Generation XTH - Wizardry spiritual sequel fan-translation

Well, if they don't want to sell to me then that's their business. <shrug>
 
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I don't know, current market trends suggest that there is much more of a market for that then you might think. As for the anime thing, it's hard to say, but I wouldn't infer too much about it from random message board comments.

I can see their point though; hardcore, turn-based dungeon crawlers are already an extremely niche group; and from my experience that niche is quite against anime graphics and all things 日本, so you're left with a game that appeals to a extremely reduced audience…
 
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Its hard to know, first you have to find etrian odissey sales figures in the west. Of course its on console so players are more likely to like anime but that should give an hint if anime blobber are viable or not.

Now on pc i am not so sure, blobbers never been the most popular rpg subgenre and olschool players ,exclusively playing on pc , usually dont like anime.
 
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Looks like Odyssey sold over 167,000 in the US, which is even more then it sold in Japan. That certainly suggests Generation is making a big mistake by not marketing outside of their country.

Plus if they are selling on Steam there would be no distribution costs, and they could presumably still make a profit off of a much smaller number of sales.
 
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Looks like Odyssey sold over 167,000 in the US, which is even more then it sold in Japan. That certainly suggests Generation is making a big mistake by not marketing outside of their country.
Bro, the japanese wikipedia shows that the Etrian Odissey series (4 games) sold 12 MILLION copies on Japan alone... those pathethic 167k copies mean nothing, I can see how japanese think it isn't even woth their time to translate...
 
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Hmm that's very different from what the american wikipedia shows. Either way the numbers I gave were only for the first game, not the whole series. And I doubt that 5 million dollars in sales mean nothing.

Bro, the japanese wikipedia shows that the Etrian Odissey series (4 games) sold 12 MILLION copies on Japan alone… those pathethic 167k copies mean nothing, I can see how japanese think it isn't even woth their time to translate…
 
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It is decently popular in Japan, enough to spawn 3 sequels and a boxset with them after, but japanese developers are known for being extremely autistic in regards to foreign markets.

The guy doing the translation contacted the developers and offered them the translation, so they could release on the west, maybe on Steam Greenlight or whatever, they simply said they have no interest in the western market. :(

I can see their point though; hardcore, turn-based dungeon crawlers are already an extremely niche group; and from my experience that niche is quite against anime graphics and all things 日本, so you're left with a game that appeals to a extremely reduced audience…

People forget the legal expenses and hassle in distributing to foreign markets. I think the comment was mainly to get rid of him as the devs don't want the headache of dealing with an unsolicited translation.

You know who is an expert at importing Japanese IP? Robert Woodhead, co-creator of Wizardry. He did an interview with you guys recently so he might be a good person to contact if he's reachable.

However, he seems bitter over his whole Wizardry experience. Who wouldn't be after a 10 year lawsuit?

I'm not sure who owns the rights to Wizardry in Japan and how they got them. Woodhead and Greenberg got the franchise stolen from them by Sir-Tech and Sir-Tech Canada which they received a 5 figure payout (they asked for 6) from the bankruptcy judge. I'm still not sure why they didn't demand the IP back since it was a license deal (ah, the early (early!) years of commercial software) not an outright purchase.

edit: oh wait, this isn't actually Wizardry!
 
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also, is there a convenient Western style portrait pack for this game?
 
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also, is there a convenient Western style portrait pack for this game?
No, but you could easily do one. The graphic files are clearly sorted on the game's folder, but in .UNI format. I'm sure that the guy doing the translation has a way to open then, so you could replace them with Dragonlance portraits or something...

Note you'll still be stuck in their universe, so only proceed if you're ok with Lord Soth attending High School and recieving orders from a 16-old anime girl. ;)
 
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Bro, the japanese wikipedia shows that the Etrian Odissey series (4 games) sold 12 MILLION copies on Japan alone… those pathethic 167k copies mean nothing, I can see how japanese think it isn't even woth their time to translate…

That is ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. I checked the sales for japanese games for the last 8 years and not they never even broke the top 30 even once. A no1 game might sell 2-3 million copies, a no30 game sells about 200-300k copies.

Maybe 1.2 million for the entire series...
 
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The only info found on the wiki is this
"Etrian Odyssey sold 33,216 copies in its first week of release. As of April, 2013, the game has sold more than 167,000 in the US and more than 301,000 copies worldwide. This makes it the highest selling Etrian Odyssey title to date."


If thats true that means the bulk of sales was outside japan. 12 millions ? thats impossible, even AAA titles dont sell such amounts.
I could say too, if they dont want my money ill spend it elsewhere but theres nothing similar coming out anytime soon, except eventually grimoire .
 
