Namco X Capcom

Written by Chris Reiter  on March 21, 2005

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Developer Nippon Ichi Software has been one busy little bee. After the summer of 2003 when Atlus' oddball strategy-RPG Disgaea: Hour of Darkness released, the team at Nippon apparently figured everyone wanted a taste of more. Disgaea was after all considered by many to be 2003's sleeper hit of the year. With much acclaim for a genre that hasn't been touched on much over the years until last year when Nippon started pumping out multiple titles (including Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics), it obviously seems to be the right time for the strategy-genre to step into the limelight. This brings us to the case of an even more twisted situation: Namco's Namco X Capcom. What the?! What's two big industry veterans like Namco and Capcom doing with their names in the same game title (that, plus the letter X)? I'll tell you what they're doing. The makers from Namco's Xenosaga RPG series are hopping on the strategy-RPG bandwagon and mixing up a bunch of characters from both Namco and Capcom's line of history to pit two and two together and establish one red-hot little number.

Heroes, conflict, war -- Namco X Capcom's unique crossover is set to begin its tale in an obscure time period (in the year 20XX) where strange occurrences are taking shape in this world. Mysterious space and time anomalies, known as "Yurigi," have started appearing across cities around the globe. Focusing the story on Tokyo, a special force has been organized here called Shinra. The first two protagonists of the story at this point are known as Shaomu and Reiji, and are ranked amongst the Shinra troops. While investigating a disturbance in Tokyo's Shibuya district, out pops Shion and KOS-MOS (who gamers should recognize from Namco's Xenosaga series). But along with the two heroines, a sizable fleet of Gnosis aliens the two beauties were currently in confrontation with, slips through the portal as well. Teaming up with the Xenosaga babes, Shaomu and Reiji at that moment decide to assist in vanquishing this incursion, proceeding to head with Shion and KOS-MOS into another time rift that unlocks once the battle is over. What lies ahead for these characters remains to be seen.

Though Namco hasn't actually revealed much about gameplay specifics just yet, it is known that Namco X Capcom will fit the typical overhead strategy-RPG style players are used to engaging in, in such games as the recent Disgaea: Hour of Darkness or Final Fantasy Tactics even before that. The way that goes is in any combat situation, an overhead 3D map will show up and place each character moving one at a time to select the nearby troops on the grid, to extinguish them from living on any further. A bit of more food for thought to chew on at the moment includes the fact that characters will be able to combine their attacks together to create significantly superior powers that would be weaker when compared to the standard attack patterns.

More interesting, however, is how Namco and Capcom both are contributing a yet unidentified arsenal of cast from both their already established franchises. This won't just include such familiar faces as the new-aged heroines from Xenosaga. You'll also find in the game's confines the likes of Jin from Tekken, Mitsurugi from Soul Calibur, Klonoa from Klonoa, Regina from Dino Crisis, Strider from Strider, and even Arthur from Ghouls 'N Ghosts. We'll also see such favorites from the cast of Street Fighter, such as M. Bison, Ryu, and Chun-Li. Who knows, there's always a chance that characters from franchises like Resident Evil or Pac-Man will be dropping by. Speaking of cartoony characters, Namco X Capcom will indeed be an anime-inspired game. The story will be told through 2D character-drawn cut scenes that will also be voiced -- which should be interesting to hear the actors from each of these notable series combining forces. That is to say, if the talents do indeed sign on.