Metal Saga and Steambot Chronicles coming from Atlus @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on November 05, 2005

News: A pair of new "non-linear", "steam-powered", "mech-loaded" RPGs from Japan.

Atlus is continuing their quest to saturate America with obscure Japanese RPGs with the announcement of Metal Saga and Steambot Chronicles for the PS2.

Metal Saga's storyline takes a few cues from the Terminator saga but places the humans in the role of the hunter-killers (OK, maybe not):

In the not so distant future... Desperate to find a way to save the earth from pollution, mankind created a gigantic supercomputer and named it Noah. Noah's solution, however, was to exterminate its creators. In a matter of days, civilization fell to terrifying weapons and monsters created by Noah. This cataclysmic event came to be known as the Great Destruction.

As the years passed, the number of human survivors grew, slowly but steadily. They formed villages and towns, living off of technology that they were able to salvage from the piles of wreckage.

Among the survivors were those who rose up to fight Noah's robotic henchmen. To track down and eliminate these threats to humanity, they utilized the most powerful weapons still operable after the Great DestructionЧtanks! As a sign of respect, people nicknamed them Уhunters.Ф

Noah, the cause of the Great Destruction, was in fact destroyed by one such hunter. However, its ruthless offspring still roamed the world, striking fear in people's heart.

Now, a young man prepares to set foot into the deadly desert wasteland to make a name for himself, as did his father, a veteran hunter...

Metal Saga is said to provide 40+ hours of gameplay in a non-linear RPG format and features fully customizable vehicles and weaponry.

Steambot Chronicles takes the "non-linear" RPG approach as well but frames it in a much more light-hearted story:

As cars became more and more common on city streets, the Trotmobile came into being. This two-legged, walking metal vehicle could be adapted to a variety of road conditions and purposes: agriculture, civil engineering, and transportation. The industrial revolution continued, increasing the Trotmobile's popularity. People placed their hopes and dreams on the backs of these wonderful machines, marching toward a better life just beyond their reach...

Vanilla Beans wakes up to find himself lying on a sun-drenched beach. How did he get there? And, who in the world is the girl standing above him?

The girl soon introduces herself as Connie, and Vanilla begins the first busy day ofa grand adventure. He'll take Connie home, meet the other members of her band (the Garland Globetrotters), and explore the town of Nefroburg. At the end of this busy day, Vanilla relaxes in the town square where the Globetrotters are performing only to witness a gang of bandits overrunning the town! How things go from here is up to the player...

Will Vanilla join the Garland Globetrotters? Or, will he join the Killer Elephant gang? The choices Vanilla makes, the Trotmobiles he builds, and the friends hekeeps are all up to gamers who take part in Steambot Chronicles.

Fighting in your Trotmobile and playing music in your band of choice will be the skills needed to survive Steambot Chronicles. You can even become a public troubadour and earn money by playing your music on the street. And like Metal Saga, your Trotmobile is fully customizable and upgradeable.

Atlus is hard at work on both Metal Saga and Steambot Chronicles, but neither game has a release date yet.