Astro Boy: Edge of Time (2017 Tezuka game)

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Shiyonasan
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Astro Boy: Edge of Time (2017 Tezuka game)

Postby Shiyonasan » 7 years ago

Official website
Facebook page
Twitter page
Active Gaming Media Facebook page

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Source: Anime News Network, Gematsu, NeoGAF forums

Anime News Network wrote:Active Gaming Media Posts Link to Countdown Site Featuring Osamu Tezuka Characters


Active Gaming Media, a video game developer and localization company based in Osaka, posted a link on Facebook on Monday to a "http://trust-the-ministry.com/" website that features a countdown and silhouettes of characters from various Osamu Tezuka manga franchises. Active Gaming Media's Facebook post accompanying the link simply said "Soon..." and used the hashtags #secretproject, #tezuka, and #games.

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The site lists the production supervisor as Osamu Tezuka's son Macoto Tezka, and also lists the following staff:

Artists:

Hiroya Oku (Gantz manga creator)
NekoshowguN (Lollipop Chainsaw character designer)
Satoshi Yoshioka
Hiroshi Matsuyama (president of CyberConnect2)
Hiroaki
Seiichirow Hosokawa (character designer for .hack//G.U. Trilogy, .hack//Roots)
Suda 51 (Gōichi Suda, CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture and director of Killer is Dead, No More Heroes)

Composers:

Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill series)
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (pioneer of disco and electronic dance music)

The website also features the words "Trust the Ministry" and "Edge of Time." The countdown will end at midnight on August 25 (11:00 a.m. EDT on August 24).


After a little research, it looks like Active Gaming Media releases games to PC, Steam, online, and mobile platforms. In the past, they have released games to the Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP, Vita, DS, and 3DS, as well as Facebook.

It'll be interesting to see what this is exactly!
Last edited by Shiyonasan on Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:38 pm, edited 18 times in total.

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Postby Tetsuwan Penguin » 7 years ago

I love the electronic music in that first link.
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Postby F-Man » 7 years ago

I'm on Twitter.

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Postby YJ_Doodle » 7 years ago

I think it's safe to say this character is Epsilon, yes? Reminds me of Vision from the Avengers :D

+Edit: Oh, I checked the website and it's indeed true. Welp!
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Postby Shiyonasan » 7 years ago

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732149603/astro-boy-edge-of-time
http://www.playastroboy.com/

As can be seen now on the Kickstarter page and official website, we've got a bunch of new info on this game.

There is a free downloadable demo on the Kickstarter page. The link below will lead you to the download:

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/projectatom/kickstarterDemo/AstroBoyDemo_Setup.exe

Project Atom on Kickstarter wrote:This project will only be funded if at least $50,000 is pledged by Wed, Sep 21 2016 11:59 PM EDT.

A Digital CCG based on the work of the Godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka's universe, featuring world famous creatives.

  • Platforms - PC (WIN/MAC/LINUX) + Mobile & Tablet (iOS/Android)
  • Release Date - Early 2017
  • Genre - Collectible Card Game
  • Single Player - Campaign with a constantly expanding story that enriches the Tezuka Universe
  • Multiplayer - Competitive Ranked Matches and Friend Matches

In partnership with his son Makoto Tezuka, we celebrate Osamu Tezuka, not just for his incredible art and the sheer volume of work that he produced throughout his life, but also for the incredible breadth of genres he covered. From horror, to action, to children’s stories, people from every walk of life found something to love in Tezuka’s vast library of creations.

His work popularized manga around the world, profoundly shaped modern-day anime, and influenced numerous artists who have created their own successful anime and manga series.

This game takes the shared universe of characters and the Star System that Tezuka created over his illustrious career and continues the story in a whole new setting. Drawing from themes and narratives previously established or hinted at in Tezuka’s work, our aim is to reintroduce these wonderful worlds to fans old and new. This is the world of ASTRO BOY: EDGE OF TIME.

Dark forces beyond understanding have consumed nearly all that exists. Ripped to shreds, left for dead, those that find themselves still alive find hope in an unseen power that transports them safely to a city known as The Sprawl that exists outside the normal flow of time and space. Out of reach of evil, human and robot alike work together to survive in this harsh strange new world.

Citizens from all of these different universes start to integrate with each other, and 8 districts are formed by the newly established government to properly govern and protect the people. Peace reigns in The Sprawl for a time, until the demon king Goa invades The Sprawl from beyond.

