Customer Reviews

Resonance of Fate

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

**Updated April 25th**

I have finished the game (it took about 80 hours) so here is the final review. I have also added combat tips to the end.

First of all, I love the game. The combat is awesome if you like strategy games. The game has more in common with strategy/rpgs rather than traditional JRPGs. As in any rgp you can roam inside the cities, get side quests, and explore the world map. However, the combat and the missions are very much like that of turn based strategy games. In fact, ROF is more like a strategy game under a JRPG disguise.

Although the combat looks flashy and cool, as I saidbefore, RoF is not an action oriented game. The combat is very deep and strategic. Also learning curve is steep, it takes several hours to learn all the intricacies of the combat, and I will not attempt to explain it here. (I have added some tips and tricks at the end). However, the turn system is very similar to Valkyria Chronicles, it is a mixture of turn based and real-time (while you are moving the enemy also moves and can attack you). Flanking, timing, the type of attack etc. all plays a key role in combat and makes it very satisfying. They are nice to watch too, although your eyes would be on the action gauges most of the time.

There is a tutorial that introduces every battle action but it does not tell you about the tactics. (Think of chess, you can learn the rules in half an hour but you'll have absolutely no idea about the tactics). So the game got better as I played because I began to discover some of the mechanics and the tactics not described in the tutorial. It also has some real-time elements that require timing, which keeps things interesting and gives you some more tricks to help you. (For example, you can manually evade physical attacks if you time your movement right). It takes a long time to master every trick of the combat, but it is very satisfying when you discover something new.

Leveling and customization is all about the guns not the characters. There are 3 types of weapons (handguns, machine guns, and grenades). As the characters use a weapon they get more proficient with that weapon and level up. A character's level is the sum of all 3 weapon levels. For example, a level 20 character can be level 15 handgun, level 4 machine gun, level 1 grenade. As they level up their hit points and respective gun weight limit improve. Also they gain some additional effects (5% stun chance for instance).

You can only customize your weapons. Guns have 5-6 attachment slots (magazine, grip, sights etc.) that you can upgrade with the parts you found. Also you can add extensions to all slots(e.g. adding another barrel to the barrel). However you have space and weight limits that you need to consider. Finally, you can also craft special parts from the basic materials you get from monsters. There is no other customization. There is no armor either, however characters can equip two rings some of which are protective. You can buy a lot of different dresses but they have no effect other than changing the looks of your character (this also affects cutscenes as they are done with the in-game engine).

The story is slow to start. It starts to pick up after Chapter 5 (which would be 10-20 hours into the game depending on the number of sidequests you do), but it is one of the weak points of the game. It does get interesting, but a lot of things are left unexplained even after the game is finished. Simply put, this is not a story-driven game. There are a lot of fetch quests at the beginning but at least the NPCs are quirky, and the interaction between the characters can be funny sometimes. Later on, I got more interested in the story but game only hints at what's going on and never fully explains the background or the motives of the characters.

In sum, this is not a traditional JRPG like Final Fantasy or Lost Odyssey, it is more similar to strategy games like Valkyria Chronicles. Also if you want fast paced, action oriented, quick resolution combats (e.g. Tales of Vesperia) then this is probably not the game for you. If you like turn based strategy/rpg games (Jagged Alliance, Front Mission, Valkyria Chronicles, etc) with a lot of depth then I believe you will like this game.

*** Some Combat Tips and Tricks ***

In ROF, you have access to the full combat from the beginning (opposite of Final Fantasy XIII from what I hear). However, as you play you get a better understanding of the mechanics and the tactics. In other words, the combat opens up naturally and always stays fresh. Below are some tips but I believe half of the fun is discovering them. If you feel confused, then these might help. Also the guy next to the billboard in the guild gives one new tip each chapter. Always talk to him.

