Flight-Plan close shop - sad day for SRPGs

[Cosign]

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/08/04/summon-night-developers-flight-plan-close-shop/

Flight-Plan specialized in making SRPGs. Games like, Dragon Shadow Spell, Eternal Poison and Summon Night series though they also make RPGs in other styles. I consider them masters at the genre. They make really interesting systems. RPGFan had an interview with the president of Flight-Plan from a while  back. http://www.rpgfan.com/features/interviews2007/index1.html

So I consider this a sad day in the history of SRPGs. For those people who really like these kinds of games, Flight-Plan was expert at appeasing that crowd. They were also a bit old hat. The genre had almost completely disappeared from home console during the leap from PS2 to HD consoles. Flight-Plan tried handhelds but I guess those platforms didn't pay their investment properly what with the rampant piracy and all.  


List of Flight-Plan games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight-Plan

[Starmongoose]

Oh dear, I rather enjoyed Eternal Poison. I even imported a PS2 and the game so I could play it.

[Wilsongt]

There goes any (slim) chance that Shining Force Feather had of being localized. Oh well. Glad I imported.

[Dincrest]

And we never got Shining Force Feather.  Okay the music wasn't great beyond the "Fly On" vocal theme (I reviewed the OST), but the game looked like it'd have been a solid SRPG Shining Force.  We hadn't seen one of those in forever.

I was sad when KID went under in '06 (though Cyberfront bought their IPs),  Hirameki went belly up in '08 (who's going to take up the visual novel localization mantle now?), Cavia's gone (but they left with a bang with Nier), Cing's gone (I hope we get Last Window.  AGAIN is not the final memory I want from them),

I mean, I know the global economy is still in shambles and stuff like this happens but it's still a bit of a bummer.

[Aeolus]

I find this depressing even though I wont be missing those Summon Night games any time soon.

[FlamingR1ft]

I was sad when KID went under in '06 (though Cyberfront bought their IPs),  Hirameki went belly up in '08...

KID closing down as bad enough, but Hirameki was the biggest blow. They actually localised some good stuff. Not just the sex-romps most other VN translation companies do.

[Ramza]

Ugh, this is awful news. I really, really wanted more FP titles in the US. We never even got a true Summon Night title, just the Tales clones and Twin Age. Which were good, but not SRPGs.

[Cosign]

Hirameki went belly up in '08 (who's going to take up the visual novel localization mantle now?)

Mangagamer is doing some good stuff over there on the visual novel front. High hopes from them.
There are also fan translations, which sees a release... every now and then.

Also, the people who made Odin Sphere, what was that company? They put out Muramasa and they still haven't died yet? That is a miracle.
God please live long enough to do another game.

[Dincrest]

Odin Sphere, Grim Grimoire, Muramasa, and Princess Crown were all by VanillaWare.

[TurnBasedDude]

That would be a blow for me if Vanillaware went down-under. Despite their repetitive ganeplay, I honestly enjoy their works a lot.

[Bill]

Hirameki went belly up in '08 (who's going to take up the visual novel localization mantle now?)

Mangagamer is doing some good stuff over there on the visual novel front. High hopes from them.

Yeah, MangaGamer also has a couple non-adult releases, if you guys haven't checked them out already. Both are high profile: 07th Expansion's Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Overdrive's Kira Kira (All-Ages version).

Kira Kira features some outstanding character writing, IMO.

[FlamingR1ft]

Yeah, MangaGamer also has a couple non-adult releases, if you guys haven't checked them out already. Both are high profile: 07th Expansion's Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Overdrive's Kira Kira (All-Ages version).

Kira Kira features some outstanding character writing, IMO.

I'm not a big fan of MangaGamer. I'm glad they're doing what they're doing, but they're a bit overpriced and their translations aren't always the best. Especially considering they're download only (which also puts me off). Kira Kira is very good and Higurashi is pretty good too. The rest of their games are the usual crap though. Except for Da Capo and at least they did Shuffle! (which is still a bit meh really).

Putting aside amateur translations why doesn't any company at leas try and get rights to the good stuff? Fate/Stay Night, Chaos;Head (though with JAST partnering Nitro+ things are looking good.), Kara no Shoujo, Air, Kanon, Clannad, Little Busters!, ef- a fairy tale of the two, Eden*, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, etc etc. I could go on and on. Though mind you, most of them HAVE had amateur patches done, so not all hope is lost.

[Wild Armor]

......... I need to go light a candle. I loved Summon Knight for the GBA. Two rpgs I ACTUALLY beat beginning to end without week/month breaks. I even brought my DS to college to play these games because I love em that much.

[Cosign]

Flight Plan's spin-off company called Apollosoft still exists and they are releasing a new game on the 16th of Sept (an SRPG) called Blue Roses
http://nippon1.jp/consumer/blueroses/

[Aeolus]

Putting aside amateur translations why doesn't any company at leas try and get rights to the good stuff? Fate/Stay Night, Chaos;Head (though with JAST partnering Nitro+ things are looking good.), Kara no Shoujo, Air, Kanon, Clannad, Little Busters!, ef- a fairy tale of the two, Eden*, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, etc etc. I could go on and on. Though mind you, most of them HAVE had amateur patches done, so not all hope is lost.

So was there anything not completely godawful about Chaos;Head, or was it just the anime that was an unsalvageable trainwreck?