Sony and Level 5 presented the new online features of upcoming role-playing game White Knight Chronicles to the American and European press attending Tokyo Game Show today. The three online modes of the game were explained, and US and European exclusive voice chat features were revealed.
White Knight Story director Kasuda explained that there are three online modes in White Knight Story: GeoNet, Georama, and Subquests. GeoNet is a social networking service for WKC players online. Each PSN user gets one homepage. You can use blogs and messageboards to interact with other players online, and can even comment in threads and make friends lists. GeoNet can be launched at any time from inside the game.Georama lets each online player create their own in-game online town. Players will drop in houses and shops and other features to make a town that serves as a lobby for online mode players. Make a shop in your georama and you can shop in it. Players begin their designs from land types like plains, deserts and wildernesses. On top of these, ow can add trees, grass, houses, fountains, windmills, stairs and many other features. NPCs can be pulled from the single-player story mode into the georamas, bringing their own jobs and skill levels with them. One person can create 20 georamas, and 12 people can enter each georama, each serving as a lobby for online players.
While the story mode follows the protagonist, the game’s subquests follow your own avatar. As the story mode progresses, subquests are unlocked. Players will have to work with other online players to complete quests, which will unlock more powerful weapons and increase their guild ranks. Players can create their own parties or have the system pair them up randomly. There are 50 subquests included offline, and Level 5 says that there will be more released online after the game’s launch.
Finally, two new features exclusive to the North American and European versions of White Knight Chronicles were revealed. The first is full support for voice chat, which came in response to gamers’ requests. Japanese gamers will see voice chat in a future update, but the NA and EU versions ship with it. Also included is Rogue Galaxy’s Live Talk feature, which has in-game characters talking according to the game’s scenes and settings. We were told that this technology has been upgraded since the release of Rogue Galaxy; now players will hear full conversations between NPCs.
Both North America and Europe will see the release of White Knight Chronicles in Spring of 2010.