-The letter next to the enemy bar indicates which one of your characters the enemy is aiming.
-The enemy won't shoot until the end of the turn (even if their aiming bar is full) unless they are aiming at the character you are moving. If they are aiming at the character you are moving, they'll shoot in real time when their aim gets full.
-During hero runs you are invincible and also you can regenerate more because the turn lasts longer (depending on the distance). However, that also means enemies will have longer time to aim at characters.
-The circular green bar around the enemy is their equipment health (weapon, armor, shield etc). You will not be able to damage their body until you create/find an opening. The green bar is not always a full circle and if that's the case, you can make a hero run (or walk around while they are aiming at somebody else) and shoot when you have the right angle to hit the body. Or if you jump during hero run you randomly hit all body parts, you might get some hits to the body even if they are shielded.
-Getting rid of the enemy parts (equipment) will give you materials for upgrades.
-Try to set up the tri-attacks in a long range. The longer the running distance, the more time to shoot (and regenerate).
-You can make a tri-attack even with 1 resonance point. This can be helpful if the distance between the characters is long. You can also use it to move one of your characters to safety if he is going to be shot as soon as you end the turn of the current character.
-Charge acceleration is very important. Try to add barrels as much as you can. Also try to shoot at the highest possible charge to activate the skills.
-Dual wielding helps a lot in the later game(after chapter 10-11). It doubles your damage and chances of activating skills even if the second weapon may reduce some of your stats.
-During a tri-attack, the enemies inside the triangle won't move, the ones on the outside will.
-If you are outnumbered stun and electro grenades can give you valuable time.

Here is my first 10 hours impression of the Game, hope that this will help you out a little. I am more or less comparing this game to FFXIII but only a few little things not the whole game.

2D/3D Visuals:

The game is full 3D with 2D as background. The visual is acceptable, the 3D environment is not to bad for towns, but its a bit bare and boring during cut-scenes, the cinema animations are up to par, but the in-game animation cut-scenes are not very eye catching. (Been playing FFXIII for a while, its visual is really not that great compare to FFXIII)

Voice Overs and music:

The Voice overs are not bad, they sounds great, the music is a mix, some of them pretty good and some of them are annoying. NPCs do talk when you interact with them, even though its thoughtful but after a while you get sick of them saying the same thing over and over.

Combat System:

This is where the game shines. Instead of sword and magic, your 3 characters are using guns, either it be hand guns or machine guns. It will take you a while to learn all the things about the combat since there are quite a lot of rules. The animation in combat is pretty good, its better than the in-game animation cut-scenes, but then since they move so fast you can't really compare them. The combat visual feels like the Matrix, where you use guns to shoot your enemy while doing acrobatic moves.

How does combat work?

Its kind of a mix of RTS and TBS (Turn base strategy). There are two types of damage, Direct damage and Scratch Damage. Direct damage is caused by Hand gun, and Scratch Damage is caused by Machine Gun. You can heal Scratch Damage, but you can't kill with Scratch damage even if your enemy's health goes to zero, you will have to apply Direct damage to kill, also you can't heal direct damage (well you could but the item that you use to heal is expensive and hard to get)

There is also Hero Gauge, which is very important, at the beginning you only have 3 of them, it expends as you go through the chapters, at chapter 3 you should have 4 and 3/4 hero gauge, this gauge is expended by finding gauge crystals, which could be found either by exploring the maps or defeating a boss. Hero Gauge is replenished by killing your enemy or performed some sort of high damage move.

Hero Gauge is used to make Hero Moves and the Triad attacks. Its also your back up health supply. When one of your character received scratch damage and it reaches 0, you will lose one hero gauge and get your health back to max, but if you ran out of Hero Gauge, you enter critical stage, which you don't want to get into, because once you are in critical stage, the damage that your characters receive will be Direct damage and if one of your character dies, its game over. Once you are game over, you can reload previous saves, or spend some money to retry the battle.

Now lets get to the juicy part of combat. A Hero Move is a move that you can use to put massive damage to your enemy, once you decide to use Hero Move you will set a path for your character, and direct them to jump and attack or to run and attack, at the same time, if you use a hero move and run between the other two characters you gain a Resonance point, which is used to make the Triad Attack, a Triad Attack will enable all your characters to shoot at your enemies and the same time running in a triangle path.

It takes a while to get use to the combat system, you should go through all the tutorial in the Arena (Which is outside of the first town).

