True Fantasy Live Online Confirmed For US

Thanks to an anonymous reader for passing on news from Gamerfeed that the Xbox MMORPG True Fantasy Live Online has been confirmed for US release. This Microsoft-published title is being made by Japanese developers Level 5, the developers of Dark Cloud and its sequel for Sony, who are also currently working on Dragon Quest VIII for SquareEnix. Level 5 have a small official product page, albeit mainly in Japanese, with concept art and screenshots available, and there are more screenshots at RPGRadar. This is one of Xbox's rivals to Everquest and Final Fantasy for PS2, and is also interesting because Microsoft have grabbed a prominent Japanese developer to do it for them.

True Fantasy?

[bobthemonkey13]

True Fantasy Live Online? Is it just me or does the title seem a bit oxymoronic?

Re:True Fantasy?

[joFFeman]

well, the fact that it is indeed an oxymoron is overshadowed, at least in my eyes, by the 'coincidence' of 'fantasy' being in the name... at least when sega released phantasy star, it had

1) an alternate spelling

2) a great game to back it up

3) the integrity of being a company other than microsoft

Re:True Fantasy?

[CaptMonkeyDLuffy]

Hmmm... Well, if you're implying that Microsoft is trying to use the word Fantasy to ties themselves to the Final Fantasy brand name(sorry, series isn't an accurate description...), then I think you missed a big old number four on that list. Phantasy Star predates Final Fantasy. Shoot, except for Dragon Warrior/Quest, PS predates the rest of the genre(as far as consoles go)...

Re:True Fantasy?

[joFFeman]

if i'm not mistaken, final fantasy: 1987, famicom, and phantasy star: 1988, sms. ...well, that's not really in the form of a sentence, but i'm cool with that. it's 2:13 in the morning.

Re:True Fantasy?

[s0nicfreak]

They were both released in Japan in 87. Final Fantasy in December, but I don't remember what month Phantasy Star was...

Re:True Fantasy?

[CaptMonkeyDLuffy]

Those dates are US releases if I recall... The original PS was sometime in 87... early I believe. Most accounts I've heard always placed the order Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Final Fantasy... Though, I think the second Dragon Quest beat out at least FF, if not PS as well...

Re:True Fantasy?

[joFFeman]

fine, whatever; it's a non-issue, this new game is doomed to failure because i said so.

It's about time...

[JolieBlanc]

This thing's been in development in Japan for quite some time. It was originally supposed to be one of the flagship launches for Xbox LIVE -- a true MMORPG, unlike Phantasy Star Online, which limits you to gaming with a smaller group through established levels.

TFLO is bloody gorgeous, too; it uses a rather sleek cell-shaded design reminiscent of Dark Cloud 2, Level 5's most recent US release. Playing this one with LIVE's voice communication ought to be a lot of fun.

Re:It's about time...

[Crockerboy]

I agree. I bought my PS2 about a year ago from EB and they gave me a free 1 year subscription to their Game Informer mag (which, btw, is little more than an over glorified advertisment in case anyone cares) and in this issue were screenshots and a quick little blurb of this game. It really got my attention and I started regretting my choice of the PS2 over the Xbox. But now that speakeasy.net is running their "sign up and get a free xbox" promotion again and this game still isn't released I take it as a

Gimmegimmegimme!

[bluemeep]

This is the most drop-dead sexy RPG I've seen in a long time. I was thinking of playing WoW or FFXI, but I do believe this is the little beauty I'll be going with for my next MMO addiction.

Now if only I had an XBox.