Topic: Fragile: Farewell Ruins of The Moon [Wii]

[Jericho]

... God I hate compression artifacts ...

Release Dates: January 22, 2009 (JPN: Fragile: Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo); TBA (NA & EU)
Developer: tri-Crescendo
Game & Art Design: Seven [Venus & Braves Team]
Publisher: Namco Bandai Ltd.
Producer: Kentaro Kawashima
Genre: Ruin Exploration Action RPG

[spoiler=Wiki Info, spoilered due to size.]

General Info

Fragile: Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo (フラジール ～さよなら月の廃墟～, Furajīru Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo?, lit. "Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon") is an upcoming role-playing video game for the Nintendo Wii. It is being developed by tri-Crescendo and the team at Namco responsible for PlayStation 2 RPGs Seven: Molmorth no Kiheitai and Venus & Braves. It will be published by Namco Bandai Games.

The Fragile website was fully opened on November 26, 2007. The game is to be released in Japan on January 22, 2009; no date has been set for its release in the other regions as of yet.

The theme song for this game will be sung by Aoi Teshima. The song is called, "Hikari".

Overview

Fragile is set in a post-apocalyptic near future world that has lost its light and is covered in a dense fog. Almost all the world's population has vanished, and the cities have been left abandoned. The game places the player in the shoes of Seto, a young boy.

Seto wanders the world, searching for survivors and the answers behind the disappearance of everyone else. Seto also searches for a mysterious girl named "Ren." In his quest he must deal with ghosts and demons that lurk within the ruins of the abandoned cities. Despite this, the producer of the game insists that Fragile is not a survival horror in the same vein as Silent Hill, rather it will focus on "human drama".

The world of Fragile will be filled with objects, sketches and short stories for the player to examine. Each artifact holds the memories of its former owner, and offers back story and hints to the player. A competition will be held where readers of gaming magazines can send in their own sketches and short stories to be included in the game.

Characters

Seto: In this ruined and dying planet, a boy, Seto, travels alone in the stillness. He is searching for survivors like himself somewhere in the crumbling world.

Ren: A lonely girl sitting on a lurching steel frame, singing beneath the moonlight. Walking in the ruins, playfully drawing large graffiti, looking for treasure, meeting with cats, she is a lonely, young girl.

Sai: The bodiless consciousness of a young girl wandering the ruins.

Crow: An amnesiac boy. However, he refuses to despair, remaining cheerful, mischievous and straightforward. In order to find his birthplace, relying only on a single photo, he continues traveling.

Personal Frame: From his back, the gentle voice of the Personal Frame guides Seto. Having been alone for a long time, waiting for someone to come, it was happy when Seto replied.

Cho: The bodiless consciousness of a small girl.

Item Merchant: A mysterious man who trades for various goods. Always merry, he appears before Seto. He collects lots of sparkling things.

Sin: A "genius scientist" whose brilliance has earned him envy from his colleagues; he apparently has difficulty communicating.

Gameplay

The Wii Remote is used as an aid in exploration. Seto has access to a flashlight, controlled by the Wii Remote, to illuminate his surroundings as well to solve puzzles and interact with the environment. The flashlight is also used to uncover hidden enemies and can act as a weapon against them. Seto also has access to a metal detector that the player can use to find various items hidden on the ground, as well as a microphone that picks up sounds through the mini speaker. Hidden enemies can be detected this way by picking up their sounds.

Some of the objects the player finds can be used as weapons; these include a stick, a bow, a crowbar, and a small hatchet.

[/spoiler]

Jericho's Notes
Every now and again, a game comes around with a premise so interesting that it sticks out in my head as being a must have without even thinking of the rest of the game. Fragile is the most recent example of this. With a moody atmosphere, presentation and setup, I was way beyond hooked. Then, as more and more details started to pile up on the game, I felt justified in falling into the hype (if you can call it hype). If you all need to know more about the game, I've included a link to all posts regarding it and it's developments from Wiifanboy.com (don't say anything ) and I could also direct you to the main site for any moonspeakers we have here.

Also, be sure to hit the screenshot gallery, because the level of effort put into this game artistically is nothing short of amazing. I am dead serious.

Final note, please for the love of gaming, don't dismiss this game right off the bat due to it's somewhat cliched premise and setting. The gameplay is what's different here and it shows. It's also complimented by the story that was chosen for it.

