Pandora's Tower

[Animerican_Redeemed]

I think its' kinda silly to be arguing whether or not it's a girl here. I mean, the voice-over at Nintendo's main site for the game is the among the most feminine-sounding Japanese voices out there.

And then there's this more expansive image (sorry it's so flippin' huge)... see the eyes and the way the back of the clothing is sewn?:



Another interesting note about the picture: see the outline of something under her chin? It must be the remnant of a background that wasn't photo-shopped out for some odd reason...

[TheBlackCat]

That looks even more like Hyung Tae Kim's artwork.

[Labrynian Rebel]

Those eyes are seriously creeping me out.

[doc O. Mire]

As for the game in question: I'll take it at literal face value for now and expect it to invole someone named Pandora (duh), who's most likely female, in ownership of some sort of tower to which is either a figurative (likely) or literal (less likely) interpretation of the concept of "Pandora's Box" which, interestingly enough, is for the sake of historical accuracy an urn (read: pot) and not in actuality a box, (but that's just splitting hairs, now isin't it?) where in our Hero, or indeed potential Heroine, must venture, possibly unleashing the many fabled eviles supposedly contained therein, and more than less likely turning out to be the living incarnation of the embodiment of Hope, or some such uplifting righteous drivel. Who knows? This after all is coming from the minds of not only the Japanese, but some of the most certifiably insane buch of wackos on the planet: The fine folks at Monolith Soft, the people who brought you the Bible... in space... with robot girls... who are inturn the reincarnated spirits of people who may or may not have existsed... who fight aliens... in space... did I mention the robot girls? The sexy robot girls? Makes perfect sense, then, that this game will in no way contain any Lovecraftian horror of narrative and story... right?

I'm not so sure... when nintendo made kid icarus, it was about a guy named pit and based off the greek story of perseus, not icarus. for all we know, the story could be about Osiris from egyptian mythology (died and became a thousand times stronger because of it)

[Animerican_Redeemed]

Is there much similarity between the Perseus myth and Kid Icarus though, beyond both incorporating Medusa as a key plot element? Considering that the game's titular character has not-so-great wings, I feel Kid Icarus wasn't such an inappropriate name. Catchier than Kid Perseus, anyway...

I have a feeling that there won't be such an abundance of correlation b/w Pandora's Tower and the story of Panodra's Box, but I would imagine that there is some definite overlap of themes, i.e. some nearly-irrevocable great evil is unleashed or about to be unleashed and someone must do something. (Though that's the plot of just about any epic, isn't it...).

It would be interesting if there was a character name Hope here, since that name's already been used in FFXIII...

[TheBlackCat]

One of these days, I want to see an RPG, instead of starting with out-of-context biblical quotes or some 12th century Chinese poem, starts off with this (typed out slowly, with brooding music):

Anyone attempting to find a motive in this narrative...
...will be prosecuted.

Anyone attempting to find a moral...
...will be banished.

Anyone attempting to find a plot...
...will be shot.

[Zeroº]

But then you would be left wondering all throughout the game why they quoted Mark Twain from the pages of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and would inevitably be dismayed by the lack of any further reference to him or his works. Funny as it might be, it would only work against you...

for all we know, the story could be about Osiris from egyptian mythology (died and became a thousand times stronger because of it)

From what we know right now, that is indeed a possible premise. (Especially if it's an RPG.)

Those eyes are seriously creeping me out.

Yeah, but dude, dat back. ;D

[Zeroº]

Hrm... Not the prettiest thing for the Wii, but it does look like it could be fun... May 26 is its Japanese release date, but still no word for the rest of the world.

[Cosake_Solrac]

I like the visuals during the combat.

All in all, looks rather interesting. Shall be keeping an eye out for this.

[kronoridley]

*Sees begining of trailer* Great! Just what we need! More JRPGs! Zippity fu- *Sees actual gameplay* Holy sh*t! That looks awesome! Here's hoping it's T rated and that it comes to the US!

