Resonance of Fate

[The Legendary Zoltan]

...FREAKING ROCKS! If you haven't played it, and you like traditional RPGs with less than traditional, complicated, and actiony battle modes, then you'll like this. like the story so far, too.

-WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS OTAKU-STYLE IN-DEPTH GUSHING ABOUT THE GAME MECHANICS THAT MAY BE BORING TO SOME PEOPLE-

Honestly, as far as in-game systems go, Tri-Ace destroys everyone. In this particular game, instead of having the world open up as the story progresses, you just need hexagonal items called Energy Hexes to unlock the world piece-by-piece. There are also colored hexes, which, if laid down in a way that they connect with "energy stations" on the map, create effects in those areas. Effects like, "Fire damage x2" or "rare item drop rate x2." I guess that means that if you made every single hexagon on the map the same color, you could spread the effects of every single energy station throughout the entire game world. KYAA! That sounds sweet!

The battle mode is as unique as they come. You have only guns as your basic weapons. When you level up, your strength and defense do not change. You just get more HP and you can carry more weight. The weight capacity is for customizing your gun with add-on parts that also have their own weight. The more you can carry, the heavier and more parts you can stick onto your guns. Eventually you'll be strong enough to hold a gun in each hand. Customizing your guns can give you more bullets in the magazine, or faster firing rate if you add a barrel, or better aim if you put a handle on it. It uses a graphical interface. So you can put the parts on any way you like as long as all the different shaped ports are alligned properly. FUN FUN!

This is the 3rd Tri-Ace game I've played on PS3. Resonance of Fate, Star Ocean 4, and Eternal Sonata. They all rocked but it seems like I'm the only one who ever says Tri-Ace games are good these days. You guys don't know what you're missing.

[SwordBreaker]

Freakin' LOVE Tri-Ace. They've only gotten better with each game. Sadly though, for some reason I haven't been seeing their games to completion. Last one I finished and started a 2nd playthrough of is Radiata Stories, another forgotten gem. I've reached the final disc of Star Ocean: The Last Hope for the Xbox 360 and grown tired of the grinding and cringe-worthy voice acting. Enjoyed it while it lasted though. As for Eternal Sonata, thought it was good too but I only played 5 hours of it.

Resonance is one game I really want to play. It's still wrapped and hiding under my desk. I'm really addicted to its soundtrack though. Once again, Motoi Sakuraba surprises me by going industrial with this one.

[PriZm]

resonance was really a great game. so was star ocean with the japanese voice acting.

didn't really like eternal sonata though.

but yeah resonance has that kind of old school feel while having a (maybe overwhelmingly) innovative battle system. it's really hard to explain

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

I feel I should point out that Eternal Sonata was developed by Tri-Crescendo, who also developed Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon for the Wii and not Tri-Ace. There could have been some staff crossover at one point, but it was developed by the former.

Motoi Sakuraba DID compose the soundtrack for it though, which to his credit, along with his work on Infinite Undiscovery it's the best he's done this generation IMO. It seems he only pulls the generic card whenever he's working on the Star Ocean or Tales series, which can be pretty hit or miss. Kohei Tanaka adds most of the flair to Resonance of Fate's OST, while fortunately Sakuraba was relegated to just the battle tracks which turned out well enough, save for the goddamned synth organ he always uses.

Resonance of Fate is pretty sweet though. I could probably spend about lengthy periods of time just trying out new outfits for my characters. My biggest problem with the battle system however would be that it's basically a "what you get is what you got" scenario. Characters can learn different skills here and there, but there's never any addition or twists to the mechanics other than using hexes and power stations outside of battle to influence loot drops and such. I love the plot of the game especially, as it has a very Trigun/Gungrave feel to it with a bunch of twists, turns, and bloody pasts all the while having a personal, family-like bond between the three leads as they come to terms with all the events that would bring them to where they are now. There are a few inconsistencies here and there(like Leanne's reaction to Zephyr's past midway through), but overall it's nice.

Did I mention Leanne? She's got spunk. Love her I do.

