Hello. I’m Soejima, the director of “TRIBE NINE”.
Firstly, I want to apologize to the fans who have been patiently waiting since we first announced the game’s development, especially those who have supported us since the “TRIBE NINE” anime. As development progresses, we can finally share information about familiar characters with new looks, new characters debuting in the game, and the drastically changed Neo Tokyo, which might leave you asking, “What happened to the baseball?”
In this Director’s Letter, I’d like to provide more detailed information about the upcoming “Deadly Playtest,” supplementing the content from the recently released “Gameplay Trailer: Shinagawa Chapter.”
If you haven’t signed up for the “Deadly Playtest” yet, there’s still time. The deadline is July 31st, so we hope you’ll apply and add “TRIBE NINE” to your Steam wishlist!
Connections with the “TRIBE NINE” Anime
The “TRIBE NINE” anime tells the story of a boy named Haru who has never heard of “Extreme Baseball (XB),” a unique sport similar to baseball. Haru meets a young man named Kamiya who loves XB. Together, they compete in XB matches against various Tribes and eventually get involved in a major battle for control over Neo Tokyo.
In this world, XB replaces the “justice” system and becomes the deciding factor for everything in place of violence, making it the law of the land for the people of Neo Tokyo.
The game “TRIBE NINE” is set in Neo Tokyo about two years after Haru and his friends’ XB battle.
The protagonist of the game, Yo Kuronaka, has lost his memory due to an unknown cause, so he knows nothing about XB or Neo Tokyo and his story starts more or less from the same perspective as the players. The origins of this world will be gradually explained throughout the story, making it accessible even to those who haven’t seen the anime.
As the story unfolds, the events that occurred in Neo Tokyo over the past two years will be revealed in fragments.
I’m sure many are curious about what happened to various characters after the last scene of the anime. The backstory of each character remains the same, but the current storyline takes place after Haru and the others’ battle. So, look forward to experiencing the gameplay and discovering the story!
The Adventure in Neo Tokyo
In this “Deadly Playtest,” you will begin with the story introduction, “Chapter 0,” followed by “Chapter 1,” which takes place during Yo and his friends’ first conquest in “Shinagawa City.”
Shinagawa City is a bustling metropolis where corporate warriors work day and night. The city features a variety of areas, including a modern district with high-rise buildings, a suburban area with old warehouses, and an abandoned laboratory. Players will control the characters as they navigate these diverse areas, progressing through the story as they reach their objectives.
As players explore, they will encounter treasure chests containing training materials and rewards, interact with city residents, and face hostile entities. The game uses a symbol encounter system, smoothly transitioning to a 3D battle environment when players come into contact with enemies.
Also, a handy little feature allows players to engage multiple symbols at once if they are nearby during an encounter. However, while this may seem like a good chance to take many enemies out in one go, you may find yourself in a pinch when tackling too many opponents at once.
“TRIBE NINE” is being developed with a strong focus on providing an enjoyable experience on PC. As originally announced, we are also developing the game for mobile platforms. The UI has been optimized for both PC and mobile versions, ensuring comfortable gameplay with touch screen controls. So, those planning to play the mobile version upon official release can rest assured.
The Battle System
In this game, “XB,” which once maintained order in the world, has been mysteriously sealed away. Consequently, Yo and his friends must join forces with allies and resort to violence to combat the looming threat.
One of the central themes this time for “TRIBE NINE” is to “portray teens overcoming trials and tribulations.” We are dedicated to developing and fine-tuning the battles to let you experience the “just barely bearable injustice” of being on the brink of annihilation. Here, you must use your creativity to take out formidable foes while facing the threat of destruction everywhere you go.
TRIBE NINE’s battles feature a “Tension” gauge that reflects the morale of both the player and the enemy. When enemy morale reaches its peak, they will corner the player with relentless attacks. While the actions of individual enemies are relatively easy to avoid, once the tension reaches a critical level, you will be overwhelmed by a tremendous onslaught.
To navigate such crises, players need to employ techniques like “Perfect Evasion,” which leverages the invincible period of an evasion to perfectly time their dodges to match the enemy’s attacks. Some characters also have the “Deflect” ability, allowing them to counter an attack by striking at the beginning of the enemy’s move. Mastering these techniques will give you an edge and help you quickly defeat your foes.
