Unsung Story - Update# 9, New Character Classes

Playdek has a new update for Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians.

Story Excerpt from Yasumi Matsuno &New Character Classes Revealed!

Boy, are we excited for this update! We have two new classes to share with everyone, some equipment and profession information, and even an excerpt from the story of Rasfalia written by Yasumi Matsuno for Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians!

First, before we get into the game content, we have something very exciting to share with everyone. We are ecstatic to announce that Akihiko Yoshida, one of the greatest character and game artists of all time, has joined the Unsung Story team!

Akihiko Yoshida is joining the core team at the base goal level and will be creating character artwork for Unsung Story! We have a video from him that he wanted us to share with all of you!

New Classes/Professions

As we start getting deeper into the details of the game with you all, here are two new classes for your enjoyment. These classes mark the 5th and 6th ones announced so far, and we can assure you that there are more to come!

Minister: Profession – Corporeal

The Minister is emotionally and technically aligned in healing arts, which are culled from centuries of cultural knowledge. They have extensive knowledge of organic compounds, as well as the inner workings of the physical form. In the practice of their art, the Minister uses Needle Guns, Balances and Knives.

Arcanite: Profession – Esoteric

The Arcanite is a secret, meditative practitioner of the “Unknown” arts of Rasfalia. These arts are generally passed down through generations of private orders and groups, and thus are not known to the wider citizenry. As each order has their own specialized methods of practice, Arcanite’s tend to have a very personal attachment to their chosen tools, which include various types of amulets, artifacts and scrolls.

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More information.

Link is broken: It should be

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/482445197/unsung-story-tale-of-the-guardians/posts/732084

It's fixed.

Look on the plus side I got to see someone is at least reading these updates. How's it going Dr.A I haven't seen you post anything in a while.

Haha, thanks for asking Couch

Been swamped with work. I do check out the site but didn't have time to articulate my thoughts into posts

Hmm, I'm getting a bit worried about this one. Initially it looked like it would easily get funded but now it's really slowed down to a crawl. I know it's normal for KS campaigns to slow down in the middle but Kicktraq's current projection is between $496K and $573K... which is of course only a projection and could change if they get good coverage on gaming sites. Gamespot mentioned Unsung Story in a Bravely Default article, but sadly they referred to it as a RTS. Sheesh.

I haven't pledged yet as I still can't imagine how the game will be played...

I have backed this one but i am on the verge of dropping it because of the following:

-I see the game will be available on PC, Mac, Linux, Windows Tablets, iOS, and Android just with the base funding goal.I am no game producer but i think that this is spreading the game funding too thin.
What i get from that personally, is that they are more interested in reaching a wider audience than making an engaging ,expansive game.I am no PC purist,but a kickstarter funding is already fairly limiting,let alone developing the game for all of these platforms.

-Also i read on an interview somewhere from Joel Goodman that the game will be coming out in episodes,which is something i did not get from the kickstarter pitch,nor from the updates.Although i haven't really gone through the entirety of them i admit.

-With the famous Japanese staff being abroad it is not certain to what degree they will affect the game design and honestly i wouldn't be surprised if one of them just backed away from the project after the successful funding of it.

It's a shame though, because there are really no games like FFT or Tactics Ogre on the PCs and even if it does get funded i won't have high hopes for it mainly because of my first point.

Japol said:

I have backed this one but i am on the verge of dropping it because of the following:

-I see the game will be available on PC, Mac, Linux, Windows Tablets, iOS, and Android just with the base funding goal.I am no game producer but i think that this is spreading the game funding too thin.

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I think you would be absolutely correct, if Kickstarter was their sole source of funding, but they have stated from the beginning that the game will definitely still be made even if the KS fails, but in that case would a bit smaller in scope and probably only be released for mobile platforms.. Playdek is presumably putting in a lot of their own money (which they got from the iOS games they made) into the game's development; the Kickstarter funds are only for develop the PC / Mac / Linux versions of the game (and console versions if the appropriate stretch goals are reached).

Regarding the game being released in episodes... If that is the case, it definitely isn't clear from the Kickstarter... The front page does mention "episodes" as in Each episode will depict a part of the Seventy Seven Years’ War from the vantage point of various protagonists. Some episodes will span a single year, while others may take place over a decade or more!" but that sounds more like the "episodes" are acts / chapters of the game rather than it being an episodic release... Perhaps that is what was meant in whatever interview you read... Maybe it would be worth asking for clarification in the KS comments / message.

It sounds like Yatsumi Matsuno has already put a lot of work into the project (designed the game world and story arc) and such so I don't really see him backing out of the project at this point since a big part of his job is done & from now on he will serve mainly as an adviser / consultant... As for the character artist and composer, I think think they are far more likely to back out if the Kickstarter isn't successful than if it is.

What I think Playdek needs to do to convince more people to fund this game is go into more detail about the game mechanics... All we know at this point about the combat is that it's turn-based... we don't know any specific features that will make this game different than any other tactical / SRPG.

God I hope this project is successful for the sake of my sanity !

This is the interview i was talking about http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/28/playdek-on-unsung-story-pc-ports-and-drm-concerns/

Very interesting points:

'' RPS: Is the Kickstarter largely an effort to bolster the game and bring it to other platforms? If the Kickstarter doesn’t succeed, is a PC version off the table?

Goodman: The KS is intended to allow us to bring the game to platforms that we would be unable to do so, and to provide world class talent that Matsuno has worked for in the past. If the KS is not successful, we will have to evaluate all of the intended platforms that the KS is funding.

RPS: How many episodes will initial funding provide? Is there any chance that you’ll ever have to seek additional funding for more?

Goodman: We are still determining the number of episodes for launch, but that number will be high enough to ensure a complete experience is delivered, with deep game play lasting many hours, and good replay value. Playdek will take care of the content scope of the game internally.

RPS: How long will each episode be, roughly? How far apart do you expect each release to be? How many episodes are you planning?

Goodman: Each episode will have somewhere between 5-10 stages, or scenarios, and we are planning for at least 5-10 episodes at launch. We still need to determine the DLC plan for episode expansion. ''

It seems that there is some validity in my concerns unfortunately.