R-Type Tactics first details

Well, now I’m engaged. Irem opened the official R-Type Tactics website and released a first batch of screenshots. The game seems to be an hex-based strategy game with gameplay very similar to Advance Wars and Robot Taisen. Many tradition R-Type bosses are here and some of the maps look like shumps levels.

[[Image:PSP/R-Type Tactics/ss_02.jpg|center|400|This demonstrates that R-Type Final was not final at all…]]

The mix is interesting but the point is: how it will play? It’s a turn based shmup or a full fledged space strategy game? There are RPG elements or not? Only time (and an Irem PR) will tell, I just asked.

R-Type Tactics!!!

Well, since the D&D Tactics rumor spread out and SquareEnix announced the Final Fantasy Tactics remake, it was clear that Sony was trying to find a solid niche of hardocore gamers for the PSP. The idea is not too strange: SRPGs are a quite neglected genre these days but they have a solid plethora of fans out there that are literally hungering for more good Strategy RPG games.

At first, the idea of an R-Type Tactics game seems like something really odd but after thinking about the Robot Taisen and the Gundam SRPG series, it makes a lot more sense sense.

The only problem I’m seeing here it’s still the old SRPG problem: will the game be localized for non Japanese countries? In the past many promising SRPG franchises were left thriving only on the eastern side of the world because of language limitations, others were ported lately or simply badly, receiving a very limited welcome because of quality issues.