Atlus announced today that it has acquired the North American publishing rights to Monster Kingdom Jewel Summoner for the PSP. The RPG title comes from Shin Megami Tensei series creator Cozy Okada and developers Gaia Inc. Originally published in Japan by Sony, it is once again up to Atlus to spread the love overseas.

The game's story tells of a world where mankind and monsters once lived in peace. After a Great Disaster, the planet changed and all of the world's monster disapeared, leaving behind jewels of incredible power. Survivors of the disaster used the jewels as a new source of energy and rebuilt their civilization, but amidst this joyous revival strange abominations appeared, unleashing legions of monsters onto the world. To combat them, an elite class of warriors called Jewel Summoners were formed.

Aside from the traditional RPG setup, Monster Kingdom also features a monster-breeding system, with the ability to trade or battle your friends wirelessly. The game's soundtrack is comprised by a rather large number of composers, featuring not 1, not 2, but 10 renowned musical faces, including Shinji Hosoe (Ridge Racer series), Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII), Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger), and others.

Look for the game to hit store shelves early 2007.