TOKYO - Kadokawa Shoten's Record of Lodoss War for the Dreamcast is an action RPG that is decidedly heavy on the hack-and-slash. The game appears to be heavily influenced by titles like Diablo. The playable demo the company gave out at the Tokyo Game Show is short on story, but long on running around with swords and hacking the heck out of skeletons, goblins, bats, and gigantic bugs.

　　The inventory screen lets you load up your character with various items you discover while running through towns, countryside, and dungeons. The items we've seen so far include different types of swords, shields, armor, and boots. The boots, while offering protection, alter your speed rating, as well. The boots also make an annoying clomping sound as you run across the different types of terrain. Hopefully, the walking noise will be altered to something more appropriate to the sound of running on grass before the game's release. The swords swing differently and at a variety of speeds. Picking a slow, more powerful sword may be great for one-on-one battles, but when you're surrounded by magic-using goblins, archer skeletons, and a bevy of bats, a faster sword lets you clear a path and take significantly less damage.

　　You control the movement with the analog pad, which lets you walk or run. You use the D-pad for item selection. Along the right side of the screen is a collection of potions, scrolls, and keys. After selecting one with the D-pad, a quick push on the Y button will unlock doors, heal you, or execute some other item-based effect.

　　Graphically, Lodoss War looks pretty nice. The character moves quickly, and the while the game has a hint of slowdown when lots of enemies are on-screen, it's nothing that developers can't work on before the game's final release. The music is dramatic, taking cues from the on-screen action to swell or fade out.

　　Record of Lodoss War is definitely one game I'll keep my eye on. It definitely looks to me like it will satisfy Dreamcast-owning Diablo fans.