Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage

[Tobi]

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage (for PlayStation and Xbox 360)
is coming to Europe on November 5th. Prepare for the merciless
action and brutal hand-to-hand combat of Fist of the North Star.
Put your martial arts skills to the test against masses of
bloodthirsty enemies in this no-holds-barred action brawler ripped
from the pages of the popular manga classic.

A ravaged Earth struggles to survive after a nuclear holocaust has
left the world in ruins. Survivors band together in communities and
villages, living off what little resources remain. In the wastelands
beyond, vicious gangs prey on the survivors for their resources, or
sometimes merely for sport.

A mysterious martial artist named Ken, a man with seven scars on
his chest and the chosen successor of the legendary assassin's art
Hokuto Shinken ( 北斗神拳, The Divine Fist of the North Star) has sworn
to protect the weak and innocent from the malicious gangs roaming
the scorched planet.

FEATURES

Interactive Mayhem: In the hugely interactive environments players
can smash or pummel their enemies into different objects and
buildings as well as pick up objects to maim and obliterate groups of
malicious gangs.

Massive Battles: Face dozens of enemies at once - String combos
and attacks to perform unstoppable killing moves. Power up and
unleash furious Hokuto Shinken special attacks to crush everything
in your path, from enemies to obstacles.

Devastating Arsenal: Execute blistering finishing attacks that can
wipe out entire gangs in one blow, or cause single enemies to
explode in a shower of gore with dozens of unlockable moves and
signature attacks. Secret

Characters: Taken straight from the Fist of the North Star
universe, players will be able to unlock unforgettable characters
such as Mamiya and Rei, amongst others.

Faithful Adaptation: Every
scene, character and environment has been faithfully recreated
based on the iconic visual style of the original comic series.

Original Storylines: As well as having their own stories faithfully
reproduced from the source material, every character will have a
new original story and ending specially crafted, giving longtime fans
something truly unique to experience.

www.koei.co.uk/news/?id=31996

TGS Gameplay Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6j5I0kW0yg

Debut Trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdrn6_7v_Tc

E3 Gameplay Trailer 1:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRJEMnllIVE

E3 Gameplay Trailer 2:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=roCM8tX7yHU

The TGS trailer is pretty good. Release date 11/02/10 for US, 11/05/10 for EU.

Here's a recent interview with Tecmo Koei VP
http://www.ps3attitude.com/new/2010/...age-interview/

[SamanosukeShiva]

this is probably the only game where you can make the main character as OP as possible and not have people complain

[Hyan]

Looks a bit clumsy

and they better give me the option to use JP VA's.

Otherwise looks great.

[Charismatic]

I have to play this as Toki... it's a must.

[Tobi]

Tried to edit this in the OP, but everything shows up blank when I try to edit .-.

PS3 Attitude was recently given the opportunity to speak with
Tecmo Koei ’s Executive Vice President, Tak Yamamoto, about the
upcoming release of Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage.

We’re pretty big fans of Fist of the North Star and have been
following the development of the game for quite some time. We’ve
shown you screenshots, trailers, and discussed features that will
be included in the game. For those unaware, the gameplay in Fist of
the North Star is similar to what you ’d find in a Dynasty Warriors
title.

We recently had a chat with Tak Yamamoto that reveals some
interesting tidbits of information, including changes made to the
game, downloadable content, and the development process.

[PS3Attitude] How did Tecmo Koei become involved with a
new Fist of the North Star game?

[Tak Yamamoto] Fist of the North Star is a 25 year old manga and
animation that is famous in Japan. It ’s actually still famous in Japan
and Koei was approached by the IP holder to consider creating a
decent current generation video game. So the producer, Mr.
Koinuma, started to consider what he could do with the characters.
That ’s the start point for us.

[PS3A] How far into the storyline does the game take
us?

[Yamamoto] There are two game modes. In the main story mode,
which is called Legend mode, we completely follow the original manga
story. So when you choose Ken, you can enjoy the whole story of
Fist of the North Star from the beginning to the end. The end
means defeating the final boss, Raoh.

[PS3A] Since Fist of the North Star was originally a
manga and then it turned into an anime, what sort of
challenges were there in bringing this world to a video
game?

[Yamamoto] As you know, Fist of the North Star has an 80s taste
in the managa or animation. Current generation graphics are so
improved and the vision changed very drastically from the 80s, of
course. But we still want to keep that kind of taste in the game. So
how we express that is a big challenge.

