Update [Fri 8th Mar, 2024 21:50 GMT]: The first footage of the game has been released:
Original Story [Tue 5th Mar, 2024 16:45 GMT]: Sungrand's Jerrel Dulay, the Australian indie developer behind the seemingly unstoppable Silver Falls series, has just launched a Kickstarter for a new JRPG called Breath Of Thunder – and there are plans to bring it to pretty much every retro console under the sun.
Described as "a turn-based JRPG created specifically for people who long for a classic RPG experience free of modern complications," Breath Of Thunder's initial formats will include Nintendo Switch, Steam/PC, Atari VCS, Playdate and PlayStation Vita, but the developer has ambitious plans beyond that, should enough funds be raised.
Stretch goals include the PSP ($48,000 AUD), Game Boy Color ($91,000 AUD), Dreamcast ($152,000 AUD), PS1 ($229,000 AUD), Atari Jaguar ($305,000 AUD), Saturn ($543,000 AUD) and, perhaps most amazing of all, Virtual Boy ($760,000 AUD). Those are some fairly lofty figures, so it remains to be seen if the campaign is capable of hitting those targets.
The plan is to make the game using the RPG Maker 2003 game engine. "Players will be able to use the EasyRPG app to play the game on a wide variety of platforms including the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita, Android, Handheld emulation devices like Anbernic, Retroid Pocket, and more," adds the developer. "We will distribute the complete open-source of the project for FREE, so players can freely mod the game however they like and enjoy their own custom versions of Breath of Thunder."
Some of the systems might end up benefitting from physical editions, too. "We have received many requests for physical versions for consoles like Dreamcast, Saturn, Jaguar, and more," says the developer. "Our Stretch Goals targets currently only account for development time and costs. We do not factor in costs for physical production. When taking on such an ambitious endeavour, it is important to take one step at a time and focus on completing what is within your expertise. We can discuss physical versions of games with the community on a per-platform basis after each version of the game is completed and launched. Currently, we are able to produce GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance physical cartridges in-house and can sell physical versions for those games on demand."
As for the game itself, Sungrand is adamant that this will be a 'classic' JRPG experience. "There is no obtuse, convoluted storyline, no button-mashy battle system, and no boring, pointless filler content," reads the game's Kickstarter page. "Breath of Thunder will remind us all what made us fall in love with this genre in the first place; interesting characters we care about, engaging storylines, vibrant worlds full of fascinating lore, and beautiful music."
Sungrand's Jerrel Dulay has been responding to concerns on social media that, with such a wide range of technically different platforms to support, this campaign could be biting off more than it can chew:
Sungrand's Silver Falls series includes Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars, Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters and Silver Falls: Gaiden.