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[IbizaPocholo]

With Japan Studio and Sony going through its latest round of restructuring as of late, it's not a bad time to take a look back at some of the interesting wild card games that Japan Studio has come out with over the last many years. The list of interesting games that came out of Sony in Japan Studios collaborations is one of the more eclectic ones you'll ever see.

Almost every genre has been touched on - to a vast range of results. The one we will take a look at today though is the White Knight Chronicles games, which, much like other franchises that Japan Studio came up with - sort of took hold and sort of didn't. This was basically Japan Studio’s attempt at a JRPG franchise and it wasn’t a bad attempt all things considered.

Things like Gravity Rush and the Siren games had similar lineages that saw a little bit of success but not quite enough to really get off the ground and turn into a long-running franchise. But why is that? What the hell happened to White Knight Chronicles?

 

[JSoup]

All I remember of White Knight Chronicles 2 was being confused on where the gameplay part of the game was and everyone being pissed that they were suddenly shutting the online without leaving enough time for anyone who wasn't already 200 or so hours into the 1000 hour trophy to actually finish.

Also, if you're a developer and you add a trophy for being online for a four digit figure, you are a laser focused asshole.

 

[sublimit]

I thought it was a video from this guy:


Really loved the first WKC. I have yet to play the second one though (it's in my backlog).

 

[fart town usa]

I really liked the first one and owned the EU edition of the 2nd that had the revamped edition of the first game. Sold like it like a damn fool years ago.

I thought they were great, I never beat them but I thought they were a lot of fun. Combat was a bit slow but you could get buffs to make it faster. I dunno, people just love to bitch and dog pile on anything and WKC definitely received it back then.

PSP version seems solid too, wasn't released in the US I think but I put it on my modded PSPgo, I'm pretty sure it was in English, can't remember if it was a EU release or had been patched by the community.

 

[dwish]

They are on PSNow in europe if you wanna replay

 

[The Pleasure]

All I remember of White Knight Chronicles 2 was being confused on where the gameplay part of the game was and everyone being pissed that they were suddenly shutting the online without leaving enough time for anyone who wasn't already 200 or so hours into the 1000 hour trophy to actually finish.

Also, if you're a developer and you add a trophy for being online for a four digit figure, you are a laser focused asshole.

Ye olde trolle

 

[ManaByte]

Also, if you're a developer and you add a trophy for being online for a four digit figure, you are a laser focused asshole

Almost as bad as a team killing achievement in a FPS.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Sony should have paid them to make anything else. I dont really play RPGs besides Level 5 games, and you wouldnt bother me to play WKC.

 

[F31 Leopard]

I got platinum for both games. Campaign sucked but the online portion I dumped 1000+ hours into both. Multiplayer was really fun.

 

[West Texas CEO]

I got the PSP version

 

[SkylineRKR]

WKC never lived up to the fake ass trailer hype but despite that I had a lot of fun with it though the story mode was absolutely lacking. The OST however is very good. Online was fun, it was MMO lite, for free. Building your own town was kinda fun also. WKC2 got a surprise release in Europe, and added very little story content, it only finished the story. To me WKC2 isn't a sequel but just the finished version of WKC. Its weird that they released this game twice actually. But perhaps they had to meet a deadline. Bought it on release and didn't regret it, but the game could've been far better.

The PSP release was okay ish, bought it for very cheap. Rather short missions and fun to replay for loot.

 

[GymWolf]

They are on twitter and reddit defending female feminist most probably.

 

[Hypereides]

The worldbuilding doesn't look half bad actually. Might pick up both some time soon.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Looks like a VERY mediocre Jprg. Not worth the time

 

[Fugitive Sex]

I'm certain I played one of these on the PSP and it was a piece of shit. Good riddance.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I had the import of WKC and it was super easy. I didn’t bother with the English translation. I was a lot more impressed with those early screenshots. I did recently play Jeanne d'Arc on PSP. I beat it back when it was out. It still has a lot of production value to it. Level 5 games always did have that quality about their games. They’re like the Studio Ghibli of video game developers. I’m not surprised WKC never made a return. I remember nothing about the plot except the Knight.

 

[yurinka]

We don't see more White Knight Chronicles games because of bad sales. When a game doesn't sell well enough its publisher doesn't release new sequels. The IP management and publishing side of these externally developed Japanese IPs will still be handled by Sony but now globalized into PlayStation Studios.

Japan Studios wasn't interested on releasing new IPs, so I assume it will be the same with PlayStation Studios handling these IPs. If some day they change their mind, they still can call Level 5 again to ask them for another game, but I think it isn't likely. Sony now seems to be focused on both big and small games with a more global appeal instead on focusing on country specific games with small sales.