It's too bad SEGA had the idiot business sense to release this the very week AFTER Final Fantasy XIII hit, or it might have gotten some more attention. As it stands I STILL have to go back to finish those last 3 or 4 chapters I was missing.

[Guy In Rubber Suit]

I have a very love-hate relationship with Resonance of Fate. The story, graphics and everything except for the battle mechanics scream mid-PS2 era JRPG. The characters are devoid of most development while the story is unnecessarily convoluted to the point of absurdity. Maybe it's because I'm not super far into the game, but I really do not have a good grasp of the over arching objective and the main motivator for the principal cast is money.

Combat in ROF is very unique. I love the action oriented take; greatly dislike the random encounters. However the mechanics have a fairly high learning curve and when you think you got it down, the game throws a cheap ass enemy at you to keep you from riding up to cloud 9. Seriously, make a single mistake of letting your meter deplete and you are screwed for the most part in combat. This is seriously frustrating in boss battles if you had a difficult time leading up to the end encounter.

I really enjoyed the steam punk setting of the world and the upgrade system, while very ridiculous, had some points of amusement. I might revisit it once I finish a few other titles. If Mass Effect 3 does not come out before then...

[Brandon Strader]

Great game, awesome soundtrack, very interesting and challenging battle system. I haven't finished this but I plan to, I just hope I remember how to play it when the time comes.

[relyanCe]

picked this up along with mirror's edge and bayonetta and ended up spending most of my time playing bayonetta before going back to FFXIII in the hopes of actually finishing it. Still haven't really explored this game much, but its pretty fun from what i've played.

also feels a lot like Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria to me.

[anosou]

Fuckawesome game but I feel I don't have the patience to play it for some reason. Still, one of the best run-around-and-battle games.

[Brandon Strader]

Yeah, you definitely need patience with this game, something I didn't have because I'm not a doctor. But listen to this song from the game and you'll get an idea of how great and innovative it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0KcVBiM2QQ

[PriZm]

one other thing that is cool about this game is that the trophies are actually fun to get and not ridiculously time consuming and boring like star ocean or Final Fantasy XIII

[DJ Mighty]

i am still early into the game, I like it a lot but the fighting is a little hard to figure out right now. Will prob play it later tonight

[The Derrit]

picked this up along with mirror's edge and bayonetta and ended up spending most of my time playing bayonetta before going back to FFXIII in the hopes of actually finishing it. Still haven't really explored this game much, but its pretty fun from what i've played.

also feels a lot like Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria to me.

i just got on the 3rd disc of FFXIII its pretty awesome

also mirror's edge is where its at

[The Legendary Zoltan]

I've reached the final disc of Star Ocean: The Last Hope for the Xbox 360 and grown tired of the grinding and cringe-worthy voice acting. Enjoyed it while it lasted though. As for Eternal Sonata, thought it was good too but I only played 5 hours of it.

You don't have to grind in Star Ocean 4 at all... Unless, of course, you want to complete the entire beastiary. That takes time. I haven't done it yet. Eternal Sonata is a grindFEST because there are no other ways to become more powerful in battle other than levelling up.

I feel I should point out that Eternal Sonata was developed by Tri-Crescendo, who also developed Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon for the Wii and not Tri-Ace. It seems Sakuraba only pulls the generic card whenever he's working on the Star Ocean or Tales series, which can be pretty hit or miss. Kohei Tanaka adds most of the flair to Resonance of Fate's OST, while fortunately Sakuraba was relegated to just the battle tracks which turned out well enough, save for the goddamned synth organ he always uses.

Yeah, but it certainly feels like a Tri-Ace game. It has a quirky story, over-the-top battle phrases, crazy battle mode, and Sakuraba. What did the guys who weren't from Tri-Ace do? Hahaha. I don't know about the Tales series, but I don't agree that Sakuraba has ever made a generic song for a Star Ocean game. I agree that using him for the battle tracks was a good idea though.

one other thing that is cool about this game is that the trophies are actually fun to get and not ridiculously time consuming and boring like star ocean or Final Fantasy XIII

That's for DAMN sure! I can't stand some of the trophies that exist in other games.

