Why Are We Just Hearing About SolSeraph Now?
Sega announced SolSeraph yesterday, a fantasy action game from Chilean-developer Ace Team. The game will let players take on the role of an almighty divinity named Helios, whose duty it will be to rebuild civilization while protecting the current inhabitants from the ever-encroaching demons and monsters. The action segments will occur on a side-scrolling plane, while strategy elements will happen within a top-down view to give the player a Godlike view of the world.
It’s an intriguing and unique concept for a small digital game, and it’s coming very soon: Sega plans to release the game on July 10 for all current platforms, a mere twelve days from now. So, why in the hell are we only hearing about this game now? When I first heard of the game on Twitter yesterday morning, I had to do research and see if its announcement simply dodged my attention months ago. But all doubt was removed upon seeing how Sega referred to the trailer uploaded as the “Announcement Trailer.” Just great.
SolSeraph’s concept is intriguing enough that Sega could have introduced this on a bigger stage, perhaps at PAX earlier this year, where it would have stood out among other indie titles. This would have given them more time to build excitement for it by showing multiple previews over several months, since this is bound to be a robust game given the gameplay possibilities. If I can envision such an ad campaign, I’m sure someone at a big publisher can too. It’s a shame that person isn’t pulling the advertising and scheduling strings at Sega.
In fact, the game’s sudden reveal and impending release are Peak Sega™ moves, since their western offices have done this a lot in the past. Resonance of Fate from tri-Ace was one of the biggest, an RPG where only one promotional video was provided outside Japan before its release. Tembo the Badass Elephant from Pokémon-developer Game Freak also turned out well, but its potential audience wasn’t even aware of the game at first thanks to Sega’s anemic advertising efforts. They’ve improved at this recently, after giving adequate ad campaigns for the recent Yakuza games (including just-released semi-spinoff Judgment) and Valkyria Chronicles 4; but this shows how they’re still capable of very, well, Sega moments.
It’s especially a shame considering the game it’s inspired by: Enix and Quintet’s ActRaiser. ActRaiser gained appreciation from a small-though-vocal audience when it released on Super Nintendo in every major territory in the early 1990s. The game combined platforming and city-building (aka “god game”) simulation elements, a combination so unique that it’s tough to think of other examples of games that combine the two. It also received a Virtual Console release for Wii worldwide, which offered the chance to replay it or play it for the first time. It’s a pity ActRaiser 2 was never given the VC luxury, though the title was less appreciated thanks to dropping the simulation elements for a full-on platformer.
That’s why SolSeraph is taking after the first game. Honestly, saying it’s inspired by ActRaiser might be an understatement; the description of this game’s concept is almost identical to that one. ActRaiser’s story takes inspiration from mythological stories of Greek and Hindu origin, and though the press release doesn’t outright say SolSeraph’s is, the protagonist’s name of Helios is indeed Greek. Even the style of the game’s name is similar to its inspiration, combining two capitalized words. Not to say there aren’t changes, as this particular game features Helios’ quest to fight younger Gods who became arrogant and cruel over time by inflicting inclement weather conditions upon them. But it’s identical enough that anyone familiar with ActRaiser who saw this announcement noticed.
It’s also funny how Sega’s press release goes through painstaking effort not to mention “ActRaiser,” even though Yuzo Koshiro, that series’ composer, is contributing the opening theme for this game.
Sure, SolSeraph looks to be the closest a game can get to being inspired by another title while not quite qualifying as a rip-off; but that’s fine when it’s from a game whose concept hasn’t been used since. Quintet is long defunct, and the game wasn’t popular enough to receive inspirations among larger or even mid-tier developers. But it was popular enough among a certain niche that an indie developer felt that now was a good time to make a game similar to it, and hopefully it pays off.
Developer Ace Team had a good relationship with Atlus USA for years, who published the Rock of Ages and Zeno Clash titles. Now that Sega owns Atlus, they’re taking on publishing duties for this game. It’s a shame they’re not advertising it as hard as they would have, but they’ll ideally push it heavily between now and the release on the Tuesday after next. It would have been nice if they gave themselves more time, and the audience a better opportunity to know of it.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
