It seems like just yesterday Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians blew up on Kickstarter. Fans of Strategy Role-Playing Games around the world quickly united to fund what has been advertised as a true Final Fantasy Tactics spiritual successor. The result? Over $300,000 dollars raised within just days of its availability to crowdfunding, and with good reason.
Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians isn’t just trying to play the part, its development studio, Playdek, has hired the unequaled talent of several SRPG gods. This SRPG dream team includes designer Yasumi Matsuno, artist Akihiko Yoshida, and composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, all of which worked on genre leaders Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics. In tandem with the talented San Diego County-based team at Playdek they look to create a classically inspired but progressive SRPG that will do the genre justice.
Only days are left until the end of Unsung Story‘s Kickstarter campaign, and the team is very hard at work. Playdek CEO Joel Goodman took some time out of his schedule to answer some of our biggest questions.
CraveOnline: Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians exploded out of the gate, earning $300,000 pledged within just days of being posted on Kickstarter. What was your initial reaction to the overwhelming interest?
Joel Goodman: Humble amazement. We are great fans of tactics RPGs, and are truly excited to have the opportunity to make a game like this, partnering with these creators. We felt that there would be a community that would be excited about this as much as we are, but have found that they are even more engaged and excited then we could have imagined. It’s been great.
Playdek’s history is rooted in mobile gaming titles. At what point did the team realize that Unsung Story could be much more prosperous by supporting other platforms?
JG: After our announcement of the project at Tokyo Game Show last year, there was a loud voice from the community asking for the game to be on other platforms that we had not considered at the time. Since we don’t limit our creative and development aspirations to any single platform, nor cut corners on quality, we decided to turn to Kickstarter to engage the community and gather support to reach the platforms that they are desiring to play Unsung Story on.
Yasumi Matsuno is without a doubt the most decorated strategy RPG director in video game history. What sort of impact has he had on the game’s design?
JG: His work speaks for itself, indeed. The game world, story and game play concepts are from his design, so his impact is deep in every aspect of the game, as we envision it. Again, being fans of tactics RPGs, it has been exciting to have a front row seat as he goes through his design process, and see him flesh out the world of the Unsung Story.
Like you, myself and many other pledgers for Unsung Story are huge Final Fantasy Tactics fans. While this is a game with its own setting, characters, and gameplay mechanics, will fans find tasteful hints of FFT inspiration?
JG: Given the fact that the creator of that experience has designed this one, there will undoubtedly be some cross-over feel, while still being unique in its own way, with new mechanics and new takes on tactics game play. With Unsung Story, we are making a new, fresh experience, that will hopefully make its own mark as a respected and well received tactics RPG.
The medieval fantasy theme seems to work remarkably well with the SRPG genre. What was it like deciding on a theme early on during the game’s conception?
JG: Exploring the visual look and feel of a game is one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of the development process. Early on, it usually involves many different opinions and tastes being discussed, as well as pairing that to the type of game play that we are planning for the end user experience. You try to marry the two as closely as you can, so that you have a great synergy between the gaming experience and the world that it is set in. Our process led us to going with a personal and fan favorite, that we can put our own flair into.
How difficult has it been to balance storytelling with gameplay so that the game is bite-sized enough for the mobile gaming crowd but still has a great tale to tell for those who enjoy a compelling narrative?
JG: I guess we aren’t approaching it that way, as far as our perspective on mobile gaming. Core gamers enjoy deeper experiences, and that follows suit whatever platform they are gaming on, console, handheld, PC or mobile. Our other Playdek games, which are all table top, board game focused, are created for a core gamer, and our goal is to do the same with Unsung Story. We aim to provide a rich, compelling gaming experience, that has tremendous visual appeal as well.
Unsung Story‘s great success on Kickstarter has also brought along with it high expectations. Has that put a lot more pressure on the development team to deliver?
JG: A good type of pressure, for sure. We knew that going in–when we first decided that we really wanted to make a tactics RPG–that the demands of the consumers and their expectations would be high. We thought this through long and hard and are fully prepared for the challenge of delivering a world class game in this genre.
Last year Fire Emblem: Awakening garnered enough critical acclaim to become one of the top 5 highest-rated titles of the year. Do you foresee a resurgence of the SRPG genre?
JG: I sure hope so, and Fire Emblem: Awakening seems to be leading the charge. This is such a great genre, as we all know, for not only wonderful, compelling story lines, but also for strategic game play that we can spend many hours at. What’s not to like? There are so many of us wanting more of these types of games, and we are grateful for the support shown by the Kickstarter community, that confirms we are on the right path.
I’m sure you’re extremely excited to finally get the first episode into the hands of consumers. But before you go, do you have anything you’d like to share?
JG: The development process so far has been a joy for us, as it isn’t often in this industry that you get to work on your dream project. That alone is amazing enough, but the response and fan dedication from the Kickstarter community supporting us has just been overwhelming. We are excited to have the opportunity to make this game, are thankful for the community support, and hope that we are given the chance to deliver this great gaming experience to every platform of choice for every fan.
That’s it for our interview. We would like to thank Joel Goodman for taking the time to answer our questions. Be sure to check out the Kickstarter page to learn more about Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians!
