Melancholy Republic is described by developers Cloud Runner Studios as “a JRPG inspired, cinematic story driven game.” Does that sound like your kind of gig? Because from what we can tell, the game certainly lives up to those words if the footage we’ve seen is anything to go by.
Cloud Runner Studios has outlined Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger as key inspirations for the project, and the influence is clear, most notably due to the way in which various nooks and crannies can be found throughout the environment.
But what sets Melancholy Republic apart? First off, its story and setting is niche to say the least. The tale focuses on a female politician known as Claire Lockridge – not your average video game protagonist – whose mission is to “end the corruption” of her country by doing various political things, namely exploring the city of Lorna whilst getting sidetracked by speaking to numerous characters and investing in the “mature, story based adventure”. Probably a lot less boring than real-life politics, in short.
The developers are also keen to point out that Melancholy Republic is a game in which the player will have to make important decisions that will alter the course of Claire’s story, thus enabling the player to be more immersed into the sense that Claire is actually a politician with proper choices to choose from that will have consequences. Cloud Runner Studios makes it very clear that the impact of these choices is more reminiscent of Final Fantasy 7 as opposed to Dragon Age – the latter a series that has been criticized for having meaningless decisions and choices.
Alongside the main quest, there will also be a number of mini games involving crime scene investigation if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Sherlock Holmes as well as missions which involve sneaking through parliament at night, if Sam Fisher is more your thing. It is also worth pointing out that an extensive amount of attention to detail has gone into the major characters in the game, with paragraphs detailing their histories and lifestyles, so if it’s an involving story-based itch you’ve got that needs scratching then this should be right up your alley.
Ultimately, our favorite component of the game from what we’ve seen and heard so far is the stellar soundtrack, samples of which can be found over on the games Kickstarter page. If you only give one of the tracks a listen, make sure it’s the Main Character Theme if only for its gentle chimes that build up to an epic crescendo.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/194350418″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]All in all, Melancholy Republic is an intriguing prospect that, much like any Kickstarter, needs your help to blossom into a final product, so if we’ve piqued your interest then head over to Melancholy Republic’s Kickstarter page and consider backing the project. Naturally, there’s also a number of rewards involved depending on how much you pledge, which is all the more incentive to help this stylistic game see the light of day.
