Mugen Souls: 7 Things to Know About Mugen Souls Company: NIS America 1) Dual Language Support Okay, given NIS America’s track record, this one should be obvious. It’s probably not the most popular choice among JRPG enthusiasts, but I usually opt for English voicework over Japanese. But, this is usually one of the first things fans ask about, so there’s a large, vocal community out there that wants the option – so you’ve got both. 2) It Has Personality… …Seven, to be exact. Mugen Souls stars Chou-Chou (pronounced “Shoe Shoe”), a tiny bundle of evil dead set on subjugating the seven worlds that make up the game’s universe. On her own, Chou-Chou is a despot, but she also has seven other personalities to split time between. Each of these personalities (Graceful, Masochist, Hyper, Bipolar, Terse, Sadist, Ditz) plays a role in battle and can be switched out, offering different combat options and appearances. Chou-Chou is joined by a couple of great party members, such as Altis, a demon who was reincarnated as an angel. Despite her best efforts at committing acts of evil, she always manages to do a good deed for someone. 3) Shampuru Move over Prinnies, here come Chou-Chou’s minions, the Shampurus. What is a Shampuru you ask? Picture a giant rabbit head with tiny, armless body and a giant ball-and-chain attached to its neck. These little guys pop up all over the game, and actually play a major role in combat (see next list item). They don’t have quite the personality as Prinnies, though I couldn’t get over the nerdy little Tutorial Shampuru. 4) Moe Kills I’ll be honest – this is the one aspect of Mugen Souls I’m still trying to completely wrap my head around. But, I’m still very early in the game and there’s enough time before the review for me to "get it." Chou-Chou’s personalities and the Shampuru each play a role in Moe Kills. During battles, you can choose to recruit enemies to your side by filling three empty brackets with random words. The idea is to choose words that either raise or reduce an enemy’s mood level, hopefully gaining their affection in the process. If you’re successful, they’ll turn into Shampuru, if not they go berserk and become tougher foes in battle. Shampuru are vital to Chou-Chou’s battle plans, including acting as ammo in her airship, so you’ll need to collect a bunch if you want to conquer the universe. 5) Pacing If you click over to some of my other JRPG reviews, you’ll notice I have major issues with their pacing. JRPGs are a notoriously slow start, so I was really surprised that I was dropped into a battle within the first ten minutes of starting Mugen Souls. Okay, so it’s not a blisteringly fast start, but compared to other games, it is a major improvement. Even Tutorial Shampuru and Artis make an off-hand comment about how fast the game starts. The bespectacled rabbit offers tutorial information in as few words possible, while Artis openly wonders if this is, "…the best way to start this game off." I was really kind of impressed with how much game I was able to get to during my first hour. 6) Space Naval Battles As Chou-Chou travels between worlds, she’ll face down pirates and other ships attempting to get in her way. Battles work on a paper-rock-scissors mechanic; you have a selection of attacks that either counter or defeat other choices. For example, you can shoot, which is stopped by a reflection. Depending on the number and types of Shampuru you acquire in ground-based battles, you’ll have access to other types of ammo, adding a twist to each move, such as shots that can bore through shields. Battles are driven by comments made by Chou-Chou’s first mate, Ryuto. He’ll offer commentary on how the battle is progressing, which offers some clue about what to expect next in battle. The remarks aren’t linked to obvious commands, though the more battles you engage in, the easier it becomes to discern what he’s suggesting. 7) You Don’t Have to Wait Long to Play Mugen Souls will obliviously find its audience with JRPG and strategy fans, and with good reason. It’s unique and fun once you wrap your head around its mechanics. Better yet, it is set to release on September 18, which isn’t too far off. -Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker Related Links: Mugen Souls | Official Site Pre-Order Mugen Souls on Amazon