White Knight Chronicles E3 Preview, Media

IGN provides us with some details about the White Knight Chronicles demonstration that Level-5 is putting on at E3.
The demo on display at E3 was set in a large desert surrounding by mountains. The party was composed of the main hero Leonard, the grizzled and experienced Eldore and the charming Yulie. In the White Knight Chronicles battle system, characters move around on the field and engage enemies in the same environment, without transitioning to a separate battle screen. This felt very similar to the battle system in Final Fantasy XII, though there are some very important differences.

Your character can execute attacks based on the actions that are listed in his or her command bar that extends across the bottom of the screen. Once a circular action gauge fills up, you can scroll through the commands and press X to execute the attack, which included a series of slashes, thrusts and status-inflicting techniques like a poisonous strike. The cool thing about this system is that you can customize your characters command bar, which can include combo attacks.

Of course, running around and fighting rabid desert creatures and ogres is quite a bit easier when you transform into a giant superhero. And that's a selling point in White Knight Chronicles, as Leonard can use a special gauntlet to transform into a massive, glimmering white knight -- complete with dramatically flowing cape. In this state, Leonard's attacks obviously change and these slower (more powerful) attacks really impressed me with their sense of weight.
Check out their images section, too - there are quite a few new screenshots and some concept art.