Image via Studio Camelia
I’ve had a love of old-school JRPG from growing up. Seeing my brother tackle the PlayStation 1 Final Fantasy games are some memories permanently burned into my mind, and as I grew older and began my own journeys, that love for the genre deepened, with titles like Sea of Stars now proudly one of my top 5. So, you can imagine I was giddy as a school boy when I was given the chance to participate in a media event with Emma Delage, CEO and Creative Director of Studio Camelia, who have just launched a Kickstarter for their beautiful, nostalgic, but wholly original JRPG, Alzara: Radiant Echos.
Alzara: Radiant Echos Is A Game Loaded With Talent
Based in Montpellier, France, this new, talented international team, whose previous works include Dead Cells, Haven, Divinity: Original Sin, and Ghost Recon, come from around the globe, along with involvement from genre juggernauts. Motoi Sakuraba, composer of Dark Souls and Golden Sun, and Yoshiro Ambe, artist of Trials of Mana. Emma told me that the studio was born from a “childhood dream” since discovering Final Fantasy X as a kid, and through her time in the industry, the arrival of COVID, and a bit of willpower, the studio formed, grew, and became what it is today.
Their project, Alzara, Radiant Echos, is a love letter to the genre and looks to be a return to the staple JRPG gameplay, themes, and design of yesteryear.
Since I can still access this website, I figured I would take a moment to share what I learned about Alzara: Radiant Echos and encourage those who can back this project and help it be the best it can be because it deserves to be made.
A Mature Story of War, Morals, and Sharing
Naturally, only some story details were shared or are out there on Kickstarter, but what I heard and saw painted a pretty intriguing picture of the world and story players will experience.
The heroes of Alzara: Radiant Echos are four people of various views and backgrounds, starting with Kayla, the determined, headstrong, and sometimes outspoken lead. Along with her, there’s Adil, a perceptive and energetic young diplomacy student whose fascination with the games of politics makes him both highly intelligent yet naive company. Then there’s Hugust, a Vedorian solider whose sense of identity and self are in question and who must discover themselves on the long journey ahead. Lastly, there is Nakhell, a powerful young sage who lives as a Hermit and joins the adventure to help restore peace to the lands. All different, yet connected on a quest that will test them all and have weighty consequences. As for the creatures and enemies, they draw from Mediterranean myths and fables, adding more of that unique aesthetic.
As for the story players can expect, Kayla’s home has been invaded by a neighboring nation, to avoid their people starving following a famine in their lands. With war raging and an invasion sweeping the kingdom, the developers want to tell a story with “ a very mature purpose, putting the harsh reality of an invasion” front and center, which draws influences from classics like Golden Sun, Final Fantasy X, and Lost Odyessy while also playing to a central theme: sharing and togetherness. Players can expect a gripping tale to unfold as these themes are woven in, and one that could potentially be beautifully gut-wrenching.
The Fresh Mediterranean Look Makes for a Unique Setting
Alzara: Radiant Echos‘s setting is something to be ogled over, which draws from multiple cultures and styles of the Mediterranean inspire the vibrant world. That entails a vast variety of colors and architecture, influences, and styles blended into a “melting pot” full of characters that players will experience and see as they explore the world.
The game will feature 10 locations, with a mixture of cities, dungeons, and other environments that will take advantage of this style and likely make for one of the most visually distinct JRPGs in recent memory.
Having some genre powerhouse helps too, and when I asked how they came to be involved with the project, I learned it was thanks to the community, specifically the JRPG community. “I’ve been a member of the JRPG community since I was a teenager, and I have friends who now also work in the gaming industry, and who have happened to live in Japan and been in touch with Japanese creators.” “I got in touch with this friend, asked them ‘By any chance do you have a contact with Motoi Sakuraba?’, and he happens to have one, so this is how we came in touch.” The same friend helped contact Yoshiro Ambe, and the rest was history.
Old and New Collide With Layered Gameplay
As I’ve said, Alzara: Radiant Echos is going for the classic style or JRPG, and gameplay makes that very evident. For starters, combat will be a turn-based affair, with battles usually lasting around a minute, and triggered through random encounters. Before anyone kicks up a fuss about it, yes, random encounters can be annoying at times, but the team is taking steps to make it more accessible.
“There are a lot of critics for random encounters,” Emma began, and went on to detail how player options will alleviate these frustrations by letting players “manage both the frequency of the battles and the EXP you get from them.” In addition, you’ll have items, equipment, and other classic style features, such as resistances and weaknesses, that should scratch the nostalgia itch.
Though it’s not all classic, as Alzara: Radiant Echos has multiple quirks and mechanics that sprinkle some freshness on the seasoned genre troupes.
Each character can wield a different type of magic. Kayla is fire, Adil has air, Hugust is earth, and Nakheel is water. Each element has a variety of spells that each character can use, and players can utilize them in different ways in combat. The theme of sharing and togetherness makes its way into gameplay in a big way too, as these primary elements can work together and combine, taking the total elements to 10, at least at the moment, which opens up more options in gameplay, and variety in what enemies you’ll likely see, complete with some exciting ways to handle them.
Archetypes in Alzara: Radiant Echos add to these layers, affecting the kinds of spells and roles the elements and player characters will have in combat, depending on their preferences. Hero position will also play a role, as players will swap characters between the front and back lines, which affects their capabilities, Echo, the game’s version of mana, and the kinds of spells and combinations players will have. So, with a pure offense character like Kayla working alongside Hugust, an earth and more defensive hero, players could use their respective abilities and features to shift the battle in their favor or with any other combination they need.
Topping off the impressive lineup of features is Summons. By making offerings during battle, which involves lowering your stats for favors, players can summon powerful legends who can provide boons and destructive power to players. Think epic Final Fantasy moments. At least, that’s how they sounded to me, though we didn’t see this in action in the presentation. We can expect to see that down the line in development.
The mixture of elements with character archetypes and their positioning all play a role in how combat is played, as all these work in different ways as a variable changes. Depending on combinations, positions, and archetypes, players can expect a lot of opportunity for experimentation in combat, for both fun and efficiency. It’s got layers, and we like layers.
Final Thoughts
I came away from the presentation annoyed, not because of what was shown—in fact, I was hyped—but because I couldn’t play it immediately.
Of course, any game or Kickstarter project has risks, potential for broken promises, and expectations to manage. Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw and couldn’t help but find Emma’s enthusiasm infectious. The project is ambitious, but the best ones usually are, and I think Alzara: Radiant Echos is one project that I will gladly throw my money at, and I think you should too. You have heard tons from me, so I’ll let Emma finish this.
“Nowadays, big companies like Square Enix, or Bandai Namco, are more turning to towards action-oriented combat, because they want to follow a more mainstream audience.” For Emma and the team, that’s “leaving behind a part of their community,” not to mention, as she so perfectly puts it, that Square Enix’s decision has ultimately not done the studio any favors, which is already having trouble keeping its fanbase. “We saw that, and we thought that yes, actually, there are players who want to see more turn-based JRPGs, and nowadays the only games they can play are 2D, or they look retro, or are remakes or remasters.” “We wanted to bring something fresh and new to the genre, and this is how Alzara came up.”
Alzara: Radiant Echos is now live on Kickstarter, and you can back the project here. Visit their website for all the social media links and more details on the studio.
For more features from the Bonus Action team, check out Amanda’s story about relating to a Psyduck, or the tumultuous journey Laura has had with Kingdom Hearts 2.
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