Ubisoft have announced that the bilingual PS3 port of Enchanted Arms will be released in North America this March. When it landed "exclusively" on the Xbox 360 last year, From Software's first-to-an-empty-market initiative ticked just about every box on the official list of Japanese RPG requirements. Goofy protagonist with a hazy memory and an untapped power? Check. An ancient evil unleashed within the opening moments of the game, completely wiping out the hero's beloved town? Check. A surly princess who refuses to act like a princess? Check. A flamboyantly gay stereotype and an army of sentient pizzas? Ch -- wait, that doesn't seem to be on here.

If you were one of the few that embraced Enchanted Arms initially, you'd know that it was a solid, albeit unremarkable, RPG with an enjoyable battle system and varied golem creation (essentially a form of enemy recruitment). The Ubisoft press release mentions "Sixaxis wireless controller integration" as one of the PS3 enchancements, but it's unclear whether motion sensing is actually used in gameplay. Apparently, you can "use the motion-sensitive controller harness weapons, recover your EX power meter, unlock more powerful attacks and solve puzzles."

We're not convinced that means you'll be doing anything other than pushing buttons on a motion-sensitive controller, but lack of tilt control isn't a common complaint in the wonderful world of turn-based RPGs.

Eager to cash in on an empty market, From Software is busy applying the finishing touches to its Enchanted Arms port for PlayStation 3. Lack of RPG presence in PS3's unripened catalogue certainly gives From the option to 'copy-paste' its year-old Xbox 360 title onto Sony's platform, but there appears reason for improvements; be it the off chance that there are owners of the original who would be interested in a buffed reprise.

Along with expected graphical tweaks (including new character animations), new chapters will be added to the Enchanted Arms story, new golems will appear, and the battle system will be improved. Even the themes for the opening and ending will be re-composed -- by "mink" no less (never heard of her/him/them either). The magic returns to Japan on January 25 (no word yet of a new translation).

It's easy to be the life of the party when you're the only one attending. Enchanted Arms is generally acknowledged to be an entertaining, albeit unremarkable, game that has gained a bit more attention simply for being the first traditional Japanese RPG to hit the Xbox 360. It may even wind up beating others to the magical punch (that's a play on enchanted limbs and the earlier party analogy, you see) on Sony's next-gen console, as the game's official website now indicates that a PS3 version is in the works.

Ubisoft has yet to announce intentions to publish an English version again, but such information should likely arise once the Tokyo Game Show kicks off later this month and a firm release date emerges from, err, From Software. If you plan on foregoing the Xbox 360 version in favor of this one, you can look forward to a motley group of heroes, an ineptly imprisoned ancient evil and an adventure which the Official Xbox 360 Magazine (UK) calls a "most likable cult oddity."

[Via Eurogamer]

See also:

• Enchanted Arms' Metacritic page
• Enchanted Arms embraces bilinguilasm

Due for release on 29 August, Enchanted Arms is the fully localized version of From Software's more awkwardly named and rather annoyingly capitalized [eM] eNCHANT arM, the first traditional Japanese RPG to emerge on the Xbox 360. For its American release, the fine French folks at Ubisoft have bravely volunteered to publish the game and translate the gratuitous amounts of Japanese voice and text into something more palatable to a Western audience.

Then again, many localizations turn out be anything but palatable, representing the aural equivalent of vicious food poisoning. The mere memory of Shenmue's soulless soccer kids causes great discomfort and anxiety, feelings that are slightly dimmed by Ubisoft's intentions to include both Japanese and English soundtracks on the Enchanted Arms disc. Excellent news, to be sure, but frustrating in the sense that Ubisoft is one of the few publishers that actually does put a great deal of care into cinematic presentation, generally avoiding talentless talkers who end up in the recording studio through sheer chance. Based on Grandia II, their English efforts might not be nearly embarrassing enough to warrant this feature.

And really, "feature" is a good word to describe it. With advanced compression techniques and new, Blu-tinged storage mediums arriving, there should be no reason for gamers not to have a choice in who they hear blathering about chosen ones and ancient, poorly imprisoned evils. It's about time that publishers and developers realized that poor voice acting is no laughing matter.

[A video involving magical limbs is embedded in the second part of the post.]

From Software's RPG title [eM] -eNCHANT arM-, currently released in Japan, will be making its American and European debut this summer under the title Enchanted Arms. It's the first Japanese RPG to appear on the Xbox 360, and by the time it's released, Oblivion fans may well be looking for a new RPG to play.

IGN has previewed the game, describing it as an "eccentric, epic title rich with character, story, and an evolving combat system". While its review scores in Japan have been reasonably low, the quirky nature of Enchanted Arms may increase its worldwide appeal, paving the way for more Japanese titles to travel abroad.