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August 30, 2006 | 3:19 AM PST
Even more so than the unique characters and engaging storylines essential to any memorable RPG, it is the battle system that serves as the major distinguishing factor between each of the many entrants in the genre. After all, it wasn’t until the implementation of the Active Time Battle system that the Final Fantasy franchise truly differentiated itself from the competing turn-based Dragon Quest series, and more recent franchises such as Phantasy Star, Grandia, and Tales of Destiny have all incorporated slightly different modes of combat as a means of standing out from the pack and form an identity all their own. It makes sense, as not only is combat the most common activity over the course of an RPG, but also the most interactive since puzzles are typically a matter of simple riddles, fetch quests or item usage, and dialogue trees are often little more than quick question-and-answer sessions.
Enchanted Arms features a unique combat system called the Speed Tactics Battle System, and while players may recognize several individual elements of the system from various other titles, FROM Software has done an admirable job of combining those mechanics to provide a fresh take on turn-based combat. Some may argue that turn-based combat is on the way out as a new generation of ADD-prone gamers continue to demand faster and more immediate gratification from battle, but the battles in Enchanted Arms provide a strong testimony in favor of the added tension and intensity that a little patience and a fair amount of strategy can bring to any combat situation.
Beginning with the basics, the game features the by-now familiar HP and EP system, wherein the HP value represents the amount of damage a character can take before they are rendered unconscious and unable to participate in the fight, and the amount of EP (ether points) determines how many more skills or spells can be used before the character effectively runs out of steam (some might be more familiar with the term MP, but its essentially the same concept). Furthermore, each character has a natural affiliation with one of six elements, those being fire, water, earth, wind, light and dark. Furthermore, most of the skills and/or spells that players can perform in battle also have a natural affiliation toward one of the six elements. Characters of one elemental class can perform skills of another, but the skill will not have an effect anywhere near as potent as it would have if performed by a character of the same elemental class. As any RPG veteran would assume, opposing elements (eg. fire vs. water, earth vs. wind, and light vs. dark) deal the most damage to one another.
The battlefield is composed of two separate 4x3 grids, one for the opposition, and the other for the four player characters. Once a battle begins, players choose their own party action order, rather than relying on initiative ratings. A character turn is a composed of two phases, one to move the character to a specific position on the grid, and the other to cue up the command for the character to eventually perform. Players cannot cross over onto the enemy grid, nor can the enemy occupy space on the player’s grid, and they can only move a certain amount of spaces away from their starting point on each turn. Once all the players have moved to their respective positions, the player can launch the four commands in whichever order they please. If players happen to perform certain commands in the correct order, then the attacks will actually combine to create a larger, more powerful combo attack, provided the areas of effect overlap on top of an enemy.
Positioning is important, as each skill has a specific range and area of effect, relative to the position of the player. In this vein, the game bears a resemblance to chess; just as pawns, rooks, bishops, knights and the rest of the chess pieces have specific paths they must follow in order to attack, so too do the spells and skills in Enchanted Arms, and like chess pieces, the characters must be positioned accordingly prior to attack in order to be successful. The main character, Atsuma for example, is predominantly a melee character, so for more of his attacks to be successful, he would have to be positioned right in front of the enemy, while characters with long-distance magic or ranged weapons could have attacks that affect an entire column of the grid, or a T-shaped area emanating from the character. In some cases, the area of effect starts several squares in front of the character, and in order to ensure the area of effect isn’t off the grid, players will have to move the player to the back of their own grid. Those are just a few examples of potential positioning dilemmas that players will either have to anticipate or adjust mid-battle for. Enemies’ attacks also have specific areas of effect, so learning the specific capabilities of certain enemy types and tactically repositioning your party in anticipation of their actions plays a large part in combat, particularly against powerful boss characters. In some cases, there will actually be objects on the battlefield that players can take cover behind to protect themselves from direct attacks.
