Resonance of Fate

[jakonovski]

It's out in the US and everyone's raving about it. I want to like this game, so if you have it please tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you until it's released in the gaming backwater known as the EU.

[jth]

Wasn't today supposed to be the release date for EU? Play.com shows it in stock, however the local place where I pre-ordered it from hasn't received any copies yet.

[ffc]

It's out in the US and everyone's raving about it. I want to like this game, so if you have it please tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you until it's released in the gaming backwater known as the EU.

I am loving everything about Resonance of Fate / End of Eternity except for the random battles on the overworld hex map but those battles are spaced apart and the fighting system is still fun enough where I look forward to them despite how jarring they are.  I stayed away from reviews on this one because I didn't want any spoilers and I am now surprised its score isn't higher on review sites.

For RPG reference on the notes RoF hits for me, I quit Tales of Vesperia because of its dialogue and immature story/plot presentation.  While RoF starts the story with typical The Haves vs. The Have-Nots issues (why do The Haves always have to literally live above The Have-Nots, I guess its easier to look down snooty noses this way) there are themes of religion, faith and fate which should play out nicely.  It feels more mature (less childish?) with really funny party banter that carries forward from a CGI scene into future battles and good voice work led by Nathan Drake's voice actor as the main guy.  Even the emo character is likable.

Which brings me to FFXIII.  I quit that after 2 or so hours not only because I was having no fun in its extended linear combat tutorial but also because I could not stand how angsty the boy was or that one girl's voice who first travels with the boy or many lines of dialogue which grated on me with a lot of guttural sounds and loud inhales/exhales during CGI scenes.

Moving from FFXIII to RoF was great because I missed towns to run around in, random people to briefly chat with, shops to visit, side quests to do, maps to explore and unlock (the hex map adds a nice small puzzle planning element to exploration), and an immediate and complex battle system.  Maybe too immediate because it's Valkyria Chronicles style combat on steroids in a series of battle rooms which compose the dungeons.  It takes some getting used to and RoF just throws you at it but once you get the hang of the battle system it's very fun and rewards good strategy with twitch response.  It also looks great in action.

Two beginner pro-tips would be:  First, be sure to watch the video that plays after the intro video.  The first video plays right away and then ends on the press start screen, just wait on that screen for the other video to play.  The story still starts out in a bag of confusion but the video should help.  Second, after first exiting the city immediately go to the training battle arena.  Do not stray over any other open hex. 

Maybe I should make a picture tutorial explaining the battle system because it's a little hard to grasp since so much is going on and the training battle arena wasn't enough for me.

[Rasix]

There aren't a lot of reviews from the major sites out there and most can't seem to get past the combat system and overall difficulty.   Most of the positive reviews are from places I've never heard of (save Eurogamer) and the more well known sites are pretty much giving it bad reviews (the 1up review is somewhat puzzling).  The Eurogamer review sounds like a fair review giving it an 80 and generally pointing out the positives and negatives well.

Sound intriguing, but after FFXIII, I'll need to recharge my batteries for another JRPG (looks like with side content, I'll clock more than 60-80 hours).

fake edit: Game play videos of the combat make it look pretty horrible.

[jakonovski]

Wasn't today supposed to be the release date for EU? Play.com shows it in stock, however the local place where I pre-ordered it from hasn't received any copies yet.

Might be there's regional release dates. The local game store sez it's the 31st, here in sunny Finland.

[K9]

That eurogamer review has me really interested, moreso than FF13 I guess. Time to go dig out some trailers.

[jth]

Wasn't today supposed to be the release date for EU? Play.com shows it in stock, however the local place where I pre-ordered it from hasn't received any copies yet.

Might be there's regional release dates. The local game store sez it's the 31st, here in sunny Finland.

Ah, I'm a Finn too... looking at various Finnish game stores, about half list the release date as 26/03 and the other half as 31/03.

[ffc]

Here's a decent youtube clip of the first boss fight as an example of how the game successfully mixes turn-based strategy and real-time action.  You face this boss pretty early on and it's nothing fancy (although I did die three times since I was still figuring things out) so it won't spoil much if you want to watch.  FYI, this player is a jumping bean way more than necessary.

Some things to note that I didn't pick up from the battle tutorial:

• An enemy shows who it is targeting by displaying the first letter of the target's name above it's head.  You can also see if a character is being targeted by looking for a yellow or red target symbol next to a character's name in the window on the lower right side of the screen.
• As an enemy charges up its attack a bar over its head will turn yellow then red.  In the clip, when the first character jumps the player timed the jump to avoid the enemy's impending attack.  You can also see if a character is going to receive an attack if the target symbol on the lower right of the screen is red.
• In the clip, when the second character jumps the explosion knocks her around a bit and she collides with the enemy which stops her jump.  I have a lot of fun in battles timing jumps to hop over obstacles and land somewhere strategically beneficial while maximizing the time on the ground.  The flip side is when I miss a jump, I miss big.

And here is another clip which shows the game's good voice acting and funny CGI scenes when the characters interact with each other.  This scene happens pretty early as well.  I find all the characters appealing which hasn't happened for me in recent RPGs and the story is interesting so I'll be playing this one to the end.  Or at least not rage-quitting.

