Persona Composer Shoji Meguro to Launch Kickstarter for Strategy JRPG Guns Undarkness

Burn My Dread, there, it's stuck in your head

by Khayl Adam Mon 12th Sep 2022

Shoji Meguro, the legendary composer responsible for getting many of the Persona franchise's best bops stuck in your ear for weeks at a time, is launching a Kickstarter for his first solo project. Meguro served as creative director for the Persona games on PSP, so it's not entirely out of the blue. The game is called Guns Undarkness, a strategy JRPG with stealth elements, and it has stretch goals for a PlayStation release.

Set in a world devastated by nuclear war, you play as a member of a PMC (Private Military Company) fighting for a better future. Inspirations cited for the game include Metal Gear Solid and Persona, and Guns Undarkness will feature a Social Links-esque relationship system that will boost the main character's abilities as they become closer to their teammates.

Gameplay will see players leading a squad of four into tactical, turn-based combat, where positioning and cover will allow them to defeat overwhelming odds. We got some work-in-progress screenshots, to get a better idea of the aesthetic the game is going for:

What do you think of Guns Undarkness? Are you a fan of Meguro's work? Compose your hottest takes in the comments section below.

[source kickstarter.com, via personacentral.com]

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

1
WiiWareWave
Mon 12th Sep 2022

Looks amazing, too bad it probably won't come to Switch's successor and I'll likely never be able to afford a PS5, since the supply chain issues mean that the system will likely only go up in price rather than seeing any price reductions, but I digress.

2
Porco
Mon 12th Sep 2022

i'm confused... isn't meguro explicitly a composer? he has since left atlus and will be trying his hand as a lead developer and designer on guns undarkness? not sure i have ever seen a composer transition to game development in this way. the game looks interesting nontheless. perhaps it will borrow elements from xcom and valkyria chronicles as well...

3
ShadowofSparta
Mon 12th Sep 2022

Jesus what is that UI? Placeholder I hope, looks a bit garish

4
Batesy125s
Mon 12th Sep 2022

Not sure on the UI, but the premise of the game sounds great. And Metal gear solid as an inspiration? Certainly worse games to be inspired by. Will definitely keep an eye on this one

5
0niguy
Mon 12th Sep 2022

What is this title loool looks cool though

6
GuyProsciutto
Mon 12th Sep 2022

@ShadowofSparta it's a turn-based RPG, so a bold UI design for move selection is fine. Like, have you seen Persona 5's UI?

7
JalapenoSpiceLife
Mon 12th Sep 2022

This shoji guy is outstanding with his efforts into the persona games but regards to this new game is not for me, never been a fan of strategy games

8
Korgon
Mon 12th Sep 2022

Metal Gear Solid and Persona put together in a tactical RPG? Sounds good to me!

9
Ryall
Mon 12th Sep 2022

@TowaHerschel7 in a high inflation environment. All we can hope is the increase in prices is less than uplift in our wages. Unfortunately for me it’s gone up twice as fast as my wages so far.