Now that the dust has settled surrounding the announcement of Final Fantasy VIII, Sony has seized the opportunity to reveal its new RPG, and while not as flashy as Square's upcoming juggernaut, Sony's Legend of the Legaia looks to capture its own share of the limelight.

　　Scheduled for release sometime this fall (in Japan at least), Legend of the Legaia is an RPG developed by the same team responsible for Sony's Popolocrois and Wild Arms. While Popolocrois was never released here (due to its 2D nature, plus the fact that the theme was aimed at younger gamers), it was a superb RPG that featured a lengthy quest along with a memorable cast of characters. As far as Wild Arms goes, it was well received critically and commercially, but never garnered the attention it deserved, due to Final Fantasy VII's imminent arrival at the time.

　　This time around, there will be no such conundrum as Legend of the Legaia follows its own distinct path into the increasingly crowded world of RPGs. The theme of the game is set in the future, where the state of the world is turning for the worse. Man, of course, hasn't been treating the planet so well, and as a result, curious things are starting to happen. A strange mist is beginning to blanket over Earth, and wherever it goes, normal people are starting to turn into killers and monsters are creeping out from the shadows. Three young heroes emerge to confront the situation - they are Vann, Noa, and Gahra. Vann is a 15-year-old boy with a quiet disposition and a dislike for fighting. Like each of the characters, he has his own original style of kempo. Noa, who is younger than Vann, was raised in the wild by wolves. Despite this, she speaks very well, and as the others would discover, she has a very big secret. Gahra is the oldest of the group and grew up in a monastery. The temple where he was taught focused on the strengthening of the body through a grueling regimen of physical labor. As one would expect, his demeanor is usually very serious.

　　There are two things the game will revolve around: the Taiju and the Kiri. The Taiju is an extremely large tree that is the focus of the trio's power. What its role is at this point is undetermined, but it will definitely play an integral part in the storyline. The Kiri, by comparison, is the nest where the mist and the monsters emerge from. Whether or not there will be more than one nest is unknown, but considering the mist is enveloping the planet, there probably will be.

　　The interesting thing about the game will be its battle interface, which has been code-named "T.A.S" or Tactical Arts System. Apparently, someone watching only the fight sequences would think that he was watching a fighting game. Other features include Dual-Shock support as well as a soundtrack by famed Japanese composer Michiru Oshima. In the planning process since the summer of '95, actual game development started in the spring of '96. Here is a brief Q & A with the developers of Legend of Legaia that first appeared in Softbank's Japanese-language magazine PlayStation Weekly:

　　Q: After the completely 2D Popolocrois and the primarily 2D Wild Arms, why did you decide to do a fully 3D RPG?SCEI: Although it would be easy to say that 2D was getting boring, the truth of the matter is that each member of our team is excellent at programming in 3D. Therefore we wanted to do a great 3D RPG. But, just making a 2D game into a 3D game is not so exciting, so we set out to make a better 3D game that has all of its events and battles occur in real-time 3D.

　　Q: In your own words, how would you describe the theme of the game?SCEI: In the future, the world may start to suffer from the continual abuse we put it through. To a large extent it is already suffering. In light of that, we wanted to make a game set in that future, but we also wanted to show that there was hope - because if it continues, someday humans might not be able to survive.

　　Q: Please describe the Tactical Arts System.SCEI: The battles, you could say, are similar to a Street Fighter game. It hasn't been fully developed yet, so there may be some changes, but the staff likes fighting games and wanted to incorporate that into the battle system. If people saw only the battles, they would think that they were watching a fighting game.

　　Q: Why did you choose Mr. Oshima to do the soundtrack?SCEI: One of the staff likes his work. He had heard Mr. Oshima's work before in TV movies and theatrical movies that followed similar themes to the game. Mr. Oshima had done scores for shows that chronicled things like the development of the planet.

　　Q: Any last words regarding the game?SCEI: We're trying to make an adventure that makes people feel as if they're on a trip. We want them to feel as if they are really one of the characters. We also want them to feel a little sad when they have to turn off the game.

　　No information has been released yet whether or not Legend of the Legaia will be coming to the US. Considering Sony's ever-increasing embrace of all things RPG, you can be pretty sure an in-house RPG of this quality will eventually make its way here.