FRAGRANT STORY (Nintendo 3DS) is a small tactical tribute and “thank you” to legendary composer Hitoshi Sakimoto. For his console debut, developer William Kage invited several Square-Enix veterans to contribute as guests, including the honorable Sakimoto-san himself. Available 4/21 in digital and limited physical copies, exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. Orders begin today at the Squire Games Store:

The gameplay is “Tactics Lite” and is designed to offer plenty of challenges to fans of classic Tactics games, while also letting newcomers enjoy the game at their preferred difficulty setting. Players can unlock additional missions and equipment upgrades by completing story battles. The optional “timed hits” system adds some new flavor to the tactical RPG recipe, on top of unusual job classes and unique abilities.

KEY FEATURES

• VR Cafe: Your team is made up of kids from Otosan playing an arcade game
• Arcade tokens: You get tokens based on the difficulty setting, which allow you to build a bigger team
• Strategize: Enjoy fresh new tactical gameplay inspired by the classics
• Customize: Build a different team of Fierce Fleuristas each time you play
• Timed hits: Stop the wheel with precision and score a critical hit
• Level up: Defeat enemies to grow stronger, or use extra tokens to level up a character
• Sense of humor: Dialog that would make your dad proud
• Challenge mode: Try your hand at some truly epic challenges
• Collect tickets: Save up tickets to unlock new gear and options
• Legendary music: Sick strategy tunes will get your heart pumping

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why 3DS only? What about Switch?

This game is my pilot with Nintendo. I’m a solo developer and solo publisher, so I felt the best way to demonstrate my seriousness to Nintendo was to publish something on their self-serve platforms before requesting Switch access. Due to the non-profit nature of my projects, it is important that I handle publishing myself.

I started this process with Nintendo before COVID and encountered significant delays over the last couple of years. Nevertheless, I was determined to see this through and use my existing agreement to finish publishing on their outgoing system. I intend to pursue Switch development in the near future.

How long is this game?

Fragrant Story has about 5 hours of missions and challenges. Additional content is in development and will be added in a free update if there is sufficient demand. Otherwise, expanded missions will target future releases instead.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Since 2012, William Kage has produced albums and games in the style of SNES classics. After a decade of part-time game development, he launched the new publishing moniker Squire Games to celebrate switching to full-time. All of his projects are strictly non-profit, favoring quality and passion over profitability.

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