For those who are not already sitting on the edges of their seats, a new contender in the MMO industry is going to soon be released. Calling itself Kitsu Saga Online, it will be leaving its beta phase by the end of the year and players should definitely be looking forward to this.
With its rich graphics and in-depth gameplay, Kitsu Saga Online will be offering players an exciting and action-packed game experience while still involving the more industrious aspects of the MMO genre. Crafting and farming are all taken care of via the robust pet system in-game. This leaves more time for players to get their hands dirty, so to speak.
A few weeks ago, MMOCrunch.com was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be able to interview a representative from Aeria Games. In these questions, we poked and prodded interviewee Kevin Simmons, a Game Master (GM) from Kitsu Saga Online about every aspect of the game we could think of. His detailed answers offered new insights for a MMO that is sure to sweep the Free-to-Play North American market in the months to come.
For those that don’t know about the game, can you introduce what Kitsu Saga is and what type of player it will appeal to?
Kitsu Saga is a Martial Arts based MMORPG. It features unique anime style graphics, deep character customization and a pet system in the form of the Kitsu. There are a host of PVE and PVP features, as well as a competitive leaderboard and ranking system. Kitsu Saga has a little something for everyone. For the more casual player, the game has a large amount of costumes and pet items to dress up your character in. For more hardcore players, the game features in-depth crafting, upgrading, and character building system. All of the classes are viable melee fighters in addition to their normal skills which keeps the pace of the game fast and fun. If you like martial arts combat, you should definitely check out Kitsu Saga.
What have you done to set Kitsu Saga apart from other MMOs?
The developer, X-Legend, has gone with a unique visual style that combines realistic models with bright colors and comic book style outlining. The game also has a give and take “Chi” based skill system, which is a welcome evolution from the classic “Mana Reservoir” system we have all seen so many times. This game also features an entire sub-game which revolves around raising, upgrading, and splicing your Kitsu pets (of which you can have nine). These pets perform all of your farming and crafting for you, and you will have a private cottage you can travel to where you can interact with them and see them work. The way you treat your Kitsu affects how they perform and grow.
Were there any aspects of the interface or game play for Kitsu Saga that was inspired by other MMOs?
Kistu Saga was developed soon after X-Legend completed the initial work on Grand Fantasia, their previous release. There are similarities between the two games but at the end of the day, Kitsu Saga manages to be a different game from Grand Fantasia.
What is the inspiration for the lore and setting?
Kitsu Saga is fantasy game loosely based on Ancient China, think 14th century, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There are many creatures heavily inspired by Chinese and zodiac lore.
What made Aeria Games choose this particular style of art for Kitsu Saga?
Kitsu Saga represents a fine balance between a carefree comic book/anime style and more mature and realistic graphics. This also accurately represents the style of game. There is serious PVE and PVP content if you want it, but the game also has a casual learning curve and easy-to-pick-up early game content for those who just want to log in and play with some friends.
The combat centers around many enemies versus the hero character. Will there be more than two or three different skins used for human enemies?
There is a very wide variety of models and skins for humanoid enemies, not just simple pallet swaps. There is also a wide variety of animal/mythical enemies as well.
What sort of subscription/micro-transaction model are you planning to apply to the game?
The game will be totally free to play, with a premium item mall for players who would like faster health potions, or enhanced experience charms, for example. None of these items will give paying players such a polarizing advantage that it harms the play experience of other players.
What is the estimated release date for Kitsu Saga?
We are not ready to release a date but the game will be coming out sometime in Q4 of 2010.
With such massive battles in PvE, how are you planning to manage the lag and potential disconnects caused by it?
Like many MMOs we have instanced dungeons and segregated zones in order to manage the population. For client-side lag, the game can scale its graphics back quite a bit – so even those with much older machines can partake in the fun!
Brand new eye-candy is as follows:
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Nice interview. Good work :)