Two Japanese-flavored Kickstarter projects to consider supporting

Kickstarter has become quite a resource for those looking to support or create, especially within the realm of retro-style games and other related projects. This is hardly news; in fact, sometimes there are so many great ideas on the site that it is difficult to keep up. Today, let us just take a look at two of them. Both have ties to classic gaming, intriguing connections to Japan, and stand a real chance at meeting their fundraising goals.

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Soul Saga

Developer Disastercake is working on something clearly aimed at the hearts of millions, and wastes no time getting to the point in its full project title: “Soul Saga! A J-RPG inspired by PlayStation classics.” As can be seen in the screenshot of the page video above, some of those influential series are Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, and Persona, although a fondness for other franchises (Chrono Trigger) can be seen as well.

The introduction clip speaks to Kickstarter-page visitors in the form of two of Soul Saga’s protagonists having a conversation that ranges from exposition-laden dialogue to breaking the fourth wall in order to appeal to would-be backers. It seems that our cocky young male hero, Mithos, wants to be the strongest Guild Master in the world.

Why? Well, because his father was the prior strongest Guild Master, but he disappeared ten years ago on a trip down to the surface world to fight a legendary dragon. Of course. The point is: Soul Saga is purporting to be a story-driven JRPG with gameplay similar to Final Fantasy 10 and Chrono Trigger, made by a guy with a deep passion for the genre.

Check out the Kickstarter page for Soul Saga directly though, as it has a ton of further information to entice supporters.

 

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The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers

John Szczepaniak has a special fondness for classic video games and their history. From this attachment comes a concern, however: He believes that a lot of valuable information and enjoyable tidbits are in danger of being lost in time forever, largely due to the simple language barrier between English and Japanese. He points out that very few publications have ever been released that focus on the heyday of Japanese game development, and he wishes to change this by publishing a book.

But how does a man from the United Kingdom plan on writing anything revolutionary or groundbreaking on this subject? The answer involves an ambitious plan to fly to Japan, hire the best translator available, then go on a whirlwind tour of face-to-face interviews with the developers themselves, focusing on those involved with the Famicom and MSX.

The prospect of not having to rely on email exchanges or in-house translators must appeal to many, seeing as how the project is well over halfway towards its fundraising goal at press time. Surely there are many more retro gamers who would love a unique peek into the minds behind their favorite vintage titles, right?

Decide for yourself: Check out the Kickstarter page where, once again, there is much more information on this project.