Saturday, January 01, 2011

The best 16-bit RPG you've never played, eh?

That's what one person over on neogaf.com is calling Pier Solar, a Genesis/Mega Drive RPG (recently) created by a team of coders that go by the name of WaterMelon Development.

According to the game's official website, it began life (in 2004) as a homebrew mini-game. Eventually, its developers decided to turn it into a full-fledged RPG in the vein of Chrono TriggerFinal Fantasy VI and Phantasy Star IV.

Another likely source of inspiration: Game Arts' Lunar series, as evidenced in the following video (especially the battle scene, which begins around the 4:45 mark):



Copies of Pier Solar can be pre-ordered here for $45. (Check out this discussion thread at neogaf.com for more information on this intriguing game.)

8 comments:

Starfighter said...

Be aware though that they are very slow paced in everything they do. I mean, I pre-ordered with promises of delivery to christmas 2008. Now, two and a half years later they sent a mail claiming they sent the game since it's finally finished. It has been two weeks since then, I'm not surprised.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, I heard that, Starfighter -- that pre-orders have been taken since 2008 and that the first shipment was *just* sent out -- but thank you for mentioning it here. I certainly hope you get your copy soon. Assuming that happens, will you let me know what you think of it after you finally play it?

Viewtiful_Justin said...

They certainly do a lot of farting around with the languages menu in this video...but the game looks SWEET. I'll be interested to see what comes of it and what Starfighter thinks if and when he gets his copy!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, yeah, there's no question the video I linked to *sucks*. It's seemingly the only one out there of the final version of the game, though, which is why I linked to it. Like you said, though, one you finally get to the meat of the game -- the battle scene, for me -- it definitely looks sweet. I especially like that it has a Lunar: Silver Star sort of vibe...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I've never played that one...I thought the enemy sprites looked sort of Lufia II...or Breath of Fire II.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, both Lunar games are great, Justin. You should give them a try some day, if you're able. Interestingly enough, I've never played Lufia II (as far as I can remember)!

Starfighter said...

If I don't remember it wrong my name will be in the ending credits as well, a perk for all those who pre-ordered it in the very beginning. Just that would be motivation enough to play it all the way through when it arrives. :) I write reviews on video games all the time on a blog but it's all in swedish - otherwise I could have linked my upcoming review on it, but I can sum it up in english and get back to you guys about it, no problem!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that seems like a nice bonus! Anyway, yes, if you could sum up your feelings on the game that would be great :)