Unchained Blades

Unchained Blades
Developer(s) FuRyu
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Toshio Akashi
Writer(s) Takashi Hino
Composer(s) Tsutomu Narita
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)

PlayStation Portable

  • JP: July 14, 2011
  • NA: June 26, 2012[1]

Nintendo 3DS

  • JP: July 14, 2011
  • NA: January 3, 2013[2]
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single player

Unchained Blades, titled UnchainBlades ReXX (アンチェインブレイズ レクス) in Japan, is a dungeon crawler role-playing video game for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Portable video game consoles.[3] It was released in Japan on July 14, 2011,[4] and in North America exclusively as a digital download on June 26, 2012 for the PlayStation Portable,[5] and on January 3, 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS.[2]

Gameplay

The game is played as a dungeon crawler role-playing video game, similar to Wizardry, but with a greater emphasis on story.[6] The purpose of the game is to direct the game's party through mazes and labyrinths while defeating opposing monster parties. A party can contain up to four characters.[7] Additionally, it is possible to recruit enemy monsters into the player's party to assist them, and each character is allowed to have four monsters support them, allowing for a party size of up to twenty characters.[7]

Development

Creation

Many veterans in Japanese video game design contributed to the original development of the game. The game's director is Toshio Akashi, who previously worked on Lunar, and the scenario designer is Takashi Hino, who previously worked on Grandia.[6] Longtime Final Fantasy musical contributor Nobuo Uematsu also contributed music for the game, although most of the game's music was done by upcoming, Tsutomu Narita, who works with Uematsu.[6] Additionally, each of the game's main thirteen characters were each drawn by different artists from different anime and manga background.[6]

The Japanese release was originally intended to be June 23, 2011, but in April, it was delayed to July 14, 2011.[8]

The Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Portable versions are almost identical, the differences being mainly visual. The 3DS version is the only one that features stereoscopic 3D graphics.[9] Additionally, the placement of the overhead map of the levels is different platforms; for the 3DS, it's on the second, bottom screen, where on the PSP, which lacks a second screen, it is merely layered over the main screen, with the option to toggle it on or off.[4]

Localization

Xseed Games originally teased the localization of the video game through a guessing game through its Twitter.[10] Three pictures were released as hints to the game's title; a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a blade of grass, and a still from the movie Ghost's famous pottery wheel scene.[10] This was in reference to the three words, in reverse order, of the game's Japanese title Unchained Blade Rexx.[10] The game's localization was officially confirmed through the April 2012 issue of Nintendo Power.[11]

Receptions and sales

Both versions of the game charted in their first week of release in Japan; the PlayStation Portable version charted at seventh place with 18,256 copies sold, while the Nintendo 3DS version charted at twentieth place with 5,592 copies sold.[12]

Sequel

A sequel titled Unchained Blades Exiv was developed and released on November 29, 2012 in Japan for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo 3DS.[13] Xseed Games, who localized the original into English, stated that it was "not likely" that they would pursue translating the sequel.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Spencer . June 19, 2012 . 10:37am (2012-06-19). "Unchained Blades Unleashed For PSP On June 26". Siliconera. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  2. 1 2 "Unchained Blades finally hitting 3DS eShop in January | GoNintendo - What are YOU waiting for?". GoNintendo. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  3. ↑ "RPGFan News - XSEED Games Localizing Unchained Blades for PSP and 3DS". Rpgfan.com. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  4. 1 2 Spencer . July 5, 2011 . 4:18pm (2011-07-05). "UnchainBlades ReXX Differences Between PSP And 3DS Appear To Be Minor". Siliconera. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  5. ↑ Spencer . March 28, 2012 . 10:35am (2012-03-28). "Unchained Blades Coming To PSP And 3DS As A Digital Download". Siliconera. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "> Feature > XSEED Games Spring 2012 Interview". RPGamer. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  7. 1 2 Spencer . May 27, 2011 . 3:01pm (2011-05-27). "UnchainBlades ReXX's Monster Communication System In Action". Siliconera. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  8. ↑ "Zelda Dated, UnchainBlades ReXX Delayed". Andriasang.com. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  9. ↑ "Major Character Designers Team Up for New 3DS RPG". Andriasang.com. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  10. 1 2 3 JC Fletcher on Mar 24th 2012 4:00PM (2012-03-24). "'Unchained Blades' coming to 3DS eShop via XSEED". Joystiq. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  11. ↑ "UnchainBlades ReXX Being Localized as Unchained Blades - News". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  12. ↑ "Big Headed Baseball and Drums Top the Sales Charts". Andriasang.com. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  13. ↑ Spencer . May 29, 2012 . 6:22pm (2012-05-29). "Unchained Blades Sequel Set For October With Over A Dozen More Artists". Siliconera. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  14. ↑ "XSEED unlikely to localize UnchainBlades EXXiV, Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode, Exstetra". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
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