Aksys plans on publishing Battle Fantasia, a 2.5D fantasy fighting game on September 16. If you own a PlayStation 3 you can try a demo of the game now by checking out the Japanese PlayStation Store, but you won’t be able to purchase an English version of Battle Fantasia. At this time, Aksys only plans on releasing Battle Fantasia for the Xbox 360. In response to a panel question about a possible PS3 release Gail Salamanca, Director of Marketing at Aksys answered, “We’re looking into it, but right now it’s just 360.” Arc System Works released it for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Japan.
A new feature not found in the arcade version of Battle Fantasia is a story mode with a chunk of text spoken in English or, if you prefer, Japanese. The only other difference between the two versions is the removal of some infinite combos to balance play over Xbox Live. The fix suggests we won’t be able to play against anyone in Japan over Xbox Live. The team at Aksys compared the Gacchi system to Street Fighter III’s parrying system, but the two games feel very different. Battle Fantasia has life gauges that vary from character to character measured in numeric HP, lying down on the ground attacks, and Heat Up mode which instantly grants new abilities at the cost of MP bar. After heating up some characters gain a double jump. Olivia gets a flock of attacking birds. The obligatory cute mascot character, Watson, calls a rain of Twinkle Dust. Cute.
Images courtesy of Arc System Works.
