7th Dragon is Sega's umpteenth DS RPG
by Chris Greenhough 
{ Sep 25th 2008 at 11:01AM }
Sega evidently has some sort of addiction to releasing RPGs on the DS, and it's one vice we wholly approve of. Not content with "only" Sonic Chronicles, Phantasy Star Zero, Shining Force, World Destruction, Blazer Drive, and Infinite Line, the House of Sonic has now announced 7th Dragon, a brand new RPG due out in Japan next spring.
The game pits humans against various dragons and other scaly beasties in a battle for the woooorld, and has one heck of a team behind it. Composer Yuzo Koshiro (Ys I, Ys II, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, both Etrian Odysseys) is on board, as are producer Rieko Kodama (Skies of Arcadia, pre-PSO Phantasy Star games) and Etrian Odyssey director Kuzuya Niinou.
The latter's influence on the project seems especially obvious, as a lot of 7th Dragon's proposed features are reminiscent of an Etrian Odyssey title. Battles are command-based, characters are created by the player, there are seven classes (Rogue, Mage, Fighter, Princess, Knight, Samurai, and Healer, each with elaborate skill trees to navigate), and the action takes place on the top screen, with a map depicting who controls which territories on the bottom.
[Update: typo]
Source: Full scan from Famitsu
Source: Translation work
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kimiko @ Sep 25th 2008 11:12AM
An RPG with Etrian Odyssey influences? Neat! ☆_☆
But, "map depicting who controls which territories", does that mean it's going to be another Strategy game?
Symytry @ Sep 25th 2008 11:18AM
isn't that Yuzo Koshiro on the tunes?
Chris Greenhough @ Sep 25th 2008 12:04PM
Oops, certainly is. Thanks for the heads-up!
Zealot @ Sep 25th 2008 12:16PM
Don't get too excited; the only Sega RPG we've seen make it out of Japan is Sonic Chronicles. Even if it looks good, odds are it's going to look good from afar.
Mikhail @ Sep 25th 2008 12:59PM
Sonic Chronicles is from Bioware, which I think is from Canada.
Zealot @ Sep 25th 2008 1:52PM
Yeah, you're right. Haven't really been following the game, but still an obvious mistake on my part.
Come to think of it, this means that Sega has localized a grand total of zero JRPGs on the DS. Ugh.
aj @ Sep 25th 2008 3:08PM
Sonic Chronicles is straight out of Edmonton, AB, thank you very much.
I only mention this because it is the single and only source of pride I have in this miserable city I live in.
SephFinale @ Sep 25th 2008 4:07PM
Lol, Bioware has a branch in Austin, Texas.
aj @ Sep 25th 2008 3:08PM
Didn't Sega do Shiren the Wanderer?
Not a traditional RPG, sure, but....
chibi_wings @ Sep 25th 2008 3:22PM
I WOULD be excited IF sega actually localized its RPGs, but where are they? This will probably be another good game never to see NA shores *tear drop*
rikki @ Sep 25th 2008 5:03PM
Note that it's "Kazuya" Niinou, not Kuzuya.
That said, I WANT THIS even though a lot of it seems like a shameless EO rehash. WANT.
Zachary Hinchliffe @ Sep 25th 2008 11:11PM
If you count "Sonic Chronicles, Phantasy Star Zero, Shining Force, World Destruction, Blazer Drive, and Infinite Line", 7th Dragon is the 7th RPG in the list!
Vayne Solidous @ Sep 26th 2008 4:27PM
This sounds like it might actually be cool. But you know what would be even cooler? Phantasy Star V with awesome 2D visuals, and classic gameplay, on the DS preferably. No more online stuff please. I mean, if Sega wants to make some real money, this would be great for them. I am not even crossing my fingers on this happening though. Instead we get Sonic Chronicles. (which I am actually kind of enjoying)