Topic: Opoona is Coming to Wii

[Pale]

Coming from Koei, it looks to be a combination adventure/RPG.

Ever since the Wii remote was revealed, many RPG fans have been dreaming of getting their hands on a nice one handed title they can play while lounging on the couch.  Opoona may be that title, but you won't be using the remote.  Instead, players will be controlling  most of the game by utilizing all of the features of just the nunchuck.    

  Opoona, the main character the game is named for, must set out to unravel the mysteries surrounding his siblings' disappearances and his parents' injuries.  To do this, the player will choose which of several jobs they want Opoona to master as he travels the world.    

  The game is being created by a well known and proven staff.  Hitoshi Sakimoto, composer for Final Fantasy XII, will be writing the music.  Shintaro Majima, art director for several games including Dragon Quest VII, is heading up art direction.  Sachiko Yukimura, who has also worked on games in the Dragon Quest series, is the planning director.  Screenshots that have been circulating the Internet show the Dragon Quest connection even more, as Opoona features an art style similar to that seen in games in that series.  While they are watermarked with the 1up logo, they seem to be quite hard to find on 1up's own site.  Kotaku has them though.    

To read 1up's original article, hit the source link above.

[Bill Aurion]

I'm really thinking that the "nunchuck-only" bit may be a mistranslation (the article literally says something to the lines of "the battles will be carried out with just the nunchuck"...Keyword: battles), but I guess we'll see!  I'm already digging the character design, and the enemy design gives me a vague nostalgia for Earthbound...

[KDR_11k]

Opoona, Kororinpa, did these people look through names and phrases in Zelda, decide to mess them up and use that as a game title?

The characters look interesting but the environments seem a bit generic in their style.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Opoona, Kororinpa, did these people look through names and phrases in Zelda, decide to mess them up and use that as a game title?

Thats exactly what it seems like. Almost like they wanted something that sounds kinda familiar to all the Zelda(Nintendo) fans hoping that their efforts will sounds familiar in name and atleast be givin a chance, you know since Nintendo fans don't buy 3rd party games afterall.

[Maverick]

Actually I might be interested if the name of the game *wasn't* "Opoona".

[Bloodworth]

I'm sure it won't be if it comes out here.

[Bill Aurion]

Teaser site is up, along with some really great music!

[Bloodworth]

ugh, the pronunciation is opuuna.  Way to confuse the gaijin Koei.

[that Baby guy]

If it turns out to be a "kid-friendly" Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Dynasty Warriors, I will be angry.

[Bill Aurion]

What?  This is a more action-oriented RPG, not a Strat/RPG or Hack and Slash... =|

[that Baby guy]

I know, I was just joking a little bit.  It would be funny if they try to tie it into one of those, though.  I know they won't.

[Karl Castaneda #2]

From what I understand, Koei is only the publisher here. Apparently the developer is made up of the same guys who handled the Dragon Quest V remake. Yuji Horii hooked them to get the project further along, but he's not really involved, despite being at the announcement.

[Bloodworth]

After uploading the screens, I'm really interested in Opoona now.  The one shot with the huge friends list is very interesting.  I'm hoping it's either online or it has some kind of deeper character interaction like Majora's Mask. Very DQ though, no doubt about it.

[that Baby guy]

So that's a friend list?  I couldn't tell.  I'll be interested to see how that works.  It seems like the protagonist is outnumbered greatly in several fights, too, so it may be challenging.