I’m not surprised if most people haven’t heard about this Japanese RPG, it came out at almost exactly the same time FF13 was released; that’s like trying to remember the movies that premiered the same time as The Dark Knight, games can be overshadowed by popular games just as easily.
Resonance is one of those RPGs that has unique elements to the game that oddly work, though they make take some getting used to: placing hexes of different shapes to open new paths to areas in a world built on giant plates in the sky (Midgar anyone?). The only weapons in the game are guns and grenades and coming from Japan, Resonance of Fate has all the stylistic action that accompanies gun play. The battles are fun and a little more difficult than your typical turn based fight, which can be annoying if you can’t win a seemingly easy battle no matter what tactics you apply. Players choose a direction for the character to run or jump to while shooting at enemies; jumping unleashes a sequence of flashy back flips, twirls, and trick shots.
The game is divided up into chapters that progress once the main mission is completed, each new chapter introduces new side missions assign on the message board at the guild. Heading over to the arena will pit your team against monsters that get tougher the higher the rank you go; winning fights nets you bronze, silver, or gold coins that can be redeemed for guns, accessories, or outfits. Since this game is all about style, there are also a number of different outfits available for each of the 3 main characters and while it doesn’t add much to the game itself, the player is welcome to experiment with different outfits and accessories.
The game stars 3 hunters name Zephyr, Vashyron, and Leanne who make a living by doing the dirty work of the upper crust of society, like finding vintage bottles of wine or protecting statues. As the chapters progress, more is revealed about each of the characters along with the main storyline. The game is actually pretty funny and has some humorous cut scenes after completing a chapter. More than a few times have I found myself laughing out loud watching the interaction between Zephyr, Vashyron and Leanne. An interesting element that keeps Resonance of Fate fresh is the player’s ability to customize guns with accessories that enhance their stats. Adding a scope will increase accuracy while an extended clip will allow the character to empty more rounds into the bad guys.
The damage system in Resonance is a bit peculiar; machine guns don’t do actual damage to the enemy, they do “scratch” damage which basically reduces the armor around an enemy. The hand guns do the real damage to the opponents, but only after the machine gun has reduced all the scratch damage. It seems a little counter intuitive but this way it makes the battles more strategic and requires a little more thought from the player. As far as graphics go, they’re your typical next gen visuals but the cut scenes especially stand out and look great. They remind me of Advent Children and its apparent the level of painstaking detail the developers put into those scenes.
If you’re an RPG fan, you can’t go wrong with Resonance of Fate; it isn’t your run of the mill RPG but that makes it so enjoyable and addictive, 8.5/10 from me.
