An RPG inspired by the classic console greats, Battle Chasers: Nightwar from ex-Vigil (Darksiders) developers, including Co-Founders Joe Madureira and Ryan Stefanelli, launched on Kickstarter this week, reaching 70% of its goal in just one day.
Because of the early success, developer Airship Syndicate is “taking Xbox One and PS4 out of stretch goals and making them a core part of the campaign.” Depending how well the Kickstarter goes, more platforms may show up in future stretch goals.
Here’s the rundown of Battle Chasers: Nightwar:
Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a love letter to one of our favorite genres of gaming: the JRPG. We grew up playing legends like Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Chrono Trigger, and Phantasy Star. While many greats continue to come from Japan, very few western developers are creating them.
With your help, we’re going to change that.
- Plan for survival. The desolate town of Harm’s Way is your only place to prepare. Choose three of the many heroes you’ve unlocked, fill your travel backpack with items from your stash, make sure you’ve chosen the best equipment and abilities for each hero… and then strike out.
- Explore an overworld presented in classic form, peppered with hidden dungeons, rare bosses and randomly appearing friends and foes.
- Old-school combat inspired by the console RPG greats, with a unique two-tiered mana system and turn-based initiative, featuring random buffs and debuffs on initiative slots
- Action oriented, randomly-generated dungeons loaded with traps, puzzles and secrets. Use each hero’s unique dungeon skills to survive!
- Non-linear story driven by the discovery of lore on items, landmarks and secret elements in the world. Discovering these will both provide deeper insight into the mysterious Lost Vale, and also reward lore points, which are used to upgrade the heroes’ different abilities
- Truly key story moments will be depicted in gorgeous, traditional 2D animation from Powerhouse Animation Studios. For these, sit back and enjoy.
Explaining why they’re on Kickstarter, Airship Syndicate says they understand “trials and tribulations of game development at every stage.” Lots of time and money has already been put into Battle Chasers, so you aren’t paying for the whole thing, but stretch goals will help flesh out the experience.
They add:
Delivering a great game to our backers will always be the number one goal, however. And should there be unexpected challenges, we have a number of options at our disposal, including taking on more investment or a even a publisher. We will do whatever we must, without ego, to make good on our promise and reward your support.
Based on the estimated delivery date of the items, expect Battle Chasers: Nightwar in December 2016.
[Source: Kickstarter]
