Resonance of Fate (Playstation 3)

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!

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This game is an instant classic with brilliant graphics, environments, gameplay, and story. Blends JRPG and steampunk elements into a seamless experience that comes along once every few years. Characters are interesting, tons of customization from weapons to clothing, and the world is vast and full of areas to explore. Combat is unique, and there is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it you'll enjoy the depth of strategy involved. This is a rich, complex game with many layers that will suck you in and make you glad you own it. For some reason it's pretty hard to find in retail stores, but grab it if you see it. One of, if not THE, year's best.

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So far this game is at the top of my list for this year. I love strategy games (especially turn-based) and RPGs and this one delivers. The best thing about this game is the combat. It has a decent storyline too, and an open world. It's sort of opposite to Final Fantasy 13 in those regards (not really, I'm being a little hard on FF13).

There are challenge encounters (red dots on the map that you have the option to do, usually with really good rewards) that are fun and make you rethink your strategies multiple times. You can grind up and have a little easier time on encounters but you can still get owned by a boss if you do it completely wrong, but there's usually some good hints on how to kill stuff based on the area and what people say. It has a small penalty for losing to an encounter (have to pay money to retry, or you can just reload if you just saved) so there's a reason to focus on winning in battles.

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