And Nippon Ichi’s next game is: Phantom Kingdom

[Mr. Obsession]

From RPGfan (http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2004/1995.html):

Nippon Ichi has announced its fourth strategy RPG for the PlayStation 2 in various Japanese magazines today. Titled Phantom Kingdom, the newest game will follow the company's successful formula of mixing strategy battles, with comic-style visuals and a good dose of humor. The game will place in you in control of the demon king Xeta, who has been transformed into an omnipotent scripture. Now he is aiming to return to his original form and in order to rule a new demon world, challenge the king of another demon world. System-wise, the action during the turn-based battles will change depending on what weapons your party has equipped. Powerful special skills have also been confirmed to be included in the battle system. The demon world's terrain will be generated at random. So far, four different character classes have been introduced: warrior, wizard, swordmaster and prinny. Some characters will join Xeta's party already at the beginning of the game, while others will only join in once certain conditions have been met.

Demon kings? Multiple demon worlds? Prinnies? Smells like a Disgaea sequel to me dood. :D Though given the name and Nippon Ichi's history I'd say it's got just as much a chance of being a stand alone game with little in the way of ties to the other games.

[Captain Harlock]

First there was La Pucelle: Tactics,
Then Disagea: Hour of Darkness,
and the most recent - Phantom Brave.

Developers Nippon Ichi now bring you - Phantom Kingdom, a new strategy RPG for the PS2.

News article (courtesy of eToychest (http://www.etoychest.org/content.php?article.744))


Nippon Ichi, a company that has quickly become synonomous with strategy RPG hybrids for the PlayStation 2 console, has announced that they will be bringing their newest creation, titled Phantom Kingdom, to Japan exclusively for the PS2. Now, while nothing has been said of a domestic release, the mere fact that they are going out of their way to notify North American press seems to indicate that a localization effort is well into the planning stages.

“Phantom Kingdom will be a game of innovation with tradition. New game systems and battle engines will be incorporated while retaining NIS’ comedic anime style like Disgaea: Hour of Darkness,” said Haru Akenaga, president of NIS America, Inc.

Despite a somewhat similar title, a quick call over to NIS confirmed that this game is a wholly independent title, and is not directly related to Phantom Brave. However, as we have seen with their past three games, characters from the previous games will pop up in this outing from time to time. Phantom Kingdom tells the story of an attempt to rewrite history gone terribly wrong. In so doing Lord Zetta, the ruler of netherworld, brought destruction upon himself. When all seemed lost, three evil Gods appear before Lord Zetta to help him recreate his world. Now Lord Zetta wages war on a new world to become the supreme ruler once again, while the three evil Gods entertain themselves by creating more trouble for the Lord.

Players will take on the role of Lord Zetta to command an army of determined fighters to reclaim what has righteously been his, the netherworld. Gamers will battle enemies ranging from vicious demons to determined soldiers with both modern and ancient warfare. Slash your enemies with the good old broadsword or blast your way through with the deadly rocket launcher; the choices are yours.

Phantom Kingdom introduces a new summoning system referred to as the INVITE system that summons your facilities that contain army units to the battlefield. Every facility summoned to the battlefield will contain your troops that are then deployed to battle your hated enemies. In Phantom Kingdom, battle maps are randomly generated, offering a new gaming experience very time you play. With unlimited variations of maps, gamers can expect countless hours of game play.


The offical website can be located here (http://phantom-kingdom.com/index.html). (Japanese)

Screenshots can also be viewed here (http://etoychest.org/content.php?article.743.0).

I know it's a little early to be hyped up for a game, but I feel that Nippon Ichi's games for the Ps2 have been the most rewarding games for the console. I'm definately looking foreward to seeing Nippon Ichi's unique style continued in Phantom Kingdom and hope that it comes to the states. Anyone else?