Editing Nihon Falcom

{{Short description|Japanese video game company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Nihon Falcom
| logo = Nihon Falcom logo.svg
| logo_caption = A variant of the Nihon Falcom logo
| native_name = 日本ファルコム株式会社
| native_name_lang = ja
| romanized_name = Nihon farukomu kabushiki kaisha
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{tyo|3723}}
| foundation = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1981|03}}
| location = [[Tachikawa]], [[Japan]]
| founder = Masayuki Kato
| key_people = Toshihiro Kondo (President)
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| products = [[List of Nihon Falcom video games|List of games]] {{hlist|(''[[Ys (series)|Ys]]''|''[[Dragon Slayer (series)|Dragon Slayer]]''|''[[The Legend of Heroes]]''|''[[Trails (series)|Trails]]'')}}
| owner = 
| num_employees = 65
| num_employees_year = 2024<ref>{{cite web |title=Toshihiro Kondo : « Que d'autres s'inspirent de nous, c'est quelque chose qui nous honore » |url=https://www.gamekult.com/actualite/toshihiro-kondo-que-d-autres-s-inspirent-de-nous-c-est-quelque-chose-qui-nous-honore-3050860151.html/|access-date=March 27, 2025|language=fr}}</ref>
| homepage = {{URL|www.falcom.co.jp}}
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Nihon Falcom Corporation'''|日本ファルコム株式会社}} is a Japanese [[video game developer]], best known for their ''[[Ys (series)|Ys]]'', ''[[The Legend of Heroes]]'', and ''[[Trails (series)|Trails]]'' series. They are credited with pioneering the [[action role-playing]] and [[Japanese role-playing game]] genres, as well as popularizing the use of [[personal computer]]s in Japan.

==History==
{{See also|List of Nihon Falcom video games}}
[[File:Toshihiro Kondo.jpg|thumb|Company president Toshihiro Kondo in 2014|upright=.75]]
Nihon Falcom was founded by Masayuki Kato in 1981.<ref name="Eurogamer">{{cite news |last1=Wen |first1=Alan |title=Hot on the Trails of Falcom, Japan's longest-running RPG developer |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-06-hot-on-the-trails-of-falcom-japans-longest-running-rpg-developer |newspaper=Eurogamer.net |date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> They are credited with laying the foundations for the [[action role-playing]] and [[Japanese role-playing game]] genres.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-09-chronicles-of-ys-a-series-retrospective|title=Chronicles of Ys: A Series Retrospective|last=Massey|first=Tom|website=[[eurogamer.net]]|date=February 9, 2014 |publisher=Gamer Network}}</ref><ref name="gtm_falcom">{{cite journal|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=Falcom: Legacy of Ys|journal=[[GamesTM]]|date=July 7, 2011|issue=111|pages=153}} ([[cf.]] {{cite web|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=History of Ys interviews|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/07/history-of-ys-interviews-by-john.html|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 6, 2011|date=July 8, 2011}})</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/game-design-essentials-20-rpgs|author=John Harris|title=Game Design Essentials: 20 RPGs - Dragon Slayer|publisher=[[Gamasutra]]|page=13|date=July 2, 2009|access-date=March 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012154920/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4066/game_design_essentials_20_rpgs.php?page=13|archive-date=October 12, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The name Falcom came from the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yamashita |first1=Akira |title=Nihon Falcom – Ys Developer Interview |url=https://shmuplations.com/ys/ |website=Shmuplations |access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref>

Falcom's first role-playing game (RPG) was ''Panorama Toh'', released for the [[PC-8801]] 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 [[Experience level|leveling]] systems, the game featured [[Real-time game|real-time]] 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]] is presented as a [[Hex map|hex grid]] and featured a day-night cycle. There were also indigenous [[non-player character]]s (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]]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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2013/06/dark-age-of-jrpgs-6-panorama-toh-pc-88.html|title=Dark Age of JRPGs (7): Panorama Toh ぱのらま島 - PC-88 (1983)|last=Derboo|first=Sam|date=June 2, 2013|website=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref>

