White Knight Chronicles: Origins

Last updated
White Knight Chronicles: Origins
White Knight Chronicles PSP.jpg
European box art
Developer(s) Japan Studio
Matrix Software [1]
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation Portable
Release
  • JP: February 3, 2011
  • EU: June 8, 2011 [2]
    (in some countries)
  • EU: June 10, 2011 [2]
  • AU: June 10, 2011 [2]
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, co-op

White Knight Chronicles: Origins [3] is a role-playing video game developed by Japan Studio, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation Portable. The game is a prequel to the 2008 title White Knight Chronicles and was released on February 3, 2011 in Japan. In Europe, the game was released on June 8 in most European countries, June 9 for Australia and New Zealand and June 10 for UK and Ireland, with no plans for a North American release. [2]

Contents

Gameplay

Setting

White Knight Chronicles: Origins signs the player character up to the Mobile Corps, a mercenary organization that operates via train. Traversing into the no-man's-land between Athwan and Yshrenia, the player is set into world of shuddering battles between hulking warriors.

Rattling across the vast plains that separate two sworn foes is the special steam train that acts as central hub. Through this hub the player has access to missions as they become available, and spend earned Grace Points on new equipment.

When the trusty Mobile Corps train rolls into a new, exotic location, the player selects a team of three skilled mercenaries to accompany and stride out into the unknown. The player can add carriages to it to make room for new characters; plus, if the players own White Knight Chronicles II on PlayStation 3, they can transfer data between the two games and receive special bonuses aboard the train.

Battle system

The battle system used in White Knight Chronicles: Origins is a real-time system identical to its console counterpart, where the battle mode is initiated automatically when enemies are present.

Before a battle the player optionally goes into the "Battle Preparation" menu (accessible at any time) and chooses up to three sets of five commands for your in-game avatar.

This set of commands is called a "Function Palette" and several of these palettes can be saved, making tactical palette preparing and switching essential to the game. The commands can also be linked in order to create combos. These can then be used in battle. The player controls one of the characters while the others are controlled by the AI, as also seen in the previous games.

The main character possess the ability to transform into a mighty Optimus, a powerful warrior with heightened defences and a range of thunderous attacks. Along with teammates who can do the same, the players forms a war machine capable of shredding even the fiercest beasts.

After defeating an enemy, players will obtain raw materials. While this occurs in both the offline and online modes, some raw materials will only be obtainable in online quests. Materials are used for crafting, and upgrading, equipment and items.

Plot

10,000 years before the original PS3 game takes place, there was a period of strife known as the Dogma Wars. This struggle is between the Yshrenian Empire who are harnessing the power of the Knights in a bid to conquer the world, and the Athwani Mage Kingdom who are trying to stop them. These events would shape history to come in the White Knight Chronicles saga, and WKC: Origins tells the story of the unsung heroes who lived through this period of unrest, only to be forgotten in the annals of time.

Related Research Articles

<i>Tekkaman Blade</i> Japanese anime television series

Tekkaman Blade is a 1992 Japanese anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production and Sotsu Agency. The series was directed by Hiroshi Negishi and written by Mayori Sekijima and Satoru Akahori. The story follows an organization called the Space Knights and their war against aliens known as the Radam. The Space Knights are assisted by Takaya Aiba, who has the ability to transform into an armored warrior known as Tekkaman Blade.

<i>Superior Defender Gundam Force</i> Japanese anime television series

Superior Defender Gundam Force, or SD Gundam Force, is a 2003 Japanese-American anime television series produced by Sunrise. The series was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Gundam media franchise, and was the first Gundam series to be entirely animated in cel-shaded 3D computer graphics (3DCG), and the first full-3DCG series to be broadcast on Japanese television. The show was directed by Yūichi Abe.

<i>Ikki Tousen</i> Japanese multimedia franchise

Ikki Tousen, also known as Battle Vixens in North America, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūji Shiozaki. Loosely based on the classic 14th century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the series revolves around an all-out turf war in the Kantō region of Japan where fighters known as Tōshi from seven schools battle for supremacy. The story centers on Hakufu Sonsaku, a fighter who transfers to Nanyo Academy, one of the seven schools involved in the turf war.

Motofumi Kobayashi is a Japanese manga artist. His works include military comics such as Panzergrenadier (装甲擲弾兵), Warrior in Flames -Jochen Peiper (炎の騎士 ヨーヘン・パイパー戦記) & Unternehmen Blau (ブラウ作戦).

<i>King Arthur</i> (TV series) Japanese anime TV series

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is a Japanese anime series based on Arthurian legend. Produced by Toei Animation, the series consists of 30 half-hour episodes released between 9 September 1979 and 3 March 1980. The series achieved great popularity in its non-English translations.

<i>Mobile Suit SD Gundam</i> Original video animation

Mobile Suit SD Gundam is a series of animated shorts released in theaters and as original video animation between 1988 and 1993 by Sunrise. Part of the SD Gundam media franchise, the anime was based on the popular Gashapon capsule toys and model kits being released by Bandai at the time.

<i>Chopper I</i> 1988 video game

Chopper I is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by SNK and published in 1988. In Japan it was released as The Legend of Air Cavalry.

<i>White Knight Chronicles</i> 2008 video game

White Knight Chronicles is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is Level-5's first project for the system. As of August 2009 it has sold 350,000 copies in Japan. A sequel titled White Knight Chronicles II was released in Japan in 2010. A related game for the PlayStation Portable, titled White Knight Chronicles: Origins was released in Japan, Europe and, Australia in 2011.

BB Senshi Sangokuden is a series in the SD Gundam franchise from 2007 and the 18th work in the Musha Gundam series. The story and characters are modeled after those featured in the classic 14th century Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. However, certain story elements as well as the names of the Three Kingdoms themselves are fictionalized.

