People in Japan live and die by their daily schedules. Trains, school, jobs, they grow up in a world that is strongly dictated by the ticks of the clock. Apparently forces from the Beyond decided that someone from such a world would make the perfect hero for a game like Jikan de Fantasia, the newest title from Opus Studio, the people who made Half-Minute Hero. This time they're developing for Idea Factory, but many similar game concepts are in effect.
But back to life in Japan. The hero-or-heroine (there's a choice) was just chilling on the train with his/her friends Kotaro and Kanna en route to school one day when ZAP, they all find themselves warped to Jikandia, a realm where time management is the key to existence.
Unlike Half-Minute Hero, adventuring in Jikandia is not a 30-second affair. In fact, it's however long the player feels like playing, with a catch. When you select a dungeon, you also have to select the amount of time you'll have to complete the dungeon. Different times mean different rewards, different levels of treasure, and greater likelihood of meeting bosses. Adding more to the schedule are Time Events and Button Events, which can be seen in the upper-right corner of the game screen. Time Events come with a countdown timer, and will go off whether the player is prepared or not. These can include boss encounters, enemy rushes, or the character going into sudden status changes. Button Events can be triggered at any time, at least until their counter runs down, and include things like flashes of blinding light and localized earthquakes.
In between adventures, the Hero / Heroine and Co. can recuperate in town and engage in some powering up with a crystaline material called MagiQuartz. By fitting pieces of MagiQuartz into a clock-like artefact (set to have 13 hours, oddly enough), they can boost various stats, gain skills, or increase the likelihood of item drops.
There's no word on the story yet, but it's bound to be odd, at least.
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia1.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia2.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia3.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia4.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia5.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia6.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia7.jpg?t=1272713788)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z2/teasels/jikanphantasia10.jpg?t=1272713788)
famitsu scan
spoiler (click to show/hide)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/4557798576_41c4a4f6c2_b.jpg)
last bastion of creativity :hyper :hyper :hyper