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Project Phoenix is a JRPG with a squad based RTS game design, brought to you by veteran developers and creators from the East and West.
15,802 backers pledged $1,014,600 to help bring this project to life.

OVER 9000?! Paypal option, interview and expensive wines!

Posted by CIA, Inc. (Creator)
1 like

OVER 9000?!

Thank you so much everyone! We're over 9000 backers. Vegeta would have broken his Scouter in excitement by now.

PayPal Option

For those of you who do not have an Amazon account and have been unable to support us through Kickstarter, we have set up a PayPal option on our site:

100% of the money that we receive on the website will also go to achieving the stretch goals. During the Kickstarter Campaign, PayPal backers will receive the same rewards as if they had pledged on Kickstarter. This will help us because we will be receiving additional funds to create the game, and Kickstarter will not be taking a cut of the profits. On September 11th, the Kickstarter exclusive rewards will be taken off of the website.

New interview

Here is an interview which covers some new ground regarding Project Phoenix. Thanks to Jace Hall's Show!

A message from Maestro Nobuo Uematsu

If you haven't seen Nobuo Uematsu's message to the fans, we've included it in this update:


PS. Here's a PICTURE which has absolutely nothing to do with our game. Our rendition of what used to happen when you make bad games in Japan back in the day! (not really, we kid!)

  • Image 312440 original.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1
Hood Rat Entertainment likes this update.


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    1. Missing avatar

      Rink on

      Thanks a lot for the answer Hiro,
      It is a lot clearer to me now, how it will work and I am sure you will do a good job with it and give us something that will be fun to play :)

    2. Missing avatar

      David Carrus on

      I agree with Maxime.
      It would really be a plus to get an example of the battle flow.

      I don't have anything specific in mind, but for example i know that characters managed through AI (like in ff12) is something i don't like (hate).

      So an example would be really useful.

    3. Vince Vazquez

      Totally off-topic, but I was playing some Mighty Switch Force today. It's weird; MSF's main character & those Hooligan Sisters... these cute little chibi characters really reminds me of Bozon's charming character art for Switch Force games :)

      Cool interview with Jace Hall. Good to see you guys doing the rounds with press, getting the word out! But man, can't wait to see some in-engine stuff, character models, gameplay? Whatever you got - however far along it is. Gonna be so cool!

    4. Seizui on

      @Mana: I've long given up on that aspect. I will normally find something useful in it in the past, but I stopped logging on years ago. Anyway, the 2ch info was mostly passed along to me by a friend who generally gives me useful information out of stuff.

      Nevertheless, I still take some things into account despite of the whole... reputation behind it. Even if its with a grain of salt. Besides, Hiro has mentioned to me that he has gotten Famitsu and good reception from the Japanese side.

      ...However, there are few of those Japanese pledgers here. Oh well.

    5. Paulo Laranjo on

      2ch is basically trolls trolling trolls among some serious comments so I get it that it can be hard to get something useful out of it. And it's good to know that the Japanese media are spreading the word.

      And I agree with Trypetide's ideas of giving us to know who Yoko Enoki is.
      As for translating excerpts of her works to get an idea of how good she is depends a lot on the translator and the editors' work.

      Try to get a serious discussion on /v/ without baits being thrown into the threads, I've seen those rarities and they are a delight to be a part of, but you will get an idea of what's going on on the other side of the Pacific.

    6. Missing avatar

      Wagner GFX5000i on

      Thanks Rink, that was a question that was in my mind for a few days. And thanks Hiro, the answer clarified some dark spots.
      There is just a small question left: Will the squads, stances and position be changeable during the battle?
      Since gameplay will be mainly about strategy, to change these setting according to the battle changes would be great.
      Which raised another question, will there be changes during a battle? like enemy/allied backups, surprise enemies or events (like terrain change)
      Some surprise changes during battles would be perfect to increase the challenges and avoid the situation: "Another orc group, use formation 3-45 while I go to to the bathroom".

      PS: The picture is really cute ^_^

    7. Missing avatar

      kebrus on

      Rink did bring up a good point, ff12 had the gambit system not loved by everyone, but the gambit system does seem like a viable solution for that problem, you can interrupt at any time the action of any character but their AI was also set by the player in a very concrete way, it wasn't simply the "you go healer and you tanky" i really hate that, i should be the one saying what a healer or a tank is or even something in between those two. If there's someone i hate in the latest jRPG is how streamlined they have become

    8. Maxime on

      I'm looking forward to the squad-based RTS style of gameplay, and the descriptions of it we had so far look promising (a few heroes against hordes of enemies, etc), but I'm concerned about mainly watching the combat happen and being rather passive. I understand you have to actually choose the fighting stance and indicate where your squads should move, but then what?
      Can we have a basic description of a typical battle flow?

