THE ZODIAC AT YOUR SERVICE

ZODIAC / 18 SEP 2014

TGS 2014: INTRODUCING ZODIAC, A NEW JRPG FOR PS VITA

First up is Hitoshi Sakimoto, long-time composer responsible for game soundtracks ranging from the Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics series to Final Fantasy XII and Dragon’s Crown. And then there’s Kazushige Nojima, a writer who worked on the likes of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and many, many more games.

These men have collaborated with a small UK and France-based studio called Kobojo to create Zodiac. The game has been in development for about a year, and is due to launch sometime in 2015.

Zodiac’s director describes it as a project that melds elements from Final Fantasy, Valkyrie Profile, and Dragon’s Crown to create “a new online multiplayer experience.” The good news is that the game doesn’t actually have to be played online, however. You can play it alone if you’d like, front-to-back.

Zodiac’s soundtrack, not surprisingly, reminded me a great deal of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, as did some of its concept art. But the entire package is most reminiscent of Ubisoft’s surprise hit Child of Light, right down to its art style, color palette, and traversal. Its 2D world is beautifully realized, however, even if some character animations are a bit off (like the terribly awkward walking animation of one of the characters seen during a cutscene displayed for the press).

The game’s story, which the developers refused to go into any real detail about, revolves around – as you may have guessed – the 12 signs of the Zodiac. A hub town known, for now, as the “Main City,” is surrounded by locations that represent each of the Zodiac’s signs. Furthermore, the in-game class system is also associated with the Zodiac, with 12 classes toting unique skills and strengths. The devs noted that three classes would be further affiliated with an element – Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind – though they didn’t elaborate much on that.