For smaller 3rd party developed games they now prefer to allow the dev to autopublish the game, to keep for the dev the IP and ask only for a timed console exclusive instead of full exclusivity because of the rising costs and rising competition make the devs need to publish the game on multiple platforms and to get a bigger cut from the sales. And for Sony is ok because to have timed console exclusivity for these self published smaller games is enough for them and cheaper than to totally fund the games and to publish themselves, so allows them to have more of these games with the same amount of money while at the same time having less risk.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I thought it was a video from this guy:


Really loved the first WKC. I have yet to play the second one though (it's in my backlog).

There was a sequel?!

I'd like to try it, it always interested me.

 

[sublimit]

There was a sequel?!

I'd like to try it, it always interested me.

Did you played the first one? It was obvious that the story was cut in half and it was one of the complains about the game.
I haven't played the second one but i have heard some complains about using many of the locations of the first one.

 

[johntown]

I like a fair share of jrpgs but I absolutely hate these games. Good riddance IMO.

 

[fart town usa]

I'm chipping away at 3 PS3 titles right and this is one of them.

This game looks really good for how old it is, it's really impressive. I'm playing the remastered version of 1 that's on the WKC2 disc.

It's like a really bland Dragon Quest in a way with DQ9 style combat (MMO style). Music is solid, combat is boring/easy, story is by-the-numbers. All the same, I still enjoy the game. The maps are huge for what they are and it's super chill, good game to just relax with and have YT playing on the side.

The first is available on PS+ for streaming but it's not the remastered version so combat is even slower and graphics aren't as good.

This game would be an absolute treat if the servers were still up, it had such a huge focus on co-op.

Edit- one of the most bizarre things about this game is like I mentioned, it was completely remastered like a year after it's international release and this remastered version/sequel (WKC2 disc) wasn't even published by Sony. It was published by D3. Just a really bizarre IP.

 

[Mr.ODST]

The online was awesome and a mini MMO, really enjoyed it

 

[Dane]

White Knight Chronicles both 1 and 2 were received with mixed reception and tepid sales, that's why it wasn't continued.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I played both, but forgot every thing about them.

 

[Dis]

I really wanted this game to have JP VA.

Would buy if they remastered it with that.

 

[adamsapple]

I played both, but forgot every thing about them.

I think I've only played the first one, but yeah, for the life of me I don't remember a single thing that happened in the game.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Prolly got cancelled for being too white.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I'm chipping away at 3 PS3 titles right and this is one of them.

This game looks really good for how old it is, it's really impressive. I'm playing the remastered version of 1 that's on the WKC2 disc.

It's like a really bland Dragon Quest in a way with DQ9 style combat (MMO style). Music is solid, combat is boring/easy, story is by-the-numbers. All the same, I still enjoy the game. The maps are huge for what they are and it's super chill, good game to just relax with and have YT playing on the side.

The first is available on PS+ for streaming but it's not the remastered version so combat is even slower and graphics aren't as good.

This game would be an absolute treat if the servers were still up, it had such a huge focus on co-op.

Edit- one of the most bizarre things about this game is like I mentioned, it was completely remastered like a year after it's international release and this remastered version/sequel (WKC2 disc) wasn't even published by Sony. It was published by D3. Just a really bizarre IP.

Doesn't the IP belong to Level 5?

 

[fart town usa]

Doesn't the IP belong to Level 5?

Not sure. It was Level 5/Japan Studio so Sony is probably looped into it somehow.

It's never coming back though. Best I can hope is that there's some kind of story resolution at the end of WKC2. Never finished either when they first released. Plan on chipping away through both, I think they aren't too long if you ignore the side quests.

Edit- PSP game was developed by Japan Studio/Matrix Software. Wouldnt be surprised if Sony owns the IP.

 

[Woopah]

Level 5 found massive success with new franchises on DS, PSP and 3DS. They then tried to move away from console gaming to jump on mobile and failed spectacularly, seemingly losing the ability to develop games in a time manner.

They are now potentially on the comeback trail, but the success of that remains to be seen.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Not sure. It was Level 5/Japan Studio so Sony is probably looped into it somehow.

It's never coming back though. Best I can hope is that there's some kind of story resolution at the end of WKC2. Never finished either when they first released. Plan on chipping away through both, I think they aren't too long if you ignore the side quests.

Edit- PSP game was developed by Japan Studio/Matrix Software. Wouldnt be surprised if Sony owns the IP.

Just checked, Sony owns the IP.
The trademark has expired in 2020, so Sony is obviously going to let it rot for eternity in their IP vault.

