Following our White Knight Chronicles II Q&A a couple of days ago, we caught up with Hiroaki Iwahara, Main Planner at Matrix Corp, to talk about White Knight Chronicles: Origins on PSP.
How does White Knight Chronicles: Origins feed into the wider WKC universe?
10,000 years before the original PS3 game takes place, there was a period of strife known as the Dogma Wars. This struggle is between the Yshrenian Empire who are harnessing the power of the Knights in a bid to conquer the world, and the Athwani Mage Kingdom who are trying to stop them. These events would shape history to come in the White Knight Chronicles saga, and White Knight Chronicles: Origins tells the story of the unsung heroes who lived through this period of unrest, only to be forgotten in the annals of time.
Can you tell us how the characters from the White Knight Chronicles universe fit into the game story?
There are some characters from the PS3 games who appear in our PSP title. For example, right at the start of the game your character will meet a young Eldore during the downfall of Xarmgand. The Black Knight Demian is another recurring character who plays a big role in the PS3 games. You’ll also meet the troll Thaumus who’s using guerrilla tactics to try and halt the Yshrenian onslaught. And, of course, the White Knight, the Dragon Knight and the Moon Maiden all make an appearance.
Can you tell us about the gameplay, specifically how the combat system will work?
In the game your character is a member of a mercenary group called the Mobile Corps. Your base is a train where you will be able to take on quests, choosing a team of soldiers to fight alongside you. The battle system is essentially the same as the PS3 version – you command you character to perform an action from a variety of skills. But we’ve done a lot of tuning with the speed of the battle flow and also tailored the controls to the PSP.
Were you fans of the White Knight Chronicles franchise before working on your game?
Yes, definitely!
Matrix Corp. has worked on quite a few RPGs up to now. In your opinion, what’s special about this one?
It’s got to be the transformation system. It’s really at the heart of the whole game and gives it its character.
We also put a lot of effort into the character creation system to ensure that players can create an avatar that really appeals to them. From a design perspective we’ve tried to keep the feeling of the PS3 version while also throwing in some new ideas.
What’s your favourite moment in the game?
The Unity Attacks are great fun. You can perform these in single player mode, but they’re much more fun when you pull them off with a group of friends!
Can you give us an insight into your personal playing style in the game?
My personal preference is using a red chroma and my weapon of choice is an axe. My tactic is to max-out my attack power by selecting the right skills and buffing my equipment. You might not always land your blows but when you do it really saps your enemy’s HP!
35 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:05 pm by STUPID_DAD
Whens the store going up!
2
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:05 pm by kivi95
Will it be released on psn a what price will it be?As we are coming closer and closer to the NGP release i am starting to only but Digital games.
3
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:07 pm by kivi95
1# They have already said at the end of May so stop asking.
4
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:07 pm by iriihutoR48
I just bought a PSP during the PSN downtime (no free games for me but no harm done either) so I’ll definitely be looking out for this one. The PSP still seems to have a lot of life left in it and a great catalog of older games as well.
5
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:11 pm by CLOUD_MOHA
ane new for wkc2 ??
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:27 pm by Ross Alexander
We had a blog post with a Q&A from the developers yesterday and tomorrow we’ll have a big announcement for both WKC games.
6
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:11 pm by CLOUD_MOHA
news
7
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:15 pm by Lucreto
If people are interested in the title the game is £12.99 on HMV. It is at least double that price everywhere else.
8
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:18 pm by saumibane
Idk i might get it
9
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:26 pm by SurrealNightmare
I suppose it’s a bit premature to ask for a release date? :p
Personally looking forward to see the world and history in contrast to the first game, plus the idea of meeting Thaumus and other characters that were either present or mentioned in WKC 1 sounds really exciting as well.
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:27 pm by Ross Alexander
Release date announcement is coming VERY soon. See my reply above.
10
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:28 pm by remanutd5
is this game coming to the US ? i love WKC and i cant wait to play WKC2 but they havent announced anything on the US blog , i hope it gets a PSN release so i can play it on NGP when i get 1
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:29 pm by Ross Alexander
There are no plans for WKC: Origins to be released in the US as of yet. WKC II will however be released in the US and will be published by D3 in the summer.
11
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 2:31 pm by STUPID_DAD
#3…… no i wont,i have 80 bucks in my psn wallet and i cant use it…….its being witheld from me by sony
I could have bought a retail game in a shop for that but sony refuse to refund my money
And this back by end of may……yeah right,how many times were we told just a few more days to get online gaming back up
12
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 3:11 pm by UNIT-Commanda
#11…. what do you want sony to do turn it on when its not secure, or has insufficient games, demo’s & others for you to download. Just stop whining and wait. You moaning is not going to get it on any quicker. Sony, I got your back
13
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 3:18 pm by STUPID_DAD
#12 no i dont want them to turn on when not secure….i want my money thats in my psn wallet back
And i want to unlock online mode on tiger12. And my dlc case for la noire
I want what i paid for!!!
