Fantasy Earth Zero
Feature
We got in contact with someone at Gamepot regarding their upcoming free-to-play MMO release in the US, Fantasy Earth: Zero.
Hooked Gamers: Can you tell us something about the 5 counties that players can choose as their homeland? Do they all have the same race or can people choose from different races?
Sheloman Byrd: Currently, all characters in the game are human. Now, the 5 countries themselves are a different story. The world in FEZ is called Melpharia, and first, we have the Kingdom of Netzawar, ruled by the Lion King Huenkel, driven by a selfless love of battle. Huenkel is a proud, wise king and father, one of our most visually striking characters. Then there’s the United Kingdom of Cesedria, led by the beautiful elf, Queen Tiffarith, these fighters are dedicated to protection and pacificism—I will say that Huenkel doesn’t refer to her as Queen, and there’s some issue with the inhabitants who don’t want an elf as ruler.
Next we have the Gerburand Empire, which has been forged from endless wars, Emperor Lyle Geburand leads his people in a war of endless conquest. Now Lyle has some issues with the rest of his family, he’s brash, and has nothing but contempt for the aristocrats who he thinks have ruined his country. So, he has a chip on his shoulder. Also, Cesedria actually seceded from the Empire not too long ago, so Lyle has his eye on them.
The Kingdom of Ielsord is led by King Niass, a powerful wizard and statesman—the state is actually so well-run that the warriors here have taken a crusade to spread his teachings, namely: “Knowledge is Power”. He’s not exactly for the war, but isn’t going to stop them either—he’s intrigued by having additional subjects to teach.
Finally, there’s the Kingdom of Hordaine, the youngest country in Melpharia. The warriors here are led by the gorgeous Queen Wadritte, in a battle for her own ideals; a warrior queen to the fullest. She essentially refuses to be conquered, and will fight to the last breath to stop it.
So, each of the 5 Kingdoms has something to fight for. As a player, you can pick your side, and all classes are available no matter who you’re fighting for. You can also look forward to some rather stellar voice-acting from each King.
Hooked Gamers: 100 player PVP battles are quite a feat. How are you able to accommodate that many players in one battle?
Sheloman Byrd: We hired a wizard. On the serious side, the system is actually designed to scale, so you can do 5v5, all the way up to 50vs50. The most imbalanced a side can be is 5, and after the battle starts between the initial players, anyone from that kingdom can join the fight.
Now, the other way we accommodate this is within the battle system itself—there’s tasks required in every battle that make it easier to win, well-organized players will always beat an equal-leveled team senseless, because there’s tactics you can use to make life hell for your opponents.
As an example, everything starts with territory and crystals. You must take over territory, and destroy the castle to win a match. Mining crystals allows you to create structures. Now, you have to protect your own castle first, so you use obelisks to expand your territory. Once you can’t expand anymore, it’s time to take some. So you’ll have, say, a front line of 20 fighters, with players on both sides tracking resources, as well as deciding when to start the summons. Our summons are all player-based, so when you summon a Giant with shoulder-mounted cannons, YOU are the giant. Each summon has a counter summon as well. Figuring out what to use when is a part of winning, just like the fast paced action of two armies doing their best to fight for one ideal.
Hooked Gamers: Do you have any news about an estimated release date for the US?
Sheloman Byrd: We’re on pace for Q1 2010. =)
Hooked Gamers: How do you think the game will fare against other free-to-play MMOs like Silkroad online who already have an active fan base in the western world?
Sheloman Byrd: Well, with much respect to the other games in the market, not a single one offers what FEZ does, the level of gameplay, the fast pace, the atmosphere, the soundtrack (Hitoshi Sakimoto, FF12 and FF Tactics), the voice-acting, and the scale of each battle place FEZ in a category of its own. We also have controller support, and the game is WASD native.
Hooked Gamers: It is our tradition to give developers a chance to say something about the game that they are desperate to get out. Is there anything burning on your lips?
Sheloman Byrd: Well, we’re gamers. Gamers that have seen many free to play games falter, or make decisions unfriendly to the player base. So for FEZ, there’s a lot of stuff that you won’t see, simply because we wouldn’t want that. Unless it’s something that we can play and enjoy, it’s not good enough. And we want feedback, so head over to http://fez.gamepotusa.com, sign up for Open Beta, and let us know what you think. There’s also a contest that might interest some of you…
Hooked Gamers: Thank you!