Not every anniversary is always a reason to celebrate with companies. Nintendo was visibly quiet during The legend of Zelda 35 recently, but Nihon Falcom does things differently. A special 40th anniversary show is scheduled for 11:00 GMT and will be hosted by President Toshihiro Kondo, looking back at the company’s long history in RPGs. And what a story this is.
Nihon Falcom opened its doors on March 9, 1982 and was an early pioneer of RPGs, focusing mainly on Japanese personal computers. Nihon Falcom does not usually receive the same love that other major publishers have – Square Enix and Atlus are more famous in the West, for example – but throughout its history, it has successfully developed a dedicated cult.
After early efforts such as Panorama Island, Nihon Falcom ‘s first major hit came in 1984 with Dragon Slayer, a franchise that would eventually break away The legend of the heroes and Tokyo Xanadu. The latter has not been seen since 2015, but Legend of Heroes has received a wide reputation for its impressive world construction. He eventually led the sub-series “Routes”, better known on Nintendo platforms for Cold steel trails.
We can’t ignore Nihon Falcom’s efforts in defining the action-RPG genre, which is often credited Yes. Chronicling the adventures of the red-haired adventurer Adol Christin, this series began in 1987 with Ys I: Ancient Ys Disappeared, arriving on Famicom a year later. These days, Ys has appeared on Switch with Origin Ys, Lacrimosa from DANA, and the future Monstrum Nox.
These versions highlight a recent change with Nihon Falcom. After appearing only sporadically on Nintendo consoles, there has been a much more active momentum in the last decade, even if the release dates are not particularly stable compared to the PlayStation and PC versions.
So what can we expect from this transmission? Well, we didn’t rely on any Western news, because NIS America generally handles publishing tasks here. It seems to be a fan-based business, for the most part, although new information needs to be presented as well. Kuro no Kiseki, the latest entry Legend of Heroes.
We are full of hope for the news about a Switch edition, but while we wait for more details, we would like to wish Nihon Falcom a happy 40th anniversary. Given that Monstrum Nox will not be released until the end of this year, at least we can look forward to Cold steel routes IV arriving next month on Switch.