2.6.2010

"Resonance of Fate" slipped out right after "Final Fantasy 13" without a lot of fanfare, which is a shame as there is a risk of it slipping under the radar and disappearing into bargain-bin hell. Plus it's also pretty good.The game is set in a future world where everybody lives in a tall metal tower due to the earth having become uninhabitable for some reason, and you play as a team of three youngsters called Leanne, Zephyr and Vashyron (just the usual names for teenagers of course!), who start the game as guns for hire, taking on missions to mend broken bridges or deal with rebel bandits causing trouble around the tower. Things start slowly as you explore the locations and fight various gangsters and goblins,but right from the start the battle system really shines.Well I should say it does not shine immediately, because with no in-game tutorial, your first battles are going to be an exercise in bewilderment as it's impossible to fathom them out unaided. Luckily you are told that there is a battle arena near town where you can practise, and in here is a tutorial (thank god!), so I headed here as soon as I knew where it was.The game's appeal rests solely on the battle system, so it's important you know what it is all about. You have the same three characters throughout the whole game, and random battles see you face up against enemies of all sorts. The simplest thing to do is run around the battle field and fire at an enemy of your choice with your gun (it's all about guns in this game). First thing to know is that there are two types of firearms available: Machine guns, which cause very heavy damage but it's only temporary and recovers over time, and handguns, which cause very light damage, but turn any amount of temporary damage permanent as soon as they hit. So the idea is that you share out the types of guns, so (say) Leanne will fire a whole load of machine gun fire at an enemy and then Zephyr will go straight after her with his handgun, and convert that damage to permanent before it wears off. You can also hold your aim on an enemy while the gun powers up, which is a balance between waiting for the gun to charge up and firing before the enemy attacks, as any attack will make you lose all of your charge-up...and you only get one shot per turn. Got that part? Good, because there's a lot more, and if this is all you do, the game will get very boring quite fast.The real fun of the battles comes from using Hero Actions. Put simply, at the start of every action you have a limited number of orange gems on a guage. For the cost of one gem, you can do a charge across the entire length (or width) of the screen, and while you do this mad dash you can fire at the enemies as many times as you like before you come to a stop. It's great fun and of course can cause loads of damage, which is why it's not free to do - and you start the game with a very limited number of gems - three, I think, but you (very gradually) earn more throughout the game. You have to use these gems wisely, as if you spend all three doing these Hero Runs, you will go into panic mode, which almost always leads to a Game Over as you basically can't do anything. So you have to make sure each gem you spend is worth it. If you cause enough damage on a Hero Run or cause any part of the enemy (armour, usually) to break off, you earn a gem back, so you can see how strategic play is required to get lots of running in without running out of gems.This in itself is fun enough, but the true play experience of "Resonance of Fate" really comes from the Tri-Attack. This attack can only occur after you have done a succession of Hero Runs, during which time the characters have crossed paths at least once and have ended up in a vaguely triangular formation. Once you have a few successful runs in the bank you can unleash the Tri-Attack, which sees all three characters start running AT THE SAME TIME, all ready to fire at the enemy when you give the command. The camera starts weaving wildly across the screen as the characters leap and spin across the terrain (you can make them jump), firing and spinning through the air and shouting heroic cries like "Now you're gonna get it!" and so on. It all looks fantastic, and I never tired of it, in fact as soon as I got the hang of it I used Tri-Attacks in every single battle. It takes a lot of concentraion to plan each one, as you have to make sure your characters are well positioned on the ground so that they can all target the enemy, and they can all run without bashing into any walls or obstacles (the terrain often has things like ramps and pillars all over the place), which will end the run for whoever comes a cropper.Trust me, if you learn this battle system you will derive hours of fun from this game. Which is good because "Resonance of Fate" has no plot! I'm not kidding, to me it just seemed like I got given missions and targets to achieve and I just went around doing them, without any reason or motive other than being paid. The so-called story seems to revolve around the higher classes of the tower experimenting with the mortality of the regular inhabitants, but this is very hard to figure out. Most if the time the cast just mumble pondeorus phrases like "What have I done?" or "Why am I still alive? It would be better if I was dead!" and all that type of thing, few of which ever make sense. So do not play this game for the story!It's also not an easy game but to be honest, this is probably going to be because gamers are not using the Tri-Attack properly, and if you master this, you will win pretty much everything. Some bosses ramp up the challenge quite significantly, especially when they can only be damaged from one angle, so aiming Hero Runs in the right direction (so you can fire at their backs before they turn round, for example) becomes paramount.Apart from the battles, there is also the fun of powering up the guns. Instead of finding new weapons, you buy or find attachemnts for the ones you have throughout the game, and upgrading a gun becomes a mini-game, as you are required to fit all the additional barrels, bullet clips and sights onto the gun by means of a 2D grid diagram, which means arranging as many as you can on the grid and leaving as few unfilled spaces as possible (all the attachments are a different shape). Hours of geeky fun!And finally, you also have another mini-game in the world map, which you can only traverse by laying down tiles side by side to "fill in" the empty map. The tiles are shaped like jigsaw peices so you have to have enough of all the different shapes in order to successfully fill up entire floors of the tower, so this in itself is another fun part to play with.So to finish, you should absolutely buy this game and experience the very dynamic battle system. You might enjoy getting to know the three characters (you can even dress them up!), but don't expect to get too attached as the story is so vague that I finished the game without a clue what had happened. I just know that I won - Hooray! And a lot of fun it was too.

