Idea Factory has released first tidbits on the PlayStation 2 sequel to last year's simulation RPG Spectral Souls. Titled Shinki Gensou Spectral Souls II, the new game will take place after the events of its prequel. After the second Neverland War, the country was controlled by the demons who first committed a terrible genocide, before the human counterattack began and with it the Seven Years War. At this point, Spectral Souls II's story begins. After the player clears a fixed number of events, a historical point will appear and the player has the chance to change the game's history. There will be three protagonists and plenty of different ways to reach the game's ending sequence. In addition to locations, events will also be visible on the world map, highlighted by so-called event points. When moving to those event points, an event will occur to drive forward the story. In between, the game's battles will be fought utilizing the shift time battle system. Each character will have possess a certain amount of active points, which will be consumed when said character executes a command. Selecting the "stand-by" command will allow players to accumulate AP. After accumulating a certain amount of AP, characters will be able to execute their moves faster and execute combo attacks. Using the charge attack, it will be possible to add up the combos of multiple characters and connect combos with more than 150 hits. Items obtained in battles can be mixed and enhanced in town workshops. In those facilities skills also can be improved. The experience points received at a level up or after clearing a mission can be used freely to improve your characters' statistics. Levelling up a character will also offer increase the maximum amount of skill slots per character and give you access to original skills. The reticent Nights is a young man with a strong sense of justice and serves as a general in the imperial army of New Shinba alongside the young Leilia, Aul Falshion, whose parents were murdered by demons, Kolvin and Marcus. Belonging to the Kingdom of Neverland armies are Hiro, daughter of the Great Demon King Janes, military commander and Hiro's chief of staff Outraid, the half human half demon Rose, who is said to be related to a demon king and the spy Max. The ninth character is Myuu, a member of the Roses Liberation Army, who dreams of becoming a heroine.

Shinki Gensou Spectral Souls II will be released in Japan on January 20th. The standard version will be available for 6,800 yen ($61.19 US), while the limited edition will cost 8,800 yen ($79.19 US).

• GameWatch