Nihon Falcom's 40 Years of RPG Glory

Founded successful March 1981, Nihon Falcom is 1 of the oldest progressive video crippled studios. Celebrating its 40th day this year, the institution helped pioneer the action-RPG genre, shaping some the JRPG manufacture and PC gaming country successful Japan. These days, Falcom is champion known for its iconic Ys and Trails franchises. While lone precocious attracting much attraction successful the West, the workplace has retained a beardown estimation successful Japan, often cited alongside juggernaut Square Enix arsenic 1 of the astir influential and distinguished RPG developers. To grant 4 decades successful the business, we chatted with Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo to reminisce astir the company’s history.

Nihon Falcom’s roots are precise overmuch successful the PC scene; the Falcom sanction adjacent nods to it. For the moniker, laminitis Masayuki Kato was inspired by Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon, but helium changed ‘con’ to ‘com’ to correspond the company’s absorption connected machine gaming. The studio’s archetypal game, Panorama Toh, deed successful 1983, with Yoshio Kiya astatine the helm. Kiya would aboriginal spell connected to make Falcom’s fashionable and influential Dragon Slayer and Brandish franchises.

When asked astir the company’s astir outstanding achievements, Kondo recalls the archetypal Dragon Slayer game, which debuted successful 1984. The top-down escapade is credited for pioneering the action-RPG genre, featuring real-time combat, an in-game map, and assets management. It besides introduced item-based puzzles, serving arsenic an inspiration for The Legend of Zelda series. “Dragon Slayer has been called our archetypal existent hit,” Kondo says. “That is inactive considered a large accomplishment for the manufacture successful Japan, and I judge that was the rubric that determined the absorption of Falcom, which present excels astatine creating phantasy and RPG titles.” Its sequel, Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, continued the fanfare, mounting records for PC crippled income successful Japan astatine the time, selling 400,000 copies.

Ys IX

Just a mates of years later, successful 1987, Falcom would merchandise Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished. The bid became a flagship franchise for the institution and is inactive going contiguous with 9 mainline entries and respective remakes. Falcom’s different cardinal series, The Legend of Heroes, followed successful 1989, and debuted arsenic portion of the Dragon Slayer series. It donned the Dragon Slayer sanction for 2 entries earlier the Gagharv Trilogy deed successful 1994. In turn, that franchise yet evolved into the Trails subseries successful 2004, culminating successful the monolithic interconnected bid that we cognize today.

Kondo said overmuch of the staff, including himself, had respect for Falcom’s games earlier joining the institution but says moving connected them lent a caller appreciation for what made them special. “In the lawsuit of Ys, it was the action-packed gameplay that was addictive arsenic popping bubble wrap, arsenic good arsenic creation which contributed to the epic consciousness of the setting. And successful the lawsuit of The Legend of Heroes, it was the conception of creating a due story," helium says.

Because these flagship bid person been moving for decades, the squad has strived to support their bequest portion besides modernizing them. Kondo said helium volition ever person a peculiar spot successful his bosom for 2004’s Trails successful the Sky, for this reason, calling it a “seminal title” for him and different unit members, arsenic it was 1 of the archetypal to correspond Falcom successful a caller era. “In the lawsuit of our [work connected the] series, we volition beryllium cautious not to stray from those things [I mentioned earlier] and adhd caller challenges that are due to the times,” Kondo says. “If thing caller is brought to the table, past I don’t deliberation we would beryllium capable to basal retired arsenic overmuch arsenic we have.”

Kondo did conscionable that erstwhile helium took implicit arsenic president successful 2007 and decided to pat into the console market. “For me, switching absorption from PC gaming to consoles soon aft I became president was a large event,” helium says. “Compared with the times earlier that, I consciousness similar the company’s thought process regarding games has go much flexible.”

With a institution truthful rooted successful PC crippled development, it was a immense change, but Kondo says it was necessary. “That displacement came astir due to the fact that astatine that time, level abstraction for PC games successful stores was opening to shrink, and we were being told by distributors that they could nary longer instrumentality orders arsenic they had successful the past,” Kondo explains. “Since download income were not arsenic viable arsenic they are today, 1 enactment we had was to spell to consoles.”

This determination allowed Nihon Falcom to grow its assemblage and redefine its attack to games. “I deliberation successful the displacement to console gamers, crippled mechanics and visuals were changed to beryllium much flexible and easier to recognize for arsenic galore radical arsenic possible,” Kondo says. “It was The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero that determined this direction. During the PC era, titles were apt being made specifically for Nihon Falcom fans.”

Falcom started arsenic a tiny institution and remains that mode today. Kondo believes its occurrence comes down to the halfway values established successful Falcom’s beginnings. “I judge it is owed to the information that we person consistently released games that person met the expectations of our players,” helium says. “Our games are not needfully the astir precocious technologically, but their contented is highly regarded. ‘Do it right’ and ‘don’t instrumentality excessively long, don't chopped corners’ are phrases that came from our laminitis and are inactive things we judge today.”

These values person helped Falcom basal out; fans often remark connected the other item that goes into the studio’s RPGs, specified arsenic amusive callbacks to its past games. The champion illustration is the Trails series’ NPCs, who don’t sputter the aforesaid dialog repeatedly and person their ain communicative arcs that unfold. “Here astatine Falcom, we person a saying: ‘Before trying to lick thing with money, effort solving it with brainpower,’” Kondo says. “In different words, we highly worth the process of thought instauration and refinement.”

Trails of Cold Steel IV

Falcom isn’t slowing down immoderate clip soon, either – particularly erstwhile it comes to its beloved Trails series. The company’s ain 40th solemnisation watercourse announced 4 titles making their mode Westward: Trails from Zero, Trails to Azure, Trails into Reverie, and The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails.

Kondo says he’s excited astir the aboriginal and feels the workplace has a bully blend of originative endowment to support things exciting. “Many of the unit members who joined the institution erstwhile I did, did truthful owed to the aboriginal Ys games and The Gagharv Trilogy, and are present moving connected the Ys and Trails games,” helium says. “Current young unit joined acknowledgment to Ys VIII and the Trails series. I’m looking guardant to the rotation that they volition spot connected their games to marque them Falcom-style and proceed the bequest arsenic they turn successful their craft. Naturally, I mean to proceed creating games, truthful I privation to vie with them and travel up with caller ideas. I privation this affirmative enactment to proceed connected into the aboriginal arsenic well.”

This nonfiction primitively appeared successful Issue 338 of Game Informer.