Video games studios undergo huge transformations of business models and plans all the time. Sometimes it’s a creative decision, sometimes it’s just the practical thing for the studio to do. For instance, Rare moved on from its working relationship with Nintendo upon accepting its Microsoft acquisition. Similarly, Bethesda just went from being one of the most famous and successful third-party game studios unaffiliated with a major game console, tobeing a Microsoft exclusive studio. It’s just a part of the way the video game industry works. One more studio that’s totally reinvented its brand over its many years of operation isMistwalker Studios.
Mistwalker Studiosmight be an unfamiliar name to some, but it’s a successful studio in its own right. Headquartered in Honolulu, Mistwalker Studios was founded by video game titan Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi was part of Square Enix until 2004, and while he was there, he was responsible for the invention of theFinal Fantasyseries and worked on many entries of the franchise up until his departure. It stands to reason that Mistwalker, a studio founded by a major developer of RPGs, is mostly known for its RPG content. Although it continues to deliver story-driven games through an RPG lens, Mistwalker has significantly changed its works over the years.
RELATED:Nintendo Franchises That Should Get Mobile Games After Pikmin
Honoring RPG Traditions
It’s worth noting that Mistwalker often co-develops its games. The studio often outsources work on gameplay to another studio and focuses on other aspects of the game while a collaborator assists with putting the software together. Even with this collaborative strategy, Mistwalker’s knack for RPGs shines through. This habit has existed since the studio’s inception and the creation of its first title, the Xbox 360 exclusiveBlue Dragon.Critics largely agreed that, whileBlue Dragondidn’t do much to change RPG conventions, it delivered well on traditional RPG gameplay.Blue Dragonwasa solid success for Mistwalker’s first game, breaking certain sales records in Japan.
Once it had put some roots in the ground withBlue Dragon,Mistwalker could expand its works. It soon came forward with another traditional RPG calledLost Odyssey,which got frequent but somewhat divided praise for its storytelling and the unique elements that Mistwalker sprinkled into its otherwise traditional combat.
Mistwalker delivered a similar experience inThe Last Story,a Wii-exclusive RPG with more traditional gameplay and divisive storytelling. BetweenLost OdysseyandThe Last Story,Mistwalker made several games for the Nintendo DS in rapid succession, including a sequel toBlue Dragonand new RPGs calledAway: Shuffle DungeonandASH: Archaic Sealed Heat.Another Xbox 360 RPGcalledCry Onwas supposed to release around this time, but unfortunately it was cancelled.
RELATED:Are Player-Based Romances in RPGs Representation?
The Transition to Mobile
The Last Storywas the last game Mistwalker developed for consoles. After that, it decided to try its hand at mobile games. Its first mobile game wasParty Wake,a surfing game that stirred up little attention and got fairly mixed reviews from critics. After that, Mistwalker decided to move closer to its strengths with a tower defense game calledBlade Guardian,which was slightly more popular with reviewers.Mistwalker finally found successwith an RPG calledTerra Battle,which it followed up with a sequel, plus a spin-off calledTerra Wars.These games showed Mistwalker still knew how to work in its favorite formula, but servers have since been shut down.
Now that Mistwalker has managed to find a steady place in the mobile world, it’s finally coming out withFantasian.It’s another fairly standard turn-based RPG, but it has a few really unique elements. All the settings are actual hand-crafted dioramas that the characters have been animated onto, and there’s a unique mechanic where players can stow away several random encounters instead of fighting them immediately, and then they can fight all the monsters stored at once.Fantasiancould be a big breakfor Mistwalker, and captures the historic spirit of the studio. It’s yet another way to preserve the spirit of classic RPGs while finding something new to do with those traditions.
