Kya: Dark Lineage Impressions

We saw the upcoming action adventure game Kya: Dark Lineage for the PS2 in action at E3. The game will let you play as Kya, a young sorceress who must save a kindly and gentle race of people who have been cursed and transformed into angry, hostile "wolfens" (essentially, werewolves). Kya will have a number of different combination attacks she can use to pummel her opponents into submission, and once she's knocked them unconscious, she can use her magical powers to restore the wolfens to their former, peaceful selves. Once these people have been rescued, they'll return to the native village, the central hub area of the game, and will gradually rebuild their society.

Over the course of the game, Kya will find magic beads that increase her magic reserves, which let her remove the wolfen curse and also let her unlock new "elevators"--a network of gigantic pipes that can whisk Kya away to new areas. She'll also collect coins, which she can spend at shops in the native village. As she liberates more wolfens, the townspeople will expand their village and open new shops where Kya can purchase new attacks or wager coins in exchange for other unlockable secrets. Aside from hoofing it through the game's expansive levels, she'll also be able to surf down spiraling passageways, take elevators as shortcuts, and ride updrafts of wind that billow up from chasms in various areas.

The main game will feature about 50 different quests, though you'll be required to complete only about 30 of them to finish the game. The other 20 or so missions will be optional side quests that you can perform to earn more coins or unlock other secrets. Kya has been in development for about two years, and it will be released this November.