Spring TGS 2001: Maken Shao

On display in Sony's booth at the Tokyo Game Show was Atlus' upcoming Maken Shao, the PlayStation 2 conversion of Maken X, the first-person action game that was released for the Dreamcast last year. The biggest improvement to Maken Shao is the addition of a third-person perspective, which makes playing the game a lot easier than the first-person camera angle from Maken X. Other changes include new special effects like motion blur, slightly updated level designs, and new fighting moves. The in-game and prerendered cutscenes have also been given a small facelift. Asides from these enhancements, however, the game looks like, plays like, and essentially is Maken X for the PlayStation 2.

The build at TGS had three playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There were also three distinct levels with varying levels of difficulty. The game seemed fairly feature-complete, and according to Sony, it should be available in Japan by August. Currently, there's no word on whether or not Maken Shao will make its way to North American shores.