Zwei: Ilvard Insurrection (PC, XSEED, Falcom ARPG) now coming in Fall, + new website



According to the game's editor, Zwei: Ilvard Insurrection has been delayed to account for new issues found during QA which could affect launch:

Nick C. @ XSEED said:
At this moment, Zwei: II is in the middle of QA testing. We've got the game up and running: internally, Danielle, Nate, and I have played it through from beginning to end, and I've been busily making many tweaks and edits to the first-pass localization thanks to the helpful ability to see lines appearing in context. So on the "overall progress" front, we're looking pretty good, actually.

And yet, to put it simply, there are some issues remaining that we wouldn't feel comfortable releasing the game with and just patching later. Let me run down a couple of these with you to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

1. If you watched our XSEED Livestream where I played Zwei, you might remember the unfortunate instance where I crashed out of the game because I got poisoned. Back then, we thought we'd gotten that one fixed, but it reared its head then, and is still crashing our games now. I found that this can be prevented by keeping the anti-poison accessory equipped whenever you're in an area where there's the possibility of being poisoned, but...you shouldn't have to do that. It's not supposed to be an anti-crashing accessory.

2. My top bugbear is that, within the game, there are places where the Japanese text for a line will display instead of the English. The first time I played through our English build, it happened almost never, but has since cropped up in other places – even in areas where I knew that text had been localized and easily located it in the files. We eventually had Sara do a game rip for the full text and Tom converted that to a file format similar to what I'd been working on all this time and inserting my localization back into it.

In doing this, we found that some of the content – the bonus material in the "Zwei 2 Plus" Japanese release – wasn't in our original script. That's all been translated and localized now, and hopefully the new, easier-to-work-with file format will be a blanket fix for the Japanese text that was appearing.

MyJcobJ.jpg


3. Since the game is releasing on Steam, I made achievements for it, because that's something you do on Steam. It wasn't originally designed with achievements in mind, though (it has its own internal "achievement system" in the form of gaining ranks in the Hunter's Guild), so testing and making sure the achievements work as per their description is important, and also very time-consuming.

Believe me, we're not fond of game delays any more than you are. They're disappointing, they let you down, and they're awkward to announce. But, speaking personally, I'd rather wait for a game and have it work well from the get-go than play a game in a state where my immersion is interrupted by weird graphical or textual hiccups, or achievements popping at the wrong times. So that's what we're doing our best to deliver. Remember, every cake is gonna taste funny if it wasn't baked long enough.
In the meantime, XSEED's launched their website and info dump for the game @ visitilvard.com

E3 details thread (highly recommended read unless people want me to quote the pertinent details for this thread)

The website has new screenshots and info on story, how Zwei: II plays, and its world. Click thumbnails below for expanded images.







Last, but not least, the first mini-blog from Nick C. about the game (starting with why you should give the game a shot this season):

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I liked what I played at E3, so I'm in whenever it launches.

Though, I'm curious if it's still going to be 30fps. Hardly a deal-breaker, but not ideal.
 
I'm looking forward to this one. Wasn't surprised XSEED was picking it up when the translation project that was nearly finished suddenly went silent for over a year.

Also not surprised by the delay, once September had rolled around and we had barely seen or heard anything about this since the announcement it was looking like it was getting pushed back.
 
I liked what I played at E3, so I'm in whenever it launches.

Though, I'm curious if it's still going to be 30fps. Hardly a deal-breaker, but not ideal.
I've summarized a bunch of neat stuff, but what I'm less certain about, at least for now, is Tom @ XSEED claiming Zwei: II will run entirely at 60 FPS:

As far as I'm aware, 60 fps has indeed been added, though I'm not 100% sure on that. I do know that Sara's done everything in her power to bring the game as far up to modern specs as possible, and I believe that was one of the ways in which she did so.

-Tom
Hopefully he responds with clarification soon, because I wouldn't be surprised if fixing all the animations/physics to run at 60 added a month or two of QA work. The game already has 60 FPS inputs IIRC, just like in Gurumin, and the 30 FPS setting will stay for sure in case 60 FPS just doesn't work too well around launch.
 
That miniblog reminded me I still haven't played Xanadu, I should fix that before this one goes live.
Which storefront did you buy it from? The Steam version's been having softlock issues for a few days now due to small patches XSEED's programmer implemented, but GOG and Humble DRM-free copies aren't affected. Normally the game's not too buggy, so I think Sara @ XSEED will either rollback the patches or patch once more to stop the crashes (and out-of-bounds glitches).
 
