Project X Zone - New Game of the Day #55

What? Kooky Namco Bandai, SEGA and Capcom mashup that pushes the company's biggest names through the RPG blender and hits frappé.

When? 2012. In Japan at least...

Where? 3DS

Some ideas are just so bizarre that they can't possibly not work. Fancy some Bacon Ice Cream? And who would have thought to cast a real life, spandex clad David Bowie as the ruler of Jim Henson's grubby muppet rejects?

Then there's Project X Zone, a JRPG that sees Devil May Cry, Tekken, Mega Man, Virtua Fighter, The Tales RPGs, Street Fighter, Space Channel Five, Resident Evil and numerous other SEGA, Capcom and Namco Bandai franchises smushed into one big tasty turn-based tart all in the name of fan pleasing fun.

A sort-of-spiritual successor to Namco X Capcom, a JRPG from 2005, there's not a whole lot known about Project X Zone right now but what has been glimpsed promises greatness.

Some of the smoothest sprite work this side of Rayman Origins and some wonderfully energetic looking RPG combat gives way to a wealth of applaud-able fan service. Notice Ryu's Shuryuken focus-dash-cancel into Shinkuu Hadouken? If you said no then you haven't played enough Street Fighter IV. But that doesn't matter, what this two second snippet does show, even to those lacking in Ryu-ka-dou-ken lingo – that's totally a term - is a genuine understanding of the products it lampoons.

The only bits we're not feeling right now are the close up 'realistic' doodles. There's a whiff of budget trace paper work about them. Well, that and the seeming lack of any 'outside of Japan' release date. Hopefully that last point does get sorted, controlling Ryu and Ken serving a knuckle sandwich to a Resident Evil Tyrant is something that shouldn't be missed.

Developer Legacy: Banpresto is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco and has existed since the dawn of time. Well, 1990. Anyway, they're made a lot of games between then and now, nothing outstanding, but nothing stench-worthy. Here's hoping, considering the names attached, that Project X Zone is the culmination of 22 years in the industry and not simply another in a long, long, long (long) list of 'alright' games.

What They Say: “fuckinggggg awessoommee!!!” - rikichi via NeoGaf

What We Say: The RPG, the JRPG in particular, is the perfect slate for these sorts of mental mash-ups, with the slower combat and focus on script giving plenty of elbow room for the silly to stretch and breathe.

Can't wait? Play This: Presuming you don't have a Playstation 2 and the mountain of cash required to import Namco X Capcom, Street Fighter X Tekken (you can read our Street Fighter X Tekken review here) provides Ryu vs. Kazuma chuckles a-plenty.

Website: http://pxz.channel.or.jp/

Facebook: N/A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectxzone

Words by James Bowden (Twitter: @Dalagonash)

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