30.12.2010

After finishing FFXIII I was looking for another JRPG to play and decided to go for Resonance of Fate (AKA, End of Eternity) after all the good things I heard about it.GAMEPLAYThe reviews weren't kidding when they say you die a lot and to make matters worse, you have to pay some your hard earned money to get a second chance to fight. It's a steep learning curve; figuring out the right balance between direct damage, scratch damage, gauge breaking, Hero Actions and Tri-Attacks. It's enough to make you want to give up on the game.However, once you figured it all out, battles are extremely satisfying to win. You might want to visit the arena and take the tutorial there when you first start playing.The system is kind of like Valkyria Chronicles in a sense that it's part action and part turn based.Again, as others have mentioned. It's the solo battles that really become a bit on the frustrating side but fortunately, they are very rare.After all the linear exploration in FFXIII it was good to see how much freedom this game gives you. There's a fair number of side quests which you can finish at your own pace without worrying about advancing the story by accident. You can also spend your time clearing pathways to let you explore and for those who enjoy dressing up your characters, there's a whole collection of clothes to try out. There isn't any gear to buy but there are some crazy (and I mean crazy!) custom parts you can attach to the guns the protagonists uses. Talk about big guns!PRESENTATIONVisually the game looks no where near as beautiful as FFXIII. You'll notice a lot of repeated animation and spend most of time staring at dull dreary textures but you will get used to it eventually. The tower of Basel generally looks impressive with the lighting effects; rays of sunlight shimmering through the skies during the day and street lights glowing quietly at night.Sound on the other hand fairs better with tracks composed by Kohei Tanaka and Motoi Sakuraba. There's quite a few memorable tracks that might make you consider the OST. Those of you who prefer the original Japanese voice acting like I do will be glad to know there is an option to switch before you start a new game although you can't switch again freely afterwards. It's also sad to see none of the in-battle dialogue are subtitled because they can prove to be very amusing - sometimes they're part of the story too.It's your cliché Japanese character set up and the story isn't all that intricate but fortunately, you do have plenty of comedy scenarios. Again, they're scenarios that you see all time in Anime but they never get old. It's also pretty hilarious when a Tri-Attack or Hero Action goes wrong and your character bumps into something or, you just run out of bezel shards.CONCLUSIONResonance of Fate can be a little frustrating at times but on the whole, a very challenging but satisfying game with enough freedom to keep you busy up to 60 hours.

3.1.2015

The difficulty can spike at certain points ( the fight at ch. 10 was particularly annoying), but there is a surprising amount of depth to the fighting system which can turn impossible odds in your favour, even if you are at a very low level.The setting is somehow both unique & drab, so it may or may not stand out in your memory afterwards. Most dungeons closely resemble each other, but the clockwork towns and tower are beautifully designed.The characters run the gamut of cool quips, humorous observations and somber introspection and are all unique and likeable. That said, the male members of the team have a tendency to berate their female cohort, Leanne, on a fairly regular basis.

1.4.2010

Great game, i made the mistake of buying this while i was mashing x and L1 while 40hrs into FF13. Now FF13's not being played as im having way more fun on this, what a waste of £35. This games actual graphics and story telling technique are very average but the battle system, customisation and freedom it gives you makes it a must buy for any RPG fans out there. warning: make sure you go through the battle tutorial in the arena asap, you'll get the best out of this game if you know what your doing. Id give this game an 8/10, the graphics are average and the story telling is disjointed (which adds to the overall feel of the game) and i would have liked a few more weapons and characters.

2.5.2010

Resonance of Fate is a game that will probably not receive too much attention, due to it's release so close to Final Fantasy XIII. But make no mistake, RoS is a stellar RPG, doing things very differently, and very well. To sum it up in a few words, imagine Valkyrie Profile mixed with Valkyria Chronicles and you've got a good idea of how the combat in this game works. And you will see a lot of combat in this game. It's fun but can be hard to grasp at first. When you get into it, however, it can be barrels of fun just ploughing through a random battle.The world map is constructed like a sort of unlockable chessboard, requiring you to place hexagonal shapes on to a grid to proceed.