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Well in all fairness there are DS titles that have sold up to 30 million copies on a single title, although these tend to be games like Mario or Pokemon, and of course these numbers are world wide. But I haven't seen any of the Odyssey games listed among top sellers, in Japan or elsewhere.

On a different note, some research on the game suggests that it's not all that much like Wizardry outside of featuring parties and dungeons. Seems thematically it's more like Shin Megami's stuff with modern high school kids battling demons? But it's hard to get a lot of good information on it.
 
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bjon045 said:
Maybe 1.2 million for the entire series…
I agree that 12M is a bit too much, but 1.2M sems a bit too low. The only sales info I found in english are only from release year, who knows how many copies those games sold since them. It's been more than 6 years since EO1 debuted as a unknown game...

On a different note, some research on the game suggests that it's not all that much like Wizardry outside of featuring parties and dungeons. Seems thematically it's more like Shin Megami's stuff with modern high school kids battling demons? But it's hard to get a lot of good information on it.
There is a fully playable demo out man, you can just try it out. Also a LP going on the Codex.

And yes, is high school kids vs mutant monsters, but the mechanics are pretty much the same as old Wizardry games. And is a very hard game, with challenging and well designed dungeons full of traps, hidden walls, rotating walls, warp zones, and other stuff not seen for ages around here. Just take a look, this is the map of one floor of one dungeon:

HJrCKGC.jpg

I really feel dissapointed when I see people missing out games like this just because they can't look past anime style or ambience… does it really means that much to you to have a cliche old bearded man that speaks in faux old english instead of a 16-old girl giving you quests?
 
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I really feel dissapointed when I see people missing out games like this just because they can't look past anime style or ambience… does it really means that much to you to have a cliche old bearded man that speaks in faux old english instead of a 16-old girl giving you quests?

I'll will definitly try it, when I find a copy of the game somewhere.
 
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The figures Mortmal quoted are as of April 2013, not from release year. 1.2 million sounds about right from the numbers I've seen (about 300k for each of the 4 EOs), and that's worldwide, not just in Japan.

As for the anime thing, I have no problem with anime. I play many JRPGs with far worse anime graphics then this. I was just pointing out that I got more much more of a Nocturne/Shin Megami vibe then a Wizardry vibe from the game. That's not necesarily a bad thing, Nocturne was one of my favorite games (although more for the challenge and interesting mechanics then the flavor).

Edit: Looking at the let's play link you gave, I can start to see the Wizardry influence much more.

I agree that 12M is a bit too much, but 1.2M sems a bit too low. The only sales info I found in english are only from release year, who knows how many copies those games sold since them. It's been more than 6 years since EO1 debuted as a unknown game…


There is a fully playable demo out man, you can just try it out. Also a LP going on the Codex.

And yes, is high school kids vs mutant monsters, but the mechanics are pretty much the same as old Wizardry games. And is a very hard game, with challenging and well designed dungeons full of traps, hidden walls, rotating walls, warp zones, and other stuff not seen for ages around here. Just take a look, this is the map of one floor of one dungeon:

HJrCKGC.jpg

I really feel dissapointed when I see people missing out games like this just because they can't look past anime style or ambience… does it really means that much to you to have a cliche old bearded man that speaks in faux old english instead of a 16-old girl giving you quests?
 
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Theres anime and anime, I highly suggest to try dark spire , and better shin megami tensei : strange journey, its on DS so i cant show my own screen capture as i am not playing on emulator .
I can easily find you some similar dungeon maps , complete, with teleport, rotating tiles, secret passages and more.
Those are truly well done, huge games ,with depth, much more depth than wizardry in fact.

shin-megami-tensei-strange-journey-anticipated-ds-games-q1-2010.jpg


shin_megami_tensei_sj_sector_eridanus_1f.png



A Ds and those games are cheap nowadays, i see no reason to not get one.
 
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Yeah Strange Journey was a good game, although for me the maps got a little too crazy and confusing towards the end. But Nocturne still did the whole demon capturing thing much better then any other shin megami tensei game I've played.
 
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I am very dubious when it comes to JRPGs attempting a Wizardry style game. I have only ever seen it pulled off well once, which was with the Wizardy: Tales of the Forsaken game on the PS2. Dark Spire (on the DS) was a close second.

Strange Journey wasn't bad, but the whole demon capturing thing isn't for everyone and while giving variety, isn't the greatest for character development.

There are a bunch of other Wizardry style games that just do not perform that well in the game play/character development department, anime graphic styles aside. Etrian Odyssey series being a good example of this.
 
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