Character Leveling:

There are three different weapon levels that you can have for each of your characters, they can learn to use Hand gun, Machine gun and thrown weapon. Your Character's actual level is the sum of the levels of these three weapon levels, so if one of your character have a lv4 with hand gun, a lv3 with Machine gun and a lv2 with hand thrown weapon, your character's actual LV is 9. A character can reach lv 100+ (one of the trophies)The Max level for a character is 300, so lv100 for each weapon type.

Weapon Customization:

There are many different parts that you can add onto your weapon to make it a better weapon, these parts can be bought from vendors or you can ask a tinkerer to make the parts from different ingredients that you collect from enemies.

Map Traveling:

The game is set in a world where humans lives in a gigantic tower that is run by machines, so your environment is basically a tower, where there are elevators and stuff to move around different levels, at the same time the map is comprised with energy hexes, to be able to explore a new area, you will need to get energy hexes to unlock the map, there are regular energy hexes, and there are colored energy hexes, which will allow you to get to different areas.

Character appearances:

There are no armors in this game, but there are different costumes that you can buy or get for your characters, its quite a large selections, from head to toe, you can find something for your character, even the eye colors (they have eye color lenses) what is so amazing is that your in-game cut scenes and cinema animations will show what you have dressed your characters in. Which is quite fun, but I do have to say these items are quite expensive.


PROS:
1. Engaging combat system
2. Fun weapon Customization
3. Great selections of Characters' paper doll system (character appearances)
4. Good Voice Acting

CONS:
1. Visuals are only acceptable, could be a lot better.
2. It could be quite a grind sometimes to get your character's level up and unlocking the map
3. It has a steep learning curve for the combat system (but in the end its worth it)
4. Save points are not available to you all the time, in the beginning you can only save at your base, but later on there are energy station that you could buy to set a remote save point.
5. At times the constant combat could make you feel a bit frustrated, especially when you are fighting in a dungeon area.

Hope this help!

PS: This is only base on 10 hours of game play, I will say that the learning curve for the combat system is about an hour to get use to. There are a lot of information that you really need to learn first though.

PPS: Because its base on 10 hours of game play, I couldn't tell you much about the story line.

The combat is difficult almost from the start so know what you are getting into. The game throws you into battle with little intro and the way you fight is unlike any other game out there. But, if you are patient with yourself and learn the controls, and like a challenge, you'll very likely enjoy the combat. It is worth mentioning that the combat is only partly turn-based. Once you start shooting with a character, you are fighting in real time until that character's turn has ended. I prefer a more carefully planned turn-based combat. The real time combat involves a certain amount of luck and perhaps a bit more luck than I would like.

The framerate is solid. There's normal mapping effects on everything to make things look shiny and shimmery. It is distracting rather than good looking.

The story is darker than usual for a JRPG which is fine with me. The world isnt very interactive though and you'll see the same characters roaming the streets of the towns over and over again.

I would have liked more choices about how to build the 3 characters (since this is an RPG) but there's actually little one can choose except mods on weapons. That sounds fun but you quickly realize there isnt that much complexity to modding a weapon. In fact that's my only real complaint: There's exactly 14 weapons in the game and not a lot of meaningful choices for modding them. There's different bullet types but those are expensive and basically meant for boss fights. None of the 3 characters have special abilities to make them different from each other short of some hit point differences. So basically it is a great combat engine, but there's not a whole lot of "rpg" going on. The fights occur in a variation of the same place every time: there's some destructible walls and boxes but that's all you'll see in the fighting areas over and over again.

There's some repetition and grinding along the way to level up -- that's pretty standard in a JRPG but here the characters dont get new abilities along the way and the comabt for all of its fun, starts to get old.

Overall it is a solid JRPG, but more like a B+ than an A-

I tried to get into this game, but I just didn't find it to be that fun. There seems to be a pretty cool and unique little combat engine here, and I can see how it might be cool if you could get into it. For me it just wasn't worth it. Some of the reasons why I say that...

Unfortunately, the learning curve is quite steep, and the game and manual teach you very little about how to play. I felt like I had to buy the strategy guide to even figure the game out enough to determine whether or not I liked it. There should be WAY MORE in game help or at least a detailed manual.