In addition to standard attacks, skills and magic spells – all of which require EP to use – players can also unleash powerful EX and Link maneuvers. Each character has an EX gauge that slowly increases each time that character performs a skill. Once the gauge is full, that character can unleash a particularly devastating attack suited for taking down large bosses, or ending a battle quickly if the party is on death’s door. Link maneuvers are powerful cooperative attacks that can be performed if two or more characters have a full link gauge and attack the same enemy. In case your head wasn’t already spinning from all the types of points to keep track of, there’s also the matter of vitality points. At the conclusion of each battle, the characters’ HP is fully restored, so players don’t need to worry about blowing a stack of potions via the status menu after every battle. However at the conclusion of each battle, the characters’ VP gauge will lower depending on the amount of HP the game refills. If the VP gauge hits zero, then the party will enter the next battle with a huge chunk of their HP missing, and the subsequent battle will be a lot more difficult (not to mention tense) as a result. Players don’t simple have to wait around and helplessly watch their VP fall however – there are points throughout the game world where they can refill the VP gauge, albeit, sometimes for a fee. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry; the entire process is actually fairly simple, and quickly feels natural. Furthermore, the game actually features an autoplay battle function, wherein the game employs an AI script to play through the battle for you, and it works fairly well. Additionally, there’s also a fast-forward function, so players can input their own commands, and skip through the drawn-out presentation of each turn.
Finally, there are the Golems. While players will spend quite a bit of their time hunting down and killing these creatures, they’ll also have plenty of opportunities to create and exploit their own. In order to create a Golem, players will need to find a Golem core, which can either be bought for a hefty price or taken from the remains of Golem’s defeated in battle. Once players get their hands on a Golem core, they’ll be informed of the materials needed to construct it, and these materials can also be purchased or won through battle. Once all the necessary materials have been gathered, players will be forced to spend some money at one of several specialty shops to synthesize the Golem. Some golems are proficient at melee combat, others at ranged attacks, and some are best suited for support roles like healing or inflicting status effects. Players can only ‘carry’ 8 golems around with them at any given time, and it won’t take more than a few hours for most players to double and triple that number. As such, players will have to put some thought into which golems they choose to take along with them, based on the unique skills each golem has, and the types of enemies the player expects to encounter. There is a huge number of golems to collect in Enchanted Arms, and as such, players have a wealth of options as far as customizing their party and combat strategies.
As the first Japanese, turn-based RPG on the console, Enchanted Arms may be something of a trip into uncharted territory for many Xbox 360 owners. AMN will have the definitive review of the entire package later this week.
Enchanted Arms features a unique combat system called the Speed Tactics Battle System, and while players may recognize several individual elements of the system from various other titles, FROM Software has done an admirable job of combining those mechanics to provide a fresh take on turn-based combat. Some may argue that turn-based combat is on the way out as a new generation of ADD-prone gamers continue to demand faster and more immediate gratification from battle, but the battles in Enchanted Arms provide a strong testimony in favor of the added tension and intensity that a little patience and a fair amount of strategy can bring to any combat situation.
Beginning with the basics, the game features the by-now familiar HP and EP system, wherein the HP value represents the amount of damage a character can take before they are rendered unconscious and unable to participate in the fight, and the amount of EP (ether points) determines how many more skills or spells can be used before the character effectively runs out of steam (some might be more familiar with the term MP, but its essentially the same concept). Furthermore, each character has a natural affiliation with one of six elements, those being fire, water, earth, wind, light and dark. Furthermore, most of the skills and/or spells that players can perform in battle also have a natural affiliation toward one of the six elements. Characters of one elemental class can perform skills of another, but the skill will not have an effect anywhere near as potent as it would have if performed by a character of the same elemental class. As any RPG veteran would assume, opposing elements (eg. fire vs. water, earth vs. wind, and light vs. dark) deal the most damage to one another.
The battlefield is composed of two separate 4x3 grids, one for the opposition, and the other for the four player characters. Once a battle begins, players choose their own party action order, rather than relying on initiative ratings. A character turn is a composed of two phases, one to move the character to a specific position on the grid, and the other to cue up the command for the character to eventually perform. Players cannot cross over onto the enemy grid, nor can the enemy occupy space on the player’s grid, and they can only move a certain amount of spaces away from their starting point on each turn. Once all the players have moved to their respective positions, the player can launch the four commands in whichever order they please. If players happen to perform certain commands in the correct order, then the attacks will actually combine to create a larger, more powerful combo attack, provided the areas of effect overlap on top of an enemy.
