Little Orbit have announced the launch of the Steam page for Unsung Story, along with an Early Access gameplay trailer.

Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians was fully funded on Kickstarter in 2014 with over $660,000 USD. The project was designed by Ogre Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno, and billed as a spiritual successor to those games. The project also promised the involvement of Final Fantasy veterans Hitoshi Sakimoto, Alexander O. Smith, and Akihiko Yoshida.

Rather worryingly not much had been heard from the developer Playdek in the years after the game was funded. The team still insisted they were working on it in 2017, before announcing they were abandoning the project due to a lack of funds, and handing it over to Little Orbit.

The new developer had to start development from scratch, and insisted they would complete the game and honor Kickstarter backer rewards. In June 2020 they hosted an almost three hour stream showing the game’s development and gameplay. Now, Little Orbit have announced the launch of the game’s Steam page (now simply known as Unsung Story), along with a new gameplay trailer.

Based on the Steam page and Kickstarter update, the Early Access build promises to have four hours of gameplay across chapter 1 (comprised of 7 missions), nearly all major gameplay systems (including the Harmony Songbook magic system), six of the total 20 jobs (being able to reach level 8), and a player hub to buy items, and recruit and customize units.

The game aims to be an estimated one and a half years in Early Access, though an Early Access release date was not given at this time. Those who had a copy of the game as a Kickstarter reward tier will be getting a free Steam key for the PC build.

The developers have also called on fans to spread the word, as there “are plenty of backers that we haven’t been able to reach yet because their emails no longer work. The more visibility we get, the more likely they will see something and contact our support team.”

You can find the Early Access trailer below.

You can find the full rundown (via Steam) below.

Unsung Story is Yasumi Matsuno’s spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, with many exciting innovations. In a world where spells are cast as songs and magic can reshape reality, the original shapers created a way to sing history and store it in the grand Opus to stabilize the land. But now, the 77-Year War has come, and evil has won. Players will need to build a team of Unsung Heroes who will start at the final battle; heroes who will work their way back in time to save the world.

Game features

EPIC STORYLINE

• Explore an all-new magical world created by master designer Yasumi Matsuno.
• Play 6 chapters in non-linear order alongside iconic story characters on both sides of a 77-year War.
• Engage in 45+ diverse levels where none of them look or play the same way.

MUSICAL MAGIC

• Cast spells through songs and musical abilities.
• Coordinate your units to gain special bonuses with “Harmony Songbook” game play.
• Listen to an all-new, musical score by world renown composer Hitoshi Sakimoto.

UNIT CUSTOMIZATION

• Customize your Unsung Heroes from 20 jobs and 150+ unique abilities.
• Stylize their look from options such as race, face, hair, and job outfit colors.
• Collect new options in side quests as the game progresses.

Unsung Story enters Early Access soon on Windows PC (via Steam). The Kickstarter had also previously promised Linux and Mac versions of the game.

Image: Steam