World Destruction announced for North America

[Evil Avnovice]

And renamed as "Sands of Destruction". (GoNintendo)

SAN FRANCISCO (December 4, 2008) – SEGA® of America, Inc. announced today that the exclusive Nintendo DS™ title, Sands of Destruction™, will be releasing in North America. Critically acclaimed in Japan and gaining recognition through the television anime World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokuni™, gamers will experience an action-packed story featuring a unique range of characters, a gorgeous artistic atmosphere and an intense RPG battle system.


“We are very excited to bring this original RPG to the U.S.,” states Yoichi Shimosato, producer of Sands of Destruction. “Our very talented team is eager to showcase the unique world and gameplay experience of Sands of Destruction and they firmly believe we have created an RPG world that can be enjoyed by everyone.”

In Sands of Destruction, a race of powerful beastmen known as the Ferals rule over the human population with tyranny and prejudice. A group of warriors, the World Annihilation Front, believe their only option for ending the corruption of the Ferals is to end the world as they know it. This intense game puts gamers in control of an intriguing cast of characters including the crusading Morte Ashera as well as Kyrie Illunis, who unknowingly holds the key to global destruction. Gamers will explore a fantastic world, traveling across oceans of sand, battling colossal enemy monsters and unraveling the mystery of the creation of the world.

”SEGA is excited to be bringing this innovative, engaging IP to Nintendo DS,” states Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing for SEGA of America, Inc. “With the incredible talent and vision of the development team, Sands of Destruction promises to deliver the next epic RPG experience to gamers everywhere.”

Featuring an all-star team of Japanese RPG developers, Sands of Destruction utilizes the upper and lower DS screens for its dynamic battle system, including major boss battles where elite monsters take up both DS screens. Mixing traditional turn-based tactics with fighting game mechanics to create an intense gameplay experience, Sands of Destruction also features an innovative “Quip system” where characters utter inspiring battle commands that enhance abilities and boost attributes to give them various advantages during battle. As the story unfolds new battle commands will be discovered and gamers will be able to customize the different commands to each character.

Sands of Destruction will be released in fall 2009, exclusively for Nintendo DS™

Also, there's a linked NeoGaf thread for the press release. And I've waited quite a long time for this one.

[Evil Avnovice]

A tiny bit about the story. And pirate bears. (Siliconera)

In Sands of Destruction beastmen called Ferals reign over humanity and the human heroes decide to go on a quest to end the world. Wait, their solution isn’t to overthrow the beasts? They want to destroy the world. What’s going on here and what’s the driving message of Sands of Destruction?

I asked Ryoei Mikage, President of Imageepoch, to explain it to me. “These beastmen are in control of humans. You know how we look at animals, eat meat, and see them as food? It’s the complete reverse of that. Basically, the message is what we’re doing everyday to animals could be taken as something really cruel, but we think of it as an everyday process.”

[Variable Gear]

I am looking forward to this game with great anticipation.

[Wellscha]

You can't go wrong with Kato

[Wraith]

I was just reminded of this game while reading EGM, mentioning that talent from Chrono Cross and Xenogears was behind it.

From a neoseeker thread:

So who's making this game?

World Destruction is imageepoch's Project S; one of their three main projects: Project Ray is Arc Rise Fantasia for the Wii, and Project DF is currently unannounced. The credentials list for the development staff borders on unbe*bleep*inglieveable, rocking a team of fifty.

Director: Kyoki Mikage from imageepoch (Luminous Arc)
Producer: Yoichi Shimasato from Sega (Shining Force)
Scenario Writer: Masato Kato (Xenogears, Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger)
Main Character Designer: Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenogears, Xenosaga)
Music: Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Xenosaga)

The visual and character staff also includes those who worked on Grandia, Drakengard, and Etrian Odyssey.

I haven't really looked at the anime, but I'll keep an eye on the game.

[Gorvi]

Awesome. More odd little Japanese RPGs, I love this.

[Evil Avnovice]

Some new images. (Gamekyo)

[Variable Gear]

I <3 2D games on the DS! Especially then they're JRPGs.

[Evil Avnovice]

Debut US trailer.

[Cavalier]

"Sands of Destruction", "World Annihilation Front"

Oi SEGA NO!!!

[Superman's Dead]

This looks juicy.

[Xydarc]

Hopefully the game will be more interesting than the anime (mediocre).

[jpublic]

Am I the only one really wanting to make a PETA joke about this?


Looks good.

[Chris_D]

Yeah the first episode of the anime that I watched was absolutely dire.. I don't expect the game to be like that though.

[Evil Avnovice]

Where SEGA announced a "Fall 2009" release, their official page is reading "Summer 2009". (Siliconera)

[Evil Avnovice]

Looks like SEGA can't seem to decide on when to release Sands of Destruction. (Siliconera)

[Gorvi]

I'm not understanding the delay behind this, especially as far as it's being pushed back. Hasn't it been out in Japan since late last year?

[Evil Avnovice]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

I'm not understanding the delay behind this, especially as far as it's being pushed back. Hasn't it been out in Japan since late last year?

It was released in Japan around September 28, 2008.

[Evil Avnovice]

A new trailer at Joystiq.Nintendo.

[Evil Avnovice]

Some new images. (Gamekyo)