14
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 3:43 pm by Otaku_BAKA
After hearing the release date for WKC2 would come later this week, I thought this was it
. A release date for this would be nice too ^^.
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:30 pm by Ross Alexander
Announcement on this coming tomorrow.
15
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 3:56 pm by monoliet
psp version , i not like
but wkc2 not out now = not fun
when the oficial data was 27 may
if u set games later
i need 2 change my buying moment 2.
infamous wil go far later , until platinium.
16
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:14 pm by Ahkiva
this is more about WKC2, my question wasn’t answered before on previous blog post
I moved from the states but still used a US PSN account to play WKC1(I bought the PAL version of WKC1), I don’t want to lose my character data, and I heard there’d be an online pass in this copy of the game(like in Japan). Will I be able to use the online pass on my US PSN with the PAL version?
Also, will the servers for EU and the US be separate because of the difference in release dates?
17
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:29 pm by Viper7
Any WKC2 WKC:origins functionality that we should know about? Like bonus items for Psp or Ps3 version?
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:33 pm by Ross Alexander
You’ll be able to import your WKC II avatar into WKC: Origins so you can play as your WKC II avatar in both games.
18
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:38 pm by Ahkiva
would stats also carry over to origins along with avatar?
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 5:12 pm by Ross Alexander
No, stats won’t carry over.
19
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 4:50 pm by monoliet
u gone suport wkc 2
more than 1 st game
longer tyme extra dlc ?
20
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 5:31 pm by Cotrip
Ross, for tomorrow, it will be only the release dates?
Or can we expect some long time unanswered questions – like split servers, details about online pass and if the game will include all the content already released in Japan?
21
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 5:43 pm by UNIT-Commanda
#13…. why would you top up your account with 80 ‘bucks’ anyway?
22
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 5:49 pm by Slarth
Pre-ordered along with WKC2, can’t wait for tommorow
Hopefully it won’t be to long to go.
23
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 6:10 pm by Immortal-Wolf-
playstation store will be up and running on 31st may as black ops map pack 2 Call of the dead will be in playstation store 3rd june.
24
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 6:36 pm by monoliet
i look 4 information myself
nice work on englisch oppening song !
25
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 6:38 pm by monoliet
4 wkc2
THE BATTLEFIELD FLOWER/ Cindy Alexander = very good
26
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 7:40 pm by SolidGreg
I hope to see an HD RPG from Matrix Corp. and SCEJ.
27
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 9:14 pm by CassyChan
Been looking forward to this
It would be cool if a PSP Remaster version came out for PS3 like the one recently anounced for Monster Hunter Portable 3rd too.
28
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 9:57 pm by perrandy
well, it looks like might have to import this wether from the store(when is up!)or from some online site that do imports.its a shame that i have to resort to this since scea /snea or whatever is called now,has some bias towards jrpgs.its a shame really that a game that is already published by sony europe is not allowed by the same company in america to sell the game
btw, since amazon doesnt let you import what other sites are out there to import this??help anyone!
29
Posted on 25 May, 2011 at 10:16 pm by monoliet
i just read somting
if it is tru
u sony have made de best element out of the game
usa – euro not on same servers off wkc 2
boe hoe
u lost every respect from me now !!!!
realy tink next gen wil not be a sony console.
u always speak of comunity = BIG JOKE if its tru
30
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 12:20 am by Pure_Mind_Games
wish this was getting released on the PS3 as my mate doesn’t have a PSP. But no matter I’m sure someone will let me play with them, right?…
31
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 12:56 am by monoliet
Posted on 9 March, 2011 at 2:27 pm by Ross Alexander
Both games will be released in May this year so not long to wait.
We’ll confirm an exact release date at a later stage.
And yes, WKC: Origins will be available at both retail and via PSN.
(Both games will be released in May this year so not long to wait)????
4 -5 x u say wil be released in may
u now remeber u statement ?
32
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 6:21 am by ChrisEngdahl
SCEA is stupid for not publishing this and WKC2. SCEE is def. making the right choice to release one of the best JRPGs for the PS3. I’ve spent over 100h in the first game and imported it from the US before it was released in EU. Now I’m said I didn’t wait because I have to wait till the US release of WKC2 to be able to transfer my old save over. Damn you SCEA!
33
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 10:34 am by HazelAM
will this feature an online pass system too?
34
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 1:23 pm by cloud134
can sum 1 tell me when WKC2 and WKCO is being released or give me the net address 4 the blog were the release dates will be announced
35
Posted on 26 May, 2011 at 2:42 pm by monoliet
englisch trailer
u let us wait : so give us at least new vidio = not japanese
en some info
= server usa – euro separeted ore togeter
= release date
= pictures
dlc = already on disk ?
lots dlc folow later ?
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