This is an RPG, though, so those battles that you'll get into, either by stopping on a random space or a town are going to mean your basic turn-based battles, but like the rest of the game, things have been... augmented a bit with a quick, simple party game mechanic -- in this case the very same rock/paper/scissors game that popped up with the shop keeper (and, incidentally a random encounter with a character that can steal players' money, and beating her will win a big chunk of all the cash she's bilked all past players out of).

It's deeper than just picking an option and hoping the other guy didn't pick the option that trumped yours, though. Most attack options are broken down into standard physical strikes, "special" class-specific attacks that can be swapped out, and a double-damage-dealing option. Each of these have their counterpart, which in the case of the first two options will cut down on damage or block an attack, but successfully guessing when an incoming big damage hit is coming in will not only avoid it, but counter, so there's a solid risk/reward option. The skills in the game can use this seemingly simple system in interesting ways like lopping off the enemies' counter attack option, and because fights are limited to just two phases per turn, an attack and a response (the attacker is chosen by picking a face-down card), the battles are incredibly quick. Any business left undone is finished next turn after a cute little "To Be Continued..." message.

There is another option for those that wish to live another day. You can simply opt to give up, though it'll mean dropping tons of cash and that square, town or otherwise, won't be won over. It's better than the alternative (read: dying), which leaves you out of commission for three turns. Preventing this is actually as easy as checking out the information on a space before moving there, accomplished by just pulling up a handy little information window that details the enemies on a space, their stats and even their skills.

Of course, if you do go up against a high-level enemy and win, the payoff is far more cash and experience, and when you level up, you'll not only gain advances to your base stats that fall in line with your class, but you're allotted a few points to boost things on your own however you want too. It, like most parts of the game, are constant reminders that even though it flows quite quickly, this is still a role-playing game, and a damn fun one to boot.

We're incredibly psyched about the hour or so we saw of the game. There's clearly a ton of depth that still remains to be explored, and as soon as we can get our hands on our own build of things, we'll be sure to let you, our dear readers, know about it ASAP. Until then, enjoy these screens and we'll have more for you soon!