    9. CIA, Inc. Creator on


      You've got some good points.
      The characters won't be dumbed down, this is as much more of a tactical game rather than a point and order game. By that, how your group is positioned and under what "stance" are going to be key to the success of the mission.

      You will feel the character develop as you lead them to survive in battles, and they will gain new abilities and will become more so of a heroes in levelling up. We have the gameplay nailed, it's really a matter of balancing it very well.

      The characters don't do w/e they feel like as you are able to set behaviours for them. However, what we aim to do is for the player to make the most important decision, rather than the things you'd want the characters to do automatically do.

      If you want more control per character, you also have the option to put characters in their own individual squad, giving you precise control over movement and orders but most of the time, these characters work better in "units" as they take advantage of each other's skills and abilities.

      We will take your concerns seriously, as if we fail to balance the game, your fears will become true. Thank you so much for your concern and care about how the game will turn out to be, and I hope I receive more constructive criticism from the likes of you.


    10. Missing avatar

      Rink on

      Thanks for giving us more information. Of course I also would be interested in more about the story on later updates.

      About the combat-system I am curious to see how that turns out.
      Firstly because I dont like screaming at the "heroes" on the screen that they shouldn't just run into enemy armys without having any possibilty to tell them where to go and what to do. AI is always difficult to do so the heroes do the right thing at the right time. Why? Because the right thing to do is always just in the players head and you cannot calculate that. I don't mind micromanagement if it stops my characters from killing themselves in dumb ways. If combat is very simplistic anyway (so very few options), then the system without micromanagement may work, if we can still tell players where to go during the fight.

      Secondly I personally tend not to identify that much with characters that just tag along and do whatever they like. If they die in combat it is just their own fault, if they are Legolas then I haven't done anything to help them becoming so good, all I can do, is watching the fighting-slideshow. When I play a game I enjoy helping characters becoming heroes. Just "having" them without having any control and thus "becoming" them may take away potential for identifying. And this identification is the basis for any emotional reaction that the story can provide. If you don't care about the characters, you will not feel the emotions.
      So I hope the game will not be "dumbed down" like most modern RPGs or at least give us the option to turn on more control, if we would like it and enjoy it and provide other mechanisms to be able to relate to characters (like very good character developpment).

    11. Tuhalu on

      According to the Unity website, Nintendo will be releasing a WiiU-only version of Unity with their Wii-U development Kit. As of Unity 4.2, they appear to support Wii development already (and a few other new platforms). Maybe it's only time until it's possible to develop for 3DS with Unity? We can hope.

    12. Inplainview on

      Um Ruffles you were supposed to PAY for those chips. ;)

    13. Missing avatar

      Chris on

      Nintendo is scared of competition in Japan.

    14. Missing avatar

      Chris on

      Cuff the cutie! NOW!

    15. Juan Esponera on

      Thanks for another update! The interview is quite interesting, and for me, specially this sentence: "And I want to see a bit of plotline, I want to see a bit of story, I want to see people being moved by the story, I want to see people attached to the characters, and I want to have a fun combat system that people can be involved with."

      Btw, Ruffles rules :P XD

    16. Devin Fitzpatrick on

      I certainly hope that doesn't happen. I've seen enough strong male protagonists resignedly babying infantile and weak female "protagonists." Unless that's part of "the essence of the JRPG." But I, at least, don't think it is.

      Comments like yours are why I've been pushing to see more details about the characters... but it sounds like we'll be seeing more eventually.

      That aside, thanks for the second interview. I'd like to hear more about the leadership of the countries and what kind of role the templars have, as well as what orc society is like. I always feel that complex political motivations, with their mix of pragmatism and convictions, help give characters, even side characters, more nuanced personalities.

    17. Raül Meroño Pericas on

      Over 9000?! Sounds great! Keep up the good Ruffles! :-3

    18. ckx on

      Ruffles is cute.

      More Ruffles.

      Thank you.

    19. Missing avatar

      Patrick Burke on

      I was pretty interested in this project at first, but once I found out that Nobuo Uematsu was going to be the lead composer, well, that just screamed sold to me. I'm sure that with the team that you have going here, it's going to be money well invested.

    20. Missing avatar

      Alexander on

      Don't take ruffles to jail!
      Take me instead! NOOOooo...
      I'm sure once they realize she's part of a great project they will see the error of their ways.
      I can imagine Marcus picking her up saying "How is it that your always getting kidnaped"

    21. Seizui on


      First, thank you for the forward response. I am enjoying that you're becoming more forthcoming. For that, I am very appreciative.

      Regarding 1: Sounds good. Yes, I know that 2ch isn't the most ideal, but I don't completely discount people. Granted, it's still something to take with a grain of salt. The response is a nice touch.

      Regarding 2: Admittedly, regarding Yoko Enoki's information, a bit of planning ahead of introducing her prior to the Kickstarter would had been ideal. However, what's done is done. Maybe some sort of video of her discussing what ideas that she has without giving the spoilers would be ideal. And it can be something subtitled so it's more of a quick blurb and yet, gives us an understanding of what insight she'll offer.

