Namco Bandai, developer Imagepooch, and animation studio Satelight have teamed up and are currently working on Tokitowa for the PlayStation 3. The game, which translates to Time and Eternity, is set to be the first hand-drawn HD RPG, like, ever, you guys. What this means is that the animations and character art are actually hand-drawn as opposed to being cel-shaded images of hand-drawn work.
The game's backgrounds are in 3D, but the characters appear to all be drawn by hand. Additionally, battle sequences are said to be animated, as well. That's really impressive, and it adds some depth to the whole anime style that most RPGs tend to go for. Simply put, I think the game looks freakin' gorgeous. That's why it's good to know that development is currently at 45 percent completion.
In Time and Eternity, players will take on the role of a Knight King who's 18 years old and has yet to kiss a dame. His bride-to-be is the 16-year-old Toki who has a dragon named Drake. Though your union to Toki is what forms the Kamuza Kingdom, your future wife is restless after learning that a prophet foresaw a hideous attack on the kingdom.
The game's story seems pretty interesting, and I'm certainly stoked to learn more about it, but it's the art style that really gets my attention. There's still no word on when "the world's first HD animation RPG" will launch, but at least we know how far into its development Imagepooch and Satelight are. Here's hoping we get some word on a North American release of Time and Eternity. Check out some screens below.
[Source: Andriasang]
