The PlayStation 2 has seen its fair share of Role-Playing Games. Namco, Square Enix, Midway, Atlus, NIS America and a slew of other developers have blanketed the PS2 with just about every type of RPG you could imagine. But just because there are a lot of RPG options on the PS2 doesn't mean there isn't room for more. Luckily, Level-5, the development studio behind Dragon Quest VIII and other top notch RPGs thinks it's time for another RPG on the PS2.

Level-5 has been hard at work on its latest Action-RPG, Rogue Galaxy, for the PlayStation 2. The game was released in Japan a few months ago, and will be making its way to the US in October. We sat down to spend some time with the Japanese version of the game, and it's definitely one of the better Action-RPGs that we've played on the PlayStation 2.

In Rogue Galaxy, players will control one member of a three person party. As you progress through the game, you meet new characters who wish to join your party. You can have up to eight characters in your band at once, with three active in your party at a time. The characters can be swapped out on the fly in battle, and you can switch between the three characters actively in the battle at any point in time. The computer will take over for the two characters you're not controlling, but you can still give them direct orders to assist you, attack various targets and use special techniques.

Each character can use two weapons at once, and you'll have a huge inventory of weapons and items at your disposal. You'll want to hold on to many of your weapons for two reasons. Many of the weapons will have a special attribute that you'll need to use in specific situations throughout the game. A certain weapon may allow you to open doors, while another weapon may be able to shatter your enemy's shield, allowing you to start inflicting damage upon them.

Rogue Galaxy features two primary mini-games that will also take advantage of your large inventory. The first is called the Insectron, and will have players collecting and raising insects in a Pokemon-style mini-game. You can then battle the insects in tournaments to earn items and money. This should offer a good deal of gameplay time for those who wish to venture away from the main story line.

The second mini-game is called the Factory. Using materials you collect during your adventures you'll create an assembly line that will pump out unique items. Adding to the level of weapon and item uniqueness is the ability to synthesize your own weapons. As you level up, you can combine weapons with items and materials to create new, more powerful weapons.

True to its name, you'll be journeying from planet to planet in Rogue Galaxy. Once you've been to an area you can head back to level up or explore the area again at any one of the save points located throughout the game. The save points act as a teleport, so you can move around the world of Rogue Galaxy with ease. The US version of Rogue Galaxy will also include a brand new planet that was not featured in the Japanese version of the game. Unfortunately for Japanese purists, the Japanese language track has been replaced with an English track.

While there have been quite a few Action-RPGs on the PlayStation 2, Rogue Galaxy has a uniqueness all to its own. With 50 hours of gameplay, plus a good number of side quests and two encompassing mini-games, RPG fans will have a lot to do when Rogue hits store shelves later this year. Sony will have Rogue Galaxy playable at E3, where we'll bring you more hands-on impressions of the upcoming RPG.