Game Review: Resonance of Fate – Ready, Aim…!

Posted by Project_Xii | 1 comment

Fighting Enemies – Right Between the Eyes Just Don’t Cut It

Enemies start off fairly limited, with the usual rats and wild boars replaced by goons and goblins. But it’s not long before you’re facing off against creatures that are considerably stronger, and you better hope you’re prepared.

Advanced enemies aren’t just blocks of sponge, waiting to absorb your bullets. Many have multiple parts to them, signified by a green halo around their feet. A complete halo suggests the enemy is protected by all-over body armour. A small green section might mean they’re only covered by a piece, perhaps on their arms or legs. You’ll either need to punch through it with brute force, or aim for a gap in the halo. Choices like this are difference between a long epic fight, or a quick and brutal one.

Breaking these parts also yields amazing amounts of experience, so sometimes it’s worth it to take your time. What do you do? Pick them apart piece by piece, reaping XP rewards? Or finish them quickly so you can gather the loot and move on to the next battle? Either way: its loads of fun!

One aspect of the battles that has been mentioned a lot in other reviews is the bosses. Since they’re considerably stronger then regular enemies, handling them takes different tactics and more planning then your average enemy. An ill prepared or inexperienced team will get mashed in seconds, and will continue to be so if they haven’t properly prepared. If you go off what other reviews say, apparently this is a part of the game they consider broken. That isn’t the case.

Some people will find it a mild turn off, but Resonance does require a bit of grinding in order to stay on top of enemies. Nothing too drastic; a little time in the arena, or perhaps running through another dungeon to collect some loot. Attempting to play the story in a linear fashion without stopping to do side quests or grind will not only leave you seriously underpowered, but inexperienced too. Judging from the amount of whine in official reviews, not many of those guys had time to do that… or didn’t bother too.

Personally I didn’t mind the grind. After FFXIII, where I wasn’t even given the option to do so until practically the end of the game, it was bliss being able to just relax and play the game at my own pace. The battle system was so dynamic and fun that I never really got bored, though by the sixty hour mark any game will start to lose some of its charm. If anything hurt the longevity, it was the limited amount of enemy types. Fighting the same dogs, bandits and goblins in the later chapters just feels a little redundant, and spoils the feeling of advancement. A larger cast of enemies would have done wonders for keeping the game fresh.

Levels and Upgrades – When Twenty Gun Barrels Is Never Enough

I’ve discussed the game with quite a few people now, and one universal thing had all of them stumped for the first part of the game: the levelling system. Not because it’s complicated, but because how it works isn’t explained to you in the tutorial. See, each character starts with their own weapon, and you assume this is their preferred one. Heck, the characters even tell you so; complaining that they don’t really know how to use grenades or Uzis if you change things around. The catch is: the characters don’t have levels of their own.

Every time they kill an enemy or break a piece of armour, their skill with that weapon increases. Gather enough experience, and the weapon levels up. The weapon. Not the character. This is where most people got confused. Your characters overall rank is the combined level of all three weapon types: Pistol + Uzi + Grenades. For example, if the weapon levels are 8, 3, and 5? 8+3+5 = 16 as a final total.

Why this isn’t explained early in the game is beyond me. Like most people, I spent the first four chapters with all three characters just using a single weapon, and wondering why the hell they weren’t levelling much. When I finally worked it out, and rotated their weaponry, things became much easier. They went from level twelve characters (10+1+1), to level thirty within a single hour! (10+10+10)

So in short, weapon rotation is vital for you characters growth. Constantly switching who uses what will ensure the whole team stays at a capable level, and evolves evenly. Ultimately it’s a pretty clever system, since it means you won’t constantly see the same animations for each character over and over. Mixes things up a bit.

The second most important element of your characters fighting ability is the guns themselves. Each gun can be upgraded with extra clips, sights, scopes and barrels. And when I say extra, I mean a LOT. To the point of absolute ridiculousness in fact. As an example, here is a normal gun:

Now, here’s a slightly more upgraded gun:

And finally, here’s a gun so freakishly upgraded that anyone on the receiving end would become nothing short of pink mist:

As crazy as it looks, upgrading your gun becomes one of the funnest parts of the games, and one of the main incentives to grind. While most pieces can be bought from stores, the best bits can only be created from rare enemy loot drops. Anyone who’s ever played an MMO will understand how addictive that can become. The hunt for that last little piece of equipment becomes obsessive: often I found myself spending hours at a time, consulting the construction guide, planning my upgrades, and then delving into battle. All for a single attachment that meant my whole gun could fall into place. If the gameplay and story isn’t enough to keep you playing all sixteen chapters, the quest for bigger and better ba-ba-BOOMs will.