Falcom eventually went on to create their flagship franchises, including the ''[[Dragon Slayer (series)|Dragon Slayer]]'', ''[[The Legend of Heroes]]'' and ''[[Ys (video game)|Ys]]'' series. The original ''[[Dragon Slayer (video game)|Dragon Slayer]]'' was responsible for setting the template for the [[action role-playing]] genre.<ref name="kat_hackandslash">{{Cite web|last=Bailey|first=Kat|title=Hack and Slash: What Makes a Good Action RPG?|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|date=May 18, 2010|url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9030743|access-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu]]'' (1985) had more than 400,000 copies sold,<ref name=Falcom>{{cite web|url=http://www.falcom.co.jp/xanadu_next/xanadu/xanadu.html|title=Xanadu Next home page|access-date=September 8, 2008|language=ja}} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.falcom.co.jp%2Fxanadu_next%2Fxanadu%2Fxanadu.html Translation])</ref> making it the best-selling [[PC game]] up until that time.<ref name="el33tonline_2">{{cite web|last=Hendricks|first=Fayyaad|title=A complete history of role-playing videogames: Part 2|url=http://www.el33tonline.com/past_editorial/2011/12/22/a_complete_history_of_roleplaying_videogames/|publisher=EL33TONLINE|access-date=December 25, 2011|date=December 22, 2011|archive-date=January 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115234120/http://www.el33tonline.com/past_editorial/2011/12/22/a_complete_history_of_roleplaying_videogames|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{not in ref|date=January 2024}}

While most of Falcom's games have been ported to various [[video game console]]s of all generations, they have only developed a few non-PC [[video game]]s themselves.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-09-inside-ys|title=Inside Ys: Nihon Falcom Interview|last=Massey|first=Tom|website=[[eurogamer.net]]|date=February 9, 2014 |publisher=Gamer Network}}</ref> The company's decision to develop mainly for PCs rather than consoles set them apart from their main rivals, [[Enix]] and [[Square (video game company)|Square]], but limited the company's popularity in the [[Western world]], thus limiting their growth potential in the 1990s.<ref name="gtm_falcom"/><ref name="1up_falcom">{{cite web|last=Gifford|first=Kevin|title=The Trail of Nihon Falcom: The president of Japan's oldest existing RPG maker speaks|url=http://www.1up.com/news/trail-nihon-falcom|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|access-date=September 13, 2011|date=September 7, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729171731/http://www.1up.com/news/trail-nihon-falcom|archive-date=July 29, 2012}}</ref> By the early 2010s, the ''Ys'' series was second only to the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series as the largest Japanese role-playing game franchise in terms of the overall number of game releases.<ref name="gtm_falcom_154">{{cite journal|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=Falcom: Legacy of Ys|journal=[[GamesTM|Games<sup>TM</sup>]]|date=July 7, 2011|issue=111|pages=152–159 [154]|url=http://imageshack.us/f/844/yshistory03.jpg/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114041243/http://imageshack.us/f/844/yshistory03.jpg/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 14, 2013|access-date=September 8, 2011}} ([[cf.]] {{cite web|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|title=History of Ys interviews|url=http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/07/history-of-ys-interviews-by-john.html|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 8, 2011|date=July 8, 2011}})</ref>

{{anchor|Falcom Sound Team jdk}}Falcom was also a pioneer in [[video game music]], with their early soundtracks mostly composed by [[chiptune]] musicians [[Yuzo Koshiro]] and Mieko Ishikawa.<ref name="greening_kotowski">{{cite web|title=Interview with Yuzo Koshiro|date=February 2011|publisher=Square Enix Music Online|author=Chris Greening & Don Kotowski|url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/yuzokoshiro.shtml|access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref><ref name="kalata_ys">{{cite web|last=Kalata|first=Kurt|title=Ys|url=http://hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm|work=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=September 3, 2011|date=February 2014}}</ref><ref name="rpgfan_falcom">{{cite web|title=Falcom Classics II|url=http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/falcomclassics2/Falcom_Classics_2-2.html|work=RPGFan|access-date=September 3, 2011|author=Ryan Mattich|archive-date=October 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007011239/http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/falcomclassics2/Falcom_Classics_2-2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="gtm_falcom_154"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|https://www.falcom.co.jp/}} {{in lang|ja}}

{{Dragon Slayer series}}
{{The Legend of Heroes series}}
{{Ys series}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Video game companies established in 1981]]
[[Category:Video game companies of Japan]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Software companies based in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Amusement companies of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese companies established in 1981]]