Thanks for not spoiling anything guys. It seems like it's been forever since Tri-Ace finished their last game. I wonder when they're going to make something new.

[Zombie]

I have heard mixed things about this game, but i am a total sucker for crazy battle systems and jrpgs. I'll keep it in mind but the next ps3 game I buy will most likely be disgaea 3.

I've been wanting to play Eternal Sonata for some time now but haven't got around to it.

[PriZm]

i think you should skip eternal sonata and play resonance instead if you like crazy battle systems and jrpgs

eternal sonata is as linear as ff13 (not that that is a bad thing in my book)

[relyanCe]

i just got on the 3rd disc of FFXIII its pretty awesome

also mirror's edge is where its at

i dont play xbax so i don't know exactly where the third disk is but i totally believe its awesome

and yes mirror's edge was a fun time for most of the way but some levels totally owned me and made me rage out all over it

[The Legendary Zoltan]

and yes mirror's edge was a fun time for most of the way but some levels totally owned me and made me rage out all over it

Rage like in those crazy YouTube videos? Hahaha.

As to what Prizm said, I don't think it's even close to as linear as FF13 personally. There is definitely a straight line you can travel to get from the start to the finish of an area, but there are plenty of explorable side paths. The branching paths in FF were like a few extra steps out of the way. But I agree that you might want to go for Resonance of Fate without Eternal Sonata. It's better in my opinion. Unless of course you like raelly long and pointlessly drawn out chessy JRPG monologues. Then, Eternal Sonata is the way to go! Hahaha. I'm in chapter 9 of Resonance of Fate and my only gripe about it is that you can't get a star in the arena ranked battles until you beat the same battle TEN times. I've done it from ranks 1-20 but I've got up to rank 40 available to battle. Ugh! That's gonna take forever. Other than that, lovin' it.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

i dont play xbax so i don't know exactly where the third disk is but i totally believe its awesome.

The beginning of the second disc on the Xbox 360 version is Chapter 10.

Also, the worst kept secret of every JRPG(and any other RPG other than Hack and NetHack) is that they're ALL linear with varying degrees. As long as there are specific "choke points" that you have to get across in order to proceed, the game is linear. Final Fantasy XIII just decides to cut out the middleman and be upfront about being a straight line.

[PriZm]

Rage like in those crazy YouTube videos? Hahaha.

As to what Prizm said, I don't think it's even close to as linear as FF13 personally. There is definitely a straight line you can travel to get from the start to the finish of an area, but there are plenty of explorable side paths. The branching paths in FF were like a few extra steps out of the way. But I agree that you might want to go for Resonance of Fate without Eternal Sonata. It's better in my opinion. Unless of course you like raelly long and pointlessly drawn out chessy JRPG monologues. Then, Eternal Sonata is the way to go! Hahaha. I'm in chapter 9 of Resonance of Fate and my only gripe about it is that you can't get a star in the arena ranked battles until you beat the same battle TEN times. I've done it from ranks 1-20 but I've got up to rank 40 available to battle. Ugh! That's gonna take forever. Other than that, lovin' it.

well if you are playing on a ps3, which you are because you are in japan, there is an optional dungeon at the end in which you can get an item called the hi-pod. with it you can listen to your own music while playing the game and it certainly makes the arena less tedious

[Schwaltzvald]

well if you are playing on a ps3, which you are because you are in japan, there is an optional dungeon at the end in which you can get an item called the hi-pod. with it you can listen to your own music while playing the game and it certainly makes the arena less tedious

...an item called the hi-pod...you can listen to your own music while playing the game...

Oh really now...

Suddenly a playlist is forming

[The Legendary Zoltan]

well if you are playing on a ps3, which you are because you are in japan, there is an optional dungeon at the end in which you can get an item called the hi-pod. with it you can listen to your own music while playing the game and it certainly makes the arena less tedious

I'm actually playing the American version on an American PS3. But yeah, you're right. I didn't know I needed an item to listen to the music. Did I find that item? I'll have to check my inventory. Is Vashyron funny and/or charming in English? The Japanese voices are just too good, but I can't quite understand everything he says. Hoping the English voices will be just as good.