Resonance of Fate (Xbox 360)

Overall, Resonance of Fate is one of the most innovative and enjoyable games in the RPG genre to be released in a long time. This game is an absolute masterpiece, even from a developer as accomplished as Tri-Ace.

Gameplay - combines aspects of turn based RPG's and real-time action games for a unique combat experience. Although the learning curve is steep at the beginning and the difficulty overall is rather high, battles are always rewarding and exciting. Positioning seems to be just as important as attack strategy. Some of the more difficult battles can become frustrating, but mastering the combat system provides endless entertainment.

Visuals - the game is set in a steam-punk environment. The colors are dull, but everything is beautifully modeled and textured. The graphics are not necessarily cutting-edge, but they are immersive nonetheless.

Sound - the soundtrack is excellent. Battle music changes periodically to avoid monotony, and all music fits well with the environment being portrayed.

Overall presentation - the story is dark and mysterious, again meshing well with the steam-punk style. There are some elements of cheesy JRPG humor, but they won't make you cringe like in many other games of the same genre. Some of the humor is actually legitimately funny, and will catch you off guard.

In summary, if you are already a Tri-Ace fan, this game is a must-buy. Otherwise, if you enjoy a challenging, strategic, action-packed game, this is still a must-buy. In my opinion, Resonance of Fate puts every Square-Enix published RPG in the last 5 years to shame. Buy it.

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I'm not going to list anything about plot here. Odds are, if you're the one buying this, you've already read the wikipedia page and looked up about a dozen other reviews. Relatives who are considering buying this for their 14 or older son, if he's into this kind of thing, he'll love it.

So, there's a lot of people comparing this to FFXIII, aka Final Fantasy 13, which is unsurprising, as they are both Japanese RPG games released within a week from each other. This is where the comparisons end. This is not a FFXIII review(read my review of that, though). This game stands alone and does (almost) everything right. It uses a battle system which is turn based, involving moving your characters independently towards enemies, charging up your weapons, and unloading an entire gun clip into them. It's violent, but only in the sense that there are guns. There's no blood or gore that I was able to observe, but there's a lot of gunshots, and let me tell you, after strategically placing your characters and attacking the enemy, it is incredibly satisfying hearing those shells drop in surround sound. It's really hard to explain how this game works--you have to play it to really experience it. What really keeps this game from shining is that it provides you no tutorial. I spent an hour just walking around the beautifully rendered city in the game, observing the amount of detail put into the steampunk monstrosity. The characters are drawn in a Korean fashion, with exaggerated expressions, gray eyes, and dull clothing, but I can tell you that I found their designs instantly more appealing than most of the ones I've seen in anime style games as of late. The expressions are realistic without trying to acheive that kind of hyper-realism that comes off as just plain creepy. Fans who have seen Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children know what I'm talking about here.

I get that I'm rambling, but here's what I'll tell you: the soundtrack is beautifully composed. The characters look great, as do the environments. Be warned, this is not a super duper high budget game: it is not Bayonetta, which had tons of money poured into it for advertising alone(whereas this game had none, at least in North America). That having been said, it is still very good looking, and if you own an xbox, I can guarantee it looks nicer than Halo 3.

The combat system is actually very intuitive once you get into it and learn it, but it takes a good couple hours to understand it. If you don't have the patience to learn, and are looking for some instant satisfaction, you're missing out on this. But not giving players an instant tutorial is actually kind of refreshing. In an otherwise linear game, it gave me a sense of freedom, and it was immensely satisfying figuring it out and thinking "Ah, so that's how it works".

Bottom Line: If you or anyone you know is into anime, rpgs, or gun blazing games, this is a must get. Anime watchers will catch references to Innocent Venus, Burst Angel, Appleseed, as well as Isaac Asimov's book End of Eternity. If you liked FFXIII, you'll like this better, guaranteed.

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I'd been anticipating this title's release for a while now, with it's cool premise and awesome enemy encounters. The game starts with an awesome CG intro to set the mood. From there it's a little slow for my tastes but a few hours in I couldn't put it down. The gun-based attacks aren't new to rpgs like this but nevertheless it's awesome to watch the action during fights. The graphics are pretty good and detailed, not SquareEnix caliber but they arent too shabby. If you aren't a fan of anime-style designs you might not like the characters, but luckily for me I am. I really recommend this to any RPG fan who isn't making as big a deal of Final Fantasy as most are.

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