Battle Fantasia is coming out soon, real soon. September soon and Watson, the obligatory “Hey look I’m cute!” mascot character is drawing some journalists to look at the game. I took a look at it too and asked Bo deWindt, Producer at Aksys, to clarify the fighting system and the story mode everyone at Siliconera. We discussed the PlayStation 3 version 505 Games plans to release too, but unfortunately there isn’t anything major to report in to report in that department.
Everyone who has seen the game seems to love Watson. What can you tell us about him?
Bo deWindt, Producer at Aksys Games: Watson is one of my favorites too! He is a “Formosan” that hails from Formosa village near Humperdink Forest. During the last war, he and the other three members of the Four Heroes, defeated the armies of Darkness and returned peace to the world. Currently he works at Planeteus, the royal observatory of Ma Jolle. He is also this era’s “Prophet of Light”.
I think players will really enjoy playing through his main story and sub-story modes.
What happens when Watson uses his Heat Up?
During Heat Up mode, Watson becomes more powerful and is able to use the move, Twinkle Dust.
We're talking about Watson too much. Who is your favorite character to play as?
I would have to say it’s a toss-up between Marco and Ashley.
The other new system in Battle Fantasia is the Gachi system can you explain how it works?
The GACHI system is essentially a parry system. You basically press the GACHI button, with the correct timing, before you’re hit in order to parry an attack. By pressing the GACHI button + Forward, you’ll be able to not only parry, but immediately counter-attack as well.
One interesting development choice in Battle Fantasia is how even casual players are aware of HP differences between characters. Actually, it feels like every character has a different amount of HP. How does this affect gameplay balance?
Yes, each character has their own set amount of HP. This might make it seem that characters with more HP have an edge against characters with not as much, but it really all depends on how skillful you are with each character you play as.
Battle Fantasia seems to have a lengthy single player story mode. How does it work?
The story mode follows the events of each character as they try to accomplish their goals. As you progress through a character’s story, you will play one round matches against the characters you come across. Also, each character has their own main story scenario as well as a sub-story scenario, making it quite lengthy and RPG-esque.
How many hours of voice acting is there in the game?
There is roughly 12 hours of voice acting in Battle Fantasia.
I remember hearing the final boss was quite difficult. Can you give us some tips on how to beat him?
Yeah, the last boss is pretty crazy. I only have three words for you… Heat Up mode.
Are there multiple endings?
Indeed, there are. Each character has a main story ending, as well as a sub-story ending.
I saw 505 Games has an English version of Battle Fantasia for the PlayStation 3. Will this be released in North America?
Unfortunately, at this time, it is only slated for the Xbox 360 in North America.
Does the 505 Games published PS3 version have the same English localization developed by Aksys?
I’m not entirely sure, you would probably be better off asking 505 Games that question.
I heard we won't be able to challenge gamers in Japan, but will we be able to play against someone in Switzerland?
Actually, you’ll be able to fight against players on Xbox LIVE in Japan, America, and/or Europe.
At Anime Expo Battle Fantasia was on track for a September release are we still making progress towards that?
Yes, the release date is September 16th, 2008.
Images courtesy of Arc System Works.
