Review: "Resonance of Fate"

Hmm...

I admit, I didn't completely go all the way with this game, but as far as I can tell from video walkthroughs posted online, I figured it's the same game from the start to the end. I'm not complaining since it is really typical of JRPGs, and to me, the most important thing in a JRPG is whether the mechanics and/or story can keep a player going.

So I'm just going out of the way and say that the story is mildly interesting at most, so it boils down to mechanics. Resonance of Fate has two main mechanics that are rather unique to the game. First it's their battle system, and the other is the unlocking the world through hex pieces.



I'm not going to start a tutorial here explaining those since they are more or less available online. A full explanation will take a ridiculous amount of pages.

For the hexes thing, basically the world map made of hexes and they are locked. You are supposed to collect and find hex pieces, either from monsters or quests, and use them to unlock the world map. There are also special colored hex pieces that serve two purposes: to unlock an impassable colored hex or to give bonuses from power stations. A video should make this clear:


The battle system is what makes you love the game, or hate the game. I think it's a really really good try though there are flaws here and there, especially at earlier levels.

As a brief description: There are basically 2 kinds of damage: Direct and Scratch. Scratch damage is very easy to deal as you dish out ridiculous numbers Direct damage will never see, but it cannot kill. When an opponent who has Scratch damage on him is dealt Direct damage, the Direct damage's first hit will deal the accumulated Scratch damage's worth of damage on top of its own damage.

Every other mechanic in the battle system are mechanics to make combat more interesting and help you deal more damage per turn. It's quite hard to get used to it at first since you have no idea what is the 'right' way to play, but if you are smart enough (which you should if you play games like these), you will be able to find a way. Perhaps a video will help:



Combat is also extremely beautiful to look at as you can see from the above video. It's almost like watching matrix all the time. The combat system was shown in the trailers and it's probably what sucks most of us to get the game.

However, it is really a risk to take. If you don't like the battle system, be prepared to put down the game within 15 mins of play. Of course, like most JRPGs, as you get more power ups, the game will get more fun, but if you don't even like the foundation of the system, I don't think you should waste your time giving it a second chance (or rather, giving yourself a second chance).