Romance-o-battle: Agarest 2 Ported To PC

War! Death! Killing! Murder! Mutilation! Kill! Kill! Kill! But why? What are we killing for? Why are we to jam and push bullets through eyesockets? Love, of course. It always comes down to love. Love of a person, a country, an idea, or sometimes a love of ourselves so toxic we must burst every other living body. The JRPG series Agarest is a bit more open about this: you woo hot anime babes while fighting monsters. Idea Factory's first two Agarest games arrived on Steam earlier this year, ported over from consoles, and now the third's coming too.

Agarest: Generations of War 2 is a curious mix of turn-based strategy and visual romance novel in generation-spanning war against demons. You'll build a party and level up and smash enemies and all that, romancing ladies along the way to spawn a hero for the new generation. Which sexy anime babe you knock boots with and how you two get along will determine how powerful your sprog, the next hero, will be. Someone thought to give this system the horrifying name 'Soul Breed.'

Of course, mixing turn-based combat with romance is a staple of western RPGs too, though we prefer our cheesecake to be realised in dramatic and embarrassingly awkward cinematics.

The game's due later this year. To stir up a interest and shift a few copies, the first two Agarest games are on sale on Steam for another day or so. Generations of War is down to £3.73, while prequel Generations of War Zero is £10.04. They both received a lukewarm reception among critics, slated for so much boring combat, but we are a snooty bunch. If you like turn-based JRPG combat and cheesecake anime babe dating games, well, that's what you'll get here.

This trailer from the PlayStation 3 version of GoW 2 is unlikely to help you understand any of this any better, but may astound and astonish: