Waveform developer's latest is Citizens of Earth
Citizens of the Earth is an old-school RPG in which the lead character is not a spiky-haired orphan boy with a destiny but the Vice President of the World.
As it happens, our hero does hail from a small country town and returns there for some R&R post-election. Finding himself at the centre of some strange events, the cunning polly recruits town members to fight battles, with up to three at a time in the party.
This means you have all the traditional RPG combat roles, but instead of being wizards and warriors everyone is a normal guy - Baker, Barista, School Teacher and Homeless Guy are some class examples. When dismissed from the party, these characters return home to work in their unique day jobs. Train them up in battles and they'll be better at their work, thus upgrading stores, proving intel and offering special services like vehicles, idle XP boosts and upgrades. Players are therefore motivated to use every character and grow the town with their party.
It sounds like a lot of work but developer Eden Industries says its mantra is "broader, not longer", so much of this will be optional. The RPG can be completed in ten hours, or it can eat your whole life - the choice is yours.
Eden Industries says the possibility of recruiting anyone makes the game almost like Suikoden or Pokémon, but streamlined to make switching around between the huge cast easy and fun. You don't have to worry about equipping every party member (although advanced players are encouraged to exploit strategic opportunities by doing so).
Eden cites a third RPG classic in Earthbound, the inspiration for its oddball setting and characters. The story is still under wraps but involves 'someone or somethin doing weird experiments on people, animals, and the environment to make bizarre hybrids and re-creations of things'. This results in enemies like the Honey Bear, the Killer Koffee and the Rastafarian Samurai.
Citizens of Earth boasts of having no random encounters, vehicle combat and an online arena, a real time day night cycle, and graphical tech imported from Eden Industries' debut title, Waveform. Waveform composer Scott McFadyen returns to pen the soundtrack, too.
The RPG is still in the early stages of production for Linux, Mac and PC, with Android and iOS launches on the cards. It already sounds pretty rad as a concept; I'll be keeping an eye on it. It's