Look at Square '98: Day Two

With the import of Square's Chocobo: Mysterious Dungeon and the game's accompanying movie and demo disc out last week, we at VGS are blessed with a glimpse of what else the company has to offer over the next year. For the rest of this week, we'll be passing on screenshots of and information about a few of these games, which seem to point out that Final Fantasy VII was far from a fluke. Yesterday, we spotlighted much anticipated Bushido Blade 2 and Front Mission Alternative. Today, we focus on Parasite Eve and Sokaigi.

Parasite EveCombining Square's development at Square USA and at the company's Los Angeles studio, the game is best described as a digital horror mystery. Produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game also features character designs from Tetsuya Nomura.

The game not only has a distinct Hollywood flavor, but also takes place in New York City. Rookie Detective Aya Brea is on the case about mysterious happenings in the city and eventually finds out what is lurking within the shadows.

Like most RPGs, the game has an exploration view, which is how the player moves about in the game. Then, when facing enemies, the view changes to a battle mode, showing Aya fighting the menace that threatens the survival of New York City, and mankind. The environments have been drawn and designed similarly to those in Final Fantasy VII, with polygon characters and pre-rendered artwork. Note: All the screenshots are of the game's jaw-dropping CG cutscenes.

Sokaigi

Now, Square is taking fighting to a new level, adding in RPG elements to the story and expanding the fighting environment to give players a lot more freedom while battling. A mix of several styles of games, Sokaigi appears to carry a Tomb Raider-style third-person perspective, with the speed of EA's upcoming Reboot, the overexaggerated fighting moves of Taito's Psychic Force, and Bushido Blade-like character design. Neither of the two games has been announced for a US release, although it seems highly likely Sony will bring them out late this year. Stay tuned to GS News for more news on this, as it breaks.