Namco Bandai announces Heroes Fantasia

Namco Bandai is no stranger to crossover collaborations; Namco x Capcom and the Super Robot Taisen series are proof of that. The publisher's Banpresto label recently announced yet another crossover title, but this time, it's using characters from various anime series instead of characters from video games.

Dubbed Heroes Fantasia, the action role-playing game will feature characters from numerous anime series. According to a recent post on Famitsu.com, the franchises involved include Sergeant Frog, R.O.D: Read or Die, Slayers Revolution, Mai Hime, Blood+, Rune Soldier, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, s.CRY.ed, and Darker Than Black.

Battles in Heroes Fantasia are handled in turn-based fashion where players control up to four characters in a party. Taking a page from Valkyrie Profile, each character is mapped onto one of the face buttons of the PSP. To make a character attack, players will need to press one of the face buttons corresponding to that character. Players can keep attacking until the upper-right gauge is reduced to zero. A party's position can also be changed on the fly, as different positions open up new character skills to use in combat.

Battle Fantasia is due out in Japan this winter for the PSP. An English localization of the game has yet to be determined.