Dec 27 2008
2009 RPGs for the Wii
According to January’s issue of Nintendo Power, it doesn’t look to be a great year for the role-playing genre for the Wii. Not that this is really any surprise. If you do a RPG search on Nintendo’s own website, only twelve games appear, despite the fact that the console has been around for twelve years. And of these games, I think only two or three would even interest the rpg-fanatic. I think that Nintendo really wants to cater to this genre, but the lack of third party development hinders them a bit. However, that’s a blog for a different day.
Here is what the Wii will offer for 2009, so far.
Arc Rise Fantasia - The writers for Tales of Symphonia are putting together another RPG outside of the Tales franchise. NinPow didn’t have much to say about it, other than it shows “promise,” but the screenshots are pretty enough. It’s currently slated for a spring release.
Rune Factory Frontier - Rune Factory makes its way to the Wii with its interesting combination of RPG gameplay and Harvest Moon farming. You start out as a humble farmer, but if you need a break from your agricultural duties, there are always monsters to slay. But why slay them if you can capture them? I know I’ve always wanted a pet dragon of my very own.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time - Slap on the name “Final Fantasy,” and you have a sure seller. This one is another MMORPG for the Crystal Chronicles series.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - All NinPow will say about it is that players can play as one of two characters and see the story from two completely different perspectives. The graphics are beautiful too, similar to Eternal Sonata or Tales of Symphonia, but they don’t hold up to any RPGs on other consoles, or even Twilight Princess. I guess that this style of graphics are all RPG fans can expect from the Wii.
So what else is on the horizon for the Wii? A few platformers, a TMNT fighting game, another Wii Sports game, a few ports, and a few first-person shooters. If you want a good RPG from Nintendo in 2009, you’re best bet is on the DS.
It does seem that the Wii is majorly lacking in RPGs, but them again it just is not that kind of system. The controls of other systems and the graphics capabilities of other systems make them better options for developing RPGs. Plus, it seems many Wii gamers are not into RPGs. There just is not the market for them, I guess.