii seem to be one of the big exceptions to this "rule". What do you think Atlus is getting right that other publishers aren't?

 

Clayton S. Chan: I'm glad that you made it a point to single out Atlus Japan's fine work, because I'm pretty proud of what the guys were able to accomplish. I think the aspects of Trauma Center that you're impressed with are probably a result of Atlus Japan's designers/producers being given enough creative control and knowing what to do with that control.

 

As I see it, there are three very general ways a title can turn out. A good designer with enough control will create something that is unique, fun and takes advantage of the system's strengths. A good designer with no control will design a game that plays to the system's strengths and meets upper management's demands. The result will be a solid, if vanilla, product. A bad designer with or without control will just copy another game on the market or make something uninteresting.

 

You're probably seeing the results of more than a few designers being at loggerheads with the new control scheme of the Wii. If they're good, they'll work it out, as the Trauma Center team did. The situation was similar when Trauma Center: Under the Knife came out on the DS and was well received.

 

Honestly, I think what the industry really needs is some (pun definitely intended) New Blood. An influx of good designers who are given more control would undoubtedly yield more unique titles that took better advantage of what the Wii offers.

 

OMGN: Does Atlus have any plans to support the Virtual Console? (For example, a localized Shin Megami Tensei 2 would make a lot of people happy...)

 

Bill Alexander: We've considered the idea, but there are currently no concrete plans, since all of our teams and Nintendo's are working on other projects.

 

OMGN: Are you working on anything new for Wii or DS you can tell us about?

 

Aram Jabbari: We've got some surprises tucked away for next year, and while I will deftly avoid mentioning specific genres or platforms, I will offer that Atlus fans will have plenty of reason to celebrate in 2008 (hey, that rhymes).

Source: http://www.omgnintendo.com/article/54593/omg-exclusive-atlus-usa-on-baroque/

 

We could change this thread title already. :p

[ShadowV7]

I'm really looking forward to this now. It's really interested me and after readong that, I can't wait.

 

Any sign of a release date yet?

[pedrocasilva]

I'm really looking forward to this now. It's really interested me and after readong that, I can't wait.

 

Any sign of a release date yet?

In Europe? No, they're as silent as a dead body.

 

Then again, no American asks them that in the interviews, sadly.

 

This said... I fear the following...

 

Persona 3:

 

NTSC US - August 14, 2007

PAL - January 28, 2008 (published by Koei)

 

Odin Sphere:

NTSC US - NA May 22, 2007

PAL - Early 2008 (published by Square-Enix)

 

Even Trauma Center, only got here because Nintendo helped... We can only hope that Nintendo or other publisher picks it, unfortunately... Unless Atlus is already setting up a European division, like... Marvelous setted up Rising Star Games (and I wonder if Rising Star Games could locate some Atlus games for european shores, since Atlus definetly did so for Marvelous in US at some point in time)

[Hellfire]

These guys are probably one of the few 3rd parties that aren't filled with retards.

[ShadowV7]

In Europe? No, they're as silent as a dead body.

 

Then again, no American asks them that in the interviews, sadly.

 

They never look out for the mythical land of Europe.

 

These guys are probably one of the few 3rd parties that aren't filled with retards.

 

Ha, very true. And least this smaller 3rd party can make better games than a lot of big 3rd parties.

[pedrocasilva]

These guys are probably one of the few 3rd parties that aren't filled with retards.

That comes with the fact that they aren't filled with money either (didn't get to their heads); and ironically this means they're also not filled with shovelware on the Wii. (which in Atlus case means little ammount of games so far, but good ones)

 

I mean, I can imagine a 2 people team at Atlus (and pretty much every talented developer) besting a game like Cruis'in US from Midway.

[Hellfire]

That comes with the fact that they aren't filled with money either (didn't get to their heads); and ironically this means they're also not filled with shovelware on the Wii. (which in Atlus case means little ammount of games so far, but good ones)

 

I mean, I can imagine a 2 people team at Atlus (and pretty much every talented developer) besting a game like Cruis'in US from Midway.

 

I can imagine a newborn drunken monkey besting Cruisin

[Hero-of-Time]

Heres a hands on impression from the game.

 

Baroque begins with a blue haired protagonist talking to an archangel who drops a gun on the ground. The winged creature gave me a cryptic message, “there is meaning into you using this†before I stepped into Neuro Tower without any weapons. Well, technically I had the Angelic bazooka with five bullets… should I use it against the floating fish drawing near? Maybe later. I decided to test out his hand to hand fighting skills. Three hit punch combo with the square button, check. Slow, but wide spinning kick attack mapped to triangle. Got it. I mashed my way through a fish and continued exploring the dungeon. Each level has a little portal to step in. Touch it and you delve deeper into Neuro Tower, which is represented by the negative cubits underneath the vitality meter.

 

Each second my VT (vitality meter) was dropping. You can give it a little boost by picking up crystals from defeated meta-beings (read: monsters), but the VT meter made me feel a constant sense of urgency. If it drops down to zero the life meter begins to drain, which puts you a step closer to death. But maybe that’s a good thing. Death moves the world of Baroque forward.

 

When I got to the third floor I was surrounded by meta-beings. One of them was encased in a shell and inflicted me with poison. My VT was low too. Since things weren’t looking good, I resorted to using the Angelic gun. Through the item screen I equipped the weapon, which seemed to instantly kill enemies. However, with only five shots my life was only extended for a short period before I died and saw my character was in a simulation. All along the protagonist was inside a green tube, but the “real atonement†for his sin was about to start.