[doc O. Mire]

*Sees begining of trailer* Great! Just what we need! More JRPGs! Zippity fu- *Sees actual gameplay* Holy sh*t! That looks awesome! Here's hoping it's T rated and that it comes to the US!

That "comes to the US" part is the important one. It's like Nintendo thinks we don't care about games that aren't their main franchises or something Still no word about xenoblade or last story coming to the west anytime soon, I hope all three of these make it sometime this year

[kronoridley]

Xenoblade is already being localized for europe as we speak, which means that the chances of it coming to the US are huge, and NOA very recently hinted at localizng The Last story. As for this, not even a spec of info about it coming to the US, but we can always hope. (As well as it being T rated)

[FacelessGriffin]

I think its' kinda silly to be arguing whether or not it's a girl here. I mean, the voice-over at Nintendo's main site for the game is the among the most feminine-sounding Japanese voices out there.

Sounds like Sawako from Kimi Ni Todoke.

...

Uh, not that I watch that show or anything. JUST IGNORE WHAT I SAID.

[Animerican_Redeemed]

I think its' kinda silly to be arguing whether or not it's a girl here. I mean, the voice-over at Nintendo's main site for the game is the among the most feminine-sounding Japanese voices out there.

Sounds like Sawako from Kimi Ni Todoke.

...

Uh, not that I watch that show or anything. JUST IGNORE WHAT I SAID.

Err... because that show is shoujo? Hey, no shame in liking that... was a big Fruits Basket fan in the past, and I've been heavily invested in Puella Magi Madoka Magica this season. Come this summer, I might decide to get into it, considering all the buzz I've heard about it..

Anyway, there was apparently some information blowout in Famitsu following the game's trailer. There are PREMISE-RELATED SPOILERS here (but not enough so for hushed spoiler-tag talk, I think...). Here's what Siliconera got from it, with some words bolded for personal emphasis:

The action RPG is set in the Elysion Kingdom on the continent of Graceia during a harvest festival. Ceres, a 15 year old shrine maiden and devout follower of the Eos faith, was selected to sing for the event, but the second she steps onto the stage beasts suddenly appear.

In the middle of the chaos, Ceres’ close friend Ende finds her unconscious just as she’s about to be taken away. Graiai, a street merchant, guides the two into an isolated tower to escape. They discover Ceres has been cursed with the "Mark of the Beast" and the only way to break the curse is to feed Ceres meat from the beasts within the tower.

Ende is the stalwart protagonist in Pandora’s Tower. He’s 22 years old and was an Athínan soldier when his home country was at war with Elysion. While he usually wields a sword, Graiai hands him the Oreichalkos Chain before he steps into the tower. Ende has to use this chain to defeat beasts within the tower so he can return with meat to delay the effects of the curse. The bottom left of the screen shows the curse timer. While meat from lesser fiends cannot remove Ceres’ curse, it can halt its progress. The game ends if the meter runs out before Ende can deliver meat. Defeating all of the bosses in the twelve towers to save Ceres. (Editor's note: That's poor grammar in that last sentence, Stephen.)

Yes, twelve towers. They’re connected and appear to have different environments. Famitsu mentions a crimson tower with flames that block Ende’s progress. Famitsu notes Pandora’s Tower has gimmicks to restrain beasts and the game has simple to pick up controls with the Wii remote.

Ganbarion, makers of One Piece: Unlimited Cruise and Jump Ultimate Stars, is developing this title for Nintendo. Pandora’s Tower: Until I Return to Your Side is slated for release on May 26 in Japan.[/spoiler]

Sounds kinda like Shadow of the Colossus in its take on the "save the princess from peril" story. It also seems that the story of Job actually does (somewhat) tie in thematically as well. And as we can see in the trailer, they're not afraid to show some blood. It'll be interesting to see what levels of maturity Nintendo takes this, especially since it is rated Cero C, which is one rating higher than either Xenoblade or The Last Story.

Sure hope localization prospects won't take as long to get visibly finalized as it has been with those aforementioned RPGs...