25.11.2010

Japanese Rpg often convey more than just a fun gameplay and astonishing graphics.In the case of Resonance of fate/End of Eternity (I'd really like to know why the change of name in the Europe version!) I found myselfsurprised by the many nice features inside it.My first impression, I must admit, wasn't so high. Graphic is good but a bit rough.The gameplay too wasn't so easy to understand at first, mostly due to the poor tutorial.But after these little problems I finally got to appreciate both the story and the beautiful soundtrack of this game.A thing that I personally appreciate about Jrpg is the effort of creating plots and characters with psychological sides.Yes I know,

25.2.2011

The fighting system in RoF is one of the best I've seen so far. I normally categorize RPG as tedious and time consuming and I'll normally get bored after a while as the fighting is normally the same and once you find a perfect combo, you'll just repeat it over and over again to pawn the enemies.But RoF is different! Every stage that you go will have different enemies and different attacks and the positioning of your characters during fighting is very important so you have to think how you want to position your character before you start the fight especially against bosses.Another plus point of the game is gun customization! Yes,

18.1.2013

I was skeptical at first about RoF, but I must say I haven't felt so compelled to keep playing an RPG since the days of FFXII and like FFXII its not the story that keeps you going its the strategy and combat. You feel powerful and smart when you kill an enemy the right way, refining your strategy and positioning of the party matters massively, something i think is missed out on to many RPG' these days. I have heard criticism over the graphics but i think it has a very nice style the cut scenes are very nice. I gave up on RPGs of this gen after FFXIII which made me doubt the future of JRPGs (at least good ones) but this has put RPGs back into the light for me.This will not be for everyone,

8.10.2011

This is a good rpg.The combat system takes a little while to understand, with enemies having different parts that can be targetted. In a little while your characters will be flying around "Matrix style" while shooting up the enemies. It looks cool and is fun.The upgrade system in the game allows you to modify your weapons by adding sights and extra barrels and can make a huge difference to their performance. It kept things interesting and I always enjoyed tinkering with the weapons.On the downside this title suffers (like a lot of Japanese RPG's do) with a barely understandable storyline. There are lots of flashbacks and scenes but at the end of the game I couldnt really tell you what the storyline was all about.

3.6.2011

This game is quite action packed and offers a variety of approaches. You can customize your characters and weapons and there is little grind to be found in it. If you finish main quests along with a couple of side quests, you usually don't need any extra grinding. Sometimes you meet very strong enemies and die repeatedly but in most cases, if you plan out the fight right then you'll win. It's very rewarding to beat tough enemies because it requires tactics. Keep in mind that this game is very confusing to begin with and you have no idea how to fight. Just enter the arena once you start the game and finish the tutorials. If that's not enough, see some videos online. Also, some other things are poorly explained.

29.3.2010

This is a totally new experience and is a fresh take on your traditional rpg mechanics. A few hours in and so far so good. The story telling is great and the cinematics are gorgeous and have a really charming feel about them. Battle only took a few fights to get into but you are thrown in at the deep end. Fights take place outside the world map like most rpg's and look jaw dropping. So does most of the scenery in towns as well but there is a lack of consistency. Quite a lot of the time I felt like I was playing a ps2 game! But generally this gets the thumbs up for visual style - reminds me of 'bouncer' and 'eternal sonata'. Credit goes to the composer too, this game has a truly atmospheric soundtrack.

6.6.2010

to me i like this game it has the unusual thing about the combat system like using guns and jumping about and still has the same turn based strategy .good points- its new and refreshing than the same old rpg- graphic detail . is outstanding and captures the players eye- customised detail . like adding parts to your weapons and changing outfits . ( which i think is a nice feature)these are a few good parts i think what is nice about the gamebad points- takes a little bit of getting used to ( i think . and if you are a quick learner then it will become a little bit easier for you)- i don't like the Valkyrie profile street system (but that's just me)- can get a little frustrating in the fighting parts but to me thats a minori like the game overall it has a unique game play i think .

21.11.2015

This game is one of the gems of last gen; it is a Jrpg with guns; the battle system is both turn-based and real time. You can start your turn at any time but once you move the enemy also moves shoots at you. It's a brilliant mixture, think Valkyria chronicles, not the same but kind of similar. I liked the story and graphics but one of the most interesting aspect was the characters and their interactions with many funny moments. Another brilliant feature is gun customisation where you acquire differnt gun or machine gun parts and try to defit as many strong parts in the gun plan as possible while copying with the limitations of space and part shapes. The music was also memorable. All in all,

11.1.2014

I'm not really into games with guns (I have terrible aim in general, I prefer games where you get up close with the likes of a sword, staff or keyblade) but I really enjoy this. The graphics are phenomenal, the controls (once you get used to them) are engaging and fun to make use off. I haven't got far story wise (exams and christmas taking up time as well as completing KH1FM from 1.5) but from the scenes I have seen it intrigues me and I look forward to finding out more. The hex map itself is a bit confusing, but I like the idea of hovering over the map and getting encounters rather than having to traverse the whole area to get from A to B. Bottom line I would recommend this to others.

26.6.2012

I saw this game alot in stores, and always thought of playing it, but didnt seem like my kind of game at first. so eventually I tried it. At first I couldn't understand the simplist thing about the game... but over time, I learned the mechanics & eventually got the hang of it. Resonance of Fate is a complex game at first, but once you've discovered how it works & played it for a while, you may enjoy the cinematic gunplay & quite witty characters. I recommened this game for players who like a real challenge & want something different in a video game.

Resonance of Fate (PS3) - Reviews

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