Atlus brings The Dark Spire to light
by JC Fletcher 
{ Dec 19th 2008 at 11:00AM }
Atlus has confirmed the theory that their upcoming The Dark Spire is a localized version of Success' Genmu no Tou to Tsurugi no Okite -- either that or they dropped whatever game they had planned under that name after they saw that everyone thought it would be Genmu. Probably not, but it's a fun idea.The Dark Spire is a first-person dungeon RPG playable in two distinct graphical styles: a vintage "wireframe" look straight out of Wizardry, or a striking, high-contrast "modern" look. Players control a band of adventurers who attempt to survive the tower stronghold of Archmage Tyrhung in order to gain possession of a magical jewel. According to one baffling screenshot, characters will be able to learn skills including dance, knitting, and "arts and crafts" along the way.
One element we were not aware of in the Japanese version is the running narration on the bottom screen, which makes The Dark Spire feel much more like a text adventure. The narration, combining atmospheric storytelling with Atlus humor, is just one of the reasons this game is going to make us attempt to play a hardcore dungeon RPG.
Gallery: The Dark Spire
[Via press release]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chibi_wings @ Dec 19th 2008 11:45AM
I love the look, and I love all RPGs. There is no need to fear the first person dungeon crawling RPG, embrace it.lol. =D
Danny @ Dec 19th 2008 11:54AM
Looks as though the joy of the Wizardry series is being brought back in the form of Dark Spire. I am pretty stoked.
elsng @ Dec 19th 2008 11:57AM
Seeing how well they did Etrian Odyssey, I will probably be picking this up as well.
閻魔彌勒 @ Dec 19th 2008 1:24PM
To my dismay,the Japanese version of this is quite a bugs-bitten one. Hope this release would include a fix or we have no luck…
tuffy @ Dec 19th 2008 1:56PM
Atlus fixed a lot of bugs in the Etrian Odyssey titles before their US releases. I'm sure they'd fix this one too.
s1l3n70n3 @ Dec 19th 2008 6:19PM
No, when I first saw this I did not think "Wizardry," instead, the original Shin Megami Tensei came to mind. Since ATLUS made that game with corridors that look identical, (I'm referring to the wireframe mode) one can think of this as maybe a spiritual successor to the original series.
b003 @ Dec 20th 2008 4:21PM
Great news! I guess someone got tired of me yelling "Where is my Wizardry Summoner!!". And it's got mapping. I wonder if you'll be able to rest in the dungeon with chance encounters and not have to go all the out of the dungeon to save your game. I've never played Etrian Odyessy because it seemd like too much work. But if Etrian ever comes out with a lazy (easy map,save and rest) mode I'm there.
Enmamiryoku @ Dec 20th 2008 12:47PM
For those who love dungeons like me , a game called 'Elminage DS Remix' would worth your anticipation . This is an uptouched version of a Wizardary-like dungeon RPG with a more complete experience of classic style DRPG . Hope it would have a English release soon.