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Tactica Online, a strategy-MMORPG set to come out on the PC, needs you! The development company Imaginary Numbers began recruiting players on Friday for the upcoming beta test of the game, and the offer is still open for anyone to join.

Imaginary Numbers has, from the beginning, designed Tactica Online to be very different from other online RPGs. This is reflected in both its accurate portrayal of the Renaissance era of European history and its unique tactical gameplay. Likewise, most everything players' characters do - through regular gameplay, missions, and campaigns - influences the world, no matter how major or minimal.

Unlike a number of MMORPGs, Tactica Online features turn-based battles fought between squads. Combat is said to be fast-paced and the time taken to select a move or attack each turn is limited, thereby elminating any slow progression within this massive multiplayer game. Controlled characters also lack the ability to level up; the player instead uses experience gained from completed missions to "purchase" new skills once they're unlocked.

Although beta testing won't begin for another couple of weeks, anyone interested can find further details and sign up by hopping on over to the Tactica Online website.

New scans of FFIV Advance have shed some light on details that everyone has been drooling for.

Character switching is done in the Mysidian tower, which most of you will remember from getting the Big Whale. All of the characters that gather there are available to join your party, you simply talk to them and decide which character to switch them out with.

The new dungeon is going to be a total length of fifty floors, and will be host to the ultimate weapons for the newly playable characters. The main purpose of the dungeon is to power up your characters so that they aren't lacking behind the others massively. Of note, each ultimate weapon is guarded by a special boss, unique to the GBA version.

Source: RPGamer

So I guess this clears up some of the rumors and questions people have been having. I know several people, myself included, were worrying about the characters being massively underpowered. I hear high level Edward is a pretty decent character, so I have to wonder about a well equipped version of him.

The brains behind the Final Fantasy concert series Dear Friends and More Friends, JMP Productions, is in the process of putting together another similar program entitled Play! A Video Game Symphony. Select pieces from the soundtracks of various RPGs (and other genres) including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, World of Warcraft, and the Final Fantasy series will be performed.

Play!, like the Final Fantasy concerts before it, will feature scenes from each game projected on large screens throughout the performances. The music will be conducted by music director and principal conductor of the Chicagoland Pops, Arnie Roth. As reported by 1Up.com, courtesy of Jason Michael Paul and Thomas Boeker, both organizers of the tour, Chrono series composer Yasunori Mitsuda is arranging some of the music for the program, but it is currently unknown which of his songs will be included.

Play! A Video Game Symphony will make its debut in North America April of next year, followed by a worldwide tour. More information as well as an upcoming tour schedule can be found at the concert series' official website.

Source: RPGamer

A new twist in Konami's Suikoden series of RPGs arrived in North America today. "Suikoden Tactics" ("Rhapsodia" in Japan) is a significant deviation from the typical style of the rest of the series. The game will feature a tactical scenario style of combat instead of the traditional turn-and-party based system, and is also the first in the Suikoden timeline to cover the same events as another game, namely, Suikoden IV.

Sources:
IGN
SARS

Personally, I'm not sure what to think until I've played it. I really didn't like Suikoden IV, and I think the release of another game with a completely different style is a way for Konami to gauge reaction to gameplay innovations before implementing them in the series proper (and risking backlash like that which accompanied Suikoden III's new combat system). If this is the game that gets the series back on track, it will certainly be ironic.

The first real batch of FFIV Advance screenshots has snaked it's way onto the internet, along with a video of actual gameplay.

You can view the screenshots here

Looks pretty sweet, although i'm not sure if I like Yang's new menu picture, personally.

Mother creator Shigesato Itoi has revealed on his official news site that his much beloved RPG series is far from dead, contrary to some fan speculation. In fact, its third title, Mother 3, is expected to see a release on the Game Boy Advance this coming spring!

This news provides quite a surprise given how long Mother 3 has been in the making, as well as how long it's seemingly been cancelled. Fans no doubt remember the title as the series' formerly intended 3D debut, originally announced for the Nintendo 64 - a few years prior to the console's launch - as a follow-up to the largely successful Mother 2 (known as EarthBound in North America). Hopefully the third chapter will now see the light of day, although no official word concerning the game has yet been made by Nintendo.

Spring 2006 is likely the date reserved for the game's Japanese release - so far there's no mention of a North American or European date.

Source: GameScience