Kullervo's Saga- a J-Pop RPG

Kullervo's Saga- a J-Pop RPG is a fantasy Rhythm game-JRPG hybrid for the Playstation 6 featuring music by Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani.
It's loosely based on the legend of Kullervo from the Finnish poem Kalevala, set in modern Tokyo and involving magic through the power of J-Pop (which technically is folk metal, but in the game it's referred as J-Pop).
== Plot ==
Untamala Kobayashi was a successful J-Pop idol, but was forced into retirement after her producer Untamo Nakamura (of Nakamura Productions) caught her dating Kalervo Fukuyama, another idol produced by rival label Ilmarinen Production. She surrendered to Untamo and was forced to marry him, bearing a child she named Kullervo, who grows up to be a J-Pop musician too. 
Kullervo Fukuyama (voiced by Jonne Jarvela) grows up to be a fan of J-Pop and Western folk metal, especially Korpiklaani. His mother is the only one who takes care of him, while Untamo is mostly absent. As Untamala reveals him that his father was murdered by Untamo himself , Kullervo decides to run away and plans to start his idol career under Ilmarinen Production. Untamala then gives him the Guitar of Kusanagi, which had belonged to Kalervo.
As Untamo finds out his son has a contract with Ilmarinen, he sends his Blood Idols to murder his adopted son. They try to drown him but he uses his Kusanagi and voice to control the sea. Then they try to set a building on fire to kill him, but his guitar sends the fire on them, and then they try to hang him, which he survives as his guitar causes the knot to unravel itself. 
Kullervo is then noted by producer Aleksi Ilmarinen, who proceeds to make him his top idol. Aleksi's former top idol, Minako Ichikawa of the Freyjasdottir band, becomes jealous of him.
TBA
Minako has joined Untamo and become his top idol as the lead vocalist of "Antikrist Holokaust". They'll settle the rivalry once and for all at the "Heirs of Wotan" J-Pop battle tournament, where Untamo is planning a last trick to murder Kullervo. The Antikrist Holokaust then steal the Drums of Yata, another of the three Instruments of Wotan. 
TBA 
At the festival, idols from all of Japan come, battling each other with their magical music for the title of "Heir of Wotan": any idol or band who loses in the Heirs of Wotan is sent into the Manala, the Realm of the Dead, as a sacrifice to Wotan. Kullervo defeats the bands Rommel Wehrmacht, Burning Rhapsodia, Phantom Desire and Kawaii Eiyu 731, and reaches the finals, where he and the Antikrist Holokaust fight each other.
As Kullervo wins, Minako and the rest of the band are sent to the afterlife. Kullervo then calls Untamo himself, ordering him to come and fight, one on one, until one of them dies. Untamo complies, to the shock of the audience, and pulls out the Flute of Yasakani, the last Instrument of Wotan. Their battle goes on and on until Kullervo cuts Untamo's head with the Guitar of Kusanagi and settles his revenge once and for all.
After the credits, Wotan reveals himself to be Hatsune Miku, and asks for Kullervo to come to the Manala, where he's going to claim the title of True Gods of J-Pop in a gauntlet against various legends of J-Pop followed by Hatsune Miku herself.
== Gameplay ==
The game plays like a hybrid between a rhythm game and an RPG. Kullervo is free to explore Tokyo, and often enters battle with Untamo's men, the Dark Idols, and the Constructs they summon. Battle is rhythm-based and split into an Attack Phase and Defense Phase: doing well in the rhythm game in Attack ensures dealing more damage, while doing well in Defense blocks attacks from enemy Dark Idols and Constructs. 
== Songs ==
The game features various songs by Korpiklaani.
== Trivia ==
The music that this game refers to as J-Pop is technically folk metal. This is not an error: at least one real-life group that has been referred to as "J-Pop" (WagakkiBand) is in fact a folk metal band. Actual J-Pop is a much less strict category than Western pop and comprises groups which would be called "rock" or even "metal" in the West (Babymetal, X-Japan, L'Arc-En-Ciel). Korpiklaani however never referred to their music style as "J-Pop", mainly because they're not Japanese, but they would be a J-Pop band if they were. 
The plot is adapted from a Finnish legend, but set in Japan. Character names are the ones in the source material, though written with Kanji instead of Katakana. This explains why explicitly non-Japanese names like Kullervo are used for Japanese characters (and aren't nicknames). Aleksi Ilmarinen's first name comes from the late half-Chinese J-Pop singer Alexi Laiho (of Children of Bodom). Characters that were not named in the legend got actual Japanese names, such as Minako Ichikawa, who is based on Ilmarinen's unnamed wife who had tried to kill Kullervo. 
Kullervo Fukuyama's voice actor is the actual singer of Korpiklaani, Jonne Jarvela. 
The idea for this game came when hearing that Korpiklaani had made a cover of Hatsune Miku's Ievan Polkka. Hatsune Miku herself appears as the superboss, and her theme songs are folk metal/J-pop songs made by Korpiklaani and Saki Fujita specifically for this game.
Kullervo's legend was made famous by Tolkien, when he translated it. He later got the inspiration for his character Turin. In Japan, however. Tolkien is obscure, which led to the Kalevala being mostly unknown in Japan. 
Hatsune Miku isn't a mythological figure from the Kalevala. 
Korpiklaani means "Backwood clan" in Finnish. It's written in Kanji. 
Category:Role-Playing Games
Category:Japanese Role-Playing Games
Category:PlayStation 6 Games
Category:Rhythm Games
Category:Vocaloid Games
Category:Kalevala
Category:J-pop
Category:Music Games
Category:Heavy Metal music games
Category:Hatsune Miku games
Category:J-Pop Games