I've recently been keeping an eye out on Resonance of Fate, a game that seems to be destined to obscurity by being overshadowed by Final Fantasy XIII, especially when it's scheduled to be released in North America in the very same day as Final Fantasy XIII.

Now, up until this point I can safely say I've never played a Final Fantasy title, except the first Crystal Chronicles game, which shouldn't really count. Besides, I've given up on it very quickly.

I understand the hype behind Final Fantasy games, especially FFXIII, which promises to renovate JRPGs as we know them.

However, when looking up Resonance of Fate, I found myself frozen in place, unable to believe how similar the setting was to one game I enjoyed playing a little more than ten years ago.

Take a look at the Wikipedia entry for the game settings:

In the distant future, Earth has undergone a drastic change in the environment. For reasons unknown, poisonous layers of gases permeated the land, which resulted in near extinction for mankind due to our inability to adapt to the new changes. The remaining humans built a gigantic device called Basel, an environment purifier buried deep in the ground, which cleanses the air in the surrounding land and hopefully the rest of Earth as well. Civilization began to reform around Basel itself, building a city around the tower. The upper classes live in luxurious apartments at the top of Basel while the lower classes reside among the many districts built around the base and stem of the tower. For countless years, all is well, until one day the purifier inside Basel begins to malfunction.

So basically, a layered "world" which segregates people based on social classes, with the powerful at the very top and the poorest/least civilized at the bottom? Sounds like an interesting premise, doesn't it?

Let me share with you another Wikipedia article, which is about the 1999 PC RPG called Septerra Core. A game I chose on the PC simply because I picked an N64 as my only console instead of the original Playstation, a choice that caused me to miss out on many great games. I value this classic game, with all the cheesiness and flaws, both in story and in game mechanics, because it was my first ever taste of role-playing games.

So now I find myself at a crossroad: When the time comes, do I pick up Final Fantasy XIII, the latest game of a successful franchise which I've never really touched, or do I pick up Resonance of Fate, a game that could be a sleeper hit, and which is similar to a classic I've enjoyed many years ago?

I'm leaning more toward the latter, but not by much. After over ten years of the classic game's release, I find myself having to choose which game to buy, and which to skip over, at least until the middle of the year when no good games are being released.

Comments are appreciated.