Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Keith Schleicher

Every console has its strengths and weaknesses, especially with the kind of games that are released for it.  While Microsoft made admirable strides in the console war with the Xbox, they still had a huge void in the RPG genre.  While a few RPG titles were available for the Xbox, like KOTOR and Morrowind, those who were clamoring for something with a more JRPG bent were subject to the horrors of Metal Dungeon and Blackstone: Magic and Steel.

Microsoft has gone through pains to rectify this discrepancy with the Xbox 360, even going so far as funding Mistwalker Studios headed by the creator of the Final Fantasy series.  However, the first JRPG coming out for the Xbox 360 isn’t coming from Mistwalker and Microsoft.  Instead, From Software has taken a risky wager by creating Enchanted Arms for the Xbox 360.

In Enchanted Arms you play as Atsuma, a man who is reluctantly called to save the world from restarting a war that ended over 1,000 years.  Atsuma travels all over the world to find the reasons the war could start again and the forces behind it.  He gains new allies and gathers clues along the way in preparation for the ultimate battle.

The cutscenes in Enchanted Arms look great.  Most of the cutscenes are actually done using the game engine.  However, a couple of the cutscenes are pre-rendered, but it is really hard to tell the difference between the two.

The characters interact with each other during certain points of the game.  During these conversations you see one character on one side of the screen and the other character on the other side, with the environment darkened behind them.  While the movement is a bit robotic, the poses used by the characters really convey to you the emotions behind the words.  Their clothes move naturally during these dialogue interactions.

Enchanted Arms has absolutely stunning lighting effects.  Every Enchant and weapon strike has an accompanying lighting effect.  Each one lights according to the kind of element associated with the strike.  Red indicates a fire attack, while water attacks are indicated by a blue hue.  Energy flows through structures similar to the way that energy beams travel in the movie Tron.  Waterfalls mist as the water splashes to the ground.  Torches that light the way sparkle with light.

Some of the areas do look a bit sparse.  Some areas have people talking to each other, but you feel as if there should be more people moving about the city.  Also, while the clothes are different, the character models for most of the generic NPC’s you see are the same.  However, these are minor quibbles compared with the rest of the game.

The environments in Enchanted Arms all have their own unique sound to them.  The pipes and old equipment of an abandoned city hum as you walk past them.  The music in the castle has a bit of a Renaissance feel to it.  The casino has the clinking and clanking you’d expect to hear in Vegas.  The mines have a jungle feel to them.  The tensions increase during battle, but at the end of battle the victory theme sounds almost like the Final Fantasy victory theme.  It’s surprising at how close it is.

You have probably heard about the the voice of Makoto if you have read other reviews for Enchanted Arms.  In the manual he is described as a transvestite.  The single word to describe him would be FUH-LAME-ING.  Saying he is eccentric would be an understatement.  However, Makoto doesn’t stay in your party for very long, and any complaints for his voice acting really aren’t fair and makes you wonder if other reviewers didn’t play more than a couple of hours into the game.  In fact, I would say that the voice acting in Enchanted Arms is much better than most of the RPGs out there.  The voices match closely to their on-screen counterparts, especially when you compare it to the voice acting in Final Fantasy X.

The amount of voice acting within Enchanted Arms is pretty staggering.  While the conversations between NPCs don’t have any voice-overs, most of the conversations among members in your party are.  If you don’t care for the voices in the game, you can choose to switch the voice-overs to Japanese as well.  While more games are making this option available, it’s nice to see it on the Xbox 360.

An RPG doesn’t need to have complex controls, and Enchanted Arms doesn’t.  Movement is handled with the left analog stick, and camera control is done with the right.  Moving the cursor in menus can be done with either the left analog stick or the D-pad.  A map of the area you are in is displayed by hitting the start button.  Hitting the A button selects an option and hitting B cancels your input.  Hitting Y brings up the main game menu.  The left and right bumpers move through the different characters in your party.

By hitting Y during battles, you can fast forward the action.  Remember how you would need to watch summons during some of the Final Fantasy games?  That’s a thing of the past.  You still watch the animations, but they progress much quicker.  This is one of the best additions to the game and is something that other RPGs should add into them as soon as possible.

Enchanted Arms seems to have the typical reluctant hero story.  While the main character in the game, Atsuma, is a reluctant hero, he isn’t the typical jaded type that you might find in other games.  At the beginning of the game Atsuma is a bit of a goof-off who doesn’t take his studies seriously.  He starts to notice that his arm has a flowing power through it.  While he starts out with two classmates in his party, he eventually meets up with new allies as he discovers the true power of his arm and what involvement his arm has to do with the impending Golem war.

