Phantom Dust screenshot explosion inside!

Phantom Dust, as the core title from Microsoft Game Studios Japan, has been shrouded with mystery since its original conception. The US version of Phantom Dust was cancelled, and so MGS is relying entirely on the rather slight Xbox community in Japan to buy up all the copies. It does seem a strange strategy, as a game planned solely for this small market simply cannot sell well. Similarly, it’s too late in the product lifecycle for MS to think of Phantom Dust as a game that will make Japanese gamers go out and buy Xboxes.

However, Phantom Dust is looking quite impressive. In essence, it’s an arena action battle game with some contemplative strategic seasoning. Players can choose from an array of over 300 supernatural skills, which in turn define the character’s combat abilities. It's also Live! enabled with room for 4-player battling. The graphics are nicely stylised and the game is an original concept. For the developer's sake, we hope that someone actually buys the game to appreciate it.

If Microsoft is going to make any announcement of a non-Japanese release for Phantom Dust, it should be fairly soon. The finished game is due out in Japan at the end of September.

In the meantime, have a glance at these latest shots and see what you’ll be missing.