Director(s) Takuya Yamanaka Writer(s) Tadashi Satomi Initial release date 23 June 2016 Genre Role-playing video game Platform PlayStation Vita | Artist(s) Oguchi Composer(s) Tsukasa Masuko Developer Aquria Publishers FuRyu, Atlus | |
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Release date(s) JP: June 23, 2016
NA/EU: Q1/Q2 2017 Similar FuRyu games, Role-playing games | ||
Caligula (Japanese: カリギュラ, Hepburn: Karigyura) is a role-playing video game that was developed by Aquria for the PlayStation Vita. It was published by FuRyu in June 2016 in Japan, and is planned to be released by Atlus in 2017 in North America and Europe.
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Gameplay
Caligula is a role-playing video game featuring turn-based combat in dungeon environments. Combat is triggered upon encountering enemy characters during dungeon exploration.
Premise
Caligula is set in a virtual reality program known as "Mobius", created so people can escape pain in their lives and live in an idyllic high school setting. The main protagonist is one of a group who realize that they are in a virtual world, and form the "Going Home Club", a group dedicated to escaping from Mobius and its god-like overseer program, a vocal program called "μ". They oppose the Ostinato Musicians, a group who supports μ and sees the Going Home Club as traitors.
Development
Caligula was developed by Aquria and published by FuRyu. It was directed by Takuya Yamanaka, with character designs by Oguchi. It was written by Tadashi Satomi, who had previously worked on the first three games in the Persona series - Revelations: Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. The music is composed by Tsukasa Mako, and the theme song is performed by a three-person group: Eriko Nakamura, Emi Nitta and Yuka Ōtsubo. The developers define Caligula as a "next-generation juvenile RPG" focusing on modern pathology and trauma.
The characters were said to violate a variety of taboos, with Satomi specifically creating one that the team were initially wanting to avoid. The title stems from the "Caligula effect", a psychological term referring to the want to see and do prohibited things. Despite its prominence and tying into the gameplay experience, the word itself is not mentioned within the game's context.
The game was first announced on February 23, 2016 in that week's issue of Famitsu, along with its release date. At the time it was announced, it was said to be 50% complete. A teaser trailer and the first screenshots was released soon after the initial announcement.
Release
The game was released for the PlayStation Vita, by FuRyu on June 23, 2016 in Japan, and is planned to be released by Atlus in Q1/Q2 2017 as a digital-only title in North America and Europe. Initially, Atlus did not rule out a physical release of Caligula through Limited Run Games, but later ruled it out.
Reception
Famitsu scored the game a 30 out of 40 rating, with a 8/7/8/7 out of 10 breakdown among the four reviewers.
It was the second best selling video game in Japan during its opening week, with 31,243 copies sold. During its second week, it dropped to eleventh place, with an additional 7,289 copies sold.