However, we understand that not all players are comfortable with such complex actions or intense trial-and-error gameplay. So, we would like to introduce two battle elements that will allow these players to enjoy the game with ease.
Battling with Companions
In TRIBE NINE’s action battles, all three party members join the fight. The player controls one member, while the other two are AI-controlled, all fighting together in real time.
Each character has a specialized role and can be categorized into three types: “those who excel at defeating enemies,” “those who focus on healing and supporting companions,” and “those who lure enemies and endure attacks.”
This system allows players who aren’t comfortable with intense action to choose a character specialized in support or protection from a distance, leaving the combat to their companions.
Additionally, the roles of these characters can be customized. A system is also available for players to adjust their characters’ compatibility to specialize in either attack or support.
Tension Cards
In addition to that, there is a system called “Tension Cards” that greatly influences the outcome of battles.
These are items that can be equipped, with a maximum of up to five per party. Each card has specific conditions; fulfilling these conditions grants significant effects. For example, if you’re skilled at timing your evasions, you can change the “rules of the battle” yourself, such as “performing a perfect evasion will slow down time around you.”
One of the early cards you can acquire is “Quick Play,” a card that “evades enemy attacks automatically.” This card is particularly helpful for players who struggle with timing their evasions. There’s a disadvantage in that if the card’s effect activates too frequently in a short period, it will temporarily stop working. Despite this drawback, the card remains useful for those who find quick decision-making challenging, so please give it a try!
Additionally, there are other battle mechanics like “Chain Skills,” which are coordinated attacks between allies, and a “Gimmick Gauge” that offers unique mechanics for each character. We plan to introduce these features in more detail in future updates, so stay tuned!
Playable Characters
In the “Gameplay Trailer: Shinagawa Chapter” released the other day, we introduced all the playable characters for the Deadly Playtest.
The following 13 characters will be available during the test. Each character is quite “quirky”, with unique features from their personality to their weapons and action style.
More detailed character profiles, including those not featured in the Deadly Playtest, will be released on our official X account, so be sure to follow us!
Many players might be curious about this, so I’ll address it here: characters will be acquired through a “gacha” system.
In addition to characters, the gacha will also include the Tension Cards introduced earlier.
Since this Deadly Playtest does not support in-game purchases, we plan to distribute in-game currency for drawing gacha at the start of the game and through daily emails from the management team.
Also, given the significant impact of Tension Cards on battle tactics, we are also developing cards that can only be obtained by completing specific in-game tasks rather than through gacha. This content will be available in city facilities that are not yet accessible in the Deadly Playtest. We hope you look forward to this in the official release.
About XB
The final thing I’d like to introduce today is XB, which can be said to be the face of Tribe Nine.
First, I must apologize about XB. We had originally planned to introduce XB as a surprise system when you played the game. Therefore, we tried to not show much about XB in the first trailer and limited the information we provided about it. However, we received more concerns than expected, with people asking, “What happened to XB?” The whole team acknowledges that this was a misleading way to share information, and we sincerely apologize for the confusion it caused.
Please rest assured that we have included XB as a game system.
XB is a special battle system that appears at the climax battle of Yo and his friends’ adventure.
Battles in this game are usually action-based, but in the final battle, it switches to a turn-based command battle in the form of XB.
We made the XB system simple and developed it to ensure a smooth experience within the adventure. To avoid confusing players, the game is designed so that players can connect with Yo and his friends through their passion. We hope you enjoy the game!
Lastly
This Director’s Letter got a little long, but we’ve finally reached the conclusion.
The whole team is very happy that the day has come when we can share details about the game “TRIBE NINE” with the world.
We continue to work with the original creator, Kodaka, and TOO KYO GAMES to create a “chaotic” Neo Tokyo. We have been working as “Team TRIBE NINE” across companies to develop the game so you can fully enjoy it.
During the Deadly Playtest, you may notice many imperfections that might cause inconvenience or lead to criticism. Based on the feedback we receive during this playtest, we will continue to improve the game so that you can enjoy it even more on the official launch. We would greatly appreciate if you could sign up for the Deadly Playtest and add “TRIBE NINE” to your wishlist, as this is one of the best ways to support the team in creating the best version of the game that we can.
The Deadly Playtest won’t be too long, but we look forward to meeting you all in Neo Tokyo!
