Their latest Japanese RPG project titled Resonance of Fate, (which is known in Japan as End of Eternity) will be published by Sega, unlike past Tri-Ace video games which were published by Square-Enix. With so many great RPGs already out in the market and even bigger games like Final Fantasy XIII coming in the near future (any month now!), what does Resonance of Fate have to offer?
Currently, we cannot comment much on the story, but recent trailers have showcased the main characters, named Zephyr and Reanbell. The in-game world appears to be very dark, gritty and industrialised with plenty of machinery, robots and modern weaponry and technology. The characters, the art style and the mood of the setting itself seems very dark and gothic. The overall look of this game does seem unique and while the modern sci-fi setting has been done countless times before in JRPGs, Resonance of Fate features much darker undertones.
Just another JRPG? Thankfully it is not!
Based on the trailers we have seen so far, this game looks fairly impressive, as the computer generated animations look nothing short of spectacular. The in-game graphics look solid as well, the lighting effects look nice and the texturing and mapping looks impressive. The anime styled character models and designs look pretty cool and have bit of hyper realism to them. The animations look decent as well and there are plenty of flashy special effects and impressive details. Musically, we really can’t say much right now but the music played in trailer was quite good. The Japanese voice work sounds pretty cool but we can only hope that the English localisation isn’t as butchered what we have seen in past Tri-Ace video games.
In terms of gamplay, this is where Resonance of Fate really stands out from other RPGs we have seen, well…at least in PAL territories. Resonance of Fate can be best described as a 3rd person action shooter mixed with RPG elements, with the main emphasis being on pure gun play and relentless shooting. Hopefully though, not in the same way as the mediocre attempt by Square-Enix a few years ago.
Based on what we have seen so far, the Battle System looks to be a mix of 3rd person action shooting and traditional turn based RPG mechanics, similar to what we have recently seen in Valkyria Chronicles. However, that game was more of a strategy RPG mixed with shooting elements while Resonance of Fate looks to be more emphasized on close quarters combat.
The battles look pretty exciting to say the least and during a turn, you can target enemies, fire your weapon, toss bombs and also pull off several stylish special moves and evasive manoeuvres that would even impress Dante (from Devil May Cry). The battles look to have a nice mix of real time and turn–based elements. We have seen this mix work really well in JRPGs before, like Eternal Sonata. The shooting and targeting system look straightforward and simple enough but the evasive manoeuvres and special moves are something we are very much looking forward to trying out for ourselves.
Plenty of awesome gun blazing RPG action here.
It doesn’t stop here, as another trailer revealed the deep customization options that this game has to offer. While the shooting itself looks pretty cool, what is even more impressive is that the game allows players to build their own guns and fire arms. We saw this in Dirge of Cerberus a few years ago, but Resonance of Fate looks to offer a much deeper and layered weapon creation and customization feature that will surely add something substantial to the game’s quest. The customization doesn’t stop here, as the game will also allow players to customize the appearance of their characters with some stylish clothes, hair styles and accessories. A feature like this has been long overdue in JRPGs and it’s good to see that a few games are trying to implement it now.
We believe Dragon Age: Origins and Final Fantasy XIII are perhaps the two main games that are in the minds of RPG fans. However, Resonance of Fate isn’t just another JRPG, as it has some interesting ideas, a cool setting and an art style with flair. We are certainly going to keep an eye on it until its eventual PAL release in 2010.
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