Entertainment

Sega’s new RPG gets first teaser trailer – but it’s a mobile game

September 17, 2021

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Update:

With crushing inevitability the game has turned out to be a mobile title that doesn’t have any obvious ties to existing franchises.

It’s still being referred to merely as ‘Sega new RPG’, even on its official website and Twitter channel, so unless there’s some clue in the voiceover or text, that hasn’t been translated yet, there’s still no solid information on what it is.

It’s possible the lack of a name could hide a surprise connection to an existing series – if it doesn’t why keep it a secret? – but that’s hard to guess at given the only image so far is of generic anime characters looking down at some sort of hole with magic coming out of it.

Original Story:

A new role-playing game that isn’t Persona or anything to do with Atlus has been promised for the Tokyo Game Show but is it a new IP or not?

The Tokyo Game Show used to be the Japanese equivalent of E3 but it’s rarely used to announce any major new games, especially as, like everything else, it’s been online-only the last two years.

You do often get updates on major Japanese titles though and sometimes there is the occasional reveal, such as what is described on this year’s schedules as ‘Sega’s new RPG’.

Unfortunately, that’s the only thing it says, so there’s no clue as to whether that’s new as in simply a new game or new as in new IP and not the revival or an existing series. However, it’s definitely not an Atlus game, so whatever it is it’s nothing to do with Shin Megami Tensei or any of their other franchises.

The only faint clue is that, according to Siliconera, Sega recently ran a social media campaign in Japan where fans were encouraged to share images of their favourite Sega titles, with the most popular set to appear in the Tokyo Game Show presentation.

While no proof of anything it does at least show that Sega’s mind is turned towards their back catalogue at the moment, something they’ve often been accused of ignoring in recent years.

Sega has never been the most prolific role-playing creator, but their most notable franchises have included Phantasy Star, which began as a standard single-player series; Shining Force and its associated titles; and popular one-offs such as Panzer Dragon Saga and Skies Of Arcadia.

Sakura Wars has had a number of high profile flops recently, so it’s probably not that, while there are older franchises that could conceivably be revived, such as Landstalker, Sword Of Vermilion, The Story Of Thor (aka Beyond Oasis), and even Sonic Chronicles.

With no clue as to what the new game is, the only thing that is known for certain is that it will be revealed on October 1 at 2pm BST. So fingers crossed it’s something interesting.