Fans of Grid Based Tactical Games Rejoice in the Awesomeness that is Unsung Story

[Sterling]

California based mobile games developer Playdek Inc. has launched a Kickstarter for a spiritual successor to the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics. Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians brings the genius of Yasumi Matsuno to the table. He has had his hand in several tactics styled games over the past two decades, and is perfectly suited for this project.

The Kickstarter is designed to raise the funds required to have the games ported over to PC, Mac, and Linux, as well as Windows Tablets. Some of the (unrealistic) stretch goals promise to have it ported to the PS Vita, and the Nintendo 3DS. The project reached 300,000$ dollars within two days of being started, showing us just how anticipated a real job based tactics game is wanted.

I'm really excited about this. Playdek seems to have enough experience in board game styled development to have a good chance at producing a great grid based tactics game. They're even calling the biggest experts to the table, and that is very heartening.

Despite the fact that this was only slated to be a mobile game, I have a good feeling that this game will be exactly what us tactics fans are looking for. Too bad I don't think that this will make it to the Vita or the 3DS...

Source

 

[Veho]

As a fan of Grid Based Tactical Games, I welcome this endeavour. I'll throw a dollar their way and see what happens.

 

[Nathan Drake]

I can see it hitting the Vita since that's only the $1m goal. The $1.5m needed for 3DS however may be more of a push.

 

[Satangel]

Wow this does sound cool. I don't doubt they'll reach the point where they can start developing this game for the PC/Mac/Tablets.
And really, really cool that you can pay more to even choose the platforms where it is released yourself, superb.

 

[Sterling]

I can see it hitting the Vita since that's only the $1m goal. The $1.5m needed for 3DS however may be more of a push.

Nice catch. They changed their stretch goals. Vita was 1.800.000$ before, and the 3DS was 2.000.000.

I just now noticed that I missed the 's' in fans.

 

[BORTZ]

Pretty much a legendary team. I am against actually backing Kickstarters, but if this actually makes it to the Vita, ill probably snag it.

 

[Sterling]

Pretty much a legendary team. I am against actually backing Kickstarters, but if this actually makes it to the Vita, ill probably snag it.

Might I ask why are you against backing any Kickstarters?

 

[GameWinner]

Very excited for this. C'mon Vita!

 

[BORTZ]

Might I ask why are you against backing any Kickstarters?

You may and will answer you. You might not agree with my reasoning, and that's fine. I don't like the idea of throwing money at something that isn't guaranteed to succeed. Also I don't like the idea of money disappearing out of my account. Then waiting for months, possibly years till whatever project I backed finally succeeds. The other problem I have is that I know that I would not be able to stop myself. I would throw money at everything and then I would wonder why I'm overdrawn at the grocery store.

 

[Ryukouki]

You may and will answer you. You might not agree with my reasoning, and that's fine. I don't like the idea of throwing money at something that isn't guaranteed to succeed. Also I don't like the idea of money disappearing out of my account. Then waiting for months, possibly years till whatever project I backed finally succeeds. The other problem I have is that I know that I would not be able to stop myself. I would throw money at everything and then I would wonder why I'm overdrawn at the grocery store.

You actually do not pay until it succeeds.

 

[Gahars]

Isn't singing the praises of something called "Unsung Story" betraying the spirit of the whole thing?

You actually do not pay until it succeeds.

I think he means in the long term, not the Kickstarter itself.

I'm not against Kickstarters, and I've even backed a few, but the recent Mighty No. 9 debacle (Comcept hasn't even responded to my requests for a refund, by the by) has made me a lot more wary. The fundamental problem with Kickstarter is that it's too easy for backers to get screwed over, and there's too little accountability. There's pretty much nothing to make sure developers are using their funding responsibly (*cough*Double Fine*cough*).

 

[BORTZ]

Ha, look, this project here is really interesting. I just dont like backing projects. Kickstarter has lots more protection that something like IndyGogo who can literally take your money and go go go.

Look, if this project (or any other Kickstarter) is going to succeed, they can do it without my help. I know that doesnt work universally, or Kickstarter wouldn't exist. But Theres just something about not having a tangable project to actually demo or try out before spending money on it is a bit dicey for me. If/When this happens, I will spend money on it.

I dont want to start a war here, and I know lots of you can point out flaws in my thinking. But that wont change the fact that I feel uncomfortable spending money on kickstarters.

 

[Sterling]

Isn't singing the praises of something called "Unsung Story" betraying the spirit of the whole thing?



I think he means in the long term, not the Kickstarter itself.

I'm not against Kickstarters, and I've even backed a few, but the recent Mighty No. 9 debacle (Comcept hasn't even responded to my requests for a refund, by the by) has made me a lot more wary. The fundamental problem with Kickstarter is that it's too easy for backers to get screwed over, and there's too little accountability. There's pretty much nothing to make sure developers are using their funding responsibly (*cough*Double Fine*cough*).

Crowd funding needs some work, true. What's the deal with Mighty No. 9?

@Bortz: Fair enough. There's a few kickstarters I've funded that have been coming to fruition. Magicite to name the most recent one. The devs have always been relatively open about what stage they're at, and what they're wanting to work on next.

 

[Gahars]

Crowd funding needs some work, true. What's the deal with Mighty No. 9?

It's a complicated, messy matter. This image is a decent enough primer.

TL;DR: Dina is hired using funds from the Kickstarter. She has no experience, either with being a community manager or with the Mega Man franchise, and only appears to have gotten the position because of her "bf" in the company. Anyone who questions her decisions or her SJW-like views on the forum is censored and/or banned. Anyone who asks about possible refunds is completely ignored or banned outright.

Just one example of what I mean by "SJW-like views": "Ginger" is hate speech.

 

[Sterling]

It's a complicated, messy matter. This image is a decent enough primer.

TL;DR: Dina is hired using funds from the Kickstarter. She has no experience, either with being a community manager or with the Mega Man franchise, and only appears to have gotten the position because of her "bf" in the company. Anyone who questions her decisions or her SJW-like views on the forum is censored and/or banned. Anyone who asks about possible refunds is completely ignored or banned outright.

Just one example of what I mean by "SJW-like views": "Ginger" is hate speech.

Okay, what a bitch. Red flags being raised all over the place. You'd think the company would take notice since it is the only point of backer - developer communication...

 

[Gahars]

*snip*

A little late, but I found this interesting article and it backs up what you're saying: Only Around A Third of Kickstarted Video Game Projects Fully Deliver To Their Backers

Like I said, I'm not against Kickstarters, but people can be a little too naive when it comes to throwing their money at projects that sound perfect on paper. People need to be just a little more aware about what they're getting in to here.

 

[BORTZ]

Thats really interesting, and certainly backs up what I think about KSers. My friends rarely have issues because mostly they back comic books or smaller projects that dont require years of planning or larger teams. Thank you for the article! I really appreciate it.