The graphics are surprisingly poor. This is the first game I played on my PS3, and I was really disappointed about the system in general until I tried another game and realized that the graphics in resonance of fate are particularly bad and most games look much better. It's not just that the graphics are bad, it's also that the environments are just not that interesting, particularly the combat settings. Maybe this improves if you play the game longer.

There isn't any story to pull you in and keep you interested. Maybe one develops as you play more, but at the start of the game there basically is no story.

Overall, it just isn't a fun game.

I'm going to compare this game to final fantasy 13, since I finished that immediately before starting this one.

Resonance of Fate doesn't have as many breaktaking cutscenes or professional voice actors as FF13. It doesn't have as much polish or slick graphics like FF13 either. So how come I rated FF13 as a 3/5 and this as a 5/5? Not that resonance of fate is a perfect game, but I actually had fun playing it.

Resonance of Fate clocked in at around 58 hours, slightly longer than FF13. The main attraction for this game isn't the story or cutscenes or graphics, but the gameplay. The battle system is unique and does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you get used to it, you'll never look back to the "auto-battles" of FF13. Basically you have to select a path for your characters in battle and do "hero actions" while charging up your gun to inflict damage. Also, you can overlap these hero actions with your two other characters to create a "tri-attack." This can be difficult to orchestrate at first, but once you do, you'll be rewarded with a bullet-frenzied assault, tearing your enemies to pieces as your three characters navigate the triangle path you've laid out. Another element to consider is that machineguns inflict "scratch damage" which doesn't do anything until you combine it with handgun "direct damage" to kill your enemies. Handguns don't do much damage, so you have to organize both types of weapons to kill your enemies. Also you can use grenades that inflict status effects and knockbacks. This is the main attraction for resonance of fate: the strategic and jaw-dropping explosive combat.

Another fun element is customizing your guns and characters. You can buy/find/collect-from-missions different parts to enhance your guns' charge rate and magazine count, among other properties. This can lead to pretty bizarre looking weapons once you stack up a ton of barrels, magazines and scopes, but unfortunately the mods don't show up in the battle graphics (maybe in resonance of fate 2 they will?). Also, most of the missions in the game are optional, so you can play this as straightforward or fully as you want. You can even choose when you want to advance to the next story chapter, incase you want to find more items or do more missions first.

The "game world," despite being relatively small, is actually a lot more fun to explore than FF13, because you can do it however and whenever you want. You can uncover items, dungeons, and many optional boss battles to earn items and help trick out your characters. You can also customize their clothing with a wide array of garments to choose from.

The story isn't anything to write home about, and you might be scratching your head about some unanswered questions by the end, but it does the job. Also, the voice acting is decent, not as good as FF13 but it also gets the job done as well.

One great feature is the New Game+, which allows you to carry over your characters, skills, and guns for another play, and unlock a tough dungeon if you get bored. OR you can abandon what you've earned and progress to a higher difficulty, and repeat the process for a greater challenge.

The graphics aren't top-notch like FF13, but they are pretty good. If FF13 is a 10/10, then this would be an 7/10. HOWEVER the animations are actually really good, a lot less wooden and really smooth compared to the jerky "ATB chain" movements of your characters in FF13. Imagine doing a hero jump, your character gliding over the head of your enemy while unloading dual SMGs into them. Or emptying the clip of a .45 into their face as your character takes a rolling dive. Actually this good animation quality of the battles bumps Resonance of Fate up to at least an 8/10 for graphics.

For SEGA fans: SEGA has made a pretty good comeback these last few years... with games like Bayonetta, Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles and now Resonance of Fate, I'll be keeping my eye on SEGA for their next big hit. They aren't afraid to take a risk, do something different, and make a great game.

In summary, for me, Resonance of Fate delivered what FF13 couldn't: fun. Despite multi-million dollar graphics and years of development, I have little desire to play FF13 again. However Resonance of Fate I'll jump back on as soon as I get the chance. If you want insane combat and customization, this is your game. If you want something new and a little bit different, this is your game. Here's hoping SEGA and Tri-Ace will deliver a sequel to this excellent experience!

Tri-Ace and Sega went all out for this game. Not only are the character models detailed and the environments lush but they've gone a LONG way from the freaky uncanny vally that the last few Tri-Ace games had. For the first time I actually like the protagonists.

