It might be telling that the first time I heard of tri-Ace's newest RPG was when it had its name changed from End of Eternity to Resonance of Fate for the international release. It was strange to me at the time since both names were in English and made about the same amount of sense, but I shrugged it off and went on with my life. With this new uber-trailer out in the wild though, I'm thinking that I might have to pay more attention, because the game looks goddamn nuts.
Though the opening premise and stereotypes aren't blindingly new, I'm digging the decision to skip the 16th century and move into a more industrial-age aesthetic. That opens the field for slightly less ridiculous character designs, and tri-Ace has recruited actual fashion artists to help tart up the cast with a wide variety of customizable clothing options. Better still, all the cutscenes are rendered in-engine, enhancing the drama with leopard-print jackets and t-shirts bearing incomprehensible Engrish slogans.
The gunplay-based battle system also looks intriguing, involving free movement in a quasi-real-time setup. Once selected, characters move and attack freely. However, players can opt to set up a waypointed path around enemies, which allows access to "invincible attacks," basically stunt jumps that send characters flying through the air, firing their guns in ways that even John Woo or Michael Bay would call "too crazy to work." From the video and details released so far it strikes me as a mixture of Valkyria Chronicles, Star Ocean, and the enemy-juggling mechanics from Super Robot Taisen OG Saga.
In any case, check out the trailer below. Feel free to skip to about 2:30, which is when stuff starts happening. What do you think? Am I being overoptimistic? I don't own a 360, and as such haven't played the majority of tri-Ace's JRPG releases this generation.
Actually I'm kind of looking forward to this. For the past few years the Tales of series has been practically the only JRPG games I've played; due to co-op mainly. But this actually looks pretty awesome.
I'm looking more forward to this in some ways than FFXIII. IIRC, the man directing this game designed the battle system for Yasumi Matsuno's masterpiece, Vagrant Story, and it shows. The battle system looks very intriguing and unique in the way it works which I'd expect nothing less from the person who designed such a deep weapon and combat system that existed in Vagrant Story.
Just look at the gun modifications... Vagrant Story has hundreds of blade and armor combinations to make all sorts of weapons and armors in different materials, let alone the stats on each weapon and the time necessary to create a perfect weapon [14 hours for one was the worst of which I dared to attempt].
This is beginning to look better and better. I'm actually intrigued by this. Still, what would make this game perfect is a dark storyline, which probably won't happen.
I'm looking forward to this too--This is pretty much the only game that's a must have for me that I see coming down the pipeline right now.
I know a lot of people dislike most of the RPG's from this gen, but I've actually liked a large number of them (Last Remnant, Mass Effect, and Oblivion are the only ones I had to force myself to finish...). This one doesn't look like it'll disappoint me at all.
Well, I'm interested. I wish more RPGs used guns instead of this whole, "even though I live in a world inhabited by advanced technology and firearms, I will still use a sword...and win" idea that's so common in RPGs. Tri-Ace know how to make a good RPG (for the most part) so I'll keep an eye out for this one in the future.
Not sure about the trendy clothes though, they don’t seem to fit in with the world, everyone else seems to be wearing robes and it makes them look like they’ve wandered onto the altar during mass.
"The game will also be introducing two very overdue features, namely the ability to retry any battle and save anywhere."
I don't really see those as overdue features, in fact they seem counterintuitive to most game designs. Being able to retry any battle and save anywhere effectively removes any sense of risk battles provide. In essence it's basically one step away from removing death altogether, as there's no real punishment for losing a battle. That sense of risk is often the only thing that keeps many random battles interesting, otherwise you're just mindlessly farming experience and money.
Maybe they'll make it work in this game, but I don't think I'd want to see this become common practice.
I'm on the fence about this and I probably will be until I get some more detail on how exactly it plays. I like the art and the animation but if I'm going to buy it I want to make sure it's a game that I can play, rather than issue the occasional command and then sit back and watch. Tri-Ace can be real hit and miss. I think the potential is there, we'll just have to see how well they executed.
I'm skeptically looking forward to this game. Infinite UnDiscovery was apparently crap, so I'm going to wait for a review before buying this game. Same goes for the Star Ocean+ for ps3.
Cautiously optimistic. I used to love Tri-Ace, but this generation all of their games have felt rushed. SO4 had a great battle system, but much of the rest of the game was lacking, and IU was a mess. I'll keep an eye on this, but I'm still more hopeful about whatever MistWalker is doing next.
