![](http://img34.picoodle.com/data/img34/3/9/12/f_menum_cfa1639.jpg)
Grand Auto Theft EX is a little known game developed by ATLUS in 2000 as an attempt to cash in on the Grand Theft Auto series, this game was never released outside of Japan for obvious reasons. DMA Designs (Now Rockstar North) got wind of the game close to launch and almost slew the game. It got a limited Japanese release and even then, sold badly. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, this game had more of a roleplaying bent to it, feeling in many ways more like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout or Arcanum in an Urban setting. Japanes gamers didn't bite and it fell into obscurity.
Thanks to the power of the internet and a couple of friends in Japan, I got my hands on a copy of the game and a fantranslation. The game is, absolutely amazing, although very unstable. The game offers amazing freedom, letting you choose your nationality from almost everything from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, for some reason the United States are not listed, but Canada is. The nationality you pick is mostly cosmetic, even though it can open up or close some class choices.
The classes seem to work a lot more like origins, sometimes they boost your skills, change your beginning cash, give you extra attributes (or take some away) and often give you special powers and/or reactions from NPCs. The class can also change your status with the factions of the game (seems mostly with the four factions in the first area, Ballard) though your nationality can also affect those.
You can choose your colour scheme, which you can change at any time in the game. This is also, only cosmetic.
![](http://img33.picoodle.com/data/img33/3/9/12/f_CharacterScm_d2706fe.jpg)
We are going to be playing this game, so help me out, regarding our character. We'll begin with nationality and class.
I should probably just give you a dump of the different classes and skills, even though we won't be getting to the skills after we distribute the attribute points.
Classes:
Activist
Actor
Artist
Body Guard
Bouncer
Boxer
Carjacker
Child star
College Drop Out
Con man
Counterfeiter
Cowboy
Doctor
Drug dealer
Enforcer
Escape Artist
Escort
Ex-Con
Hacker
Healer
Homeless
Ladyboy
LARPer
Loanshark
Lobbyist
Magician
Marine
Martial artist
Mathematician
Mercenary
Middle Management
Ninja
P. I.
Pick pocket
Pilot
Preacher
Programmer
Racer
Sailor
Samurai
Smuggler
Sniper
Spy
Stoner
Street Performer
Tech Support
Terrorist
Vampire
Combat Skills:
Automatic Rifles
Bashing Weapons
Dual Weapon
Hand to Hand
Pistols
Rifles
Shotguns
Slashing Weapons
SMGs
Sniping
Stabbing Weapons
Social Skills:
Bartering
Bluffing
Body Language
Dating
Diplomacy
Disguise
Interrogation
Intimidation
Languages
Leadership
Seduction
Torture
Shadow Skills: (They are actually called this.)
Counterfeiting
Criminal Lore
Gambling
Hacking
Lockpicking
Pickpocket
Poisons
Safe cracking
Security
Sneak
Theft
Other Skills:
Acrobatics
Aerobatics
Aerobics
Bicycles
Bikes
Cartography
Climbing
Crawling
Driving
Drunk driving
Flying
Free Running
Garment Making
Interiour Decorating
Investigations
Laws
Reading
Rollerblades
Sailing
Sport (Curling, Baseball, Basketball, Competitive Drinking, Dodgeball, Football, Rugby and Soccer)
Go pick a nationality, class (it's very rare that a nationality can not have a class
![smile.gif](http://www.chefelf.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)