14 DAY TRIAL // It's just a week until tri-Ace's latest RPG, Resonance of Fate, arrives on Japanese Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s, so Famitsu has taken the time to browse through the game and share a few impressions with us. And if we're to judge by its strict, yet awkwardly eccentric standards, RoF could prove to be a pretty entertaining title. The magazine gave it a pretty impressive 34 points out of a total of 40, a better mark than the game's direct competition for the week, the Ar Tonelico 3 RPG, which only managed to get 28 points.
What's even weirder about the score is that every one of Famitsu's editors that reviewed it agreed that this wouldn't be a game to suit everyone's tastes. Then again, this is where the eccentricity comes into play. "Every battle requires you to consider how far you are from the enemy and how to link combos with party members, making it very strategic throughout," one of the editors wrote. "It's a difficult system and it won't appeal to everyone, but I think it's innovative, deep, and addictive."
While difficult is definitely something that proved to be appealing to the gaming masses flooded by casual games, a combat interface similar to the one in The Last Remnant did prove to be a little bit too much to handle for most, so complicated wouldn't really be a plus for the game. "The fighting is unconventional and has a lot of quirks to it," another editor explained. "There's a surprisingly big action element to the game which will require time to get used to. Still, get to grips with the rules, and the system's worth getting deep into."
And considering these elaborate, and somewhat difficult combat mechanics, it's disappointing to see that the game's tutorial isn't really well implemented enough to help us out. "It's a shame the tutorial is so hard to follow," one of the reviewers said. "The text prompts are helpful, but I wish it gave you more useful tips on surviving in battle."
Even so, the game did get complemented on the story and character interaction, and this is something pleasantly surprising to see, considering how games nowadays tend to forget what a script is used for. "The story's mostly serious, but has its funny parts that add some spice to the proceedings. I like the humour behind the mid-battle conversations." All in all, it looks like we have something to look forward to for March 9, when the game will get its North American release.