White Knight Chronicles: Dogma Wars

Famitsu has six pages of White Knight Chronicles coverage this week. Five of those pages are for White Knight Chronicles 2, which is due for PlayStation 3 release on July 8. That sixth page, however, is home to a big surprise.

 

The magazine reveals that a new entry in the series is in development for PSP. The single page splash lists the new game under the placeholder name of "Shirokishi Monogatari: New Project" (Shirokishi Monogatari is the Japanese name for White Knight Chronicles). The page is filled with artwork, including character art listed as "Male Avatar" and "Female Avatar."

 

The little bit of text on the page provide some hints that this new game will have some major differences from the current White Knight Chronicles line. The text reads:

 

"Leonard's story approaches a conclusion in White Knight Chronicles 2. This signals the end to the 10,000 year war between light and dark, known as the Dogma War.

 

"The PlayStation 3 White Knight Chronicles comes to a conclusion here. However, a completely new White Knight Chronicles starts.

 

"White Knight Chronicles New Project. A story of your avatar and new allies, told on the PlayStation Portable, is set to start in 2011."

 

In large lettering at the bottom of the page is an even bigger hint at some major changes. The text reads "And then, to a new world."

 

Professor Layton developer Level-5 developed the PlayStation 3 White Knight games, which were published by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). Famitsu lists the PSP version as being published and produced by SCEJ. Level-5 is credited with the original idea for the White Knight series, suggesting that they may not have a direct role in the PSP title's production.

 

The Famitsu reveal is just a tease, so we're gong to have to wait for official details. The game is listed with a 2011 release date in Famitsu.

pirmi screenai:

Following the revelation of White Knight Chronicles PSP on the Famitsu Magazine, first screenshots of the game have emerged today.

 

In the following set of screenshots, players will get a glimpse of the graphics the game can offer. Two characters from the game is shown and one of them is a Knight that looks familiar for those who played the first game.

 

White Knight Chronicles is scheduled for release next year exclusively on the PSP.

Game Story

 

 

War begins 10,000 years (Dogma Age) before the White Knight 1 and 2, where Yshrenia and Athwan Empires fought for control of the world. Yshrenia created the game’s giant knights as the ultimate weapon to use against Athwan.

 

The main character Leonard forms a pact with the White Knight, the ability to transform into the giant form during gameplay. If you saw the artwork that appeared in that old issue of Famitsu, you might remember an image of a train being pulled by horses. That horse-pulled train serves as both the basis of operations for the Train Battalion, and as their mode of transport. Train can be considered a “city” since it has different facilities, and also it hide passengers from the Yshrenia army because it is on the move.

 

Four Characters introduced this week

 

 

Kaishius

 

A member of the Train Battalion, former general who has great faith in Athwan and its queen, has a good sense of power of the knights, foresees Athwan’s doom, formed the Train Battalion and acts as its leader.

 

Anbietta

 

A member of the Train Battalion, mysterious girl, believes all people are born to do a particular thing, believes only in the now, aims to fulfill what she believes is her role, possible that she might select to sacrifice herself.

 

Eldas

 

Hides his true identity as an officer in the Athwan for the sake of the queen, supports the Train Battalion, young, great tactical knowledge, demonstrates his talen in the fight against the Yshrenia Empire, hoping for success from the Train Battalion in search for a power to defeat the knights.

 

Yumando

 

A mysterious man in black, member of a new force called the Black Wings, engages in activity behind-the-scenes of the war, will come before the Train Battalion many times.

White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars has two data sharing systems. The first involves the game’s built in free quest system, which makes missions with different types of raw materials and experience points to earn.

 

While you could just leave it up to chance to find the same quests, Sony Computer Entertainment created a feature that allows players to share quests with other players. So, once you find a quest packed with loot you can give it to your friends.

 

You can even give your characters to your friends. In a multiplayer game, you can use the character exchange option to hand over a party member to another player. Why would you want to do this? Aside from being generous to a newbie, White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars has a system where characters learn skills from other members in a group. Exchanging characters can be a way to strengthen both parties. But, be aware that a character exchange is an actual exchange. The character you send off leaves your game and enters another player’s portable White Knight Chronicles world.

 

White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars comes out on February 3 in Japan.

Over on the European PlayStation Blog, Sony announced White Knight Chronicles II and White Knight Chronicles Origins (that’s the English name for White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars) are en route to Europe.

 

When? May for both games says SCEE brand manager Ross Alexander in the comments. In Japan, White Knight Chronicles II included the first game on disc. In fact, you had to play it before you could start the second story if you didn’t finish White Knight Chronicles. There is a data import feature, which rewards players who trudged through the first game a special item.

 

Neither White Knight Chronicles II or White Knight Chronicles Origins has a release window in North America, but if these games are coming to Europe in May an announcement can’t be far behind… unless stores are suddenly going to get surprise shipments.