The third game to make use of Square Enix's PlayOnline following Final Fantasy XI and next year's Front Mission Online, Ambrosia Odyssey has been shrouded in mystery since its announcement at last fall's Tokyo Game Show. Unfortunately, not much has changed since then. Due to development of the PlayStation 2 title being a collaboration between Square Enix's 10th development division (who is also working on online non-RPG mech battler Junkmetal) and three outside companies, the game is taking longer than expected to complete. Because of this, the planned beta phase and release are now deemed "to be announced" (TBA).

Despite the setbacks, some actual details have been released on the game, besides the known fact that it's an action-oriented online RPG in the style of Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online. It seems players' decisions will affect the direction and development of the plot, as well as the availability of quests. Ambrosia Odyssey's story is centered around a single town, which is where players will embark on their quests, again similar to PSO and its Pioneer 2. However, when playing online, one will be able to visit the towns of other players to form parties to embark on quests.

With news of this setback, it's unknown if Ambrosia Odyssey will show up at E3, but if it does, look for an update here. If it doesn't... well, maybe we can wrangle some information out about the game anyway.

• 1UP