Return to PoPoLoCrois: localisation blog post #2, screenshots
This week, Marvelous announced that Returns to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale would be released in Europe, though only on the Nintendo eShop. They also revealed a new trailer for the game, that you can find in this post along with the EU announcement, and some details about the story.
Yesterday, Tom from XSEED posted a second localisation blog post for the game, in which he starts talking about how much of an impact the PoPoLoCrois has had on his life. He explains that one of the defining characteristics of Prince Pietro is his “persistent optimism”, no matter what happens. Even when lives and livelihood hang in the balance, he remains resolute through it all.
Tom also mentions the very sweet relationship of Prince Pietro with Narcia: the most genuine and innocent romance he’s ever seen in any game…. that’s quite the praise! While there is definitely some “damsel in distress moments”, there’s some also “reverse situations”, where it’s Narcia saving Prince Pietro. For Tom, it all feels pretty genuine, as the two characters are always there for each other when they need a helping hand.
He describes Returns to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons as a true coming-of-age story:
t’s about adorably lovestruck children who are forced into adventures much bigger than they are, facing circumstances and consequences that no child should ever face – yet meeting them with a grace and positivity that somehow, against all odds, actually manages to work out for them in the end, and makes them better human beings in the process.
The RPG side of the game is described as being very reminiscent of 32-bit era games, though it doesn’t revolutionise the genre. As for the Story of Seasons / Harvest Moon elements, they do fit the theme and narrative perfectly, but there won’t be anything that fans of the Story of Seasons / Rune Factory series aren’t familiar with.
As for the story…
The story itself is very much in keeping with fairytale tradition, offering tons of great characters and spinning an engaging yarn full of magic and whimsy, but it’s certainly not going to be heralded as a pioneering Shakespearean masterwork or anything.
Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale, while steeped in tradition, is more than just the sum of its parts.
More details about the game will be revealed pretty soon, including the release date for North America. In the mean time, here’s some screenshots:
Returns to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairtytale (3DS) comes out in Q1 2016 in Europe and North America.
Source: XSEED