GungHo Online Entertainment has announced that its popular Ragnarok series is headed for the PSP, in the form of Ragnarok Hikari to Yami no Koujo (most closely translated to Ragnarok: Princess of Light and Dark). The game bears a name resemblance and spiritual connection, but otherwise has no connection to the company’s MMORG Ragnarok Online.
The characters will use the game’s A.I.Z. system to travel back and forth through time and space to cooperate with soldiers of the past, present, and future in order to achieve their goals. AIZ stands for “Another If Zapping,” which has inspired me to give my English students lessons on how to properly use acronyms.
Characters can freely change from among 14 different job classes, including the usual fighters, mages, and more specialized units. The player can develop these characters’ overall level as well as their job level within whatever job they have at the time.
During battle, each character can sometimes perform an “Over Drive Strike,” which looks like it usually cues up an orange background and unleashes a powerful attack.
The game will be out in Japan this year, added to the huge pile of RPGs to become available for the system in 2011. The system’s tremendous success in Asia hasn’t been mirrored in North America, however, meaning Ragnarok’s one’s likelihood for localization is questionable. The official website is just a splash page now, but promises more content on April 28.