Links & Trailers

• Fragile Main Site (Namco-Bandai JP)
• December 26th Video - HQ Youtube
• December 26th Video - Dengenki Feed HD
• Fragile Complete info - Wiifanboy.com
• Wiki Info
• Gamekyo Gameplay Video #1
• Video #2
• Video #3
• Video #4
• Video #5
• Video #6

[Solar]

I forgot, has there been news of a localization? It looks like it could be a good game, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about its sales. Many good games just aren't selling anymore, and I think you can agree with me on this, Jelly =/

[VixyNyan]

Why is it coming so early? I mean, it's great and all, but I want to afford it. ;w;

[Jericho]

I forgot, has there been news of a localization? It looks like it could be a good game, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about its sales. Many good games just aren't selling anymore, and I think you can agree with me on this, Jelly =/

I'm honestly quite surprised with no news of a localization as of yet, especially since everyone who has something to say about the game has something incredibly positive to add along with it. Still, for all intents and purposes, I'm just going to echo the sentiment most mentioned over at GAF, namely "It's Namco".

Still praying for some divine intervention though, I'm updating the OP with the most current data on the game, and as I read more about it, it sounds more and more delicious.

Why is it coming so early? I mean, it's great and all, but I want to afford it. ;w;

Join the club. Hopefully, I get hired at Nintendo World faster, because lack of funds isn't something I can deal with much longer.

Posted on: December 26, 2008, 12:26:23 PMFirst post has been re-organized.

Posted on: December 26, 2008, 01:47:50 PMNew gameplay videos from Gamekyo have been added to the first post. Quick, go watch 'em!

Posted on: December 26, 2008, 10:39:10 PMWow, quadruple post... Am I the only one interested in this amazing looking game?

Well anyways, here's a friggin sweet new trailer guys. It's heavy on the Japanese dialogue, but damn it if the atmosphere doesn't shine through the language barrier.

All I have to say is for the love of God, Namco, BRING IT HERE.

Also, ghost girl seems to have gotten some... *motions hands in a circle* enhancements... Sub would be pleased.

[VixyNyan]

I'm more pleased and excited about those.... enhancements than anyone else.

[Jericho]

Mega Updates guys. First off, here's a translated version of the Jan. 16th trailer so that you can get an idea of what the story is like. Surprisingly, it seems incredibly unlike what everyone (myself included) once thought of it.

Secondly, we have officially gotten a first impressions/moments video series going! Please watch all three parts in their HQ goodness and tell me that the game doesn't look beautiful as well as incredibly interesting.

[STM]

So, who do we have to bug for this one? Namco? Can we couple it with Tales of Hearts?

[Jericho]

Yeah, Namco's the one, although it seems like a lot of good people, namely XSEED are looking into bringing this one over, especially because of all the fans pressuring them to. It's also good to hear that the game did really well on the JP launch selling out 45% (16,000 copies) of it's shipments day 1.

The number might look low, but I think this one will definitely be a sleeper/slow burner.

[Ephidiel]

just finished the game.
took me a little under 12h
very nice story

[Jericho]

just finished the game.
took me a little under 12h
very nice story

WAT. Holy [parasitic bomb], I'm jealous right now. >=(

[Protodude]

I do hope we get this, though I've heard far too many rumors that it isn't coming stateside.

So...XSEED's contact info where?

[Jericho]

May 28, 2009 - Earlier this year, Namco Bandai shipped the acclaimed adventure game Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon in Japan and American players eagerly awaited news of a local release, which sadly never came. When contacted, Namco Bandai representatives explained that the company had no plans to publish the title, set to the backdrop of an atmospheric post-apocalyptic world, in the U.S.

Thankfully, though, Xseed Games does. IGN is able to exclusively reveal to its readers today that Xseed has secured the North American publishing rights to Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. The tri-Crescendo-developed project will ship stateside for Wii this winter, according to the company.

"We are ecstatic to be able to finally confirm Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon for gamers in North America," said Jun Iwasaki, president of Xseed Games. "We have received countless requests from eager gamers pleading with us to publish this title, and it gives us great joy to be able to give the public what they want while being able to work on such a great game."

[...]

IGN: What about English voice work? What're your ambitions there? ?

Kenji: We're all looking forward to doing the recording for the English voices. Still trying to finish the text translations so casting hasn't started yet, but hopefully we can live up to the Japanese voices.?To the hardcore gamers out there that think "if it's not Japanese it's crap", please check out the English voices too because we do work really hard?on the English?voice-over recordings and it'll be a shame if nobody uses the English audio option (assuming we're lucky enough to keep the original Japanese, of course).

IGN: Finally, content wise, are any changes planned?

Kenji: Some of the graphics will of course be changed to English, but we're really not taking anything out or thinking about any major changes at this point. We're trying to get some additional content as the development team seems to be really enthusiastic about their game getting released in North America, but too early to tell if scheduling and technical issues may prevent it or not at this point.

Link

So. Much. Happiness.