Now, we usually do get pretty excited by the release of a new JRPG, but forgive our extended intrigue over RUINSMAGUS, because it really is something special.
Developed by CharacterBank, an incredibly small and new development team out of Kyoto, Japan, we wouldn’t be too surprised if you hadn’t heard of the company up until now. It has only been around since 2019, after all. With that being said, the company has been prolific and has already released two products:
- ANSUZ: a free-to-play VR werewolf-style game in which eight players are split into ‘good’ and ‘evil’ teams. (And I’m sorry to make the connection but think of 4v4 VR Among Us). Despite its vivid visuals and great sound design, however, it seems that the game never really took off since its release back in February 2021.
- MYSPERYENCE: an interesting 5-player VR murder mystery, drawing elements from ANSUZ; a multiplayer social deduction experience. Unlike others on the market, it has a playtime of 90 minutes and is intended to be played once (by the way, this one isn’t free-to-play). Yep, as intriguing as it is, you can probably guess why this one hasn’t gotten a single community review on Steam.
But anyway, on to the main topic!
RUINSMAGUS isn’t an obscure murder mystery or VR Among Us lookalike. In fact, the only similarity it has is the continuation of CharacterBank’s VR format. Now, the thing that makes this release noteworthy is that we haven’t really seen the release of many VR JRPGs, whether from AAA or indie development studios.
CharacterBank has released a trailer outlining gameplay elements, and snippets of dialogue. Your standard, classic JRPG should compose of an even and synergetic mixture of great gameplay mechanics, dialogue, sound design, and graphics. We can’t know the full extent until its release but from what we’ve been hearing from CharacterBank, as well as the official RUINSMAGUS trailer, we think it’s safe to say that the developers are on to something with this one.
Another little bonus is that RUINSMAGUS will be released in both Japanese and English editions!
We’re getting 26 story-driven quests, a bunch (16) of different types of magic to unleash, and 30 characters to interact with throughout the game. All of this is experienced by you: an ominous-looking novice magus of the RUINSMAGUS guild, and Iris: your plucky and cute female companion!
And hey, as old as the ‘female companion’ video game trope is, CharacterBank’s goal to revolutionise the JRPG genre has got to at least retain some charming and old elements like these… right?