The interface takes a little getting use too. And go out of your way to hit the Arena and do the practice battles there to get use to battle timing, but once you do and you experiment a little, it will come a second nature to you.

The puzzlemaps are fun to unlock and if you pay attention to attributes you can do silly things like linking together mutliple bonus in a tier and turn areas into item farms, monster exp zones, etc. It's your choice how to customize an area.

Dungeons are basically a series of battles so don't step into them unless you're equiped and flush on special ammo/grenades.

Timing and camera controls are VERY important. But the games doesn't get punishing until you get past the first few turorital chapters. Boss fights are gloriously hard and rewarding. Save often, this game lacks FF13's ultra forgiving auto-save.

The character dress up options are wonderful and I like custom looks on the characters.

For Tri-Ace actually trying something new and it working, I hope there is more RoF style games in your future.

"Resonance of Fate" slipped out right after "Final Fantasy 13" without a lot of fanfare, which is a shame as there is a risk of it slipping under the radar and disappearing into bargain-bin hell. Plus it's also pretty good.

The game is set in a future world where everybody lives in a tall metal tower due to the earth having become uninhabitable for some reason, and you play as a team of three youngsters called Leanne, Zephyr and Vashyron (just the usual names for teenagers of course!), who start the game as guns for hire, taking on missions to mend broken bridges or deal with rebel bandits causing trouble around the tower. Things start slowly as you explore the locations and fight various gangsters and goblins, but right from the start the battle system really shines.

Well I should say it does not shine immediately, because with no in-game tutorial, your first battles are going to be an exercise in bewilderment as it's impossible to fathom them out unaided. Luckily you are told that there is a battle arena near town where you can practise, and in here is a tutorial (thank god!), so I headed here as soon as I knew where it was.

The game's appeal rests solely on the battle system, so it's important you know what it is all about. You have the same three characters throughout the whole game, and random battles see you face up against enemies of all sorts. The simplest thing to do is run around the battle field and fire at an enemy of your choice with your gun (it's all about guns in this game). First thing to know is that there are two types of firearms available: Machine guns, which cause very heavy damage but it's only temporary and recovers over time, and handguns, which cause very light damage, but turn any amount of temporary damage permanent as soon as they hit. So the idea is that you share out the types of guns, so (say) Leanne will fire a whole load of machine gun fire at an enemy and then Zephyr will go straight after her with his handgun, and convert that damage to permanent before it wears off. You can also hold your aim on an enemy while the gun powers up, which is a balance between waiting for the gun to charge up and firing before the enemy attacks, as any attack will make you lose all of your charge-up...and you only get one shot per turn. Got that part? Good, because there's a lot more, and if this is all you do, the game will get very boring quite fast.

The real fun of the battles comes from using Hero Actions. Put simply, at the start of every action you have a limited number of orange gems on a guage. For the cost of one gem, you can do a charge across the entire length (or width) of the screen, and while you do this mad dash you can fire at the enemies as many times as you like before you come to a stop. It's great fun and of course can cause loads of damage, which is why it's not free to do - and you start the game with a very limited number of gems - three, I think, but you (very gradually) earn more throughout the game. You have to use these gems wisely, as if you spend all three doing these Hero Runs, you will go into panic mode, which almost always leads to a Game Over as you basically can't do anything. So you have to make sure each gem you spend is worth it. If you cause enough damage on a Hero Run or cause any part of the enemy (armour, usually) to break off, you earn a gem back, so you can see how strategic play is required to get lots of running in without running out of gems.

This in itself is fun enough, but the true play experience of "Resonance of Fate" really comes from the Tri-Attack. This attack can only occur after you have done a succession of Hero Runs, during which time the characters have crossed paths at least once and have ended up in a vaguely triangular formation. Once you have a few successful runs in the bank you can unleash the Tri-Attack, which sees all three characters start running AT THE SAME TIME, all ready to fire at the enemy when you give the command. The camera starts weaving wildly across the screen as the characters leap and spin across the terrain (you can make them jump), firing and spinning through the air and shouting heroic cries like "Now you're gonna get it!" and so on. It all looks fantastic, and I never tired of it, in fact as soon as I got the hang of it I used Tri-Attacks in every single battle. It takes a lot of concentraion to plan each one, as you have to make sure your characters are well positioned on the ground so that they can all target the enemy, and they can all run without bashing into any walls or obstacles (the terrain often has things like ramps and pillars all over the place), which will end the run for whoever comes a cropper.

