Sony announce Okage: Shadow King
Penned in for a fall 2001 release
Sony has announced the fall 2001 release of its paranormal action RPG Okage: Shadow King for PlayStation 2. Featuring six unique playable characters and a vast 3D world spanning 20 beautifully rendered environments, they say Okage will be the next big thing in console RPGs. The RPG rule set of good and evil is established early on, but the key players are on the wrong side! The game focuses on a young boy called Ari, who lives in a remote village in the world of Tenel. When Ari's sister is attacked by a ghost, their father unknowingly releases a demon called Stan, who agrees to rescue Ari's sister on the condition that he can possess Ari's shadow, forcing the young boy to become his slave. However, when Stan is resurrected in the youngster's shadow, he discovers that his powers are weak, and sets out to defeat the rest of the world's demons and become all powerful once again, forcing Ari along with him. No doubt there will be a twist along the way, with players navigating as the ostensibly innocent Ari and fighting rival demons for the evil Stan. Sony boasts that the game combines traditional RPG elements with real-time battles and puzzle-solving, along the same sort of lines as Super Nintendo classic Secret of Mana. The company also claims that Okage will take many hours to complete. Hopefully they're right and it won't end as quickly as thrill-a-minute Capcom adventure Onimusha.