ALZARA Radiant Echoes Is A Love Letter To JRPG Fans, By JRPG Fans

Studio Camelia today revealed its debut project, ALZARA Radiant Echoes, a “vibrant” Mediterranean-inspired JRPG.

To anyone who has followed the journey of Studio Camelia, this should come as no surprise. The studio was founded in 2021 by a team of JRPG lovers, headed by CEO and creative director Emma Delage, previously of Ubisoft.

In a media event attended by DualShockers, Delage revealed additional details about Studio Camelia and its debut JRPG, ALZARA Radiant Echoes.

The World Needs More JRPGs

“The team is comprised of people who have already worked in the industry. We gathered out of a love for JRPGs,” studio CEO and creative director Emma Delage says. “The ambition of the studio is to specialise in JRPGs because we think the world needs more JRPGs.”

Studio Camelia is headquartered in Montpellier, a French city on the Mediterranean Sea. “It’s why the Mediterranean was so appealing to us,” Delage explains. “It’s a melting pot of civilisations. We’re a game about sharing, so it was quite a good region to represent that and it’s not something you see a lot of in JRPGs.”

ALZARA Radiant Echoes is set on a Mediterranean-inspired archipelago called Taqsim. It’s a vibrant, magical place under threat from its larger neighbour, which has been struck with a crippling famine. The objective of our four heroes is to solve these complex issues and stop the ongoing invasion.

“The neighbouring nation is suffering from famine so they decide to invade Taqsim,” Delage describes. “They seize Taqsim’s lands and properties to nourish their population. So, Kayla as the granddaughter of the ruler of Taqsim, is going to find a way to compromise and bring peace back to the situation.”

The four party members, Kayla, Adil, Nakheel and Hugust are all Taqsim natives, but with different backgrounds. Each of them specialises in a different type of elemental magic, and they can ‘share’ magic with one another in battle to access combined elements.

The combat system is a dynamic turn-based system. There is a front line and a back line, and a character’s position in the battle affects which skills they can access. The front line is more geared towards offence, while the back line tends to be supportive. When you swap a character into the front line, they inherit some of the elemental magic of the character they swapped with, allowing them to access combined elemental magic. You can always recover mana, called Echo, in the back line, so your approach to battle requires strategic thinking.

The concept of sharing is a big part of ALZARA Radiant Echoes, as the entire game is themed around togetherness. “Sharing is central to the gameplay, the combat and the narrative,” Delage describes. “We’re trying to tell a story with a very natural purpose, putting the harsh reality of the invasion our heroes are faced with, with the concept of sharing, so it becomes a sort of moral battleground with profound consequences.”

Navigation in ALZARA Radiant Echoes is done through an appealing 2D overworld map, drawn by Mediterranean watercolourist Mosqui. The party travels on foot, or, since Taqsim is an archipelago, you also travel between islands aboard Nakheel’s boat, the Latitude. There are over ten locations, a mix of dungeons and cities, for players to explore in ALZARA.

Studio Camelia is working with two renowned Japanese creatives, the soundtrack is composed by Motoi Sakuraba (Golden Sun, Dark Souls) who is incorporating Mediterranean instruments into his work. The main character designs are courtesy of Yoshihiro Ambe, who has contributed works to Fire Emblem: Heroes, Genshin Impact and more.

ALZARA Radiant Echoes is a love letter to JRPG enthusiasts, especially fans of the so-called ‘golden era of JRPGs’. The game takes inspiration from Golden Sun, Final Fantasy 10, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Lost Odyssey.

“Golden Sun is really the main reference here… the four elements, the vibrancy of the colours,” Delage remarks. “Final Fantasy, it’s really about the mise-en-scène and the way we show things. With Avatar, we have the theme of the four elements, but also the found family thing we want to have in the game and in the balance between our heroes.”

ALZARA Radiant Echoes is planned to be released in 2026 on PC and consoles. You can support the game on Kickstarter.

Next

Firaxis Veteran Jake Solomon Talks Creating A Player-Driven Life Simulator To Compete With The Sims

Midsummer Studios is a team specialising in system-driven games, and they’re looking to leave their mark on the life simulation genre.