Shout out to the xseed Tumblr blog updates - they are so informative and well-written! I’m hyped - the game looks awesome!
 
I was waiting for new news for this game. Great stuff. Although, I can't help but worry seeing almost all the screenshots in the blog post are windowed. I hope it's not another Ys Seven situation where it's 1080p only for the first week. :-P
 
I was waiting for new news for this game. Great stuff. Although, I can't help but worry seeing almost all the screenshots in the blog post are windowed. I hope it's not another Ys Seven situation where it's 1080p only for the first week. :-P

It won't be. The issue there was that Seven was a fresh PSP > PC port. Zwei II is natively on PC, and even the Japanese version supports resolutions above 1080p.
 
Zwei: II, when you think about it, shows that Falcom had started thinking forward about PC usability and quality-of-life features which they never got to iterate on when switching from Windows to PSP. I hope the launch for this release goes well technically, and that the game has a nice upgrade or two after so many years. The game still looks good, more animated than you'd expect from the company back then, and it's got so much variety.

Here's a nice Hardcore Gamer preview from the E3 demo.
 
Will play this eventually. Wish they'd release the first game too. The first game's final boss themes is one my favorite pieces of VG music.
 
Will play this eventually. Wish they'd release the first game too. The first game's final boss themes is one my favorite pieces of VG music.
All I know for sure is that the original fan translator of Zwei: II, together with an editor (preta) and hacker (JoseJL), plan to release their patch for Zwei!! right around when Ilvard Insurrection launches. You can buy Zwei!! digitally from DLSite, which does periodic sales of Falcom games...just make sure you've got a credit card. I doubt XSEED will get around to their own release of Zwei!! for a long time, or only if this release does well enough, since the 2001 game's got no HD assets to upgrade to and has trouble running on newer systems.

Demon Vesper really does rock. I think Zwei!! has better melodies than many tracks from its sequel, but Ilvard Insurrection has plenty of great tracks:

 
Seeing screens and listening to some of the dialogue from previews of this game, I can't help but think of Gurumin...

I hate Gurumin.

I'll probably wait for some post-release impressions to see how the whole package pans out, but it's a likely no for me, Nick.
 
I don't think i'll be buying it this year on account of two Falcom purchases made in the last two weeks and, well, a likely shortness of funds, but i've been looking forward to playing this game since i learned about the fan translation efforts years ago. XSEED is such a treasure.
 
I'll probably wait for some post-release impressions to see how the whole package pans out, but it's a likely no for me, Nick.
Zwei: II differs from Gurumin in a lot of ways despite maybe sharing a game engine. The script's way larger and more detailed, Zwei's dungeons have more puzzles but less chances to platform, combat's a lot more like Ys and not hampered by shoddy camera controls, and getting better ranks for each stage of a dungeon usually leads to better loot and items than what Gurumin provides. And this release should have superior options and configuration vs. what Mastiff released.
 
All I know for sure is that the original fan translator of Zwei: II, together with an editor (preta) and hacker (JoseJL), plan to release their patch for Zwei!! right around when Ilvard Insurrection launches. You can buy Zwei!! digitally from DLSite, which does periodic sales of Falcom games...just make sure you've got a credit card. I doubt XSEED will get around to their own release of Zwei!! for a long time, or only if this release does well enough, since the 2001 game's got no HD assets to upgrade to and has trouble running on newer systems.

Whoa, whoa, Brandish 2 is the only game I've been editing. I did QA on Zwei!! and nothing more. I wouldn't say we have any solid release plans yet, although of course we would ideally like to release before II. There's still a bit more polishing to do.

The game itself is a little weird gameplay-wise, but it's absolutely overflowing with charm and looks and sounds gorgeous to boot. After Sen no Kiseki III, Zwei II is one of my most anticipated games for the rest of the year.
 
Speaking of Brandish, I would love for it to come to PC proper, if not only for preservation. Although I can't imagine it will sell gangbusters.
 
GOG page went up today! No sign of a release date yet, but the announcement must be nigh if one store page has gone up. I guess XSEED wants to work more on the Steam page or avoid a Cold Steel PC situation there.

Also, here's the two latest Q&A posts about using food to level up and exploring Ilvard:

nYWwJ5p.jpg


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Seeing screens and listening to some of the dialogue from previews of this game, I can't help but think of Gurumin...

