14 DAY TRIAL // You probably remember last month's announcement of Battle Fantasia, the fighting game developed by the team who worked on Guilty Gear. When it was first presented, the game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, but right now things are looking better for the PS3 fanboys, since 505 Games has announced Battle Fantasia for Sony's consoles, too, expected to hit the shop stands in the first fiscal quarter of 2009.
The game promises to stay true to its Japanese heritage and manga roots, ensuring that the overall experience will be as close as possible to playing it on a real arcade system - everything without ever leaving the comfort of your sofa at home.
The story presents a post-apocalyptic world divided in two (The Magic Kingdom and The Steam Empire) and a bunch of warriors from these worlds ready to fight against each other due to their convictions, faith or just because of an endless pursuit of justice. It's the time when new heroes and legends arise and you have to be one of them.
Furthermore, fans of the role playing game genre will be pleased to hear that Battle Fantasia will also have a few RPG elements. For example, unlike every other fighting game you have ever played, Arc System Works brings one where characters don't have a health bar, but hit points that drain away as they take damage. These hit points will not be the same for all the fighters - the smaller ones, for example, will have less health but will be faster and harder to hit, while the bigger dudes will be the exact opposite. A really interesting concept!
There will be 12 playable characters in the game, each with its own range of special moves and attacks, the multiplayer mode will allow online head-to-head battles and the 2.5D engine will bring on the screens some wonderfully designed characters created by Emiko Iwasaki. And all these on Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles!