is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''

Trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneering the

action role-playing An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

and

Japanese role-playing game While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia come from Japan, many have also been developed in South Korea and in China. Japanese role-playing games Japanese computer role-playing games O ...

genres, as well as popularizing the use of

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

s in Japan.

History

Nihon Falcom was founded by Masayuki Kato in 1981. They are credited with laying the foundations for the

and

genres. (

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

) The name Falcom came from the

Millennium Falcon The ''Millennium Falcon'' is a fictional starship in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the movie ''Star Wars'' (1977), it has subsequently appeared in ''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), ''The Empire Strikes Back' ...

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. Falcom's first role-playing game (RPG) was ''Panorama Toh'', released for the

PC-8801 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japa ...

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 Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

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 An overworld (sometimes referred to as a hub world) is, in a broad sense, commonly an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other vide ...

is presented as a

hex grid A hex map, hex board, or hex grid is a game board design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into a hexagonal tiling, small regular hexagons of identical size. Advantages and disadvantages The primary advantage of a h ...

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 point Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the f ...

s. 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. Falcom eventually went on to create their flagship franchises, including the ''

Dragon Slayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'', '' The Legend of Heroes'' and '' Ys'' series. The original ''

'' was responsible for setting the template for the

genre. '' Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu'' (1985) had more than 400,000 copies sold,
Translation
making it the best-selling PC game up until that time. While most of Falcom's games have been ported to various

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

s of all generations, they have only developed a few non-PC

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s themselves. 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 The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, thus limiting their growth potential in the 1990s. By the early 2010s, the ''Ys'' series was second only to the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' series as the largest Japanese role-playing game franchise in terms of the overall number of game releases. (

) Falcom was also a pioneer in

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led t ...

, with their early soundtracks mostly composed by chiptune musicians Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa. They were one of the first game companies to have their own named sound team dedicated to writing scores for their games, known as the Falcom Sound Team jdk.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Video game companies established in 1981 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Software companies based in Tokyo Amusement companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1981