I hate Gurumin.

I'll probably wait for some post-release impressions to see how the whole package pans out, but it's a likely no for me, Nick.

I thought Gurumin was quite charming. Flawed but well worth a shot.
 
Also worth pointing out: the GOG page says the game has only English voices (no surprise), but does include Japanese text. This falls in line with Ys Seven and Cold Steel PC including said text, so that's gonna continue for sure. I wonder if Falcom will relax the policy so XSEED can eventually insert JP text back into the Ys and Trails games they have on Steam.
 
"Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Xeon W3505 @ 2.5 GHz (2-Core)
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 600
DirectX: Version 8.0"

Wat. Why are they asking for server-type hardware?
 
"Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Xeon W3505 @ 2.5 GHz (2-Core)
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 600
DirectX: Version 8.0"

Wat. Why are they asking for server-type hardware?

That's probably the slowest computer in the office they had available to test it on.
 
Wat. Why are they asking for server-type hardware?
That's definitely odd, but the game's designed to run on mostly the same kinds of PCs Falcom players used for Trails 3rd and earlier releases. It should have options for scaling lower or higher, which you'd expect since the game's engine looks more advanced than all their other Windows games.
 
I am pretty interested in this. I have LOVED every Falcom game I have ever played and this looks very quirky and jolly.
 
"Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Xeon W3505 @ 2.5 GHz (2-Core)
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 600
DirectX: Version 8.0"

Wat. Why are they asking for server-type hardware?

No idea but that is incredibly weak hardware an i3 wipes the floor with that Xeon.
 
That's probably the slowest computer in the office they had available to test it on.

Still really weird since it's going to be so non-standard vs typical hardware comparisons.

Only thing that really matters is those are slow as hell.
 
So after first talking with Tom @ XSEED and then getting a response form Sara @ XSEED just 15 minutes ago, I have some hot technical info about this release:

  • The config launcher gives you resolutions auto-populated based on the detected GPU, with refresh rates (like 60Hz or 75Hz) tied to resolution choices
  • According to FRAPs, in-game movies run at 30 FPS while game inputs get a steady 60 FPS
  • Sara's working hard on getting animations, camera movement, and other graphics to run at 60 FPS, but this won't be ready until some time after launch

All I'm hoping for now is that launch players and reviewers either know about the FPS upgrade ahead of time, or that they find it's not a problem for the game anyway.
 
So after first talking with Tom @ XSEED and then getting a response form Sara @ XSEED just 15 minutes ago, I have some hot technical info about this release:

  • The config launcher gives you resolutions auto-populated based on the detected GPU, with refresh rates (like 60Hz or 75Hz) tied to resolution choices
  • According to FRAPs, in-game movies run at 30 FPS while game inputs get a steady 60 FPS
  • Sara's working hard on getting animations, camera movement, and other graphics to run at 60 FPS, but this won't be ready until some time after launch

All I'm hoping for now is that launch players and reviewers either know about the FPS upgrade ahead of time, or that they find it's not a problem for the game anyway.

Good stuff.

I think they just need to have it showing prominently on the store page - announcement side (on Steam) - that they'll try to have everything running at 60FPS if not at launch just some time later with a patch.
Make it known that's the target goal so people can't complain claiming ignorance (they'll do it anyways).
 
So after first talking with Tom @ XSEED and then getting a response form Sara @ XSEED just 15 minutes ago, I have some hot technical info about this release:

  • The config launcher gives you resolutions auto-populated based on the detected GPU, with refresh rates (like 60Hz or 75Hz) tied to resolution choices
  • According to FRAPs, in-game movies run at 30 FPS while game inputs get a steady 60 FPS
  • Sara's working hard on getting animations, camera movement, and other graphics to run at 60 FPS, but this won't be ready until some time after launch

All I'm hoping for now is that launch players and reviewers either know about the FPS upgrade ahead of time, or that they find it's not a problem for the game anyway.
Great info! Thanks!
 
So after first talking with Tom @ XSEED and then getting a response form Sara @ XSEED just 15 minutes ago, I have some hot technical info about this release:

  • The config launcher gives you resolutions auto-populated based on the detected GPU, with refresh rates (like 60Hz or 75Hz) tied to resolution choices
  • According to FRAPs, in-game movies run at 30 FPS while game inputs get a steady 60 FPS
  • Sara's working hard on getting animations, camera movement, and other graphics to run at 60 FPS, but this won't be ready until some time after launch

All I'm hoping for now is that launch players and reviewers either know about the FPS upgrade ahead of time, or that they find it's not a problem for the game anyway.

