Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) has made a habit of releasing unique and interesting titles for the Playstation 2, scoffing at the label of "last-gen." Their specialty? The strategy RPG. From the Disgaea series to VanillaWare's stellar GrimGrimoire, and now the in-house project Soul Nomad & the World Eaters, NIS is certainly on a role. Their latest game is scheduled for release on September 25th in the US, but is already catching the attention of RPG strategists.
The game begins by recounting the tale of the ancient Lord Median the Conqueror, who toiled to bring peace to the land of Prodesta, but died shortly thereafter. From there, things went awry, as three giant beasts - the World Eaters - and one badass mutha controlling them appeared to ravage the land, and make it a not-so-fun place to live. Warrior Queen Layna then rose against these figures, only to find them so strong that she had to sacrifice herself in order to banish them.
The game picks up about 200 years later, and the World Eaters are back, roaming the land. The star of the show is the strong-but-silent Revya, who is accompanied by his friend Danette. The two are to be appointed to the town guard that day by... Lady Layna?! Paying no attention to her apparent self-resurrection abilities, the duo receive from her a few weapons to aid them as guardians, and one of them happens to be the very chamber in which the aforementioned evil force has been imprisoned for the last 200 years.
Gig, as he is called, is a foul-mouthed menace, who constantly tries to tempt players into giving up some of their soul in exchange for his AWESOME power. When I say awesome here, I mean it. We're talking 1000's of level-ups at once, insane damage, etc. The price? He eats your soul and the game ends. Okay, that doesn't happen every time. It's a really interesting design, though, and these endings never come as a surprise to the player. The choices leading to each are clearly labeled with the "you're going to die" symbol, giving fair warning and a chance to save your progress. What's great about this setup is that Soul Nomad ends up having a ton of endings, and the completist gamer can see them all with little frustration.
What you'll find in between all the R-rated dialogue and game-ending power trips is a rather involved strategy experience. Battles play out on a gridded landscape, with two-dimensional (and somewhat primitive-looking) sprites representing the units. What's differs from other games of this type is the scale of the battle. Like a tabletop war game, each sprite represents 4-8 individuals, who all attack together in a side-view battle sequence. Gig has the ability to create "rooms" for these warriors, which essentially groups them into combat units for use on the battlefield. Additionally, each room offers multiple formation choices, and includes special "decor" to aid in battle, such as percentage bonuses to certain attributes.
The party itself is formed by purchasing or partnering with various "manikins," who are then summoned to the battlefield to fight alongside Revya in independent squads. Each group has a stamina meter, which dictates the actions that they can perform throughout the battle. Depleted stamina is not what a player wants to see, as it can be detrimental to achieving victory. Also, each squad has a leader, and if he or she dies, the entire unit breaks. The whole battle dynamic really feels like a complete system, and is fulfilling to master.
Soul Nomad & the World Eaters is still more than a month from release, but with 40 hours of gameplay, multiple endings, a deep and engaging battle system, and by far the coolest videogame title I've heard in years, already looks promising. Keep an eye out for it.
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