[Hawkbit]

What is it about pulling the trigger that makes a person jump and spin 40 ft into the air?  Everytime?  I mean, I realize this is a fantasy game, but it just seems silly.

[Hoax]

Yeah I have to say I'm really confused, don't suppose these people could be bothered to produce a demo on psn?

[jakonovski]

For me, it's the complexity that's drawing me towards the game. Schild will probably kill me, but I'm sensing something similar to Demon's Souls in this. Maybe not the lengthy save point intervals, but overall depth and difficulty combined with a drab colour palette.

[ffc]

You press the jump button to jump after choosing to do a strafing run.  That player was jumping too much.  Generally you want to stay on the ground so you can time your attack as you strafe by an enemy or shoot from cover to target a weak area on the enemy.  Jumping spreads your damage out randomly.  While that is useful in certain circumstances you can't jump like this guy does and do well past the beginning.  There are also many times its best to skip a character's turn or switch turn order or switch weapons (heal, grenade, etc.).

I think there's a demo on the Japanese PSN.

I was facing a boss today and it took me many deaths but after I figured out its weak spot and how to handle the monsters next to it the fight went flawlessly. After each death I thought "ok let me try this strategy instead." My deaths were always my fault. In that sense I can see a comparison to Demon's Souls.

If only I had a capture card.  Maybe there's a cheap one at Fry's.

[Trippy]

What is it about pulling the trigger that makes a person jump and spin 40 ft into the air?  Everytime?  I mean, I realize this is a fantasy game, but it just seems silly.

The combat is supposed to be in the style of Matrix's gun combat or "Gun fu/Bullet ballet" on amphetamines. However, the jumping attack is actually a special attack (Hero action in the game's parlance). With a normal attack (which there are few of in the video) you just stand there, charge up you attack, and shoot.

If you watch the video you can see 3 orange "jewels" (a bezel) at the bottom middle. That's the Hero Gauge. Doing a Hero Action uses up one of those bezels. Reducing a HP bar to 0 gives you back one bezel. Managing your Hero Gauge is the key to doing well in difficult encounters as a Hero Action is so much more powerful than a regular attack, both in the damage you can do through it and also in the damage you don't take while performing it.

Some enemies have multiple HP bars. You can see it in the video in the green/blue rings around the feet of the enemies. Depleting those bars is one of the ways the player in the video was able to perform a steady stream of Hero Actions.

Also another reason the person jumps a lot in the video is because:

[ffc]

Bad pic quality is my fault:

[schild]

That first description is like something I would write, except totally Engrished out.

[Rasix]

The Just Cause 2 demo combined with the Gamespot review of this has just about convince me to trade in Heavy Rain and FXIII in order to get this game.  They seemed to really love the combat and JC2's demo convinced me that is more of a bargain purchase for me.

[Yegolev]

This came in the mail.  I was pretty exhausted but I put it in anyway.  I had to make sure I wasn't playing Darkseed, but the "PS2 JRPG" font gave it away.  I only got past the guild bit and I already like this one a lot.  I'll have to play it when I am not sleepy, though.

[ffc]

Dev Diary 1    Dev Diary 2

The only thing I would change in this game is streamlining the upgrading process.  I'm drowning in my own froth over everything else:  strategy/turn/real-time gun battle system, music, characters, plot, world map, etc. 

[Yegolev]

I watched the second movie.  I would have made that one a bit easier to find if I were designing this one, explains a lot.

Also started over so my wife could see the intro.  This time I made it through the arena tutorials.  Took me way too long to figure out the tri-attack but now I understand how it works.  Had one random battle and remembered how nice it is that most games don't have them anymore.  Have not tried the upgrade system but the grid and attachment points make me gushy when I look at them.

[Rasix]

The character interaction in this game is great.  The little comments made at the start/end of battles are endlessly amusing.

Leane: "Do you want me on offense or defense?"
Vash: "Hey, did you hear that. Leanne goes both ways. Good to know."

Zeph: "Why were you smiling, Leanne?"
Leanne: "I was smiling?"
Vash: "Hey.. Leane has a sadistic side."

Quickly becoming one of my favorite JRPGs.  If they could have found a way to get rid of random encounters, I'd be in a state of perpetual froth.  

[ffc]

At first I didn't mind the random battles because I needed the practice but now I flee through the exit or using an escape hex.  I fought my way back out of the first dungeon or two before realizing I could use the escape hex instead.   

Upgrading guns is an interesting balancing act.  If I add a bunch of scopes then I have to move my gun down in the box which leaves less room for clips and grips.



I love the hex world map.  Unlocking paths using certain hex pieces is scratching an itch I didn't know I have.



The day/night cycles look good and change NPC availability, and controlling different characters can change dialogues and have different effects.  The base is a good example of this, try jumping down the rooftop through the skylight with Leanne (I think this was in a cut scene too which is nice attention to detail) or searching Leanne's closet with the other characters for minor amusement. 

[Draegan]

Hmm I wonder if selling FFXIII and 26 bucks Gamespot bucks I have will buy me this game.  Need to finish FFXIII first.  The thought of this game is getting me twitchy.