New Square Enix Patent For Unannounced Nomura PSP RPG?

Between the "Kingdom Hearts" and "Final Fantasy" series, Square Enix designer Tetsuya Nomura has a lot of very visible accomplishments under his belt. He also has a few unrevealed projects, though, and a recent patent application may hold a few clues about what he has in store for 2010.

The patent requested by Square Enix outlines a character-switching battle system for an RPG/action RPG game intended for a “portable gaming apparatus," according Siliconera. The game involves temporary character abilities and stat sharing, which the article and illustrations there describe in detail.

The PSP isn't named explicitly as the platform that this new game will be released for, but the bottom diagram doesn't leave much to the imagination given its likeness to Sony's device.

Nomura officially has three new titles on his plate right now -- "Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep" and "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" and the Parasite Eve game "The 3rd Birthday" -- but this patent may offer a peek into what he's been tinkering with behind the scenes for something else entirely. Whatever it is, it's definitely some breed of RPG, though, and it's going to have a lot of gamers on both sides of the Pacific paying attention when it gets announced.

What do you think of the gameplay mechanics outlines in Square Enix's new patent? Does the fact that Nomura's involved have you interested without knowing what the title will be? Share your reactions in the comment section below.

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