Trust me, if you learn this battle system you will derive hours of fun from this game. Which is good because "Resonance of Fate" has no plot! I'm not kidding, to me it just seemed like I got given missions and targets to achieve and I just went around doing them, without any reason or motive other than being paid. The so-called story seems to revolve around the higher classes of the tower experimenting with the mortality of the regular inhabitants, but this is very hard to figure out. Most if the time the cast just mumble pondeorus phrases like "What have I done?" or "Why am I still alive? It would be better if I was dead!" and all that type of thing, few of which ever make sense. So do not play this game for the story!

It's also not an easy game but to be honest, this is probably going to be because gamers are not using the Tri-Attack properly, and if you master this, you will win pretty much everything. Some bosses ramp up the challenge quite significantly, especially when they can only be damaged from one angle, so aiming Hero Runs in the right direction (so you can fire at their backs before they turn round, for example) becomes paramount.

Apart from the battles, there is also the fun of powering up the guns. Instead of finding new weapons, you buy or find attachemnts for the ones you have throughout the game, and upgrading a gun becomes a mini-game, as you are required to fit all the additional barrels, bullet clips and sights onto the gun by means of a 2D grid diagram, which means arranging as many as you can on the grid and leaving as few unfilled spaces as possible (all the attachments are a different shape). Hours of geeky fun!

And finally, you also have another mini-game in the world map, which you can only traverse by laying down tiles side by side to "fill in" the empty map. The tiles are shaped like jigsaw peices so you have to have enough of all the different shapes in order to successfully fill up entire floors of the tower, so this in itself is another fun part to play with.

So to finish, you should absolutely buy this game and experience the very dynamic battle system. You might enjoy getting to know the three characters (you can even dress them up!), but don't expect to get too attached as the story is so vague that I finished the game without a clue what had happened. I just know that I won - Hooray! And a lot of fun it was too.

For a game released on 2010, the graphics of this title seem outdated, and won't even refer to the monotonous backgrounds and enemies, to make it short, all looks somewhat the same. The presentation and structure of the game itself its actually well done, each chapter has a main quest and a few side quests, and is fun aiming to complete all of them; the biggest drawback I should point is the plot itself, once the earlier chapters are finished, and without spoiling the game too much, there's this machine called Zenith, that play a huge role on the story, and after more than 100 hours to beat the game, I felt that this title didn't reached all its potential; suffice to say I was kind of disappointed.

The best aspect of Resonance of Fate is the gameplay, what makes it enjoyable is that most of the battles are difficult and requires a lot of strategy and careful thinking. To summarize, I appreciate when a video game tries to do something different, but for someone like me that plays RPGs since Chrono Trigger on the SNES, I can assure that this isn't the best game out there, most likely the people that will be interested in this game are the hardcore JRPG fans.

I am surprised that IGN gives this game such a low rating, while giving Final Fantasy 13 such a high rating. Tri-Ace may not have the budget that Square Enix does, but this game is every bit as good as the best of their games, and SE has even published some of their games(Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile). Sega picked this one up.

I just wanted to recommend this game to anyone who might be hesitant to buy it. I have watched anime for several years, and it may be to the fact that I have somewhat of a high exposure to Japanese culture and convention, but I really enjoy this game. I have a Masters in Fine Art and am very hard to please by the volumes of formulaic and cliche games that are published every year. This game, however, is very unique and interesting. The story is not spelled out for you, and it has a steep learning curve, which is probably why IGN gives it a lower rating. It is worth it though. I have read some people complain about the complexity of the fighting system, as though there is too much to keep track of, but I just eat it up. It took me several hours to figure out the fighting system, but it is worth the effort.

Bottom line: I recommend this game for anyone who needs a bit of an intellectual challenge when it comes to video games. I could go into all the things that are amazing about this game, but I think the most important part for me is that it challenges me-and there have only been a handful of games that have been able to do that in the past several years.

