Explanation hereOkay everyone, things just got real. All hands on deck. Red alert. If you're waking up to your daily Compendium check-in, you're gonna want to sit down for this. If you've just taken a sip of water or coffee, please swallow before reading on, because we're not going to be liable for any injuries that result from this. And if you came here after seeing all the game media sites abuzz, you're in luck -- we've got the full scoop thanks to TimeNinja, an heroic bilingual Chrono fan who lives at ground zero. You need to thank TimeNinja for foregoing sleep to bring us scans, pics and music. Also...thank cats.
So here are the basics. Square Enix just announced "Kairos: The Fate Unwound" for the PS Vita, including a playable demo and a six-track soundtrack sampler for good measure. Here are TimeNinja's scans of
a character whose appearance should excite you and
apparently the game's hero straight from the soundtrack sampler sleeve. TimeNinja's also got the six tracks ripped;
check them out here and get your excitement on! This all went down at Square Enix's booth at the Fancy Feline Festival in Osaka, which started Friday, March 30 and wraps up today. Yes, we
know this is weird. No, games are not normally announced at such a venue. We can only imagine that when the Chrono "tick" started,
the audience reaction must have been immediate. But as luck would have it, none other than writer and director
Masato Kato was on hand and agreed to an interview with TimeNinja to explain this and much, much more! Let's get right to this rush-translated transcript while you're listening to the music and checking out these awesome official screencaps.
TIMENINJA: Mr. Kato, thank you so much for this opportunity. To start off since our time is short, could you explain why Square Enix chose the Fancy Feline Festival for this announcement, instead of a more traditional place like the Tokyo Game Show?MASATO KATO: Blame the marketers! (laughs) But seriously, it's a well known fact that fully 90 percent of the Internet community is made up of cat lovers. If Square Enix wanted an announcement to go viral, this is the most logical place. I have a feeling the interviews will be all over the web within the day!
More importantly, you've seen the tie-in right here at the press conference: the cat herding minigame is a big part of
Kairos. If you think about it, cats have always been central to the
Chrono series!
TN: Yes, I saw that in the demo. It seemed very difficult to get the cats to go where the player wanted.KATO: (laughs) Yeah, this is an aspect of cat behavior the programming team is trying very hard to portray accurately!
TN: So, a number of questions are going to shoot to the very top of fans' minds. I guess I'll ask first, who's the art director this time around? The style doesn't seem anything like Mr. Toriyama's or Mr. Yuuki's?KATO: That's right. I guess each
Chrono game, from
Trigger to
Dreamers to
Cross, has had a different art director, hasn't it? This time it's Yusuke Naora, who was a great pleasure to work with -- even more than Mr. Mitsuda! (laughs) Fans might not realize that Mr. Naora worked with us on
Chrono Trigger as an environment designer, so in a sense he's right at home on the team.
TN: And why isn't "Chrono" part of the title? Is this going to be more a side story like Radical Dreamers, rather than a mainline Chrono game?KATO: Oh, let me explain the title's meaning before I answer that specifically. The Greeks had two words for time: "chronos" and "kairos." The first refers to sequential time, while the latter refers to a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. It's like a passing instant when an opening appears, and you must drive through it with force if success is to be achieved. You can probably imagine how that fits into the world of
Chrono.But as to your question, it has a nice cadence, doesn't it --
Chrono,
Dreamers,
Chrono,
Kairos? I was deeply saddened with some fans' reactions to
Chrono Cross, you know. I think because we attached the
Chrono label directly, people expected more of the same that they experienced in
Trigger. And doing more of the same just isn't this ole' man's style. (laughs) The concept of "kairos" gave us a way of straying from the
Chrono label, allowing us to do something very different while maintaining the driving themes of the series. In that sense, the comparison to
Dreamers is very appropriate.
TN: But it is the same world, right?KATO: Oh, yes! Guardia, the southern islands, Porre in the modern epoch -- this has always been the launching point for any
Chrono game. Established worlds that players have already invested in are the greatest asset any game company can have I think, and Square Enix realises this. I'm very pleased with their decision to return to it, and I think fans will be too!
TN: So tell us about this character from the soundtrack sampler art, known only as "The Guru." Of course there are three Gurus series fans know about so far: Gasch, Bosch and Hasch. I assume he's one of these three and I could make a guess from the hat, but let's hear it straight from the scenario writer.KATO: Oh, I can't give that away yet! I spent all this time writing up a big mystery, could you expect me to make the big reveal before the game even releases? (laughs) But I can say that this person has quite a lot invested in the timeline that exists at the beginning of
Kairos. Players will make a lot of guesses, but the truth will be surprising, and probably a little sad.