<i>Record of Lodoss War</i> Franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno

Record of Lodoss War is a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based on the work he originally created for a world called Forcelia as a rules-free setting for role-playing games (RPGs). There have since been multiple manga, anime and computer game adaptations, several of which have been translated into English. The plots generally follow the conventions and structure of the RPG systems including Dungeons & Dragons and Sword World RPG, in which several characters of distinct types undertake a specific quest.

<i>Monogatari</i> (series) Japanese light novel series

Monogatari is a Japanese light novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Vofan. The plot centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who survives a vampire attack and finds himself helping girls involved with a variety of apparitions, ghosts, beasts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena, which often serve as proxies for their emotional and mental issues. Since November 2006, Kodansha published 29 volumes in the series under its Kodansha Box imprint. All of the series' story arcs share the common title suffix -monogatari (物語).

<i>White Knight Chronicles II</i> 2010 video game

White Knight Chronicles II is a video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan and Europe and by D3 Publisher in North America for the PlayStation 3. The game is a direct sequel to White Knight Chronicles (2008). The game was released in Japan on July 8, 2010, in PAL regions in June 2011, and in North America on September 13.

<i>Walkure Romanze</i> Japanese visual novel and anime series

Walkure Romanze: Shōjo Kishi Monogatari, also known as Walroma for short, is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by the visual novel company Ricotta for Windows PCs. It is Ricotta's second visual novel after Princess Lover!. It was released on October 28, 2011. The game is described by the development team as a "romancing female knights ADV". On August 9, 2012, Ricotta announced that a fandisc titled Walkure Romanze More&More was in production. The fandisc is scheduled for release in 2013. An anime television series adaptation titled Walkure Romanze, produced by Eight Bit and directed by Yūsuke Yamamoto, aired from October 6 to December 22, 2013.

<i>Final Fantasy Dimensions</i> 2010 video game

Final Fantasy Dimensions is a role-playing video game developed by Matrix Software and published by Square Enix for mobile devices. Similar to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, it was initially released as an episodic game, with the first two installments released in September 2010 on the Japanese i-mode distribution service, and in December 2010 for the EZweb distribution service. The game was remade for the iOS and Android platforms and released internationally in August 2012.

<i>Grand Knights History</i> 2011 role-playing video game

Grand Knights History is a 2011 tactical role-playing video game developed by Vanillaware and published by Marvelous Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. Following the adventures of a mercenary group in the employ of one of three warring nations, the player engages in turn-based combat while navigating maps. The game originally featured online competitive multiplayer where chosen teams of characters fight for their nation, but this ended when servers shut down in October 2013.

<i>Chivalry of a Failed Knight</i> 2013 Japanese light novel series

Chivalry of a Failed Knight is a Japanese light novel series written by Riku Misora and illustrated by Won. The story is set in a fantasy world where the titular "failed knight" Ikki Kurogane meets Stella Vermillion, who is considered a prodigy. The two make up for each other's weaknesses and form a relationship while training to become great knights. The first volume was released on July 15, 2013. An anime adaptation aired in late 2015.

<i>Dragons Dogma Online</i> 2015 video game

Dragon's Dogma Online was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Capcom for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in 2015; As of 2019, the servers have been shut down. A follow-up to the 2012 action role-playing game Dragon's Dogma, the game had the player take the role of an "Arisen" in service to the White Dragon, charged with defending the land of Lestania from monster attacks. Gameplay carried over the basic battle and Pawn companion systems from Dragon's Dogma while incorporating features of the MMORPG genre.

<i>Grand Kingdom</i> 2015 video game

Grand Kingdom is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Monochrome Corporation for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. It was published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan in 2015, and NIS America in the West in 2016. Following a mercenary group in the employ of different nations formed in the wake of a collapsed empire, the player engages in turn-based combat while navigating paths on maps similar to a board game. Online competitive asynchronous multiplayer where chosen teams of characters fight for a chosen nation was originally featured, but this ended as servers were shut down by 2019 in the West and 2022 in Japan.

<i>Ulysses: Jeanne dArc and the Alchemist Knight</i> Japanese light novel series

Ulysses: Jeanne d'Arc and the Alchemist Knight is a Japanese light novel series written by Mikage Kasuga and illustrated by Tomari Meron. Seven volumes and one prequel volume have been published by Shueisha since August 2015 under their Dash X Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Yagi Shinba and Hirafumi titled Ulysses: Jeanne d'Arc to Hyakunen Sensō no Himitsu was serialized in Shueisha's Dash X Comic website from February to November 2018. An anime television series adaptation by AXsiZ aired from October to December 2018.

<i>Ciconia When They Cry</i> Japanese visual novel series

Ciconia When They Cry is an episodic visual novel game series in development by 07th Expansion, collectively considered the fifth entry in the When They Cry series, following Higurashi When They Cry and Umineko When They Cry. It follows people trying to prevent the outbreak of World War IV. It is released episodically for Microsoft Windows and macOS, by 07th Expansion in Japan and by MangaGamer internationally, and is planned to be four episodes long. The first, "Phase 1: For You, the Replaceable Ones", was released in October 2019; the second was planned for release in 2020, but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. "PlayStationtrademark Portable │ 白騎士物語copy -episode.portable- ドグマ・ウォーズ".
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ross Alexander (May 26, 2011). "The White Knight Returns From 8 June". PlayStation Blog Europe . Sony Computer Entertainment . Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  3. Known in Japan as Shirokishi Monogatari Episode Portable: Dogma Wars (白騎士物語 -episode.portable- ドグマ・ウォーズ, lit. White Knight Chronicles Episode Portable: Dogma Wars).