Developer Firi Games is best known for their Phoenix series of hardcore bullet-hell shoot-em-ups. While their presence at the Tokyo Game Show was mainly to show off the latest in that series, Phoenix 2, to Japanese audiences, I managed to convince them to show me something from their next game, which is a slightly unexpected change from their usual fare. Pocket Quest is an RPG that Firi games has been planning for a very long time, and with Phoenix 2 settling a bit following its anniversary update, they’ve finally had the chance to dedicate their full attention to this charming little game. They even allowed me to capture some footage of an early version of the game.

Now, with the game being a bit early, there are a lot of details I couldn’t really check out. But basically, it’s a mission-based RPG with turn-based battles and skill trees as far as the eye can see. You can put your party together from a variety of different job classes, each with their own special skills and abilities. There’s also a ton of gear that you can find and equip, with each piece changing the physical appearance of the character. The skill trees are less like trees and more like giant circles, offering an almost overwhelming number of options for each member of your party. While the game isn’t terribly far along in its development, it’s already looking pretty good. I’m assured by Firi that there will be plenty of particle effects in the finished product, but even as it is now, some of the special attacks look really cool.

As with the Phoenix games, Pocket Quest will be free-to-play with optional IAPs. The developers haven’t quite nailed down how that will precisely play out, but I think their shoot-em-ups show that they know how to do free-to-play without being unfair about it. As for a release date, the best I could get out of them was “when it’s finished" and “certainly not this year", so take that as you will. I expect we’ll be hearing a lot more about this game when it gets a little farther along in development, so keep your eyes peeled for further news.