If there’s one thing PlayStation Vita could use more of, it’s RPGs. Sony’s new handheld is surprisingly short on a genre that defined the early years of quality gaming on PlayStation, but while we wait for Persona 4 Golden to grace our OLED screens, indie developer Muteki Corp. will keep the dream alive with details of a 16-bit RPG that will grace Vita early next year.
Announced on the official PlayStation Blog earlier today, Dragon Fantasy Book II comes as the sequel to an episodic series of three games collectively called Dragon Fantasy. These RPGs are only available on PC, Mac, and iOS, but thanks to SCEA’s PubFund program, we’ll be getting the sequel – a collection of three planned episodes strung together to form a full-length RPG – on Vita and PS3.
Muteki’s blog post (written by President and CEO Bryan Sawler) details the nostalgic love that will go into Dragon Fantasy Book II. Veteran gamers will remember Mode7, the 2D visual mode that could create pseudo-3D effects on the Super Nintendo. Muteki is bringing Mode7 back for Dragon Fantasy Book II; overworld traveling scenes and certain epic encounters will utilize the effect throughout the game. 4-player drop-in multiplayer support, a soundtrack that hearkens back to glorious 16-bit orchestral scores, and an open-world battle system with fully-animated attacks and spells will round out the package.
The best part? Dragon Fantasy Book II will support Cross-Buy, granting an extra copy of the game so you can play on Vita and PS3, wherever you go. Muteki is also actively exploring the possibility of bringing the first three Dragon Fantasy episodes to PSN, so keep an eye out for those.
Dragon Fantasy Book II is expected to launch "early 2013". Keep it glued to PSU.com for more on this exciting PubFund projects, and let us know in the comments what the game NEEDS to incorporate to be a true 16-bit homage.