For fans of Japanese role-playing games, this week has basically been Christmas come early, with the announcement of three new games making their way out of Japan later this year. First we had the kooky wedding day murder mystery of Time and Eternity, followed by the slower paced, more strategic Disgaea D2, and finally, to complete our trio comes The Guided Fate Paradox, a bizarre tale of a teenage boy turned God.
Seemingly Japan get much better prizes for their lotteries than us - having entered one at the local shopping centre, high school student Renya Kagurazaka wins the chance to become God. But being omnipotent and benevolent can be a bit of a drag, especially when he finds out he needs to travel through to the Copy World - a universe that runs in parallel to the Original World - to make his denizens wishes come true. Given his own guardian angel Lilliel to watch over him during his work, it seems that perhaps there are other more sinister forces at work...
Kung fu cats and dynamite crabs...
The Guided Fate Paradox is essentially a dungeon-crawling role-playing game, in which you and your party of characters explore randomly-generated dungeons, grabbing as much loot as you can possibly carry along the way. Every step you take on each dungeon crawl counts as your 'turn', with the many enemies that fill each stage moving at the same time as you - and when you're in a battle, each bash of your sword is followed up by an attack from them too, adding an extra element of strategy to your exploration.
Thankfully it's not as hardcore as some of the other games of it's ilk, and if you die, you'll be able to restart where you left off, without losing any of your new skills and improved stats - after all, Gods are immortal, right? And while you'll most likely lose most of the stuff you've picked up, you are able to stow away the rarer, more valuable items for safe-keeping - so you don't have to worry about your favourite bits being lost forever.
What sounds seriously amazing, though, is the crazy amount of customisations you can have, letting you equip all manner of off the wall armour, weapons and items - including tank tracks for legs, drills for hands, or a mermaid's tail to replace your lower half. It also promises some 'Disgaea-inspired' - read very over-the-top and rather insane - special attacks for obliterating your enemies, which promise to be as humorous as they are devastating, many of which are linked to Renya's descent into God-dom.
Hitting the Playstation 3 this autumn, The Guided Fate Paradox sounds like a nice take on what can sometimes be a bit of a dull genre with little in the way of story. Until then, we have a trailer with rather dramatic music, pirate hats and more feathers than a pillow factory:
