is a

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

developed and published by

Spike Chunsoft is a Japanese video game development and localization company specializing in role-playing video games, visual novels and adventure games. The company was founded in 1984 as Chunsoft Co., Ltd. and merged with Spike in 2012. It is owned by Dwa ...

, with assistance from

tri-Ace is a Japanese video game development company formed in March 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Yoshiharu Gotanda (programmer, current tri-Ace President), Masaki Norimoto (game designer) and Joe Asanuma (director). The name is a play on w ...

, for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

video game consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...

. It was released in Japan in December 2015 and worldwide in October 2016.

Gameplay

The game is a

side scrolling '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics ...

. Many journalists considered it a

spiritual sequel A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...

to the ''

Valkyrie Profile or is a series of role-playing video games created by Masaki Norimoto, primarily developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). The series is notable for featuring elements from Norse mythology. Common elements The ''Valk ...

'' series of games also by tri-Ace.

Story

The player follows twelve youths who are killed by an explosion in modern-day

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and find themselves on the fantasy-like planet of Protolexa. There are three different endings, based on the player's actions over the course of the game, and some actions affect the game's

new game plus A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first ...

mode.

Development

The game was first announced in July 2015, as a collaboration between

and

in a fourteen-page article in ''

Weekly Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

''. The game was developed by much of the same tri-Ace staff that had worked on the first ''

'' game, with assistance from Spike Chunsoft staff as well. Other key staff for the game include character designer Mino Taro of

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casi ...

s ''

Love Plus is a dating sim developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released in Japan in 2009. Several updates and sequels have followed, including one for iOS in 2011. It has not been released outside Japa ...

'' series, and music composer

Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, such as for '' Tales'', '' Star Ocean'', '' Mario Golf'', '' Mario Tennis'', ''Golden Sun'', and '' Dark Souls'' series, as well as several other ...

, composer for tri-Ace's ''Valkyrie Profile'' and ''

Star Ocean is a franchise of action role-playing video games developed by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published and owned by Square Enix (formerly Enix). Development History The series is also known for being some of the earliest action RPGs to allo ...

'' series. Although it was originally scheduled for release on November 26, 2015, the game was delayed to its final release date, December 17. Shortly after the game's Japanese release, Spike Chunsoft announced

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

collaborations some of tri-Ace's other games, including ''Valkyrie Profile'' and '' Star Ocean 5'' games. The collaborations, released in March 2016, consisted of character costumes based on character's from the two aforementioned titles, along with a costume to dress up as

Monokuma is a fictional identity adopted by several characters in the ''Danganronpa'' series, serving as the mascot and main antagonist of the series. Monokuma first appears in '' Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'' as a disguise used by " despair sister ...

, the primary antagonist from Spike Chunsoft's ''

Danganronpa is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murdering each oth ...

'' series of video games. Until April 2016, no information had been announced in regards to an English language release of the game.

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' characte ...

, a frequent publisher for Spike Chunsoft games in English ('' Danganronpa 1'', ''

Danganronpa 2 ''Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair'' is a 2012 visual novel developed by Spike Chunsoft. It is the second game in the ''Danganronpa'' franchise following '' Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'' (2010). It was first released in Japan for PlayStat ...

'', ''

Danganronpa Another Episode ''Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Spike Chunsoft for PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony I ...

''), gave a "no comment" response when asked about localizing the title.

Aksys Games Aksys Games Localization, Inc. is a video game publisher that specializes in translating and localizing Japanese video games for English-speaking markets. It was founded by Akibo Shieh in 2006. Some of its clients include Bandai Namco Games, ...

acquired the rights to localize ''Exist Archive'' and released it in North America on October 18, 2016. Aksys Games released the game in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

as a digital-only release on September 8.

Reception

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...

'' gave both the Vita and PS4 versions of the game a 33/40 rating, with the four reviewers giving the title scores of 8/8/8/9. The game sold 37,398 copies in its opening week in Japan, with 17,414 copies sold for PlayStation 4 and 19,984 copies sold for PlayStation Vita.

References

External links

* {{Valkyrie Profile series 2015 video games PlayStation Vita games PlayStation 4 games Side-scrolling video games Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba Video games developed in Japan Japanese role-playing video games Fantasy video games Tri-Ace Video games set in Tokyo Video games set on fictional planets