Kind of disappointing seeing a PC game locked to 60 fps, doubly so for one developed by Falcom. This bothered me in Xanadu Next, and it sure as hell bothers me here.
I mean, Trails 1-3 all run at 120 fps with no issues, Cold Steel and Ys games supports unlocked framerate.
 
Good stuff.

I think they just need to have it showing prominently on the store page - announcement side (on Steam) - that they'll try to have everything running at 60FPS if not at launch just some time later with a patch.
What I like about Cold Steel PC's forum is Durante pinned a huge Q&A answering questions like this right at the top, which works partly because it doesn't seem to attract concern trolls the way a news announcement might. But I agree this would help too. Maybe I'll go ahead and make such a thread for the Steam forum since I can reuse much of that for the OT.

Great info! Thanks!
np

Kind of disappointing seeing a PC game locked to 60 fps, doubly so for one developed by Falcom. This bothered me in Xanadu Next, and it sure as hell bothers me here.
I mean, Trails 1-3 all run at 120 fps with no issues, Cold Steel and Ys games supports unlocked framerate.
You can tell one programmer must have cared enough to relax limits on the old Trails in the Sky and Ys games, while the others responsible for Gurumin, Xanadu Next, and then Zwei: II all stuck to hard limits and other weirdness. Falcom's like this everywhere, which I've noticed looking at promo art for both Zwei games. They try and enforce a house style but individual effort shines through.
 
Any price indication?
None so far. I'm hoping for $20 despite the increase in VA. This game has enough trouble finding an audience since even a bunch of Falcom fans seem to ignore anything with the name Zwei; maybe that's a reason for XSEED to go with $25 so they can take less of a hit when discounting.
 
I know nothing about the game so I can only make shitty number puns:

|OT| Not the sequel to Eins
|OT| Zwei is before VIII
|OT2| Skipping right ahead

But no matter what you name it, start right with OT2 :P
 
Zwei |OT| The Lizard's Inner Contention
Zwei II |OT| LTTP

Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection |OT| The Vampire Diaries
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection |OT| Be her Valentine.
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection |OT| 1, 2, Switch
Not bad, except I don't want to give any lurkers/posters the slightest impression of Switch here. Is there a Tarot card associated with vampires? I just wish I had more than 85 characters.

man, i can't wait to play this! Xseed always giving us the release date in the same month of release, lol
We don't have any confirmation about the date yet, but launching on or around Halloween and theme-ing the advertising around that a bit can help.

I know nothing about the game so I can only make shitty number puns:

|OT| Not the sequel to Eins
|OT| Zwei is before VIII
|OT2| Skipping right ahead

But no matter what you name it, start right with OT2 :P
I think |OT2| would confuse some people. Let's go with |OTwo| since that still fits the pun.
 
Didn't know anything about this game until I saw this thread. Put it immediately on my Steam wishlist. Game looks like it oozes that adventurous charm I'd see in Mega Man Legends, Grandia, etc. Can't wait!
 
Game looks like it oozes that adventurous charm I'd see in Mega Man Legends, Grandia, etc. Can't wait!
Legends seems like a good reference point since Ilvard has as much detail and humor (and more) as Kattelox Island. The dungeon crawling's meatier in this one, but that doesn't limit the story and snark.

Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection |OT| Falcom 1 2 Punch
Ooh, now we're getting somewhere. Here's my idea so far:

Zwei: Ilvard Insurrection |OTwo| Dual gourmets, too punny, a Falcom 2-makes-1 exploit
 
Well given a vampire is a dominant character there could probably be a gag about it being the lightest Halloween game option out this month.

Or second lightest, Mario Odyssey will have boos in it, right?
 
Not bad, except I don't want to give any lurkers/posters the slightest impression of Switch here. Is there a Tarot card associated with vampires? I just wish I had more than 85 characters.

We don't have any confirmation about the date yet, but launching on or around Halloween and theme-ing the advertising around that a bit can help.

I think |OT2| would confuse some people. Let's go with |OTwo| since that still fits the pun.

I might be mistaken, but I think modifying the |OT| thing for official threads is against the rules/standards for official threads. At the very least I'm pretty sure I've seen things like that shot down before.
 
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