The skies above The Sprawl turn blood red, as Goa’s invasion fleet arrives, and Astro, Magma, and other heroes gather to protect what little they have. Aiding them in battle are a new breed of hero: summoners. Able to use “cards” to manifest hard light construct versions of those they’ve met, the summoners are able to create entire armies with the flick of their wrists.

Despite successfully repelling the Goa invasion, many of the heroes sustain heavy damage. Magma now sleeps in the center of the city, the new governmental building built around his motionless body. Astro is nowhere to be seen, leading many to ask:

Where is Astro?

Two years have passed since the invasion, and a new soul awakens in The Sprawl. A new era begins in the last city in existence.

  • Unique Positional Combat: players have access to two rows in combat: an offensive row where cards are able to attack the enemy, but cannot protect the player, and the defensive row where cards defend incoming attacks but are unable to initiate attacks.
  • Reimagined Characters: Fresh new redesigns of Tezuka’s most famous characters crafted by Japan’s most legendary illustrators.
  • Story Mode: Experience a whole new adventure with Astro and other famous Tezuka characters that intertwines a deep storyline with unique card-based combat.
  • Multiplayer: Battle other players in multiple ranked and unranked online modes and prove yourself as the best summoner in The Sprawl.
  • Ongoing Development: The experience is always growing! Regular updates for ASTRO BOY: EDGE OF TIME will add new cards, new story mode episodes, and new multiplayer modes, so there’s always something new around the corner.

You play as a summoner, equipped with a powerful deck of “cards” that allows you to summon mighty heroes from across time and space to fight to defend your new home. In the full game, players build decks of 30 cards to take down mighty foes and defend The Sprawl or take on other players in a plethora of ranked and unranked multiplayer modes.

On the battlefield, each player gets two rows upon which to place units: The aggressive Enforcer row, and the protective Guardian row. Units placed from your hand in the Enforcer row can attack the enemy player and its units, but won’t be able to protect you from direct attacks. On the other hand, cards in the Guardian row are able to protect you from direct damage, but cannot initiate combat.

In addition, each card has a unique skill that will either passively activate when the right conditions are met, or are manually activated by the player when the time is right.

In addition to commanding Tezuka’s characters on the battlefield, players will also have access to Gear cards, powerful cards you can play during your turn to change the battlefield, buff units, or completely obliterate your enemy.


There's more info on the Kickstarter page, which I'll let you guys read.

Here's some of the new artwork for the game:

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Ambassador Magma, as drawn by Hiroya Oku:

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Edge of Time official site wrote:Regarded as one of the Sprawl's mightiest heroes, Magma was pivotal to the city's survival and victory during Goa's invasion. Gravely injured in the final battle, Magma attempted to make his way back to a heat source in order to heal himself. Before he could, however, his body stopped moving when he reached the city's center. He now stands motionless in the middle of the Sprawl, a stark reminder of what heroes sacrificed for peace.


The Sprawl:

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EDIT: I just downloaded the demo and played the easiest mode. It was actually not that bad! I did run into a glitch halfway through where the computer opponent wasn't able to finish their turn, preventing the game from switching to my turn, but I was able to play the game well otherwise. The demo also ran well on my computer, which I found surprising since I'm still on Windows 7 and don't have a computer built for computer games. FYI: there is no story elements in the demo; there's only the card game play.

I'd say give the demo a shot if you can. I'm not a big CCG guy, but the game was kind of fun!

EDIT 2: Just noticed that the game now has a Facebook page and Twitter page. I'll link those here:

https://www.facebook.com/playastroboy/
https://twitter.com/playastroboy
Last edited by Shiyonasan on Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:16 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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Postby MrsEclipse » 7 years ago

I gotta be honest. This does NOT look like something I would enjoy. But I do want to see it funded.
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Postby Shiyonasan » 7 years ago

If I bought the game, I think I'd enjoy the game more for the story than for the card-based game play. The game play isn't bad, and I don't mind playing it, but I would've rather seen a different genre of game such as a beat-em-up, visual novel, point-and-click, or some sort of action style. It is interesting though seeing the Tezuka characters re-imagined in more realistic anime art styles, and I'm looking forward to seeing Atom and Black Jack in the art style used in the game.

