Imageepoch Brings the JRPG Love

As of late, the general consensus among many in the Japanese gaming industry is that the JRPG genre by and large is looking tired and dead, and has practically been given up on by developers and publishers trying to appeal more and more to Westerners. Fortunately for us fans, Imageepoch (the company behind such titles as Arc Rise Fantasia, Last Ranker, and Luminous Arc) took that criticism to heart and has made it their mission to reinvent the way we see the genre by attempting to cultivate a movement.

With their move to becoming a publisher, they announced today at a Tokyo press conference surrounded by members of the media and business colleagues a slew of brand new JRPGs to come soon, along with many yet to be announced. There will be a total of 8 games to be released in 2011 including console, PC, mobile, and online titles to be enjoyed. None of these titles have been officially announced for overseas markets, but we can only hope, right?

  First up, we have the PSP-exclusive Final Promise Story, a dungeon-crawler that utilizes a command-based battle system and promises dark, mature storyline with the twist that if any of your characters die in battle, they are out for the rest of the game, and the story will be altered to compensate. You can find the first video for the title below, and visit the teaser site for just a taste of what the game will look like with more information being released in the next update scheduled for November 29th. The game is set to be released in Japan on April 28th, 2011.

Next, we have the action-heavy Black Rock Shooter, also for the Sony PSP, based on the popular anime series. Set in the year 2051, 19 years after an alien invasion, Black Rock Shooter tells the story of the last 12 people in existence who rise to face off against seven apostles and an army of mechs. There is also a teaser site with more info coming next Tuesday that will expand the site to include real content. The game is set to be released sometime next Summer. Enjoy the video!

Finally, we feature Chevalier Saga Tactics, a PSN exclusive for the PS3, with a free-to-play browser version and a Smartphone game app in the works. As you can probably tell, this is a tactical RPG (similar to Luminous Arc) with a story set in Medieval times that allows you to send out individual commands to your units. However, the game also boasts an online mode that allows players to participate in full-scale battles where you can macromanage entire armies. Imageepoch has suggested that this game may feature cross-platform play betwen all three systems. You can take a look at the official site for the PC version here, and more details will be forthcoming on November 26th. The PC version of the game will receive a beta to go live sometime this Spring. Once again, we are blessed with a gameplay video:

Aside from that, Imageepoch has also promised a new game with TYPEMOON (whom they collaborated with for the Fate/Stay Night fighter released earlier this year), apps for the Android and other Smartphone platforms, as well as an exciting partnership with SEGA where not only would they be serving as Imageepoch's distributor, but will also be teaming up for a brand new project to be released sometime next year.

For more information, please visit Imageepoch's official JRPG portal for more information along with links to the sites for most of the games mentioned in this article, and special thanks to the folks at andriasang for the great coverage!