Ragnarok Odyssey landing in Japan February 2012

The Ragnarok Online series, a popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in South Korea in August 2002, was so popular that it received its own animated series based on the game's universe, along with a DS and mobile spin-off. GungHo Online Entertainment, the main host of Ragnarok Online's Japanese server and developer of the DS spin-off, has now announced that a PS Vita spin-off is in the works, slated for release February 2 next year.

The company is sharing development duty with Gamearts, known for developing the Grandia and Lunar series. The game's director is Kazuhiro Irie, and the composer is Kumi Tanioka, known for his music in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series.

Ragnarok Odyssey is billed as a "hunting action" title that tasks gamers with hunting a variety of beasts and using different weapons and skills to take them down. The title offers a four-player co-op mode via ad hoc. Character classes include the melee-focused sword warrior, the speed-focused assassin, the long-ranged hunter, the spellcaster mage, the tanklike hammer smith, and the healer-buffer cleric.

The retail version will be priced at 5,980 yen (US$77), while the downloadable version will be priced 4,800 yen (US$62).