14 DAY TRIAL // Square Enix, the Japanese publisher best known for role playing series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, has announced a new game it is working on for the PlayStation Portable, called Lord of Arcana. The title is set to be launched at some point in late 2010 on the Japanese market and the publisher is not talking about when it might arrive in the West. The first details about Lord of Arcana point to a game sharing quite a few mechanics with Monster Hunter, the well-known franchise from Capcom.
The newly announced title, showed off in Japanese magazines, will put the player in the combat boots of a Slayer, a character that is ready to work for anyone who needs some monsters to be killed as long as they have the money.
Extensive customization options are promised and players will be able to take on quests, fight enemy beasts and then use money and natural elements to build better equipment that can then be used to assault even bigger enemies. Lord of Arcana will allow four players to use the connectivity options of the PlayStation Portable in order to cooperate while fighting the most threatening of beasts.
The Monster Hunter franchise has seen a rise of popularity in recent months, with Konami working with Capcom to actually include a version of the game in the PSP bound Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, pitting Snake against monsters. Namco Bandai is also interested in the genre and working on its own version of monster hunting gameplay.
The development team in charge of Lord of Arcana is headed by Takamasa Shiba, a designer who worked on series like Drakengard and Final Fantasy Tactics. The team is aiming to deliver a demo of Lord of Arcana before autumn sets in.
Here's the first trailer that Square Enix has offered for the game. Take a look and judge the similarities with Monster Hunter for yourselves.