Death and Saving – Live to Fight Another Day

If you haven’t already guessed from all previous information, Resonance can be quite hard at times. You’re sure to die a few times, mostly in the first few chapters when you’re learning the ropes. Thankfully, the game has a very forgiving save system. The game comes with two save options:

The first is a hard save. These can be done in your homebase, or at stations around Basel, and mean you’ll have a proper file that you can reload at any point should you make a mistake and need to back track. Most gamers would be familiar with this kind, and you’re given plenty of opportunities to use them. You can even create your own using special hexes! However, you can’t hard save in dungeons, which can sometimes cause a dilemma. What if you’re in a hurry, or something unexpected happens in real life? It’s a complete pain when you have to leave mid-game and lose all your progress from the last hard save point. Well, that’s where the second save option comes in.

The “suspend game” option lets you save and quit your game at any time, so if the need to up and leave strikes, you can do so without penalty! It makes me wonder why more games don’t offer this option, especially ones with huge dungeons that can take an hour to complete. It’s a modern world; not all of us have time to sit and play undisturbed for such long periods of time. Anyway, it’s a welcome feature, and means you can always tailor your playing sessions to your own needs, not the games.

Like any tough game though, sometimes you’ll get ahead of yourself and end up facing a battle that you can’t win. At these times, death is often unavoidable. If the worst happens, Resonance’s choices aren’t the most forgiving. For a sizeable amount of cash, you can continue from the exact place you died, in the same state you entered the battle. For an enormous amount of money, you can retry the battle with all your health and Bezels recharged. For free, you can reload your last hard save from outside the dungeon, and retry it all over again. Hopefully some the wiser.

Those who fail to grasp the gameplay may find themselves facing these choices often, and spending quite a bit of cash on respawns. They might find it frustrating. Well, not much to do there but get better. Nothing in the game is unbeatable or overly punishing if you’re adept enough and prepared. You wanted challenging? Don’t expect free handouts along the way!

Characters – Lovely Leanne and Her Partners In Crime

In the beginning, we know very little about the characters. Who are Zephyr and Vashyron? How did they come to work together? Why is Leanne is still with them and living on the lower levels, despite being allowed back into Chandelier if she wanted? The game tells us nothing. We can only assume what we already know: they’re guns for hire, have garnered quite the reputation from their endeavours, and are about to get caught up in a whole world of trouble.

Leanne has advanced a long way from the frail form we saw trying to end her own life. Though still girlish, she has become a tough bounty hunter, fully capable of holding her own. It doesn’t stop the boys from picking on her every chance they get, but she takes it with a grain of salt. Her back-story forms the basis for much of the main plot, and many chapters revolve around her health and future. Between her cute voice, adorable looks and loving personality, she quickly became one of my favourite fully clothed female characters. Maybe even on par with Kyrie from Devil May Cry 4! Kawaii ^_^

Ahem. Moving on: Zephyr is a strange lad. While researching the game last year, I accidentally read a part of his back story, and it is dark indeed. *Warning: Spoiler – Highlight to See* How many games do you know let you play as a character responsible for a school shooting? *End Spoiler* Yeah that’s right. Shocking stuff ay. I know another little sociopath he’d get along with reeaalllyy well. Though Zephyr never really becomes a “nice” character, he does show repentance and guilt for his actions. More of a side story then essential to the main plot, his path to maturity and forgiveness is interesting none the less.

Finally there’s Vashyron; yet another enigma. The oldest of the group, he has the most experience in combat and shady business. He’s also a gigantic pervert. Vash has a long history with many of the nefarious characters inhabiting Basel, and it’s suggested he’s seen a lot of bloodshed while fighting in certain mysterious civil wars. Once again, his story never really goes as far in-depth as Leanne’s, but he does get the opportunity for closure, while providing plenty of comic relief along the way.

 

What I love most about the characters – all tri-Ace characters actually – is the way they interact. Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile were full of hilarious moments, and Resonance doesn’t disappoint in that regard. The characters banter on a regular basis, either through cutscenes or in battle.

