Square Enix has added yet another title to its upcoming lineup, disclosing today that it will publish Grandia III for Game Arts. With further details to be revealed in a feature to be included in this week's Famitsu, the company revealed that the PlayStation 2 title will be take players sky-high as the 16-year old adventurer Yuuki, as well as a brother-sister team of sidekicks, Alfeena and Emerius. The game will make use of a variety of vehicles, giving players the chance to experience travel by various ships, planes, and of course, some good old-fashioned plodding across the game's continental regions.

The battle system will feature a new spin on the series' tried-and-tested real-time encounters, bringing the time bar back, but with a twist: the bar will now be circular a la Grandia Xtreme, though whether or not that will have any impact upon its function remains to be seen. New to the mix will be counterattacks, and aerial combos, as well as a new brand of cancel attacks.

This coming together of GameArts and Square Enix might puzzle those who remember their rivalry during the PlayStation era, but Square Enix does have one of the best publicity setups in the RPG world right now, making it a sensible business decision. As previous noted, the game will be officially unveiled in a Famitsu feature slated to appear in this week's issue, and Square Enix has also promised some video footage, to be available at its website during the two weeks leading up to E3.

It was not revealed whether or not the game would make an appearance at the trade show, but interestingly, Square Enix plans to publish the title this calendar year, so the chances of that happening are probably fairly high. At this time, no plans have been announced for North American release.

RPGamer Message Forums Discuss this Story	IGN News Source
Grandia III See Related Information