In Japan, the Nintendo 3DS is home to some fresh and innovative new properties. Recently, Capcom teamed up with Treasure to bring a new third person action title to the system in the form of Gaist Crusher. Not only is the new IP going to to be arriving on Nintendo’s handheld, it also has other components aimed at children, such as an anime series and toys that can that can be used to decorate your 3DS and use in the game. It is an ambitious project, and after having a chance to play the demo at the Tokyo Game Show, the new collaborative effort between the two companies is very impressive.

The demo on the show floor allowed players to choose to either play single player missions or team up with three other people for co-operative multiplayer. Seeing as I wanted to get the hang of the controls, I opted to play the single player mode. A tutorial mode set up the controls and gave players and idea of the setting of Gaist Crusher. In the year 2047, mankind has discovered a new, rare metal known as Gaimetal deep inside the earth. This metal is extremely pure and is be excavated to harness this new resource as a new form of energy. Mines throughout the world have been created to utilize Gaimetal for the benefit of mankind. Fast forward to 2055, when creatures covered in Gaimetal, known as Gaist, showed up and wreak havoc around the world. To fight the new threat, the Gaist Crusher Garrison was created. The game takes place several years after that in 2064, set in Tekkochō (Steel City) following the exploits Shirogane Rekka and his comrades.

Controls in Gaist Crusher are fluid and intuitive. You control your character with the circle pad and initiate normal attacks by pressing Y.  The camera typically hangs behind the action but can be zoomed out by pressing up on the d-pad and then returned to the close up view by pressing down. Locking on to enemies can be toggled by pressing L and you can cycle through your targets with the d-pad. If you press B you can use a guard boost, which temporarily knocks enemies back. Where the game starts to get interesting is the addition of a form change by pressing R. Using the main character from the game, Rekka, a massive sword is brought into combat and can be used to cause more damage than with normal attacks. In this new, more powerful form, there are more options for attacks, such as using the B button to perform a dash attack that can cut through enemies. As you beat up enemies, a gauge on the touch screen fills up which eventually lets you change into your extreme form. Transforming into the extreme form turns your character into a beast-like, creature covered in Gaimetal. This form offers even more powerful attack options with standard punches and the ability to send energy blasts from the creature’s mouth with the A button or to do a spin jump attack with X.

The single player demo offers several stages and characters to choose from. I mainly played as Rekka and made my way through simple enemies until reaching a large, boss character. Combat felt really smooth and could even get challenging at times, particularly with the boss characters. Even though this is a game targeted toward a younger audience, you cannot just simply spam attacks on the bosses or else they will crush you with some vicious attacks. Aside from Rekka, I did manage to play as a character who utilized a bow-and-arrow style of weapon. While the control layout is exactly the same, the change in weaponry necessitated a change in the approach on combat. While I didn’t get a chance to try out all of the characters in the demo, it is refreshing to know that Gaist Crusher offers some depth in this respect.

One other element of Gaist Crusher has to do with toys that will be on sale when the game releases this December in Japan. Basically, this is more or less a Japanese version of Skylanders. While not completely necessary to enjoy the game, players can buy an device that attaches to their 3DS (or 3DS LL) so that they can read special Gaimetal toys. Each of the toys can be used in the game to give characters increased power. They look like small, translucent jewels but can be transformed into Gaimetal creatures. All of the initial creature toys were shown off at the show in a display case and were not available to use for the demo.

Gaist Crusher is a very Japan-centric game and is extremely enjoyable. The game controls well and the cel-shaded visuals look remarkable. I didn’t have a chance to play co-op, but the game seems to have an emphasis of experiencing the game with other players through local play. Playing the game was also very reminiscent of last year’s EX Troopers in terms of style and control, which is definitely a good thing! For those of you in the West, cross your fingers that this Treasure/Capcom collaboration makes it outside of Japan.