The Alliance Alive: more details about gameplay and characters, staff
Last week, early scans from Weekly Shonen Jump allowed us to learn about a game called The Alliance Alive. Published by FuRyu, it will be released on the Nintendo 3DS in Spring 2017 in Japan. It was pretty likely the game was developed by the same team behind The Legend of Legacy, and today, early leaks from Famitsu confirm just that.
Many key members of the development team are from The Legend of Legacy:
- Producer / Director: Masataka Matsuura (same as The Legend of Legacy)
- Scenario: Yoshitaka Murayama (of Suidoken fame)
- Game Design: Kyoji Koizumi (same as The Legend of Legacy)
- Art Director: Masayo Asano
- Composer: Masashi Hamauzu (same as The Legend of Legacy)
- Character Design: Hirao Ryo (mangaka)
- Development: Cattle Call (same as The Legend of Legacy)
Famitsu describes The Alliance Alive as a “new classic RPG”, that takes the classic elements of RPG and gives them a modern twist. The game takes place in a world that has been ruled by magic beings for centuries, with humans rebelling against their authority. The world itself has been divided in several “zones”, each with their own culture.
Just like in Bravely Default, players get to travel on a field map, but there’s no random encounters: battles begin when you hit an enemy symbol. As mentioned the other day, there’s 9 protagonists in the game. Similar to the seven characters from The Legend of Legacy, they all begin their journey with different goals, but they end up working together.
Here’s some details about them:
- Garyl: a member of the resistance (called Night Crows). A gentle but passionate young man;
- Ursula: another member of the Night Crows. A blond-haired girl with a refreshing personality. She may look sweet on the outside, but she never reveals her true intentions, and she is always manipulating Garyl;
- Barbarossa: another member of the Night Crows. A ghost soldier who has sworn loyalty to Ursula’s father (who once saved her life);
- Vivian: she’s the daughter of a noble magic being. Unsurprisingly for a historian, she’s always pretty calm, and she has a keen interest in the human world;
- Ignace: another magic being, and Vivian’s very own butler. He values discipline and class above all else;
- Rachel: a mercenary, hired by the Magic Guild. She’s described as a really kind person, who always do something as soon as it comes to mind;
- Lanzo: another member of the Night Crows. A well-informed young man, who’s generally pretty optimistic;
- Jean: a member of the magic guild, and a magic user. He always makes sure to look at things from a wide perspective. Unlike Rachel, he doesn’t act impulsively;
- Tigi: a self-proclaimed professor, known for various inventions. She’s apparently researching something called the Black Stream.
Famitsu also provides various details about the game and its gameplay, thanks to an interview with the developers. We learn that The Alliance Alive came to be after the developers made some researchs, and found out that one thing other companies can’t make is a RPG with a good balance of story and gameplay.
With this game, the developers wanted to have a world with plenty of variety, so much so that simply walking around would be fun. They ended up going with a world map, and ignore the latest trends. This map is inspired by the one from JRPG classics, that lets players imagine for themselves what the world looks like.
The developers are actually optimising the distance between towns and dungeons, along with the encounter rate. The goal is to make sure players feel satisfied exploring the world, not stressed. During the adventure, you will even get to use vehicles.
We also learn that The Alliance Alive features 9 protagonist for a good reason: to make sure players find the one they like. You can have up to 5 characters in your party, and you can arrange them in formations. The developers also mention a Guild system, which strengthens your party. As far as customisation goes, the game will let you set equipment / weapons.
Finally, we have some details about the battle system. It will feature an “Awakening element: a bona-fide epiphany, where your character suddenly learns a new technique, or their status goes up. Naturally, the stronger the enemies you defeat, the more XP you get in return. For players who want to further strengthen their characters, there will be other elements allowing them to do so.
The Alliance Alive (3DS) comes out in Spring 2017 in Japan.
