Thousand Arms released

[10.14.99] » Atlus' most ambitious RPG project to date has finally arrived at North American retailers.

   Frequently delayed in recent months, Atlus' Thousand Arms has finally reached retailers around North America. Developed by RED Company (better known for the Sakura Taisen series and Bonk's Adventure), Thousand Arms is a two-disc traditional RPG set in a mechanized medieval environment. Players star as Meis Triumph, the youngest in a deteriorating line of womanizing blacksmiths. Meis realizes he is the only idealistic youth capable of saving the world after his hometown is attacked, and sets off adventuring with a rag-tag band of like-minded visionaries.

   Befitting his family reputation, Meis can also "date" up to nine girls throughout the game by taking his companions to numerous date spots and answering assorted romantic questions in a voice-heavy anime sequence. In total, over 12 hours of professional voice acting are found in the game. Sprites in the game are hand-drawn, and are placed upon fully 3D polygonal environments when exploring.

   Mirroring Working Design's Lunar packaging, Atlus is including a number of extras in the game's box: 70+ pages of a full color manual laden with art, memory card stickers, and a "lenticular collector's card" that depicts Meis swinging his sword as the card is twisted and turned. A mail-in offer is also found within for a dual multimedia / soundtrack CD: 20 Redbook audio tracks are included in the soundtrack, while character artwork, desktop wallpaper, a screen saver, dialog outtakes, character theme music, and links to gaming websites (with the GIA's logo most visible in the center) can be found on the multimedia portion of the CD. Overall, the game retails for $39.99, while the multimedia / soundtrack requires an extra $2 shipping and handling fee.

   Look for the GIA's comprehensive review this weekend; in the meantime, be sure to check out our scandalously large Thousand Arms media index here.