Even though the game offers dual languages, I decided to give the English VO a go. And what do you know, it’s not bad! Nolan North plays Vash: a voice actor we know all to well by now. After hearing him as Drake in Uncharted, we know he’s pretty good at doing suggestive flirting with the females. As Vash, he does all-out-pervert brilliantly.

As for the other two: Leanne is done by Jessica DiCicco, a very cute sounding actress who never crosses the line into annoying. She’s appeared in a number of well known JRPG’s, including Kingdom Hearts II, White Knight Chronicles, and Final Fantasy XIII. Zephyr is voiced by no one special.

To make things even better, much of the battle banter has been re-written to encompass western colloquialisms, so it sounds very natural and quite humorous. Eg:
Leanne: Do you want me to go on offence or defence?
Vash: So… Leanne swings both ways… good to know.
I lol’ed. The cutscenes, however, couldn’t be changed so easily, and so still contain a sort of odd Japanese feel that doesn’t translate well into English. Nothing to get tied in knots over though.

Most importantly, the characters don’t have nearly as many breakdowns or screaming hissies as in other JRPGs. Especially when compared to the erratic mood swings of the FFXIII crew. Not to say they don’t exist at all… many of the later chapters up the drama a little, but given the subject matter it often fits. In the end they’re just regular people, killing stuff for money and going about their lives. It’s hard not to love them.

Graphics and Sound – Sounds Pretty, Looks Grey

The biggest complaint from more pedantic reviewers has been in regards to the game’s graphics. They’re not bad, by any means. It’s just that, since the entire world we’re exploring is a giant machine, it comes across as very… grey. Especially the dungeons, which are just square arena’s with assorted environmental obstacles to change the battle situation. Character models are fine (perhaps a little stiff on occasions), and the towns in particular are beautifully designed.

Personally I’m glad they spent less time on making flashy over-the-top graphics, and more time on refining the rest of the gameplay. Grey dungeons aren’t the worst thing in the world. You barely notice them when there’s a giant mechanical spider stalking your way that needs a couple hundred bullets in the CPU. Steam punk fans will appreciate it regardless.

For those who love to customise their characters, you’re in for a treat: every item of clothing you buy and dress your character in changes in real time. You’ll see them that way in all cutscenes, battles and when running around towns. Make them as quirky or as conservative as you like: with two different styles to choose from and a couple hundred items for each one, you’ll never run out of combinations.

 

Sound in the game is also fantastic. There’s a massive amount of music; so much in fact that the OST is six CD’s long. Which means there’s enough variety to allow for a different tune depending on the location, time of day, or monsters in battle. This definitely helps keep it from getting monotonous, and some of the tracks are very catchy.

Sound effects are fitting, with guns rattling powerfully, grenades exploding in a shower of shrapnel, and special moves going off louder then a poker machine at bingo night. The best by far has got to be the the epic “CRACK!” of an enemy’s shattering armour when you finally punch through it. Nothing gets you more pumped, since you know victory is at hand. The only downside I will mention is some of the uttered phrases in battle. By the end of the game, you’ll be pretty tired of hearing the same taunts from enemies, and the same quips from the crew. Makes me wish they’d included a “Battle Speech Off” option like they did in Star Ocean. Eh.

The End – It Will Tear You A New One

So, what’s the final verdict? From my real life experience, I’ve come across some very fairly consistent opinions: if you love FFXIII, you’ll hate Resonance. If you hate FFXIII, there’s a high chance you’ll like Resonance.

Or to be more specific: if you want something cute and colourful, with plenty of flashy cutscenes and a combat system that holds your hand for thirty plus hours, stick to FFXIII. But if you’re a more die hard JRPG fan, who craves a challenge and the desire to try new things, definitely give Resonance a go. With the story complete, it’s unlikely we’ll get a sequel, so enjoy this little gem while you can still find it. Knowing SEGA, their minimal shipments means it’ll be nearly impossible to find soon enough.

As always, I don’t consider it accurate to give a game a single score as the sum of all its parts. So instead, I’ll base it on the level of enjoyment I experienced during my play time.

Resonance of Fate

Unmatched, gun-slinging fun for the JRPG fan who loves a challenge

Enjoyment Rating: 8/10

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