Namco Bandai publishing Square Enix-owned Soul Eater
by JC Fletcher 
{ Jun 18th 2008 at 10:15AM }
Square Enix was awarded the Wii license for the Soul Eater manga by the property's publisher ... Square Enix. Their Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is a third-person 3D hack & slash set in the manga's universe. Despite the apparent nepotism, Square Enix's publishing arm and its little video game business aren't as exclusive as they may seem: for some reason, Namco Bandai has the license for a DS game based on the franchise. Namco Bandai has chosen to create ... a third-person 3D hack & slash!Despite being developed by different companies for different systems, Soul Eater: Medusa no Inbou (Medusa's Plot) looks extremely similar to the Wii game, in terms of environment, perspective, and overall presentation (cutscenes involving dialogue delivered by still character portraits). Two games in the same genre based on the same license will naturally look similar, but we think this goes beyond a signature look. Or maybe not. Compare for yourself after the break!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gabbi @ Jun 18th 2008 2:31PM
I am sooooooo gonna import it.
pas @ Jun 18th 2008 10:37AM
yummy, those screens look decent ! Square and Namco rock !
Lydia @ Jun 18th 2008 11:54AM
I LOVE the Soul Eater manga and anime. This game looks fun. :D
theclaw @ Jun 18th 2008 11:55AM
It's something a lot of people need to learn. Publishers don't always own the core IP.
EdZ @ Jun 18th 2008 3:42PM
"cutscenes involving dialogue delivered by still character portraits"
Erm, for a Japanese game, listing that is akin to listing "use of buttons to perform attacks" as a defining similarity.
djera @ Jun 18th 2008 8:10PM
Actually, this Soul Eater situation is very familiar to Fullmetal Alchemist. The Square Enix manga property was split into Square Enix published games for the PS2 while Bandai developed GBA/DS games.