Also, I've now played all four factions in the game, and I find that Gearwork Revolution works the best for me. Ministry of Science isn't too bad, and Order of the Burning Feather is okay. 9 Kings Syndicate is pretty terrible though in my opinion. :p

EDIT: I'm similar to your same mindset, MrsEclipse: even if I don't fully enjoy the final game as much as other people might, it'd still be good to see it get funded.
Last edited by Shiyonasan on Wed Aug 24, 2016 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby F-Man » 7 years ago

I hope this finds some success which Tezuka Productions could really use so that they can expand into real games and stuff in the future. This game is obviously not for Tezuka fans. It's for card game fans who might pick it up, enjoy it, and then become Tezuka fans thanks to it. This happened a lot with Astro Boy: Omega Factor, where people picked the game up because they liked action video games, and inadvertently found themselves to become Tezuka fans.

I too am mostly interested to see the story, as for the gameplay I did not get it at all. I couldn't do anything but kill a single one of the bad guys before I lost. The art is absolute try-hard edgy shit and they even seem to have adultified kid characters, the one thing that could have helped sparkle a little bit of charm to the game if done right.

Astro has apparently gone missing and I wouldn't be surprised if he only appears at the end of the story. Even the title screen puts more importance on Ambassador Magma. The use of Astro as a selling crutch is very disappointing. Considering the talent behind the game and the teaser art I was expecting a No More Heroes type game showing off Astro with his classic design in his best graphics to this day. So much about the build-up was misleading, especially this:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cqli__1WYAADjwb.jpg:large

I can understand why they chickened out from waiting till the end of the counter for the reveal, it's like they knew this wasn't actually hype-worthy and their marketing was doing everything wrong.
Last edited by F-Man on Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby Shiyonasan » 7 years ago

A bit of an update on the story mode, per the scenario writer for the game:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732149603/astro-boy-edge-of-time/posts/1664050

Dev Blog 2: Story Mode and Exploring The Sprawl

Hi everyone,

Nayan Ramachandran, scenario writer for Astro Boy: Edge of Time here.

We’re well into the 2nd day of the campaign, and we’ve heard from some people that we haven’t talked too much about the story mode. Today we’d like to go through the structure of the story mode, what to expect, and we’ll even explore a little bit of the city known as The Sprawl.

While many collectible card games focus solely on the multiplayer competitive aspect, we felt the best way to honor Osamu Tezuka’s legacy was to also create an ongoing story involving these incredible characters.

When players wake up in The Sprawl for the first time, they’ll choose between a male or female summoner to take control of. Once they do, they’ll be introduced to their base of operations: The Ministry of Science. They’ll meet Dr. Ochanomizu, Uran, and learn more about the world around them. From there, players will go on an adventure throughout the city, meet beloved Tezuka characters, fight nefarious enemies in full card battles and short skirmishes in card based challenges.

As you explore the city, you’ll find out what’s happened to many of your favorite characters. Some are thriving, some are missing. Characters from different manga will meet each other in unpredictable new ways, changing their stories and destinies.
The story mode also includes a system we call “Prism Vision”. While the player explores the Sprawl, they’ll receive visions of happenings elsewhere in the city. These visions are short cutscenes that flesh out the motivations and relationships of other characters as they plan and scheme. While these cutscenes aren’t required to understand the plot of each story segment, they hint at future events and what the player is up against. Think of them as “Meanwhile, elsewhere…” cutscenes.

Story mode also has a News function. The player has access to a “Sprawlnet” enabled device that allows them to access the latest news from around the city whenever they’d like. While some news will reflect your actions, others will give story hints or even unlock secret side quests. We want to show that time passes in the Sprawl even when the player isn’t in that part of the city.

Best of all, the story is ever-growing. As we develop new card sets for the game, we’ll release new story chapters, each one based on a different series in Tezuka’s bibliography. I’m a big fan of exploring the more obscure parts of a creator’s stories, so we’re looking forward to introducing characters and settings that even Tezuka fans will find new and exciting.

We’re really excited to show you all more of the game in the coming days!
-------
Exploring The Sprawl

The Sprawl is a strange city that exists outside of the normal flow of time and space; a curious relic of a bygone civilization. In the game, it’s the world that Tezuka’s characters now inhabit. Some look very different from their past selves, while others look quite familiar.

The city itself is split into 8 districts, each one known for a specific industry or aspect of life.

The 5th District is a mish mash of old shops and residential complexes. While much of it is in ill repair, a single giant building nestled within stands like a beacon of white light: The Ministry of Science.