Resonance of Fate

Developer: tri-Ace

Publisher: Sega

Platform: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Genre: Role-playing

Rating: Teen

Release Date: March 16th, 2010 (NA)

From the developer behind Star Ocean, Radiata Stories, and Valkyrie Profile comes a steam punk adventure that offers a challenging battle system and an interesting take on the traditional Japanese RPG.

Story

Due to the Earth becoming unsafe for its population because of poisons in the land and water, the remaining members of humanity now live in Basel, a giant tower-like structure with many different levels in which the different classes live. Basel makes up the entire games world, and looks much like a steam punk design of what the future would be like.

The game's opening scene shows Leanne as she attempts to take her own life, but is saved by Zephyr. Flash forward a little over a year and a few months later and Leanne now lives alongside Zephyr and Vashyron, helping them in their work as hunters. Resonance of Fate's story revolves around the Private Military Firm, consisting of Vasyron, Zephyr and Leanne, as they travel throughout Basel, completing missions for the many citizens, from the normal townsfolk to the Cardinals, the upper class of Basel. Vashyron serves as the leader of the team, and seems very much like the tough guy who makes quite a few jokes at Zephyr's expense, but if you get to chapter five of the story, you will see something very interesting about the fearless leader. Zephyr is a young man who was brought up in a seminary, and due to some trouble he got himself into, he meets Vashyron and eventually joins him. Each of the main characters was done very well and their interactions with each other are interesting.

The story of the game is told in chapters, consisting of a mission that the team must complete, although they do have the option to complete additional missions before advancing. Usually at the beginning and the end of each chapter players will see a cut scene that gives a little bit of information about what is going on in the background while the young heroes are completing these missions. Early on in the game the story seems to move very slowly and it takes quite a while before the player really sees just what the characters have gotten themselves into.

The story wasn't bad, but it was lacking, and the slow pace of it at times did cause a loss of interest. The interactions between the main characters and the story going on between them, is what really kept my interest.

Gameplay

The gameplay is where Resonance of Fate really shines, as the battle system is a unique experience that requires a lot of strategy to defeat enemies, which is something many RPGs have been lacking over the years. The battle system almost resembles a mix of Star Ocean as well as Valkyria Chronicles.

During combat players have the ability to move their character around the battlefield to get within range of the enemy to use an attack. Attacks are made by charging the "attack gauge", at the expense of depleting the "action gauge". Depending on the character's level they will be able to charge the attack gauge higher, which can add on extra damage as well as knock an opponent off balance and prevent them from attacking. Players will also be able to move around the area and position themselves behind bunkers, which allow them to attack from behind the wall and prevent them from taking damage while they charge the "attack gauge". Enemies are also able to use the bunker to protect themselves though, so once they are close enough the character can still sustain damage. Moving the character around the battlefield depletes the "action gauge" as well, and once the "action gauge" is depleted it ends that character's turn. Once all three characters turns have been used the "action gauge" is restored. When attacking an enemy, players have the choice of three types of weapons that can be used, handguns, sub-machine guns, and thrown weapons, such as grenades and Molotov cocktails. The sub-machine gun does "scratch damage", which is damage that over time can be replenished if the enemy does not receive "direct damage". The sub-machine gun does much more damage than the handgun, but without "direct damage" the enemy cannot be defeated. The handgun and thrown weapons both do "direct damage", which is less damage than the sub-machine gun, but when used correctly can help defeat enemies much faster.

When the battle starts the player has a set number of bezels filling the "hero gauge" at the bottom of the screen, these bezels are used to fully restore a characters health when they run out, as well as for hero actions. The player only receives "scratch damage" during battles, but when they fully run out of bezels on the "hero gauge" they start to receive "direct damage", and are then in "critical condition", which causes their attacks to be much weaker. Hero actions use up one bezel on the "hero gauge" but allow the player to attack without the worry of being counter attacked, as well as allowing them to move to a different position. A cursor will appear on the screen, allowing the player to choose where the character will move to, once confirmed the character will begin moving and the player can begin charging the "attack gauge", this allows for multiple attacks against an enemy. During a hero action, players can choose to have their characters pass between the space between the other two characters, which adds "resonance points", these points can then be used to perform a "tri-attack", which is much like the hero action, with the exception being that all three character are moving and can attack. Each character must have at least one "resonance point" to perform a "tri-attack". Players can fill the hero gauge before it is used up, by defeating enemies, as well as destroying a specific body part of the enemy.

