Nihon Falcom#List of games

{{See also|List of Nihon Falcom video games}}

File:Toshihiro Kondo.jpg

Nihon Falcom was founded by Masayuki Kato in 1981.{{cite news |last1=Wen |first1=Alan |title=Hot on the Trails of Falcom, Japan's longest-running RPG developer |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-06-hot-on-the-trails-of-falcom-japans-longest-running-rpg-developer |newspaper=Eurogamer.net |date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=7 October 2019}} They are credited with laying the foundations for the action role-playing and Japanese role-playing game genres.{{Cite news|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-09-chronicles-of-ys-a-series-retrospective|title=Chronicles of Ys: A Series Retrospective|last=Massey|first=Tom|website=eurogamer.net|date=February 9, 2014 |publisher=Gamer Network}}{{cite journal|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=Falcom: Legacy of Ys|journal=GamesTM|date=July 7, 2011|issue=111|pages=153}} (cf. {{cite web|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=History of Ys interviews|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/07/history-of-ys-interviews-by-john.html|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 6, 2011|date=July 8, 2011}}){{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/game-design-essentials-20-rpgs|author=John Harris|title=Game Design Essentials: 20 RPGs - Dragon Slayer|publisher=Gamasutra|page=13|date=July 2, 2009|access-date=March 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012154920/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4066/game_design_essentials_20_rpgs.php?page=13|archive-date=October 12, 2011|url-status=live}} The name Falcom came from the Millennium Falcon and the final "n" was changed to an "m" to fit naming trends of that time. The word Nihon, taken after one of the native names of Japan, was added to make it sound more complete.{{cite web |last1=Yamashita |first1=Akira |title=Nihon Falcom – Ys Developer Interview |url=https://shmuplations.com/ys/ |website=Shmuplations |access-date=29 August 2022}}

Falcom's first role-playing game (RPG) was Panorama Toh, released for the PC-8801 in 1983 and created by Yoshio Kiya, who would go on to create the Dragon Slayer and Brandish franchises. While its RPG elements were limited, lacking traditional statistical or leveling systems, the game featured real-time combat with a gun, bringing it close to the action RPG formula that Falcom would later be known for. Set on a desert island, the game's overworld is presented as a hex grid and featured a day-night cycle. There were also indigenous non-player characters (NPCs) who the player could choose to attack, have a conversation with, or give money for items, though NPCs could choose to run away with the money. In order to survive on the island, the player needs to find and consume rations, as every normal action consumes hit points. The island also has traps, which require calling for help and waiting for NPCs to help. The player could also be bit by snakes that poison and paralyze the player, requiring medicine to heal or calling for help from NPCs.{{cite web|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2013/06/dark-age-of-jrpgs-6-panorama-toh-pc-88.html|title=Dark Age of JRPGs (7): Panorama Toh ぱのらま島 - PC-88 (1983)|last=Derboo|first=Sam|date=June 2, 2013|website=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=November 10, 2019}}

Falcom eventually went on to create their flagship franchises, including the Dragon Slayer, The Legend of Heroes and Ys series. The original Dragon Slayer was responsible for setting the template for the action role-playing genre.{{Cite web|last=Bailey|first=Kat|title=Hack and Slash: What Makes a Good Action RPG?|publisher=1UP.com|date=May 18, 2010|url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9030743|access-date=July 11, 2011}} Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (1985) had more than 400,000 copies sold,{{cite web|url=http://www.falcom.co.jp/xanadu_next/xanadu/xanadu.html|title=Xanadu Next home page|access-date=September 8, 2008|language=ja}} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.falcom.co.jp%2Fxanadu_next%2Fxanadu%2Fxanadu.html Translation]) making it the best-selling PC game up until that time.{{cite web|last=Hendricks|first=Fayyaad|title=A complete history of role-playing videogames: Part 2|url=http://www.el33tonline.com/past_editorial/2011/12/22/a_complete_history_of_roleplaying_videogames/|publisher=EL33TONLINE|access-date=December 25, 2011|date=December 22, 2011|archive-date=January 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115234120/http://www.el33tonline.com/past_editorial/2011/12/22/a_complete_history_of_roleplaying_videogames|url-status=dead}}{{not in ref|date=January 2024}}

While most of Falcom's games have been ported to various video game consoles of all generations, they have only developed a few non-PC video games themselves.{{Cite news|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-09-inside-ys|title=Inside Ys: Nihon Falcom Interview|last=Massey|first=Tom|website=eurogamer.net|date=February 9, 2014 |publisher=Gamer Network}} The company's decision to develop mainly for PCs rather than consoles set them apart from their main rivals, Enix and Square, but limited the company's popularity in the Western world, thus limiting their growth potential in the 1990s.{{cite web|last=Gifford|first=Kevin|title=The Trail of Nihon Falcom: The president of Japan's oldest existing RPG maker speaks|url=http://www.1up.com/news/trail-nihon-falcom|publisher=1UP.com|access-date=September 13, 2011|date=September 7, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729171731/http://www.1up.com/news/trail-nihon-falcom|archive-date=July 29, 2012}} By the early 2010s, the Ys series was second only to the Final Fantasy series as the largest Japanese role-playing game franchise in terms of the overall number of game releases.{{cite journal|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=Falcom: Legacy of Ys|journal=Games^TM|date=July 7, 2011|issue=111|pages=152–159 [154]|url=http://imageshack.us/f/844/yshistory03.jpg/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114041243/http://imageshack.us/f/844/yshistory03.jpg/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 14, 2013|access-date=September 8, 2011}} (cf. {{cite web|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=History of Ys interviews|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/07/history-of-ys-interviews-by-john.html|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 8, 2011|date=July 8, 2011}})

{{anchor|Falcom Sound Team jdk}}Falcom was also a pioneer in video game music, with their early soundtracks mostly composed by chiptune musicians Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa.{{cite web|title=Interview with Yuzo Koshiro|date=February 2011|publisher=Square Enix Music Online|author=Chris Greening & Don Kotowski|url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/yuzokoshiro.shtml|access-date=August 27, 2015}}{{cite web|last=Kalata|first=Kurt|title=Ys|url=http://hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 3, 2011|date=February 2014}}{{cite web|title=Falcom Classics II|url=http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/falcomclassics2/Falcom_Classics_2-2.html|work=RPGFan|access-date=September 3, 2011|author=Ryan Mattich|archive-date=October 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007011239/http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/falcomclassics2/Falcom_Classics_2-2.html|url-status=dead}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|https://www.falcom.co.jp/}} {{in lang|ja}}

{{Dragon Slayer series}}

{{The Legend of Heroes series}}

{{Ys series}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Video game companies established in 1981

Category:Video game companies of Japan

Category:Video game development companies

Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

Category:Software companies based in Tokyo

Category:Amusement companies of Japan

Category:Japanese companies established in 1981