Project × Zone is a crossover tactical role-playing game developed and released by Bandai Namco Games exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. The game, featuring characters from Capcom, Namco and Sega, is part of Namco's X series of crossover games and a continuation of their PlayStation 2 crossover game Namco x Capcom released year 2005 only in Japan. Project × Zone was released on October 11, 2012 in Japan, June 25, 2013 in North America and July 5, 2013 in Europe.
A sequel, Project X Zone 2, was released for Japan in 2015 and released overseas in 2016.
Gameplay
The stage takes place in grid-based locations from the game's crossover titles. Each friendly unit is made up of two characters (referred as "Pair Unit"), though a third character (referred as "Solo Unit") can be added for once-per-battle assistance. Unlike Namco x Capcom, units can move freely within their range on the field map, without penalty for accessing treasure chests or destructible objects prior to attacking.
The battle system is called "Cross Active Battle System", where pressing the A button in combination with the Circle Pad performs up to five basic attack combos. Additional gameplay elements include Support Attack, which allows the player to call in a nearby ally for assistance, and Cross Hit, which freezes the target in place during simultaneous attacks from multiple units. Also, the player can trigger Critical Hits by connecting their next attack just before the target hits the ground after the first. As the player's units deal damage, the player's Cross Power (XP) gauge fills up and can be used for special attacks and defensive moves on the map. Damage done via Cross Hits can fill this gauge up to 150%.
Project X Zone has a total of fifteen save game slots included in the game, which can be used for recording a save game file during intermissions with a quick save file and a soft reset command.
Characters
Promotional art.
Pair Units
List of the playable main units at the player's command.
Solo Units
List of Solo Units which can be attached to Pair Units and act as playable assist characters.
| Names | Game/series | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur | Ghosts 'n Goblins | Capcom |
| Batsu Ichimonji | Rival Schools: United By Fate | Capcom |
| Devilotte | Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness | Capcom |
| Juri Han | Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom |
| Lady | Devil May Cry 3 | Capcom |
| Tron Bonne and Servbots | Mega Man Legends | Capcom |
| Alisa Bosconovitch | Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion | Bandai Namco |
| Flynn Scifo | Tales of Vesperia | Bandai Namco |
| Lindow Amamiya | God Eater | Bandai Namco |
| Neneko/Neito | Yumeria | Bandai Namco |
| Sanger Zonvolt | Super Robot Wars: Original Generations | Bandai Namco |
| Valkyrie | The Adventure of Valkyrie: Legend of the Time Key | Bandai Namco |
| Bahn | Fighting Vipers | Sega |
| Bruno Delinger | Dynamite Deka | Sega |
| Imca | Valkyria Chronicles III | Sega |
| Rikiya Busujima | Zombie Revenge | Sega |
| Ulala | Space Channel 5 | Sega |
| Vashyron | Resonance of Fate | Sega |
Rival Units
List of the non-playable characters that appear as enemies throughout the game.
| Names | Game/series | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Astaroth | Ghosts 'n Goblins | Capcom |
| Jedah | Darkstalkers 3 | Capcom |
| Juri | Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom |
| Lord Raptor | Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors | Capcom |
| Nemesis | Resident Evil 3: Nemesis | Capcom |
| Seth | Street Fighter IV | Capcom |
| Vile | Mega Man X | Capcom |
| Ain Veranos | Original character, first appearance | Bandai Namco |
| Dorai Veranos | Original character, first appearance | Bandai Namco |
| Dūwei Frabellum | Original character, first appearance | Bandai Namco |
| Heihachi Mishima | Tekken | Bandai Namco |
| Phantom | Endless Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga | Bandai Namco |
| Skeith | .hack | Bandai Namco |
| Vajra | God Eater | Bandai Namco |
| Ayame | Sakura Wars | Sega |
| Coco★Tapioca | Space Channel 5 | Sega |
| Ciseaux/Prelude | Sakura Wars | Sega |
| Dural | Virtua Fighter | Sega |
| Riemsianne | Shining Force EXA | Sega |
| Selvaria Bles | Valkyria Chronicles III | Sega |
Cameos
Some Solo Units summon other characters as part of their attacks.
| Names | Game/series | Character who summons them | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blodia | Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness | Devilotte | Capcom |
| Mobilesuits Alpha and Beta | Side Arms Hyper Dyne | Devilotte | Capcom |
| Harrier | Space Harrier | Ulala | Sega |
| Opa-Opa | Fantasy Zone | Ulala | Sega |
| Scooter | Alien Storm | Ulala | Sega |
Development
Bandai Namco Games came up with the idea of a "dream crossover" and brought on Capcom and Sega. The game was first revealed in a teaser by Bandai Namco on the official website until it was revealed in the May 2012 issue of Famitsu.
The initial creation of the characters were done in 3D character models before they were converted to be SD pixel art. Notable attacks used by the characters had to be done in 2D space in order to preserve its source material origin.
Regarding the game's name, they originally considered selecting something with all three companies' names, but this would end up being too long. Namco's Kensuke Tsukanaka, the game's producer mentioned Namco x Capcom, a previous crossover strategy RPG involving two of the parties: "If the new game were a sequel to that, it might have been possible to use the company names in the game", However, because it's a new title, and it's a "project that realizes a dream crossover," they decided on the Project X Zone name.[1]
The game features two theme songs, with the opening song titled "Wing Wanderer" and the ending titled "GALAXY", which were both performed by Yoko Takahashi. The opening movie was created by the new animation studio Trigger, which was founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imaishi and others.
In September 22, 2012, Katsuhiro Harada, producer of the Tekken series, revealed on Twitter; "I proposed localization of Project X Zone". He added that the company has "not decided yet, but it will be realized if I continue proposing". Bandai Namco Games announced on January 21, 2013 that the game would be officially released in North America, Europe and Australia during summer 2013. The English versions of the game retain the Japanese voices, though the vocals for the theme music were removed for legal reasons.
Box Art
