Now things are getting interesting.��

Listed on Nintendos japanese site

IGN eyes on trailer and screens

A lone warrior chopping through an army of robotic warriors with an outsized Cloud Strife-like energy sword. Colossal war machines advancing though a misty canyon, shooting anything that moves. The few remaining human defenders hiding behind simple wooden shields that are no match for high-energy weapons. Welcome to the world of Monado.��


The debut trailer for Monado: Beginning of the World premiered today at E3: 2009, and first impressions for the new Wii RPG are that the beginning is going to be pretty exciting. Things kick off with that canyon-set battle, revealing more and bigger enemies with an interesting steampunk design. Things likely don't end well for our lone warrior, as we soon segue to a young blonde hero discovering that energy sword - now inert - only to see it flash blindingly to life the moment he picks it up. Your standard JRPG Hero's Journey (tm) is definitely in full effect here, with just a dash of King Arthur.��


Gameplay appears to be open-world, where you'll traverse lush jungles, glowing forests, climb sheer walls, and encounter the crumbling remains of a conquered people. It looks nicely textured and details pop, animating at what looks like a smooth 30 fps.��


Players will pick up two partners in their travels, and while combat initially looks turn-based, we saw all three party members attacking simultaneously. Transitions into combat are completely seamless; characters approach enemies, draw weapons, and it's on. One scene showed your team (wielding much smaller edged weaponry) surrounding a lizard-man enemy, who didn't make much of a dent in their lifebars before it was downed. A much larger lizard-man (a good twenty feet tall) and giant mutant crab monster probably fared better.

MONADO TRAILER

(back up link - check the japanese site first link in post for proper quality trailer)

Hit the HQ option.

Posted by gamingeek Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:37:59 (comments: 867)
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Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:52:19

I really hate the beach section in TCB. It's so ugly.  

Graces looks good, but its cel-shaded so it doesn't need the same resources as doing a realistic style right?

I like the animation of the monster in the Xeno trailer. Wish I could watch that Graces footage but I'm trying to view another video and its taking an age to load. 

 
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:58:37
It's not cel shaded and no, it's a myth that it needs less resources. If anything, when it's done properly, the cel shading is an extra effect on top of normal rendering (usually a pixel shader), so it could well need more. But ToG isn't cel shaded (Vesperia is), the rendering is normal. It's just easier for cartoony stuff to not look fugly. If you try to draw mickey mouse you'll pull it off easier than if you try a self portrait. Or you can do them simpler. But it's clear ToG environments and models aren't lacking in geometry detail. The character faces are more detailed than Xenoblade too even, with better ears and hair and what not. They just have a different art style.
 
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:59:42
Oh nice, Graces has nice large environments. Not sure I like the combat. Wasn't a huge fan of Symphonia's battles either. I'm not an rpg fan at all, but I prefer a fairly simple turn based system. 
 
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:01:47
The combat sounds sweet, and Zelda-ish, with the new sidestepping.
 
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:04:49

Agnates said:
It's not cel shaded and no, it's a myth that it needs less resources. If anything, when it's done properly, the cel shading is an extra effect on top of normal rendering, so it could well need more. But ToG isn't cel shaded, the rendering is normal.

 It's a very simple style though. 

Really doubt it uses as much resources as this.

It would be like comparing Metroid Prime 3 to Red Steel 2. Both are 60 FPS but I know which one is pushing it more. 

 
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:11:28
I was comparing it to Xenoblade, not TCB. TCB characters are second to none on Wii with high detail in geometry and textures and specular mapping and everything. Xenoblade doesn't have such nice looking stuff from the video. The environments seem lesser in TCB though, overall, though they also have some nice texturing at times, but mostly not the outdoors. TCB doesn't have proper environment shadows either, does it? I don't think they're fully dynamic in ToG either but at least they appear properly. And all characters seem to have proper shadows.
http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/102/1023707/tales-of-graces-20090911072311757.jpg
http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/102/1023707/tales-of-graces-20090911072322694.jpg
Anyway, screens don't do it justice, you can see some nice complex cities and such in the trailer, or the smooth looking dungeons and what not, even if the characters are simpler than TCB.

