Rogue Galaxy - Tokyo Game Show Impression

Platform: Developer: Level 5 Release Date: 12.08.2005 (Japan)

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by Paul Koehler

Ever since seeing the first screens of Dark Cloud 2 before its release, I was very impressed with the work done by Level 5, and since then they've been working on several other high-profile projects. One project that I hadn't heard of before the Tokyo Game Show was on display in the Sony booth: Rogue Galaxy. "Given the impressive look of the game and the mechanics of the battle system...this is one of my favorite titles at the show." There's one adjective that is best used to describe the look of the game: cel-shaded. I might add that the decision to go cel-shaded with this game is a smart one, as we have a steampunk/spacefaring/futuristic society as the backdrop to the plot of the game. While said plot is unclear at this point, what Sony provided for sampling at its booth was a battle set in a jungle environment. Anybody who has played Dark Cloud 2 before will recognize the similarities almost immediately. Transitions from roaming the World Map to battle are almost seamless, and the mechanics of combat are fairly similar as well. It's unknown whether Rogue Galaxy will have some of the many weird but amusing combat vehicles that the former title had, but the characters that were playable at the booth had an impressive array of skills. One thing that was annoying in the demo was the cut sequence that happened everytime an alternate character went for a skill attack. Granted, the sequence looks impressive the first few times, but given the seemingly frequent battles in the game I think it would prove to be annoying in the long run. The game, however, featured an impressive status menu and an incredibly useful dungeon/world map which would help if most of the game is structured like the playable version available at the show. All flaws aside, the game looks polished and is set for a release sometime this December in Japan. Given the impressive look of the game and the mechanics of the battle system, as well as the other minor details prevalent, this is one of my favorite titles at the show. You'd be doing yourself a favor by checking Rogue Galaxy out, especially if you were a fan of Dark Cloud 2.