Action RPG

Dreamcast, Sega

Shenmue / Project Berkley [DC – Beta / Tech Demo]

U64 Staff & Contributors
10-04-2008
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shenmuelogo.jpg

Yu Suzuki has stated on several occasions that during its early stages, Shenmue was a traditional style RPG based on the characters and storyline of the hugely successful fighting game title Virtua Fighter. The Ryo character was simply Virtua Fighter character Akira to begin with. The final Ryo character has several key differences, but there is a very clear visual resemblance between him and Akira. As the game’s development progressed, the characters became original and the storyline moved away from its Virtua Fighter roots.

As the gaming industry became more aware of Sega’s next generation console towards the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998, Shenmue was also getting noticed. At this time, however, the game was only ever known as Project Berkley. Tech demos from the game were being used by Sega to show what the Dreamcast was capable of producing. Many of these sequences were very well developed, and some were even used in the final retail version of the game. This has led many to believe that Shenmue was probably one of the very first Dreamcast titles to begin production. Shenmue quickly became Sega’s flagship Dreamcast title – representing the systems powerful graphics capabilities and also its ability to render immersive, cinematic characters and settings. – [info from Wikipedia]

Thanks to KEK8 for the contribution!

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Dreamcast, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sega, Sony

1/4 RPG [PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
10-04-2008
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1/4 RPG (also know as One Fourth RPG) is a cancelled Action RPG that was in development by FromSoftware for the Playstation 2 (with a rumored Dreamcast version) in 2000. The game was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2000, as you can see from the video below, but it soon vanished from their release list. As we can read on the (now dead) GIA Website:

The peculiar name is derived from the make-up of the party of heroes. Four different characters (selected from a pool of seven or eight) comprise the team at one time, but you actually play as a fairy guiding the four characters into battle. In a system akin to Valkyrie Profile, each “fourth” of the party (i.e., one character) can be selected via a different controller button, then moved into place with the d-pad. Attacks apparently are used automatically; your goal is just to keep the four heroes in the right place at the right time. Up to twelve enemies can appear on screen at once, so expect some large battles.

According to a report from IGN, 1/4 RPG was placed on “indefinite hold” in 2001 and From Software moved their resources to other projects. The game was never released.

Thanks to Celine for the contribution!

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GameCube, Nintendo

Raven Blade [GC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors
08-04-2008
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Raven Blade was a game in development by Retro Studios for the Nintendo GameCube. It was due to be released world-wide but was later cancelled during development to free up resources for Metroid Prime. Slow development and the offer of developing the next Metroid game were the main reasons of cancellation. The models of Raven Blade backgrounds and creatures were good, but the textures were incomplete. Nintendo noticed their (tentative title) “Action-Adventure” project with a female main character and took the opportunity to ask Retro Studios to make Metroid Prime. Raven Blade, Action-Adventure, NFL Retro Football and Car Combat were all cancelled to work on the new game. – [info from Wikipedia]

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Some screenshots & artwork are from www.n-sider.com

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PSP, Sony

Landstalker [PSP – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors
08-04-2008
4 Comments

Landstalker was an Action-Adventure game in development for the Playstation Portable by Climax Entertainment, it was to be an updated port of the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis game “Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole”, and had a proposed release date of Spring 2006 in Japan.

After a lack of updates given by the developer the game was officially cancelled and only a short tech demo video remains to remember its existence.

Thanks to Mittel for the description!

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Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories [GBA – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
07-04-2008
2 Comments

kingdomgbalogo.jpg

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is an action RPG developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Jupiter and released in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The idea for an intermediary title was developed after director Tetsuya Nomura and his team had already begun to develop ideas for the second Kingdom Hearts game, which he had intended to be set a year after the original. Originally titled Kingdom Hearts: Lost Memories, Nomura changed the name to match the overall outline of the story, while still reflecting the theme of memories. [Info from Wikipedia]

Thanks to Umiyuri Papaeyra, we can notice various beta differences in the screenshots below:

First screenshot: Axel VS Sora

  • No boss fight takes place in the Unknown Rooms (the vestibule that appears before a world door).
  • Axel’s on the wrong side of the screen as well.
  • The pillars in the room are square while in the final game they are thick, round, and widely spaced.
  • There’s also a door visible in the wall that doesn’t exist in any of the Unknown Rooms in the final game.

Second screenshot: Sora in the Guarded Trove room in Wonderland

  • The door is less adorned than it is in the final game.

Third screenshot: Axel meeting with an Organisation member

  • The room with the χ-shaped table never appears in the final game.
  • Axel’s sprite looks kinda odd here, but I don’t know if it’s different, since the resolution of the scan is bad.

Fifth screenshot: Sora and Vexen

  • The marble ‘plant pot pillar’ here shows a leafy plant; in the final game they’re finely-crafted marble roses in large square pots.
  • The pillars from the first screen are finally visible as short ones; in the final game they reach to the ceiling.
  • The Unknown Rooms in the final game are a lot longer than shown here, and start with a set of steps coming up that don’t appear in this screen.
  • The door is much more visible here. Once again, the only door in the Unknown Room leads into the next world.

Sixth screenshot: Sora running around Olympus Coliseum

  • The world’s graphics are very different from the real game, showing a different ‘skirting board’ and ‘ledge’ pattern.
  • White Mushrooms only appear in a room when a special Map Card is used, and they’ll be the only enemies there.

Seventh screenshot: Cloud’s summon

  • Cloud’s cards in this screen are coloured grey; in the final game all the Summon Cards are classed as Magic Cards and are blue.
  • The Enemy Cards in the final game show the enemy’s faces.

Eighth screenshot: Fighting Darkside

  • Same as the previous screenshot, the Enemy Cards here don’t show Darkside’s face, when they should be.
  • The graphics on the Thunder and Fire cards are different to the final graphics.

Thanks a lot to Umiyuri Papaeyra for the contribution!

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[Images from: www.kh2.co.uk]