Thursday, July 31, 2008

Ragnarok Online DS scans from Famitsu

It was already announced quite some time ago (almost a year, in fact, but was drowned in obscurity), and just when I thought the whole thing was just a hoax out came a handful of screenshots for the fabled DS version of everyone's favorite bitch, Ragnarok Online:


Scans taken from Famitsu, provided by gamekyo.com

As you can see, Ragnarok Online for the DS isn't that different compared to its PC predecessor, except for the bigger sprites. The Kafra maids are still there, and the interface mimics that of the PC MMO, with icons similar to the skill/item hotkeys placed at the top.

But don't be fooled: Ragnarok Online DS is predominantly offline. Does that mean, then, that we should refer to it as Ragnarok Online DS Offline? Or Ragnarok Online Offline DS? Feh, whatever.

To make things simpler, Ragnarok Online DS, like most DS RPGs, focus primarily on an offline single-player story campaign, and the only online action DS users will get is the three-person Tower of Mirages online mode. It's not even clear whether this is done over the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, or just plain multiplayer where all participants are in the same room (like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates).

Here are the details of the game, taken from sites 1up and Go Nintendo:
  • gameplay remains closely related to PC title
  • offline story mode is main focus
  • Play as Ares, a mild-mannered kid who wants to start up his own guild and be a great adventurer like his father
  • recruit party members
  • takes place in the realm of Rune Midgard
  • build up characters to gain new jobs, skills
  • mostly stylus control
  • tap to pick up items, attack enemies
  • draw circles and more for spells
  • two brand-new jobs (Dark Knight can do special moves that drain HP, Shaman has various magic skills)
  • Online play: three people team up to take on the Tower of Mirages, a 50 floor random dungeon
  • December 18th release in Japan
  • no US plans yet
New character classes? Awesome TWEWY-like control scheme? Cool beans.

If the existence of a handheld RO was reported...say, years ago, when I was still interested in the game and it wasn't quite yet raped throughly, I'd be all happy wappy over this news and despairing over the fact that it won't probably see an English language release.

But my days with RO have already ended, so I'll just say this: Meh.

Update: It's confirmed, the multiplayer online mode will be hosted by Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, so partying up the usual way is still a go.

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