Unsung Story Kickstarter Page Updates, Reveals Playdek's Plan for Development

Published: September 23, 2015 9:19 PM /

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Unsung Story

The Kickstarter page for Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians recently updated with an apology that attempted to explain the direction and progress of the project.  The last update has not been since May, 2015.

Unsung Story promised to be the spiritual successor to games such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Stories, designed by Yasumi Matsuno. Playdek, the developer of Unsung Story, received $660,126 from 15,824 backers during its Kickstarter campaign. The original release date of July 2015 had been missed without no word from the developer at that time.

Playdek announced on the 22nd that Unsung Story is delayed until next year, but no specific release date was given. The estimated plan given as a part of this update, however, implies that Unsung Story will not actually be released until sometime after October of 2016, as a lengthy pvp-related beta test is planned.  It also appears that single player content will not be developed until this time, as well.

The reason for this delay is stated as:

“Earlier in the year, Playdek went through a financial crunch that caused us to reduce some key staff. Some positions were focused on technical components to the engine being used for Unsung, and a few were content development staff who worked on all of our products”

It is also mentioned that some outside publishers have shown interest in Unsung Story. The exact dealings are being kept confidential, and it is unclear how such a partnership might influence the development of Unsung Story.

The progress and current plan of development was shared as a part of this update. Thus far, Playdek has developed:

  • Online backend gaming system for PvP, including matchmaking, rankings, tournament system, create game system, friends lists and chat
  • World story, scenarios and stages for the first five episodes
  • Game design, including character school system and battle system
  • Unity integration with our core engine for 3D graphics
  • Concepts for world locations
  • PvP arenas with grid system, battle system and UI integrated
  • Online PvP game play

Other features have apparently been developed, but what they are, exactly, is not mentioned.

The inclusion of so many PvP-related features seems vital to Playdek’s plan of development, despite the apparent unrest from backers seen in the comments section of the Kickstarter page. In regards to developing a balanced and competent AI, Playdek states that, “We are currently focused on building out the attribute, stat and item tables for two character schools, and balancing them, using PvP as the method for doing so.”

Playdek claims the final product will still include Matsuno’s story campaigns and that PvP will not be the main focus of Unsung Story. The initial PvP testing focus is because, “the use of PVP in the beginning will help us tweak the AI to help balance the game play experience. . . . By using the PVP data, we will be able to improve and develop a game that you will truly love to play. ”

An actual release date has yet to be announced, but the update leaves on the promise of game footage of the PvP arena sometime next month.  An AMA on the Unsung Story subreddit is also scheduled for sometime next week.

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I'm an ex-carnie who has been gaming and writing since I was a kid. Lately you can find me over-thinking in RPGs or failing my way through a plethora… More about Clint