Over the course of the Operation Rainfall campaign, several people have suggested that we campaign for additional titles. Some suggestions were simply outlandish, others targeted a different demographic than the majority of our audience, and some, like Earth Seeker, simply didn’t sell very well in their home region of Japan. That doesn’t mean anything in regards to the quality of the game, which actually looks quite good. So good, in fact, that there is a group of fans dedicated to a localized release of the game.
Should you be interested in this monster hunting action/adventure game for Wii?
Here is everything we know about Earth Seeker:
Developers: Crafts & Meister & Kadokawa Shoten
Publisher: Enterbrain, Inc. (Japan)
Official Website: http://www.earth-seeker.jp/
Release Date: June 23, 2011 (JP)
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Action/Adventure/RPG
Who developed the game?
Earth Seeker was co-developed by two Japanese studios, Crafts & Meister & Kadokawa Shoten. Crafts & Meister is a team started by former Capcom employees, including a lead producer of the Monster Hunter series and one of the creators of Street Fighter II. Kadokawa Shoten is a publisher/developer in Japan that is probably best known for co-development of Lunar: Silver Star Story & Lunar 2: Eternal Blue.
What is the game about?
The game kicks off on a post-apocalyptic Earth. All the world’s human heritage gets packed into a spaceship and evacuated off the planet, but the spaceship crashes into another planet and its cargo gets scattered all over the place. The ship’s main computer is trying to recreate Earth’s ecosystem on this planet, but the crash has affected it and it’s producing all this messed-up plant and animal life instead, which is hugely impacting the land. [SOURCE]
Enemies roam the field freely and combat is almost entirely in real-time. Players can pause the action using what Crafts & Meister calls the “Time Stop Battle” system to freeze the action and input commands. [SOURCE]
Where can you find out more information about the game?
First off, you can visit the official website, which is entirely in Japanese, but is full of screenshots, videos, concept art, and more. http://www.earth-seeker.jp/
Below, you can watch five minutes of gameplay footage by one of the game’s voice actresses, Hisako Kanemoto, who sat down to play the Wii role playing game starting with the “Mysterious Treasure” quest.
Below is a video containing the first hour or so of actual in-game footage (spoilers inside) [SOURCE]:
Below you will find a compilation of commercials for the game that were aired in Japan:
When will the game be released in America or Europe?
At this time, there are no announced plans to localize this title outside of Japan, in either America or Europe. The game launched on June 23, 2011 in Japan, and landed at #20 on the sales charts its first week on store shelves, right next to Mario Kart Wii. [SOURCE]
Why should you care about this game?
First off, this is a monster hunting game by a former producer of Monster Hunter. If you are a fan of that series, or other action/RPGs, you’ll definitely want to check this game out. Also, the art style is fantastic; the team that designed the concept art and final in-game graphics did a wonderful job making the most of the Wii console. Anyone who is down for a huge, action packed adventure, will want to play this game.
Is there a chance that this game could be localized?
Possibly. The game is bright, action-packed, developed by industry veterans, and is published in Japan by a company that is looking to expand westward. On top of that, notable publishers XSEED and Aksys games have at one time expressed interest in localizing the game. Ben Bateman of Aksys Games in particular mentioned the title in an interview with Nintendo Power:
Q: “What game or series that’s never been officially localized for the US would you like to have a chance to work on and why?”
Bateman: “Duel Love would be great, but the DS ship has almost certainly sailed on that one. A game that’s slightly (emphasis theirs) more likely that I would love to work on is Earth Seeker. The art and character designs are wonderful, and the world seems pretty cool too.” [SOURCE: Nintendo Power #278, page 78]
How can you help to spread awareness of this game?
A group of fans on Facebook have banded together, called “Seek for the Earth”. You can join them and learn more about their campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seek-For-The-Earth-Earth-Seeker-Support/310996312280577
What we do know for a fact is that the company responsible for publishing the game is Enterbrain, Inc., who not only published the game, but co-developed the game as well. Here’s hoping that fans can sway a publisher into picking up the rights to this game.
If seeing the game on the Wii is unrealistic at this point in its lifespan, a possible alternative would be to localize this game as a digital-download release on Wii U.