If you have played other JRPGs, you know the basic gameplay principles.  You run through the area finding NPCs to talk to, battle enemies, heal wounds, gain experience, and buy supplies.  You can punch crates and barrels to gain items like gems and money.  While all of this might sound familiar, Enchanted Arms has enough to differentiate it to make it a unique experience.

Enchanted Arms uses random encounters for battling enemies.  While a large number or RPGs are moving away from this trend, it is still rather common.  The encounter rate does seem to be a bit high at times.  The encounter rate isn’t nearly as bad as Skies of Arcadia or the Shin Megami Tensi: Digital Devil Saga games, but there are times when you feel like you can't take more than a couple of steps without having to go into battle again.

The battles have a Chess-like feel to them.  Instead of your characters lining up in a straight line against each other, each side is given an area four squares wide and three squares deep.  Each character is allowed to move and then perform an action.  Places you are able to move to are highlighted with a blue square.  Once your character is in the position you want him or her to be in, your character can perform an action.  The action can be a skill that affects the statistics of your party, an attack against the enemies, or use an item.  Using a skill affects an area around you.  The squares affected are highlighted with green.  Attacks have different patterns with them.  Some attacks affect a column, others affect a row, and others have a unique pattern like a cross or something else.

While those are the basic commands, other abilities are available as well.  A Combo Gauge fills during battle.  If party members have a full Combo Gauge, they do more damage when attacking.  The EX Gauge is another gauge, but this gauge is shared with the non-Golem party members.  These are considered Extra Skill attacks and are spectacular displays of power.

Most characters have an attribute associated with it.  These attributes are Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, and Darkness.  Different attributes can give your character a strategic advantage over enemies, but they can also give you a disadvantage as well.  Knowing what these attributes are can really turn the tide in the battle.

Vitality Points are crucial to your party members.  Vitality points indicate the characters’ health.  As you take damage during the battle, your vitality points are drained.  If they are drained to zero, your character enters battle with both Hit Points and Ether Points set to one.  This means they are basically useless in battle.  The only way to get Vitality Points back are to either use items that restore Vitality Points or using Recharge Stations which are scattered across the land.

When you enter battle, unless your Vitality Points are down to zero, your characters’ Hit Points and Ether Points are both full.  This means less item management to keep your hit points full thereby streamlining gameplay with less micromanagement.

As you fight, you gain Tablets, experience, skill points, and items.  Tablets are the currency used in the game.  Experience points increase the level of your party members.  Skill points are used to increase the abilities and learn new skills for combat.

The shops serve many functions.  You can buy items, like powders and Ethers, but you are also able to buy new skills.  These skills are associated with specific members of your party.  However, once you have purchased the skills, you still need to learn them by using Skill Points.  Skill points are also used to increase the statistics of your characters.  Also, with the correct gems, you can synthesize Golems.

One of the most unique aspects of Enchanted Arms are Golems.  Golems are magical dolls designed as a substitute for human labor.  Each Golem is composed of Core Materials and Gems, and they are operated by Ether.  If you don’t have the necessary materials, you can purchase the ones you need.  These Golems are available to fight along side you in your party.  There are over 100 Golems to collect, so there is a bit of a "Gotta Catch 'Em All" feel to it, to steal a phrase from another popular franchise.  While only four members of your party can actually fight in combat, Golems can be switched in and out.  These Golems do gain experience, but they won’t get any Skill Points in battle.

Some people feel that RPGs should be over 100 hours.  Enchanted Arms is closer to 40 hours in length.  Some might actually appreciate that the game wraps up its story within that amount of time.

Enchanted Arms does feature an online mode, which is something you don’t find often with an RPG that isn’t strictly an MMO.  The online mode features the Golems.  You can fight other players using Golems in one of your save games or fight using random Golems.  This is a nice idea, but it’s rather limited in scope.

While some might complain about how Enchanted Arms is "more of the same," it takes a few hours to find out the intricacies of the game that make Enchanted Arms a unique experience.  The combat system is different and requires more strategy compared to other RPGs. The amount of item management is reduced since health is determined by Vitality Points and not Hit Points, allowing you to concentrate on your characters’ skills.  There’s a wide variety of Golems, and their creativity adds a lot of unique options to Enchanted Arms.  While Enchanted Arms does have its faults, anyone who has been waiting for a JPRG to hit the Xbox 360 should take a good long look at Enchanted Arms.  While not perfect, it definitely stacks up to the other JPRGs available on the market.

Gaming Trend Score

84

1. Graphics: 90
2. Audio: 83
3. Controls: 88
4. Gameplay: 83
5. Value/Replay: 78
6. OVERALL:84