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An updated remake of Baroque, a post-apocalyptic RPG game in which all hell has literally broke loose on earth. As the game starts, the world has been devastated by a heat wave and left nothing but demon infested ruins and a mysterious "Nerve Tower" which many claim that holds the answers to the apocalypse. You play as an amnesiac survivor who decides to enter the tower in search for clues to both your identity and the reasons behind the apocalypse.

The game plays as an RPG dungeon-crawler, in which you control your character and attempt to clear each floor in the tower from monsters, earning experience and items and only occasionally journeying outside the tower to get weapons and equipment from a few NPCs.

The PS2 remake adds additional floors, items and creatures and updates the whole game with a completely polygonal engine (the original used 2D sprites to depict characters and monsters). Furthermore, the point of view has been changed from first person to third person and the gameplay has been modified accordingly to make the game more of an action-RPG than the original.

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The different officials of Atlus USA directly related to the development of PS2 and Nintendo Wii video game Baroque recently provided an interview that shed some light into the current status of the game and its place on Nintendo's line-up.

Those who know Baroque from its original Japanese release will probably remember that this is one of t he more hardcore games in terms of gameplay. With that said, it's kind of hard to imagine how this will fit into Nintendo's strategy of attracting the casual gamers.

Assistant Manager of Public Relations and Sales Aram Jabbari picked up that very topic and commented that despite the overwhelming number of casual Wii gamers, we also have to consider the hardcore ones that have been disappointed by other titles.

"Baroque presents the type of challenging experience we believe many of these players have been waiting for and which other Wii games fail to offer. Baroque is a pure hardcore RPG experience and doesn't apologize for being so," added Jabbari.

In terms of localization, Editor Clayton Chan said that their team have had previous experience in localizing complex titles so turning Baroque into an English game was never really a problem. The official added, however, that this particular game was different:


It was Baroque's story that I had problems with, specifically because of the way the story is told. The game is very careful to give out as little information as possible so that you, the player, are unraveling the mystery of Baroque yourself...


In Baroque, however, there are many things that are intentionally left vague or are deliberately worded unusually, so I couldn't touch them.

Aside from that, Atlus USA didn't mention anymore other problems encountered in the development process. Lastly, QA Specialist and Customer Service Rob Stone provided the following information regarding gameplay:


Motion controls will be used in the Wii version of Baroque. We're pleased to say that the game's developer, Sting, has taken special care to implement motion controls in a subtle manner that won't be annoying or tiring to use.


In addition, there will also be 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan support.

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The Armageddon came. A huge Heat Wave ruined the planet, humans have mutated into strange creatures who worship strange gods, trying to exterminate each other in bloody wars, and Ikei demons populate the surface of the planet. In the middle of the wasteland stands the Nerve Tower. Nobody knows what it is: the symbol of evil or the final hope for salvation, because nobody ever dared to enter it. But the hero of the game is determined to explore the tower, and perhaps to cleanse the world of evil once and for all.

"Baroque" is a survival horror adventure. The whole game is set in the tower: you slowly work your way to the top, fighting demons as you progress. You have HP as well as stamina gauge. If your stamina is depleted, you walk slower and can't react well in a battle.