[PS3A] How much freedom did the development team
have with the source material?

[Yamamoto] There was actually lots of freedom given to the
development team. They show to the IP holder or the author of the
original manga the character design, costumes, that kind of thing.
For movement or actions or storyline, although we follow the
original story, we have complete freedom to create the game with
our own imagination.

[PS3A] Will gamers unfamiliar with the series be able to
pick up and play the game?

[Yamamoto] Of course! Fist of the North Star is fun to play and it’s
easy to perform the special attacks. When you do the special
attacks it ’s fun to see and fun to do. And the
“Atatatatatata” [laughs] is very enjoyable. You don’t only need to
be a fan.

[PS3A] What kind of original content can players expect
from the game?

[Yamamoto] We think the loyal fans are very important, so with
the story mode we follow the original story. But we also prepared
one more mode, which is called dream mode. This is kind of like our
Koei ’s Warriors type of game and it has kind of an “if” story. We
prepared eight playable characters for the dream mode. You can
enjoy that and the story mode.

[PS3A] How has the reception been in Japan and has any
feedback influenced the international release?

[Yamamoto] Fist of the North Star released in March in Japan and
we already sold 800,000 copies. When considering to bring this title
to the US and Europe as well, we of course already know we should
improve something. Blood effects or body explosions, these kind of
things, we improved that.

[PS3A] I noticed that there were Japanese voiceovers as
I was playing the game. Is there no option for English
voices?

[Yamamoto] We’ve prepared both Japanese and English voice overs.

[PS3A] Will there be any other differences or new
content?

[Yamamoto] Yeah. Blood effects or body explosions are one of the
differences. And also, we ’ll add some more scenarios for the US and
Europe.

[PS3A] The Japanese version had downloadable content.
Will that be included in the international version?

[Yamamoto] We prepared downloadable content as well. New
costumes, playable characters, and new scenarios.

[PS3A] Are there any PS3 exclusive features?

[Yamamoto] Unfortunately, no. We’ve prepared the same game for
the PS3 and 360.

[PS3A] Is there an install for the PS3 version?

[Yamamoto] Yes.

[PS3A] Is the install optional or mandatory?

[Yamamoto] It is optional.

[PS3A] Is there anything you would like to add?

[Yamamoto] Yeah. Since this is based on the manga and animation,
we believe that the story is very fantastic. We want people to
enjoy that as much as possible.

We’d like to thank Tak Yamamoto for taking the time to talk with
us.

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage releases in North America on
November 2nd and in Europe on November 5th.

[Elcura]

AAAAttatatatatatatata!!

Will buy it just for that.

[Insanecyclone]

Combat seems really really slow for a DW type game. I'm all for atatata but sloooooooooow.

[AoE]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/kenshiro.gif

[KingGiddra]

Ha! I love that .gif

Lol'd irl when I saw that.

[Tobi]

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage has two modes. In Legend mode players follow Kenshiro’s story line as he fights with Raoh for the right to be the successor. Koei also created a brand new story in Dream Mode where the Fist of the North Star characters battle the Nanto army.

When we spoke with Hisashi Koinuma, Producer, we asked how the original story was created and what it was like to work with the Fist of the North Star license.

Why did Koei want to make a Fist of the North Star game?

Hisashi Koinuma, Producer: We had an offer from the original animator of Fist of the North Star. Fans have a lot of expectations about this game and we thought about the possibility of making the game interesting using this IP (intellectual property) along with the Musou series.

Koei has tied the Musou style game to a lot of different IPs, like Gundam and the Sengoku period. What IP would you like to work with?

One where we get good support from a related party, like another IP. If that happens we will think about an offer. The window is open, but there are no plans at the moment.

You mentioned good IP support, what kind of support do you consider as good?

Graphics, modeling, story, and the biggest one is letting us use the original story in the game. That’s the kind of support we got for Fist of the North Star. Tetsuo Hara (the original artist) created art for us too. [Points to a poster of the cover art.]

Fist of the North Star has an original story for Dream Mode. How did you work this out with the license holder? Was the story written by the licensor or inside Koei?

We originally created the character models and original story on our side first. Then we had a lot discussions with the license holder. For the creative side, this was a little unusual for Koei. Sometimes during discussions they would say something wasn’t suitable. Basically, the dream story, the imaginary one, was created within Koei.

