Ride the Winds of Nostalgia
Fly the unfriendly skies in Tecmo's latest DS game.
The end of the 19th century was probably not as exciting a time as the Japanese think it was. War was rampant, there were smelly horses and pigs all over the place, and the Hostess Zinger wouldn't be invented for at least another half-century or so. It was a time of adventure, nonetheless, and Tecmo is ready to give Japanese Nintendo DS owners a chance to explore it this fall when they release Nostalgia no Kaze, or The Winds of Nostalgia.
The game, produced by Fatal Frame's Keisuke Kikuchi and developed by Matrix Software (who most recently worked on the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV), is a traditional RPG set in a sorta-anime-ish, sorta-steampunky take on the turn of the century. You play Eddie, a young London native who's decided to adventure off to unknown lands in search of his missing father. Eddie, and the crew of adventurers he'll pick up along the way (including street urchin Pad and mysterious witch girl Melody), will travel all around the world in the search, from Cairo and Rio de Janeiro to darkest Africa and the snowy landscape of Northern Europe.
Every character in Nostalgia has a certain weapon he's best at wielding, ranging from swords to guns and magic. This is worth remembering in normal battles, but also plays a role in some of the more grandiose combat you'll be fighting. Eddie travels the world in a Final Fantasy-style airship, the Maverick, which can be fully outfitted with weapons and armor at the airship docks located in most towns. Airship battles play a major role in Nostalgia, since you'll be running into rogue air pirates and other lowlifes while flying around, and where you position your crew for the fight becomes just as important as what weapons you give them for melee combat. (Everyone in your party also has a given set of skills he or she can learn, using the skill points earned in battle to gradually fill up a skill tree full of special abilities.)
Nostalgia no Kaze is due out this fall in Japan; no US date has been announced.
(fãs de Skies of Arcadia onde andam vocês?)