Strategy plays a big part in the combat of Resonance of Fate, and players will find themselves trying to adjust to the different types of situations that come up. By attacking an enemies body parts the player can effectively remove weapons from some enemies, attacking and defeating an enemy group's leader can end the battle instantly, and getting behind bunkers can protect the character from receiving too much damage. Players can also switch weapons during combat, if they carry a grenade case, or a medicine kit. Using a magazine case will allow players to use special bullets that can add status effect to enemies, or they can even wield two weapons and attack with both. If a character is killed during a battle they have the option of retrying for the cost of some money or if they are willing to pay more they can retry and also have the hero gauge filled.

The world map is much different than what you would expect, as players will have to use "energy hexes", which are placed much like puzzle pieces, to open up a path between areas on the map. Players move from place to place by moving a cursor around the world map and selecting the place they wish to go. Random battles still occur on the world map, but there are some areas on the map that are safe from enemy attacks. When players enter some areas, they are placed in an area much like the battlefield that are connected to one another, players must navigate these areas, fighting battles in each area to get where they need to. Towns can also be found throughout the world, which have areas to receive missions, item stores, and clothing stores. The towns themselves are some of the few areas that the character can wander around instead of moving the cursor.

Players can purchase healing items, which can be used by the player with the medicine kit in battle, as well as create items that can be added to the characters weapons in towns. These created items can be added to the different slots on the weapon grid, from the options menu. Adding these weapon add-ons will increase the "action gauge" charge speed as well as rate of fire, bullet focus, and magazine size, but there is also a set amount a weight each character can carry, and every additional piece added will take up some of the weight. Although changing the character's look does not add anything to the defense of the character, players can purchase and also find on the world map, many different types of clothes and items for the characters to wear. Players can add anything from contact lenses and hair dye to boots, shirts and pants. Not many Japanese RPGs give this option.

Pros

-The game offers a challenge in battles

-Character customization and weapon customization

-Character levels up with each weapon

Cons

-Game needed a mandatory battle tutorial

-Story was lacking

-Story moved very slowly towards the beginning

Overall

The game was beautifully done, visually the game looked very impressive, it had a gritty feel and look to it which added to the atmosphere. The game looked like a step up visually from Star Ocean: The Last Hope, the characters where all very well done design-wise and some of the monster's designs were very impressive. The English voice actors did a pretty good job with their characters, they portrayed them all very well, although some of the NPCs like Cardinal Garigliano and Cardinal Barbarella did seem a little too over the top. The story did seem to fall short, the main story was told in small cut scenes in between the chapter's end, and it took quite a while for it to really pick up. The first few chapters moved very slowly, and the cut scenes that told more of the story were few and far between with how long it took to get through each area. The three main characters, Vashyron, Zephyr, and Leanna, where interesting though, and the interactions between them did manage to keep my interest and keep me playing all the way through, even when things did seem to move slow.

The combat system was a truly unique experience, not many RPGs have offered a challenge like this one did in a long time. At times even the random battles took a lot of strategy to get through, and finding out a good way to get passed certain enemies didn't always work. The game does take quite a while to get used to the battle system, and it really did need to have a tutorial on the combat that you were forced to complete, instead of offering it in the arena, but they do offer a manual with details about combat in the start menu, so that does help some. The way characters leveled up was also interesting, with each weapon they used they gain experience, so if you switch out weapons from time to time the characters would gain levels faster. The world map was something different from many other games, and because "energy hexes" are dropped by enemies it does give a little bit more motivation to do some level grinding before moving on to a new area. Being able to customize the characters look was also a great addition, one thing that many gamers always seem to not like about Japanese RPGs is that they don't offer this option, and although it is like Fable 2's clothing, which doesn't offer any armor protection, it is still a welcomed addition to this game.

For those gamers looking for an RPG that offers a unique battle system and a challenging experience, Resonance of Fate is a great choice.

(This review is based on the PlayStation 3 version)

Score

8.0