RS2 is cruder and blockier than MP3, it's not the cel shading that makes it so, it's their inability to make a better engine that handles more geometry. It's their design. So, yes, blocky and crude design (which I don't think applies to ToG's environments) needs less resources, that's obvious, but independent to cel shading. You could have the detail of MP3 and cel shade it if you had capable programmers and artists (or like Borderlands does have more detail). They didn't. But at least they had proper shadows both in the environment and the characters and all the breakables which MP3 doesn't have I guess. Of course, its world design is miles ahead.
 
Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:53:21
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/sx4j/world/index.html

A new part of the "world" section on the official site has opened. It has a running loop video of various locations and settings in the game, including stuff that wasn't in the new trailer.

- duckroll

 
Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:29:23

Agnates said:
 You could have the detail of MP3 and cel shade it if you had capable programmers and artists (or like Borderlands does have more detail). They didn't. But at least they had proper shadows both in the environment and the characters and all the breakables which MP3 doesn't have I guess. Of course, its world design is miles ahead.

 Oh yeah, completely agree, I see what you are saying now. 

It's how simple they choose to make it. I think in the past cel-shading had the benefit of making more stylised visuals - that still looked good, yet didn't have to really push the machine as much as a detailed realistic game would. 

 
Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:38:02

Andriasang
Nintendo gave the Xenoblade official site an update today, providing a few additional world details following yesterday's trailer.

Of particular note is a release date. According to the site, the long awaited RPG from the makers of the Xenosaga series (despite the name, it's unrelated to that series) is now set with a final release date of June 10. Pricing was previously announced as ¥6,800 yen.

Other specs listed at the site include the availability of three save files and controller compatibility with Wiimote x Nuncchuck or Classic Controller.

New content at the site includes yesterday's trailer, posted to the trailer section. See this story for a summery of what happens in that trailer.

The world section of the site has been updated with a new area, "Kyoshin to Hitobito," or "Kyoshin and the People."

Kyoshin, literally "giant god," is the name of one of the two humanoid gods who fought an epic battle with one-another long ago and froze into corpses. These corpses, locked in a battle stance, serve as the ground upon which people live. Kyoshin is the side of the world on which the protagonists live. Kishin, literally "machine god," is the other god, and it's the side of the game's antagonists.

"People born from Kyoshin return to Kyoshin," reads the page. The people of the Kyoshin side of the world are apparently full of thanks to the god for the vast fields and nature that have helped to build their civilization.



The people of Kyoshin are split into three tribes:
Homs Tribe
A race that resembles humans. They live in a number of colonies located in the lower half of Kyoshin. Their civilization has developed to a middling level.
Nopon Tribe
A tribe of traveling merchants who can be seen throughout the entirety of the Kyoshin side of the world.
Nienter Tribe
A race of legend that is said to reside in the head region of the Kyoshin part of the world. It is said that they have an ancient history and have built an advanced civilization.

Sections for Kishin Army and God Sword Monado still remain inactive in the world section. Additionally, the site as a whole still has inactive sections for characters, battle, and system, as well as one more slot for a trailer.

 

 
Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:54:23
Holy crap @ the scale in the first image, and to know it's all seamless? Dodgy close up graphics forgiven (though I'm sure they could have been better), imo.
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duckroll said:

Some additional info about Xenoblade from retailer listings and the   retailer meeting yesterday:

- Monolithsoft estimates the game to be 70-80 hours long, over 100 hours  if you decide to enjoy all the optional content

- The entire world in Xenoblade is "seamless" and all areas flow  naturally and continuously. But there are loading breaks when you travel  between major areas. Major areas are defined as different body parts of  the two gods. So travelling from the region of the lower leg up to the  knee area, there will be loading.

- The battles are all in realtime and seamless as well. No transitions  or break, and you can see enemies roaming on the fields. When you attack   enemies normally, you use auto-attack which makes the character   automatically attack the targeted enemy continuously with regular   attacks. If you manage to move behind an enemy or to the enemy's sides, you can trigger special attacks called Arts.

- Xenoblade's soundtrack is composed by Yoko Shimomura, and she's the  only one mentioned in relation to the pre-order "special soundtrack"  bonus. If there are other composers involved, they haven't been  mentioned, but it's clear she's the main composer.

And it's gonna be EPIC!
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