Nihon Falcom

Japan · Founded 1981 · Developer / Publisher

The Japanese PC developer behind Dragon Slayer, Xanadu and Ys, credited with laying the foundations of the action RPG — and with some of the best FM synthesis music of the 1980s.

Masayuki Kato founded Nihon Falcom in 1981, and within a few years it was one of the most important developers on Japanese home computers such as NEC's PC-8801. Its Dragon Slayer series set a template for the action role-playing game, and Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (1985) sold more than 400,000 copies, making it the best-selling Japanese PC game up to that time. Ys followed in 1987. Its fast "bump" combat — attacking by walking into enemies slightly off-centre — and its focus on pace and story made it Falcom's signature franchise, and it was ported widely to consoles, most memorably to the PC Engine CD-ROM². The Legend of Heroes, which began as a Dragon Slayer spin-off, grew into the company's other long-running series. Falcom was also a pioneer of game music. Its early soundtracks were composed largely by Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa, and the in-house Falcom Sound Team jdk continued the tradition after Koshiro left. Unlike many of its 1980s peers, Falcom never merged or folded. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is based in Tachikawa, and remains a small company; Toshihiro Kondo became president in 2007.