Positioning is important, as each skill has a specific range and area of effect, relative to the position of the player. In this vein, the game bears a resemblance to chess; just as pawns, rooks, bishops, knights and the rest of the chess pieces have specific paths they must follow in order to attack, so too do the spells and skills in Enchanted Arms, and like chess pieces, the characters must be positioned accordingly prior to attack in order to be successful. The main character, Atsuma for example, is predominantly a melee character, so for more of his attacks to be successful, he would have to be positioned right in front of the enemy, while characters with long-distance magic or ranged weapons could have attacks that affect an entire column of the grid, or a T-shaped area emanating from the character. In some cases, the area of effect starts several squares in front of the character, and in order to ensure the area of effect isn’t off the grid, players will have to move the player to the back of their own grid. Those are just a few examples of potential positioning dilemmas that players will either have to anticipate or adjust mid-battle for. Enemies’ attacks also have specific areas of effect, so learning the specific capabilities of certain enemy types and tactically repositioning your party in anticipation of their actions plays a large part in combat, particularly against powerful boss characters. In some cases, there will actually be objects on the battlefield that players can take cover behind to protect themselves from direct attacks.
In addition to standard attacks, skills and magic spells – all of which require EP to use – players can also unleash powerful EX and Link maneuvers. Each character has an EX gauge that slowly increases each time that character performs a skill. Once the gauge is full, that character can unleash a particularly devastating attack suited for taking down large bosses, or ending a battle quickly if the party is on death’s door. Link maneuvers are powerful cooperative attacks that can be performed if two or more characters have a full link gauge and attack the same enemy. In case your head wasn’t already spinning from all the types of points to keep track of, there’s also the matter of vitality points. At the conclusion of each battle, the characters’ HP is fully restored, so players don’t need to worry about blowing a stack of potions via the status menu after every battle. However at the conclusion of each battle, the characters’ VP gauge will lower depending on the amount of HP the game refills. If the VP gauge hits zero, then the party will enter the next battle with a huge chunk of their HP missing, and the subsequent battle will be a lot more difficult (not to mention tense) as a result. Players don’t simple have to wait around and helplessly watch their VP fall however – there are points throughout the game world where they can refill the VP gauge, albeit, sometimes for a fee. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry; the entire process is actually fairly simple, and quickly feels natural. Furthermore, the game actually features an autoplay battle function, wherein the game employs an AI script to play through the battle for you, and it works fairly well. Additionally, there’s also a fast-forward function, so players can input their own commands, and skip through the drawn-out presentation of each turn.
Finally, there are the Golems. While players will spend quite a bit of their time hunting down and killing these creatures, they’ll also have plenty of opportunities to create and exploit their own. In order to create a Golem, players will need to find a Golem core, which can either be bought for a hefty price or taken from the remains of Golem’s defeated in battle. Once players get their hands on a Golem core, they’ll be informed of the materials needed to construct it, and these materials can also be purchased or won through battle. Once all the necessary materials have been gathered, players will be forced to spend some money at one of several specialty shops to synthesize the Golem. Some golems are proficient at melee combat, others at ranged attacks, and some are best suited for support roles like healing or inflicting status effects. Players can only ‘carry’ 8 golems around with them at any given time, and it won’t take more than a few hours for most players to double and triple that number. As such, players will have to put some thought into which golems they choose to take along with them, based on the unique skills each golem has, and the types of enemies the player expects to encounter. There is a huge number of golems to collect in Enchanted Arms, and as such, players have a wealth of options as far as customizing their party and combat strategies.
As the first Japanese, turn-based RPG on the console, Enchanted Arms may be something of a trip into uncharted territory for many Xbox 360 owners. AMN will have the definitive review of the entire package later this week.
February 8, 2010