      Any case, the answers that you've given me have been awesome. I thank you very much for the forthcoming of information.

      The cute animal mascot is a nice touch, on another note.

      - Seizui

    22. Pitchingace88 - YouTube on

      Really excited for this, the concept of having so many people of notoriety collaborating speaks to the passion of the participants. The best part is that with so many collaborators, it will bring together some of the talented individuals that might not be as well known.

      This is something that will need play, once I get through with the Monochroma campaign, I plan on releasing a video on YT exposing this great game and hopefully can bring in some bigger names in the YT "Lets Player" to come on board to help really push the backing of this game. I feel with a game this robust, it isn't about backing (as most people will) it is reaching the masses that will be the hardest part. With help we can do this!

    23. CIA, Inc. Creator on

      Vitor Gatti,

      I really like Nintendo but Unity doesn't really support the 3DS and also Nintendo's has a policy against Japanese indie devs =(


    24. CIA, Inc. Creator on


      Actually we are planning this =D


    25. Vitor Gatti on

      purizi, konsideru a nintendo wii u/3ds berusion!!!!!!!!!!!!

    26. Trypetide on

      2ch... well.
      I too only found few articles talking about the project, so it's clear that the Japanese side of this project is for the moment underestimated.
      It's not like you HAVE to be in Famitsu (or their website) to do coverage.
      And I don't think we can have samples about Enoki-san works (but I'm totally OK if you can do that). But maybe , @hiro, we can have a little word from her, to know who she is, why she participate in the project, what can she tell about her career etc...
      Or, make this kind of post/video for all the major elements of your team, because the more we know about them, the more we will understand their passion & vision for the game =3 !

    27. CIA, Inc. Creator on


      1) Our general manager, Mizuki is working with the Japanese media and public. We are receiving quite good publicity here in Japan. 2CH is full of Japanese devs who may just want to misinform and create ruses for the public. We don't really listen out to those voices, rather, we gather opinions through looking through Twitter which has more of a constructive criticism instead of the 2CH style "TEH FAILZ" type comments.
      2) The Japanese media including Famitsu and 4gamer has given us huge articles which really should be enough for now. That been said, I do agree about there being not enough information on Yoko Enoki. Then again, when did JRPGs had a "proper" writer during it's birth?
      Doing a good representation of her writing required Bill Benfield to go through edits, and it takes a lot of time. I'm afraid that's out of our scope during the campaign, but I will be working on it asap. Bill's work hasn't been reflected on the project yet, but I beg you to please have a little more patience whilst we get a sample of Yoko's writing to you.

      Thank you!


    28. Seizui on


      Hiro, since I have you on now, I have a couple of questions for you. First time I asked this, it was drowned by the comments. I figure I'll get a better answer from this update, since you're active atm.

      1) Have you tried reaching to the Japanese public? There has been grumblings of them, admittedly from 2ch, not being reached out to from their side of the house. There are even doubts of you understanding the style of RPGs. And there are doubts steering that you've been primarily a music arranger and/or performer, according to the credits. Mind, I know Kickstarter is a bit of a pain of accessibility to other countries, so I am not sure HOW much access they have, but it must be enough for you to open up a Kickstarter.

      2) It looks like Yoko Enoki is known only to the Japanese community. I am going to be honest: I don't know who she is and I am going to wager that a good deal of people do not know who she is, though I'd rather not speak for everyone. Could we get translated samples of her writing in some of these updates? It would likely be a good idea to provide this while the Kickstarter campaign is open so people have the awareness. After all, people have put a lot of faith in this project with their money. Since the Japanese community knows Yoko Enoki better than us, shouldn't you be reaching out to them? After all, one of the tag-lines that you guys used was "East Meets West", right?

    29. Yosharian on

      "OVER 9000?!"




    30. CIA, Inc. Creator on


      That's correct, however we will have our own counters with actual figures every 24 hours (hopefully!)


    31. Trypetide on

      Just love Rafel in this one... Excellent =3
      Seeing her, mouth always open, she makes me think of this kind of "heeeeeee?!" reaction you see often in "Nichijou".
      I really imagine her responding at almost anything in this kind of behaviour XD
      ( for ref:… )

    32. Yuchen Y. on

      So Im guessing the kickstarter counter dont take into account the paypal backers? Will you post updates on the actual numbers?

    33. CIA, Inc. Creator on

      Who is Bejita? I don't see no Bejita.


    34. CIA, Inc. Creator on

      Who is Bejita?


    35. jimmywolf on

      thanks for the update

    36. CIA, Inc. Creator on


      I just noticed that lol


    37. Missing avatar

      dao2 on

      They put you in easily escapable handcuffs? Doesn't sound too bad :P