As teased last week, SEGA finally revealed its 30th anniversary Phantasy Star project for iOS and mobile, which is now officially known as Idola: Phantasy Star Saga.
We only have a brief overview of the game following the reveal, but SEGA promised more info will be coming during its next “Phantasy Star Online 2 Station!” broadcast on July 24 at 21:00 JST (8:00 am EST/5:00 am PST).
Here is what we know so far:
- The story is set in a war-torn world called “Vandoll” where its denizens fight everyday against giant, mysterious creatures known as “Idola.”
- These creatures are descendants of the god of destruction, “Dark Farce” (sp?), who has suddenly started to resurrect. As one might expect, players will be tasked with stopping this resurrection and determining the true link between Dark Farce and the Idola.
- Leading the effort to fight the Idola is a group known as the Aries Knights who is led by a young woman named Stella. She’s actually rather shy, but is able to hide her usual demeanor by wearing an iron mask.
- At her side is the protagonist, Yuri, who heads up the Aries Knights’ commando unit. He was raised a sailor by a family friend after his parents died, but he soon gives this life up after a “fateful” encounter with Stella.
- On top of the two protagonists, there are a variety of others who will join them during the course of their adventure. They will belong to either the “Law” or “Chaos” camp, which will reportedly have an effect on gameplay.
- As for the gameplay itself, all we know is that it will use a new command-based system. It looks like a lot like Fate/Grand Order from a cursory glance, but perhaps that assumption will be proven wrong later this month.
Here are a few screenshots:
If you’re willing to put aside your (arguably justified) hate for what represents the latest in a batch of long-running JRPGs becoming mobile games (and gacha, no less…), you’ll likely notice that Idola: Phantasy Star Saga has an aesthetic highly reminiscent of the classic Phantasy Star titles. Granted, it might not qualify as an adequate substitute for some, but with talents such as Shuntaro Tanaka, Tomomasa Chin and Sho Mutsuura behind the wheel, you can at least be sure that the game will be of decent quality.
If you’re interested, go ahead and register at the game’s official website. Upon reaching 100k pre-registered users, SEGA will hand out a free 5* Quna from Phantasy Star Online 2 which also unlocks an additional story.
Idola: Phantasy Star Saga is due out in Japan later this year; there’s been no mention of a Western release.
Check out a teaser trailer below:
