Vita PSN - Orgarhythm - 10/23/12 - $29.99 - Xseed & Acquire's Music Strategy Game

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XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher, today announced it will publish the highly original music strategy game, Orgarhythm, for the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system later this year in North America. Developed in Japan by ACQUIRE in conjunction with Neilo, the new studio founded by Takashi Hirai who is best known for his past work on Space Channel 5 and Rez, the title blends music and real-time strategy elements to create a new experience specifically designed for touch-enabled mobile play. Playing as the God of Light, players will battle the forces of the God of Darkness by deploying elemental soldiers for rhythm-based attacks synced to a hypnotic mix of rock, club and tribal music. In the game, rhythm is a weapon and different attacks occur on different beats, making the game’s catchy soundtrack dynamic to user input.

“The powerful blend of rhythm and RTS gameplay in Orgarhythm will bring players a unique new mobile game experience on PS®Vita,” said Ken Berry, Executive Vice President of XSEED Games. “Rhythm is the weapon that will allow the God of Light to triumph over the God of Darkness.”

Rhythm and sound act as the user interface in Orgarhythm, giving players control over their armies. Each unit type is based on one of the three elements of Earth, Water and Fire. Each elemental troop has a “rock, paper, scissors” relationship with the other elements: Water is strong vs. Fire, Fire is strong vs. Earth, and Earth is strong vs. Water. Units are rhythmically deployed with three taps to choose the unit and attack type, then a swipe of the finger across the screen to choose position and formation. Using the same interface mechanic, players can also unleash their divine powers to boost attack, defense and healing or slow down enemy troops.

Four attack types—each type requiring a certain number of beats to use—can be employed strategically in battle. As more units enter the battle, the game music expands with additional musical layers as attacks pulse with the beat.

The game features twelve maps, which never play the same way twice as the game’s AI remembers how a map was previously played and adjusts its attack strategies accordingly. The game’s multiplayer has both versus and co-op two-player modes via online play. In co-op mode, control of the God of Light’s soldiers is shared, and in versus mode one player commands the forces of the God of Darkness—the last god standing wins!

Orgarhythm is expected to ship later this year, exclusively on the PS Vita system. With music being such a key component, aspiring musicians are encouraged to submit their songs for consideration to be selected into future DLC packs, more details of which will be announced at a later time. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB.
 
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http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/08/13/orgarhythm-for-ps-vita-music-meets-strategy/

Orgarhythm is a game that’s going to puzzle a lot of people. It’s certainly not a premise that I’ve ever seen before, much less played. In short, Orgarhythm is the marriage of music and strategy — and some very nice touch controls. It’s a game where you march to the beat, literally.

The premise is simple: There are two brothers, one that embodies creation, the other destruction. Together they settle on a planet and set about pumping out hordes of mini-tribal dudes who seem to really enjoy dancing. The God of Light (the brother who thinks growing stuff is neat and probably listens to Jack Johnson) is making great progress spawning kittens, erecting maypoles or whatever kind of idyllic stuff you might imagine a sparkling deity likes. Meanwhile, the other God (of Darkness) would rather just break all of his brother’s toys. Understandably vexed, the God of Light decides it’s time for a dance off and begins his slow-mo march to battle.

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That’s where you come in. Using the touch screen controls on your PS Vita, you’ll direct the God of Light’s backup dancers and tap-tap-tap your way through enemies. The key controlling concept of the game is something called the tri-tap. Tri-tapping is done by tapping the screen to the beat whenever one of three sets of icons comes up.

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  • Tap the God of Light – This will bring up the first set of command icons.
  • Select one of the groups of your color-coded minions (According to the data tracker in the game I am apparently really partial to yellow)
  • Select an attack – Strikers, Archers, Catapults, Sacrifice (BOOM TROOPS)
  • Then, drag your finger on the screen to send your troops off in that direction
  • So: tap-tap-tap + draaaaaaaaaaaaag

As you’re doing all this, a variety of tribal, techno and off-world-sounding music will be pulsating in the background to give you cues on when to tap. So tap-tap-tap and drag to the beat. Easy. Well, okay, that probably doesn’t sound easy for a rhythm game, but having played through it, I assure you that you’ll hit your stride very quickly and doing the tri-tap will come naturally. Words are wind, though, so check out this quick gameplay video to get a feel for the beat.

This also wouldn’t be a rhythm strategy game without some tactics. Those come into play with the game’s color-coded troops (on both sides), who employ a paper-rock-scissors system.

Using this system, you’ll want to send off the appropriate troops to tackle the appropriate enemy. The type of attack you select is also pretty important (getting into complicated-sounding territory again, I know…), but once you get the hang of the battle system you’ll feel the joy of what it’s like to be the conductor of a very violent orchestra.

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There’s a lot more depth to this game than I’ve gone into, but I know what you guys really want to know.

Is the music good?

Yes. It suits the game perfectly and as you tri-tap successfully, you’ll actually add layers of extra sound to that music. It’s pretty cool. You can check out the tunes here. We’re also looking to add more music to that repertoire, so stay tuned for more info on that, all you budding musicians.

Is this the game for me?

If you like rhythm games, are into music at all or appreciate quirky gameplay, then I think you’ll like this game. Multiple difficulties, unforgiving bosses, smooth controls and unlockable content all make an addictive package, plus the in-game data tracker makes it deliciously possible to obsess over the most minute details. There are also co-op and versus modes to keep you entertained.

Will this game increase my sex appeal?

Oh, absolutely. I would not lie about this. With a title like Orgarhythm, how can it not?

Anyway, that’s just a brief look at our upcoming game. It’s music, it’s strategy, it’s unabashedly weird, and it really doesn’t do the game justice for me to just talk about, so I hope you guys’ll check out some of the gameplay videos and listen to the music. I think you’ll be intrigued. For more details, follow us on Facebook and check out the Japanese official site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AiroM1-F2o
 
Got an email with release date and pricing announcement:
XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher, today announced that the upcoming music and real-time strategy rhythm game, Orgarhythm, will be released on October 23rd in North America on the PlayStation®Network as a digital download for the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system, for a retail price of $29.99. Orgarhythm was developed in Japan by ACQUIRE in conjunction with Neilo, the new studio founded by Takashi Hirai who is best known for his past work on Space Channel 5 and Rez.

In Orgarhythm, rhythm and sound act as the user interface, allowing players to control their armies and protect their god through rhythmic interaction with on-screen prompts. The result is a truly hypnotic mobile gaming experience unlike any other. Playing as the God of Light, players will battle the forces of the God of Darkness by deploying elemental soldiers for rhythm-based attacks synced to a hypnotic mix of rock, club and tribal music.

In the game, rhythm is a weapon and different attacks occur on different beats, making the game’s catchy soundtrack dynamic to user input. Each unit type is based on one of the three elements of Earth, Water and Fire, and each elemental troop has a “rock, paper, scissors” relationship between the opposing elements. With these dynamics in mind, players must choose how to effectively deploy their forces while keeping beat with the music. Players use three taps to choose the unit and attack type, then a swipe of the finger across the screen to choose position and formation. Using the same interface mechanic, players can also unleash their divine powers to boost attack, defense and healing, or slow down enemy troops. The game also includes both versus and co-op two-player modes via ad-hoc network play.

Additionally, XSEED Games and ACQUIRE hosted a fan music submission contest in September, which is now closed. Submissions are still being evaluated, and announcements will be made shortly.

XSEED Games will publish Orgarhythm exclusively on the PlayStation®Store on the PS®Vita in North America on October 23 for $29.99 – look for more updates in the coming weeks.
 
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