What kind of things did you want to put into Dream Mode that were rejected?

[Laughs.] Mmm.. Most of the stuff was not allowed. The initial story was out of the scope of the manga story and they said it wasn’t good. During discussions we both sides met in the middle to make the Dream Mode arc.

Did you edit the story or totally scrap it? In other words, is there a lost Fist of the North Star story?

We got rid of a lot of it and came back to the license holder with new ideas. One rule we had to stick to is Kenshiro has to be invincible. Also, he can’t become evil. He always has to be a protector of people. So, for example, if our original story didn’t follow those rules, the license holder would say no.

But, Kenshiro can die in the game!

[Laughs.] Ah, but doesn’t die! He’s just lying on the ground. The IP holder said he’s not allowed to die in the game. That’s a funny story, but we respect the IP holder since we’re using the Fist of the North Star license.

The Fist of the North Star series is quite, how do you say, graphic. Actually, for the Koei side I believe this is your most violent game. How do you feel about that?

This project started before the Tecmo Koei merger. At that time we didn’t have any violent games and I asked is it OK to publish such a game.

Did you push to do it?

Yeah, but if the management said no we wouldn’t have done it.

The North American version is even more violent.

Yes. One of the reasons why is we wanted to put head explosions in the game, it’s iconic to the Fist of the North Star series. If we did that in Japan we wouldn’t be able to release it. That’s why we toned it down. We wanted to do it, so we enabled those in the North American version.

Importers were quite critical about the action structure and bugs. Are you changing the game at all for North America?

We have a whole bunch of improvements with respect to the scenario, enemy AI, pacing, and as we said before the detail of violence. Japanese games move gradually while the Western market wants excitement every second. That’s why we’re going to add a brand new stage for Kenshiro’s story called "Level 0." We want people to enjoy Fist of the North Star, so in "Level 0" we’re going to let people play with a stronger Kenshiro so the game feels more action packed.

Some of the criticism from the US players is this is too much like Musou [Dynasty Warriors]. Japanese players are like "this is like Musou!" [says with gusto.]

I understand there is a cultural difference. In Japan, when people see Musou games their eyes light up. But in North America, people seem to be burned out on the series. How does this cultural difference affect how you design games?

We designed two modes. Legend mode follows the original manga line. To play through that we wanted it to be an action/adventure style mode, like a Musou game. For dream mode, we designed it so it’s more action packed than a Musou game.

If you could change and improve one thing in Fist of the North Star what would it be.

I would make more of a balance between action and story. We want to make sure people really enjoy the action part with Fist of the North Star.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/10/07...am-mode-story/

[Riposte]

Tobi I find it cool that you post these sources and stuff, but if you are going to do the WHOLE thing then you shouldn't be lazy and not delete the useless spaces. It looks good on the website, but not here. If you don't wanna burn the time to do that, then you should just post the most interesting pieces.

[Tobi]

Yeah, I know. I normally copy and paste, then edit it myself, depending on what site it's coming from, which is what I did the first and 2nd time, and numerous other posts. As to why I didn't this time, I got distracted when posted that and forgot to go back to edit it, I did now, though.

[Kiarax]

Protip: Click the little http://www.bluegartr.com/images/editor/switchmode.png in the corner of the posting box to swap to Advanced Editor if you don't have it set to default to that. Then it keeps all the formatting and images when you copy/paste. Of course some websites don't allow you to hotlink images, so either remove them or mirror them.

[Tobi]

Ah, ok. Thanks for that

[Tobi]

Here's vid showing most of Kenshiro Techniques, about 3-4 or so missing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPRzRJ08YKs

Also, the girl Technique at the end was a nice touch. No clue who it is though.

[Charismatic]

It's Mamiya

[Tobi]

I think I'm gonna watch the Anime after I finish the game, would watch before it releases, but doubt I'll have the time.

That Technique of hers is pretty nice though, the kick in the nuts was unexpected after the bitch slapping.

[Charismatic]

Definitely at least watch this movie at some point. Most of what's in this movie is covered in the series but it's still worth seeing imo.

[Tobi]

That actually looks pretty damn nice. I'm still surprised I never once heard of this ever, I'd assumed the name would've came across me at least once, but it's completely new to me.

I can do the movie for sure, but watching a lot of eps I can't do till later.

[Tobi]

New short gameplay video in english

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR0a2Zqma3U