TN: Judging from the soundtrack song titles released so far, it almost sounds like "The Guru" will be...an antagonist?KATO: I want to get away from the idea of "bad guys" and "good guys" with
Kairos. We're not just going to push gameplay boundaries with this title -- we're going to push storytelling too. It's gotten too stagnant and formulaic in RPGs. (laughs) But yeah, he'll seem to be an antagonist at first. The great thing is that his own journey parallels the heroine's, and that of the player as well.
TN: Yeah, let's talk about the new hero. I saw in the demo that she seems to start out as a cat herder, but how does she get wrapped up with "The Guru" and everything else that's happening?KATO: Well, it's a long story. I think 30 hours, last I counted! (laughs) But you can see in the demo that her rival is a big-name cat wrangler from the mainland, a masked man who is sure to excite fans. When she competes with him in the climax of the Big Cat Rodeo, she awakens something inside him, memories from his past. It's not just her, it's also the high-ranking official presiding over the tourney -- everything's coming together and striking him in a certain way that he's never experienced before. Things certainly get interesting from there! You might say it's a loose thread "The Guru" left without knowing it, and that is the real beginning of the story.
But as far as the character's motivation, it's going to be very clear and something the player can identify with I hope. Imagine if you learned you owed your birth directly to some atrocity -- one running thirteen thousand years in this young woman's case. Entire kingdoms falling down just to put a few pieces in place, so your mom and dad could meet. What would you do if you suddenly had the chance to change all that?
TN: That sounds pretty dark!KATO: But not so unrealistic, perhaps. I read an article in 2009 that explained how we might all be here today because our ancestors wiped out the Neanderthals. It gave me a real chill, and so I began drafting what would become
Kairos. As for the mood, I know some fans were disappointed with how sad things were in
Cross. I think they'll enjoy
Kairos more once they pick it up. Like
Trigger, it's actually very lighthearted until the premise kicks in. It's important for the story, because we need to know what enjoyment of life is before we have a motive to combat things that would stifle that.
TN: And what's her weapon? It looks a little like Serge's swallow from Chrono Cross?KATO: You're very observant! It's not quite a swallow, though -- this one's called an "alethe." The company allowed us to bring back Mr. Oguchi, our character animator on
Cross, which I was very happy about. He really enjoyed all the intricate movements associated with the swallow and suggested we do something similar. But you know my motto --
TN: Never do the same thing twice -- KATO: (laughs) And we called a team meeting to discuss this most important decision. It could make or break things from a gameplay perspective, right? I think it was one of our battle programmers who said his aunt was an expert with the Naginata and was transfixed as a young child, watching her practice with it. So I asked our modeler to come up with a mix of that and the swallow! (laughs)
The "alethe" is a very peculiar weapon originating in the southern islands. There's a very heavy, decorative front blade but it's used mostly for defense -- it's the thin axe-like blade on the back you attack with. It feels very strange to hold, let alone use effectively. But if you're good with it, you have an advantage in battle because so few warriors know how it even works. Cat herding is a dangerous thing to begin with considering the rivalries, so it's understandable why her father might have taught her how to use such a new weapon. So much the better if her father happened to be an expert with the swallow to begin with! (laughs)
TN: This sounds like a good time to talk about the game's combat system!KATO: Oh, I am sooooo glad you asked! (laughs) I'm very excited about this, because the
Chrono series has always been about pushing boundaries when it comes to gameplay.
The PlayStation Vita is the perfect platform because it allows the traditional button controls, but also touch controls on the screen. So in normal RPGs, you're done once you've pushed a button or whatever. In
Kairos, things are just beginning once you've chosen to attack or use a special technique. If you tap or slice your finger across the screen during the character's preparation time, you'll create a variation on the command you've selected. So you can find new special attacks with some experimentation! We've also brought a "balance" system in play to measure character stamina. If you save up you can do combination attacks with more than one character, but if you attack too liberally the characters can become off-balance and unable to react to enemy attacks.
The peculiarities of the "alethe" also play into this. Let's just say there are some surprises in store when you choose "Defend" in the combat menu. I've heard that RPG players usually scorn this option, so we're doing something to spice it up this time around. (laughs)
TN: I can tell from the number of people standing in line that I'd better get moving, but Mr. Kato, what message would you give to the fanbase eagerly awaiting Kairos?KATO: Things are very tough all over the world right now. I would say, "Don't forget to dream like a radical dreamer." It might seem like things much bigger than you have already woven your fate, but no matter what's working against you, it can't be perfect. It must have left a thread loose somewhere. Search for that thread, and when you find it, tug with all your might. That will be your "kairos," your supreme moment.
Okay guys, I'd say that leaves me pretty stoked for what's to come. TimeNinja didn't bring a camera to record the demo, but
here's Square Enix's first gameplay preview! Are you feeling the excitement yet!?
