Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, including the Tales, Star Ocean, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Golden Sun, and Dark Souls series, as well as several other anime series, television dramas, and progressive rock albums.
Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the Xenoblade Chronicles series of games. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and cooperation of Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco. Their first project was the Xenosaga series, a spiritual successor to the Square-developed Xenogears. Multiple Square staff would join Takahashi at Monolith Soft including Hirohide Sugiura and Yasuyuki Honne.
tri-Ace, Inc. is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1995. They are known for their role-playing games, most notably the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series.
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo and published by Namco for the GameCube. In it, the player assume the role of a "guardian spirit" – an unseen player avatar – who guides protagonist Kalas and his party of companions in an adventure across an aerial floating island-based kingdom in the clouds. The game is focused around the concept of "Magnus" – magical cards that capture the "essence" of items found in the in-game world. The concept is used as a plot device, for in-game item management, and as a basis for the card-themed battle system. The game was noted for its unique battle system, which included aspects of turn-based and action-based battle systems, collectible card games, and poker.
Xenosaga I & II is a 2006 role-playing video game co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create, and published by Namco for the Nintendo DS. A spin-off of the Xenosaga trilogy and forming part of the Xeno metaseries, Xenosaga I & II retells the events of Xenosaga Episode I and Xenosaga Episode II while expanding on its characters and narrative. Displayed from an angled two-dimensional perspective, Xenosaga I & II makes use of a turn-based battle system with elements carried over from the main Xenosaga games.
Namco × Capcom is a tactical role-playing (RPG) crossover video game developed by Monolith Soft for the PlayStation 2 and published by Namco in 2005. The gameplay combines tactical RPG and action sequences during battles, featuring characters from video game series owned by Namco and Capcom. The narrative sees original characters Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu, operatives for paranormal investigative group Shinra, confront distortions bringing characters from other realities into their own.
Baten Kaitos Origins, released in Japan as Baten Kaitos II, is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and Tri-Crescendo for the GameCube. It is a prequel to Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003). Similar to the first entry, the player assume the role of a "guardian spirit" – an unseen player avatar – who guides protagonist Sagi and his party of companions in an adventure across an aerial floating island-based kingdom in the clouds. The game retains the original's focus around the concept of "Magnus" – magical cards that capture the "essence" of items found in the in-game world, where the concept is still used as a plot device, for in-game item management, and as a basis for the card-themed battle system, albeit with minor tweaks.
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2; the game was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America. It was never released in Europe. It is the first entry in the Xenosaga trilogy and forms part of the wider Xeno metaseries. Gameplay features exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles use turn-based combat with the player characters fighting both on foot and piloting large mecha dubbed A.G.W.S.; combat in turn features a system of button combinations for attack types, and multiple leveling systems.
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft for the PlayStation 2. It was published in Japan (2004) and North America (2005) by Namco, and in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (2005). It is the second entry in the Xenosaga trilogy, and forms part of the wider Xeno metaseries. Continuing directly from the events of Xenosaga Episode I, Xenosaga Episode II sees protagonists Shion Uzuki and Jr. continuing to combat the plots of the U-TIC Organization and the insane Albedo Piazzolla. Gameplay is carried over from the first game, featuring exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles follow a turn-based system featuring a system of button combinations, multiple leveling systems, and combat featuring both the characters on foot and piloting large mecha called "E.S.".
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It is the final entry in both the Xenosaga trilogy and the larger Xenosaga series, which forms part of the Xeno franchise. Concluding the narrative of Xenosaga Episode I and Episode II, Episode III sees Shion Uzuki and the battle android KOS-MOS search out the origins of the hostile alien Gnosis while being hunted by Shion's former employers and four powerful humans called the Testaments. Gameplay is carried over from the first two games, featuring exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles follow a turn-based system featuring multiple leveling systems and combat with both a human party and mecha.
Hiroya Hatsushiba is the founder of video game developer tri-Crescendo, and a long time sound programmer for composer Motoi Sakuraba, whom he also gives English titles of the tracks Sakuraba creates.
Disaster: Day of Crisis is a 2008 action-adventure light gun shooter developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii. In it, the player must survive various natural disasters while battling terrorists and rescuing civilians. According to Nintendo, the game features "cutting-edge physics and gripping visuals" to recreate the sheer terror of major catastrophes.
Hiōden: Mamono-tachi tono Chikai is a video game that was published in 1992 by Telenet Japan and developed by their Wolfteam subsidiary. It was released on the NEC PC-98 in the same year. The game was later ported to the Super Famicom in 1994. Its subtitle could be translated as "Legend of the Scarlet King".
Yasuyuki Honne is a video game artist, director and producer. He was employed by Square from 1993 to 1999 and is now working at Monolith Soft. He is known for his work on the Chrono series, Xeno games and Baten Kaitos series.
Eternal Sonata is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Crescendo and published by Bandai Namco Games. The Xbox 360 version of the game was released in 2007 on June 14 in Japan, September 17 in North America, and October 19 in Europe. The game was also released on the PlayStation 3 with additional content as Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream – Reprise on September 18, 2008 in Japan, in North America on October 21, and in Europe with the original name Eternal Sonata on February 13, 2009.
The Journey Home: Quest for the Throne, released in Japan as Neugier: Umi to Kaze no Kodō, is a 1993 action role-playing game developed by Wolf Team and published by Telenet Japan for the Super Famicom. The game was scheduled to be released in North America in late 1993 prior to being cancelled.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is an action role-playing game for the Wii developed by Namco Bandai Games in co-operation with Tri-Crescendo. The game was released by Namco Bandai Games in Japan on January 22, 2009. It was later published by Xseed Games in North America on March 16, 2010, and in Europe by Rising Star Games on March 19, 2010, followed by its release in Australia on April 1, 2010.
8-4, Ltd. is a Japanese video game localization company based in Shibuya, Tokyo. The company was founded in 2005 by Hiroko Minamoto and former Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) editor John Ricciardi. They were joined by Ricciardi's EGM colleague Mark MacDonald in 2008, who departed in 2016 to work as VP, Production of Business and Development at Enhance Games. It performs Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese translation and localization on a contract basis with credits including Monster Hunter, Nier, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, Tales, Undertale and more. The company is named after the final level of the original Super Mario Bros., where Mario defeats Bowser and rescues Princess Peach for the very first time.
Digimon World Re:Digitize is a 2012 video game for the PlayStation Portable developed by tri-Crescendo and published by Bandai Namco Games on July 19, 2012. The fifth entry in the Digimon World series, itself part of the Digimon franchise, the game features a return to the gameplay mechanics introduced in the original game. An enhanced port was released for the Nintendo 3DS on June 27, 2013 under the title Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode.