 

[fart town usa]

Just checked, Sony owns the IP.
The trademark has expired in 2020, so Sony is obviously going to let it rot for eternity in their IP vault.

Damn, the least they could have done is release WKC2 on PS+ but since they didn't publish it in NA, probably didn't want to put in any effort or money to get it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Damn, the least they could have done is release WKC2 on PS+ but since they didn't publish it in NA, probably didn't want to put in any effort or money to get it.

They negotiated the publishing licenses from Bamco and Atlus for Demon's Souls, but yeah, for WKC, I doubt they'll bother.

 

[fart town usa]

Level 5 found massive success with new franchises on DS, PSP and 3DS. They then tried to move away from console gaming to jump on mobile and failed spectacularly, seemingly losing the ability to develop games in a time manner.

They are now potentially on the comeback trail, but the success of that remains to be seen.

Level 5 is a really interesting studio, mostly in how they more or less fell off the radar completely. I know Ni No Kuni is big in its own way but man, Level 5 seemed like they were gonna be the trendsetter for JRPGs and that unfortunately didn't go anywhere. Honestly was worried they were gonna go under at some point.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I still have that PS3 game. Haven't heard talk about if for a very long time now.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

WKC was undercooked sadly, but I did enjoy the 1st quite a bit.

I think if all the resources they pumped in to WKC1 and 2 were channeled into a single comprehensive game with a higher budget it probably would have been a huge success. Maybe the IP would still be flourishing today if they approached it with the same seriousness they give to modern 1st party and console exclusive games.

With IPs like FF, Dragons Dogma, Elden Ring and a few others to fill the void, I can't see them coming back to this.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

It didn't sell. Simple really.

The biggest piss take for me is that I didn't have a headset at the time so you could only communicate through chat and that chat machine took every swear word in every language and would completely block out your messages making it fucking useless.

I think con is a either a swear word or offensive word somewhere in the world so every time you'd use a word with those three letters in all you would get is a message with ****** stars like this. But some of these short swear words are like three to four letters so most of your messages ended up stars. It was bullshit.

 

[rubik's dude]

I remember playing and liking the first WKC well enough. The offline portion was FF-lite, and the online portion was PSO/Monster Hunter-lite. Given that during this period of time in gaming (PS3/360 era) the JRPG scene was reaaaaally lacking, I was happy to get anything at all.

I was really excited for the second game. I bought it and played it for probably all of an hour and then sold it. The first game had you go from one end of the world to the other, and then the second game literally had you backtracking all the way back to the beginning from where the end of the first game took place, going through every single zone all over again, but in reverse. I couldn't believe it. They also made the gameplay a lot worse.

By that point, even with the JRPG drought of the time, I'd rather play nothing at all. Funny thing though, because of WKC2 sucking so much, I gave Oblivion a try and started getting into WRPGs. So it worked out.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I’ll save you the time of a YouTube video. What happened was it was a mediocre game that died off.

The end.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I'm chipping away at 3 PS3 titles right and this is one of them.

This game looks really good for how old it is, it's really impressive. I'm playing the remastered version of 1 that's on the WKC2 disc.

It's like a really bland Dragon Quest in a way with DQ9 style combat (MMO style). Music is solid, combat is boring/easy, story is by-the-numbers. All the same, I still enjoy the game. The maps are huge for what they are and it's super chill, good game to just relax with and have YT playing on the side.

The first is available on PS+ for streaming but it's not the remastered version so combat is even slower and graphics aren't as good.

This game would be an absolute treat if the servers were still up, it had such a huge focus on co-op.

Edit- one of the most bizarre things about this game is like I mentioned, it was completely remastered like a year after it's international release and this remastered version/sequel (WKC2 disc) wasn't even published by Sony. It was published by D3. Just a really bizarre IP.

Yes the WKC1 on the WKC2 disc was much better than the original release. I believe it was also easier to raise guild rank in this one.

WKC2 is a weird sequel though. Its pretty much 2 new areas (beginning and end), and the rest is the original zones in reverse. It is more challenging, the original was far too easy. WKC2 has some difficult battles going on. Back in the day it was quite fun to grind some instances for easy EXP and loot. The music is absolutely fucking great, like the track that plays in the giant beast city (Greede?).

I respect those who have the platinum trophy, good god.

 

[fart town usa]

I’ll save you the time of a YouTube video. What happened was it was a mediocre game that died off.

The end.

It's sad but 100% true. Just one of those games that stuck with me and I'm certain other people would enjoy it for what it is. Sometimes you just need a by-the-numbers JRPG in your life.