Nostalgia Mode Initiate: Looking for Modern Gems

Yesterday was a day of trials and tribulation for my inner gaming hunger.  I decided to purchase Resonance of Fate from the used as shit rack of my local game emporium.  I don't know if you remember this title...a gem of a game released by Sega and Tri-ace (well known for star ocean and valkyrie profile).  It isn't often you run into semi-gem like this one, but I must say, I'm glad I stumbled upon it.


Chapter 1: Story

Imagine yourself entering a world of post-apocalyptic, steam/cyber punk hybrid environment with a mercenary group extremely influenced by fashion and a japanese anime character's amount of accessories.  Welcome to Resonance of Fate; the story (if one could call it as much) is a disconnected and barely strung along series of events that take place individually with an over arcing story defining the back plot driving our young mercenary force through job after job.  Think cowboy bebop the game, but instead of space, they reside in some sort of multi-tier, sky-scraping city that metropolises the clouds around them.  The voice work can be painful at time, but surprisingly charming at others, but ultimately, it delivers the story in an inefficient and annoying manner.  The disassociated appeal to the story is quaint for someone like me, but it is extremely easy to fathom some other's distaste for it.






Chapter 2: Gameplay

combat - 

Meet Zephyr, Leanne, and Vashyron...2 of the most absurdly named protagonists and one of the most generic girls I've ever had the pleasure of watching shoot guns at people.  They are cruelly generic in their dialog, but it does not prevent them for kicking some serious ass with gun-fu, matrix style bullet dodges, and some of the most absurdly acrobatic jumping skills this side of the cyber-sphere.  The combat system is quite well done, very fun to operate, and taxing on the ol' noggin if your not well versed in strategy games already.  The gameplay is awkwardly turn-based with a mix of real-time in it.  Think Valkyria Chronicles (another fantastic game produced by Sega), you move your individual characters in real time via turns, your opponents have attack gauges that warn you when they are going to strike.  You can run and shoot according to an allotted action gauge, as long as you still have blue left, you can move, once you shoot you end your "turn".  However, you have at your disposal a "hero action" or whatever. By activating it, you can lay a path for your character to run, during this run you can shoot a seemingly endless amount of times both on the ground or in the air with more flips and spins than a tony hawk pro skater run.  Using these over-powering abilities uses up stock in a bar at the bottom of the screen.  You regain these by defeating enemies or breaking pieces of their armor.  You also lose stocks in this meter by having one of your team take lethal damage.  When all of this gauge is empties, the gauge breaks to pieces and your party becomes a chicken-shit excuse for a combat unit.  They stumble around like retards unable to shoot with any balls or finesse.  Outside of already almost winning a battle, you are extremely likely to die when this happens. This game is an extremely good time to play, and even watch for it's ridiculously stylized appearance.

non-combat

Traversing the world of the game is done via overworld map.  You control a faceless and disembodied cursor that travels across the hex-grid world.  In order to gain access to various areas, you have to clear the path using hex shapes to eliminate the barrier grid in the way.  At first it appears like a puzzle aspect, but outside of optimizing your grid pieces it is just an excuse to grind and collect pieces.  It is cleverly done however, because you are prevented from accessing high level areas too early by not being able to get certain shapes (or colors) before they are needed.  Battles are encountered at random, but are surprisingly scarce compared to other games of the same style.  It helps to keep the player relaxed when exploring this surprisingly involved world.  Outside of the world there are plenty of towns and people to interact with.  There are side quests to complete to earn much needed coin so you can buy new parts for your guns and new clothing to pimp out your crew.  It's standard fair for an JRPG of it's nature, but it does not warrant any complaint from me.  Dungeons are interesting, but not necessarily in a great way.  They have disconnected mini world maps that function similarly but without locked hex grids.  The inner dungeons have many rooms to traverse with tons of enemies to run through and tough bosses waiting for you to get demolished.  The level of difficulty of this game tends to vary wildly even mid-dungeon.  One minute you are effortlessly trashing foe's without even paying attention, the next your characters are scrambling for their very lives as bullets bounce off seemingly impenetrable armor.

Chapter 3: Result

This game was something I bought on a whim due to the publisher and the title (plus it was like $18), and it is a title I am VERY glad I got to experience.  The gem search is a lost art for gaming, and it's something that can become extremely rewarding for players to engage in.  I'm not sure if Resonance of Fate had a good run when it was released, but I certainly hadn't heard much about it, and I imagine you probably haven't either.  If you catch this on the shelves and were wondering what to do with your evening, why not give it a chance.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

My mark on this title is an 86%. It has a few issues with progression and there are plenty of things to knit-pick here and there.  The design and fundamental gameplay is implemented well and it's an incredibly enjoyable experience as a whole.  The characters seem quirky and unimaginative, but it will not be long before you start growing attached to these ridiculous heroes.  


Crispy Links:

For those of you interested in my last romp with Persona 4 Arena, i have a tutorial series up on youtube for Mitsuru Kirijo. Feel free to check it out below.