Known as the center of technological research and mechanical marvels, the Ministry of Science also serves as your base of operations as the player. Here you’ll research new scientific discoveries with Dr. Ochanomizu and plan your next move with Astro and Uran. The Ministry of Science is the closest thing the player has to home.

The 6th District is the center of manufacturing and heavy industry. Because of the heavy labor required for many of the jobs in the 6th District, much of its population is made up of robots. These robots, however, lack the basic rights and privileges that humans in The Sprawl enjoy.

The 6th District is also home to the Deadcross Society, an anti-robot rights terrorist organization with a mysterious agenda. The only thing standing in their way is a charismatic robot named Rag, whose run for office could mean a huge political shift for the robot rights movement, if he can survive long enough!


EDIT: This is probably important to include as well. Basically, while you can buy cards with real money, every card can be purchased with the in-game money.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732149603/astro-boy-edge-of-time/comments

Jim Bradshaw asking a question to the devs wrote:So.... What finance model is this game going to be?

I'm an enormous Tezuka fan. I love CCGs. And Akira Yamaoka too?!? This sounds so wonderful and exciting!!! Unless, of course, it's going to be freemium. Y'know, the games that cost nothing to download and prey on impatience and addictive tendencies to endlessly urge players to spend just a little more in hopes that they may get an ultra rare whatever because that's the only way they can ever really compete in the ranked matches or enjoy a complete collection of cards? The kind of games that are ruining the industry? Please tell me that this won't be one of those. Please tell me I won't see "$69.99 for 100,000 Prisma!" or "$4.99 for a hyper pack! 1 in 6 chance of an ultra rare!" (meaning that you could easily spend $100 without seeing one) or anything of the sort. If I play the game for a large, yet reasonable, amount of time, can I get a complete set of cards?

If this game will reward those who've purchased it with a full and enjoyable experience that doesn't require continuous spending to enjoy the full range of cards available then this is the most exciting game that I've heard about in a long time! I'm cool with $5 or $10 dollars every so often for an expansion DLC with story and new cards that I can earn in game. I'm pledging $100 dollars here because I'm very excited for what this can be as a game. Here's hoping I'm worrying for nothing!

Also, what platform is this going to be on?


Project Atom, the company developing the game wrote:Hi Jim!

You have a lot of very valid points, and I hope I can address all of your points.

Everyone on the dev team is a passionate gamer, especially for card games. We're also totally aware of the nasty practices that some freemium games bake into their monetization model. We're not fans of that ourselves.

The game is going to be using a monetization model for card packs, but we very clearly designed the game not to entrap the player. Every card in the game will be attainable without spending money. Here are a couple ways you can earn cards without ever spending money:

1) You earn in-game currency by completing objectives and story chapters in the story mode.

2) You can earn cards from key moments in the story mode (eg. beating a boss, solving a mystery, meeting a key character for the first time).

3) Winning matches in multiplayer will earn you currency that over time, you can save to buy card packs.

4) At special times of the year, we'll have events that players can participate in which will have exclusive rewards. No money is required to participate or earn the rewards. Just by completing objectives and winning multiplayer matches, you'll earn exclusive cards and other unlockables to customize your deck.

Additionally, we think it's really important that rarity of a card doesn't necessarily dictate the power of the card. That isn't to say that rare cards won't be powerful. They will not, however, invalidate the usefulness of commons and uncommons.

For instance, we won't create a common Cost 5 3/2 unit, and then release a rare Cost 4 3/2. That goes against the spirit of the game, and not what a great card game is all about. Instead, rare cards will have unique powers that will synergize with your deck in new and interesting ways.

They won't, however, singlehandedly win you a game.

To your last point, the current platforms we're targeting are PC and iOS/Android. PC is our target platform.

If you haven't already, please do check out the demo (the link is at the top of the campaign page)! It's a technical alpha for the battle system, and there's still plenty to build out, but it will give you an idea of how we're designing cards even at the common and uncommon level.

I hope that answers all of your questions! :)
Last edited by Shiyonasan on Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:15 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Postby Rejoyce » 7 years ago

So far the game looks nice, but all the little animations and stuff made it hard to figure out what was going on at first!
I'm excited for the story mode too. Hopefully they'll think of some really interesting ways to arrange the crossovers.

And it's cool that they're not making overpowered rare cards, I always hated that.


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