News: Monolith Soft's new RPG just has a familiar name.
Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has an interview with Xenoblade director Tetsuya Takahashi in their most recent issue and game blog Andriasang has all the details.
The biggest piece of news to come out of the interview is the confirmation that Xenoblade won't have anything to do with Monolith Soft's Xenosaga series. The Nintendo-published RPG was previously announced as Monado: Beginning of the World and it appears the "Xeno" prefix in the new title is just a nod to Monolith's previous projects.
"I wanted to to have some sort of common point with the games I've made," Takahashi explained. "The world setting, story and other elements have no relation. It's a completely new title."
In addition to the meaning behind the title, the developer also talked about the game's setting and revealed that the entire game takes place on the bodies of two deceased gods:
Xenoblade's background story starts thousands or maybe tens of thousands of years in the past as two great gods waged a great battle. In the end, all that was left of the two gods were two giant corpses. Xenoblade is set on top of those two corpses.
Takahashi came up with the idea for this unique world setting after a meeting about Soma Bringer, a past Monolith project. "It seemed like it would be enjoyable to adventure on top of the body of a giant god," he told the magazine. He immediately returned to the office, wrote up a design document, and showed it to a number of other people, getting a positive reaction in the process.
The RPG will feature three characters, the player's main character and two AI-controlled partners in an adventure that will span 50-60 hours.
Xenoblade will be released in Japan exclusively for the Wii in the Spring. A North American release date has yet to be revealed, but one will probably be announced soon.
In the meantime, check out the full preview at Andriasang, it's worth a look.
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