 

The town is surrounded by red aura and disfigured beings live in it. One man (beast?) called Longneck has a bony giraffe neck and desires seeds to boost his VT. A horned girl sits on a chair without her memories and a woman with a bag over her head is hanging from a rope. This is the kind of place that leaves a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart. OK, it feels more like purgatory. There is one kind of friendly fellow, a coffin maker who also creates training dungeons and loves to say “goddammit.†I walked into his dungeon and quickly found Atonement, my first sword. The controls work just like hand to hand combat, but the sword has more horizontal reach. I also found a coat, which changes the appearance of the protagonist. With a sword in hand I breezed through the dungeon and stocked up on bones, limited items that can be thrown at enemies.

 

Great! I have a higher level and some decent recovery items like meat to boost HP (note: you don’t need to eat meat to boost your HP you can stand still and it will slowly recover). I’m ready to step into Neuro Tower again. The sword made fighting much easier and on one of the levels I was lucky enough to find a pair of wings that reduced the amount of VT consumed to ¾. I was on a roll for a good fifteen minutes before my HP started running low. I could have eaten the meat, but if I saved the meat and ate it when my HP was maxed out my character would get a permanent HP boost. I liked the sound of the permanent stat increase too much so I saved it, which was a terrible idea. Instead I tried to chuck a boom bone at a group of meta-beings. Boom bones are like grenades. On the plus side you can hit a group of meta-beings at once with a boom bone, but if you’re in the line of fire you take damage too. After I threw the bone I realized the fish was way too close and I blew myself up in the process. Ouch.

 

Instead of being warped out of the dungeon or seeing a “Game Over†I found myself back in town without my sword, cloak, wings or levels. I was back at square one, but the residents spoke differently to me. I was weak so I went back to the training dungeon to build my character up before giving Neuro Tower another go. The second time I stepped into Neuro Tower I didn’t get much further because I have a tendency to horde items instead of using them. I felt if I could just press on in the dungeon I could use my recovery items for small, but permanent VT or HP boosts. You don’t want to make this mistake early in the game. If you’re low on vitality it is a wise decision to eat a seed rather than reverting to level one.

 

I continued making mistakes and not restarting from a save game for a few cycles when suddenly the training dungeon evolved. It grew in size, had more items to pick up and a grotesquely plump meta-being who wears a gas mask and attacks by farting. Before I ran into them I found an invincible bone, which briefly makes the character invincible if you eat it. However, if you throw it at an enemy they become invincible! I made sure not to make that mistake and now I’m much better equipped for Neuro Tower. I gained levels pretty quickly from the training dungeon too, plus gobbled up some meat when my HP was full to take advantage of permanent (to be more precise permanent until you die) bonuses. However, I’m still “lostâ€. There aren’t many places to go aside from the training dungeon and Neuro Tower, but I’m not quite sure what to do rather than push through the core dungeon. Everything in Baroque has a mysterious feel to it, even the "goal". I know I need to head to the bottom of Neuro Tower and I’ll report back after I take advantage of saving/reloading on every floor.

[...]

I am, Atlus is one of my favourites if not my fav 3rd party, so bone they throw us, I'm thankful.

 

He meant "are we really" getting this game in the west... :P

[ShadowV7]

Getting released on March 18th in the US...

 

Bastards...

[darksnowman]

Heres some boxart courtesy of my first stop for gaming news- gonintendo.

 

[Guest Maase]

AWESOME!!!

 

O_O

[Owen]

It's not really doing much for me yet, if i'm being honest....

[darksnowman]

I just read this preview:

 

http://www.siliconera.com/2008/04/08/baroque-playtest-for-wii/

 

and its probably the most positive thing I've seen about Baroque yet. Everything else seems to have been slagging it, but to be fair, I'm not sure how much I want this because I don't think its actually the type of game I could handle. Dying and restarting would grate on me, I think.

[ghost_zero]

Is there anyone who already confirmed if this game works with the Wii FreeLoader or not - though I think it very likely works with it, I would like to verify?

[Jamba]

Hmmm... looks really interesting this. Design is indeed very nice and I'd like to see it in action (for real not just vids). But I must agree with Maiky, can't we start getting games that couldn't be done on PS2 please...

[pedrocasilva]

^ I don't care about that on this one (or in RPG's for that matter, if we got crappy PS2 ports, I don't care for getting improved PS2 ports of good games), the thing is... if we're getting this, we should be getting Persona 4 and a bucketload of other titles as well! stupid half assed Atlus.

 

And of course, new titles would be neat as well, not Trauma Centers though. RPG's!

[Jamba]

I emailed Atlus about publishing games in Europe and I being kind of angry at them. They replied by basically telling me that they don't publish in Europe, they leave it to NoE

 

If that's the case with this then you can guess how long it's gonna take.

[pedrocasilva]

^ At least Nintendo most of the time eventually brings it over. Atlus should really get their act with Europe together.

 

Hell, ask (and pay) Rising Star games or something.

[darksnowman]

Rising Star has announced that Baroque is due to hit Europe on June 27th, 2008.

 

Just saw that on Gonintendo/ gamefront.de. If its coming out over here then I hope some people will grab it and get some impressions posted up. Like I said before, I don't think its the type of game I could truly enjoy, but I'm here to be persuaded- and I'm sure there are others in the same boat.