@ Zeik56 - Is that the same Zeik56 from GameFAQs? I think I recognize you from various JRPG forums there! If so, welcome! If not, ignore this entirely...>_>
I was ignoring this game for a while because the articles didn't make it sound very appealing. This was the first time I saw battle footage, and HOLY OMFG. Any game where I can do diving 360 flips while shooting an enemy is definitely deserving of my attention (and probably my money). The fact that it's a JRPG is just a plus. Oh, I'm so shameless =P.
While most people have been looking at the FFXIII wow, I'm tired of it mostly, so fringe jrpgs like this appeal to me more. I've read about it and it sounds awesome, and at last I'm ever so glad to see a japanese developer making use of hard drive space, and letting you save anywhere.
Dedicated save points are pointless in most modern games, and jrpgs and perhaps japanese games in general, rely on them far too much. Nice to see another cycle being broken for the better.
Colour me interested in a 360 copy, Tri Ace, just please, don't mess it up.
As for such fashion in a game like this, why not? No one else has done it, and it will keep cosplayers busy as hell, as well as catering to the cath em all Pokemon crowd. It also a nice incentive to get female gamers onboard and buy the game.
I could sense the depth of my eyes widening with every new featurette that my eyes have just seen...
Back in April this looked like a good idea mixing tri-ace & sega together. Now with that video I believe they have captivated me beyond Japanese words in which I do not understand to the point where I must hand money out to Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity.
I was wondering, but it seems pretty obvious, if this has the same composer as Star Ocean? If you don't know Japanese and just listen to the video, you'd think it's an ad for Star Ocean.
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Contest:
8:30 PM on 11.14.2009
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it's coming for PS3 as well if you've got that.
Just look at the gun modifications... Vagrant Story has hundreds of blade and armor combinations to make all sorts of weapons and armors in different materials, let alone the stats on each weapon and the time necessary to create a perfect weapon [14 hours for one was the worst of which I dared to attempt].
I know a lot of people dislike most of the RPG's from this gen, but I've actually liked a large number of them (Last Remnant, Mass Effect, and Oblivion are the only ones I had to force myself to finish...). This one doesn't look like it'll disappoint me at all.
Well, I'm interested. I wish more RPGs used guns instead of this whole, "even though I live in a world inhabited by advanced technology and firearms, I will still use a sword...and win" idea that's so common in RPGs. Tri-Ace know how to make a good RPG (for the most part) so I'll keep an eye out for this one in the future.
Not sure about the trendy clothes though, they don’t seem to fit in with the world, everyone else seems to be wearing robes and it makes them look like they’ve wandered onto the altar during mass.
I don't really see those as overdue features, in fact they seem counterintuitive to most game designs. Being able to retry any battle and save anywhere effectively removes any sense of risk battles provide. In essence it's basically one step away from removing death altogether, as there's no real punishment for losing a battle. That sense of risk is often the only thing that keeps many random battles interesting, otherwise you're just mindlessly farming experience and money.
Maybe they'll make it work in this game, but I don't think I'd want to see this become common practice.
The only complaint I currently have about this game is the logo where the "OF" part looks like "FO" because of the way the text is tilted.
END FO ETERNITY! Great, now it sounds funky.
I was ignoring this game for a while because the articles didn't make it sound very appealing. This was the first time I saw battle footage, and HOLY OMFG. Any game where I can do diving 360 flips while shooting an enemy is definitely deserving of my attention (and probably my money). The fact that it's a JRPG is just a plus. Oh, I'm so shameless =P.
Lol, yeah, that would probably be me. :P
Dedicated save points are pointless in most modern games, and jrpgs and perhaps japanese games in general, rely on them far too much. Nice to see another cycle being broken for the better.
Colour me interested in a 360 copy, Tri Ace, just please, don't mess it up.
As for such fashion in a game like this, why not? No one else has done it, and it will keep cosplayers busy as hell, as well as catering to the cath em all Pokemon crowd. It also a nice incentive to get female gamers onboard and buy the game.
with the exception of the title, everything about this game looks interesting.
Back in April this looked like a good idea mixing tri-ace & sega together. Now with that video I believe they have captivated me beyond Japanese words in which I do not understand to the point where I must hand money out to Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity.
I was wondering, but it seems pretty obvious, if this has the same composer as Star Ocean? If you don't know Japanese and just listen to the video, you'd think it's an ad for Star Ocean.
Yep, let's just rehash old series instead of going in new and interesting directions!
I mean, I love Valkyrie Profile too. It's a great series, and I'd love to see more from it...but still, man, seriously?
seriously >:/ valkyrie profile:hrist. comaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, u know u want it