The official website of Idea Factory, a small Japanese developer with a mere 40 staffers, almost bursts due to the large amount of titles the company is currently developing. Along with the already released PlayStation 2 RPG, Generation of Chaos, the company plans to release 6 more games in 2001. Among them is the simulation RPG Global Folktale (PS2, September 2001), the strategy RPG Neverland SaGa (Xbox, December 2001), Ex Chaser (Xbox, November 2001), as well as the PlayStation RPG Embrace The Sand (September 2001).Global Folktale looks like it's going into the direction of strategy RPGs a la Final Fantasy Tactics, Hoshigami or Tactics Ogre. Battles are turn-based, in a similar fashion to these titles, meaning you enter the commands for your party, confirm them, and wait for execution; afterwards its your opponents' turn. The battle field is made up of squares and each character and enemy has, in good old strategy RPG tradition, a certain range. Luckily, the game doesn't offer only battling, but also cut scenes to illustrate important story-related events.
It remains to be seen how the delayed Japanese Xbox launch will effect the release dates for both Neverland SaGa and Ex Chaser and whether any of these games will appear on this side of the Pacific in a localized form.
