Title: Enchanted Arms
Genre: j-RPG
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: FROM Software
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release date: September, 8th 2006
Image Gallery
Enchanted Arms is the first next-generation j-RPG and it is, indeed, the first Japanese role-playing game released (exclusively) for Xbox 360. If on one hand this could be a very favourable situation that FROM Software has been able to take advantage of, on the other it could be very simple to criticise the game in the name of a prophetic "next-generation gaming" experience of which, anyhow, we haven't seen much yet.
Enchanted Arms had a clear goal: be the genre point of reference and open the way to other Japanese developers. Mission complete... mostly.
A RPG...
Atsuma, the main character, is the classic Japanese manga student: unwilling during lessons as much as skilful in everything he's interested in, unlucky in all his past experiences as well as lucky enough to find the true love. Without forgetting the unavoidable cruel fate and the discovery of a destined path to follow!
Hence, Atsuma, is a young "enchater" (the one who can use the enchant, magic, r.n.) who lives in a world in which a sort of legend is generally told as history: "The Golem War". A long time ago, 3 insuperable Golems were created in order to protect the 3 human big cities: 3 Golems that, once eluded the enchanters control, begun apocalyptic battles to gain supremacy, using humanity as their own battle-field.
After years of struggles and destructions, these "Devil Golems" went into something like hibernation because of the lack of remaining enchant: since than, they're waiting for someone with enough power to wake them up...
...or even better a J-rpg
In order to describe Enchanted Arms, I'll use a provocation: as RPGs are the antithesis of J-rpgs, so Enchanted Arm can be considered Oblivion nemesis. This provocation is, however, absolutely necessary to understand the title, without considering that a comparison with the new Bethesda RPG is almost compulsory as these 2 games are the lonely representative of their genre on Xbox 360.
Therefore, if from one hand Oblivion has a main plot well unbound from its side-quests, on the other in Enchanted Arms the main quest is strong, solid and sometimes really engaging; if in the former we're basically "lone adventurers", in the latter the interaction among characters is the way the story is narrated; if in Oblivion we could be able to solve almost every situation without fighting (through a little of shrewdness and the right spells), in Enchanted Arms combats are unavoidable and numerous.
Clearly, being different from Oblivion is not necessarily a defect; on the contrary, in some ways Bethesda masterpiece has to bow its head: for example, the possibility to challenge enemies with a non-relative level system is very satisfying, a fun we forgot playing Oblivion.
Continuing on gameplay features, it's worth saying that almost all game defects and merits are in the same element: the combat system. Rigorously turn-based, it consists in drawing up 4 characters (golems or humans) in a 4x3 grid: depending on the surprise effect, one of the challengers will begin the fight, firstly moving his "pieces" and then attacking. Naturally, there are several features that make combats really focused on strategy: life bar, enchant bar, cover possibilities, combo-group attacks, special attacks and (icing on the cake) a maximum number of turns a character can afford before having to rest in selected areas. Unfortunately, we'll rarely have to think about the strategy to adopt as enemies are almost always too easy: this is, indeed, a lost chance to give depth to the title, also considering that when we'll fight against bosses the system will force us to understand all its features and greatness! Moreover, the randomness and the great number of fights are 2 more stress-factors in the game, fortunately mitigated by the easiness of combats and the possibility to view always new golems.
Besides the combat system, there are 3 mini-games in London City casino. Entertaining, even if tedious in the long run, they'll allow us to earn some money to invest in party power-ups: for example, one of those mini-games consists in becoming the champion of an arena...plagiarism or tribute?
Speaking about graphics, Enchanted Arms has a good one, also considering the genre standards and the fact that it has been a Japanese launch title: even if we'll never remain with our mouth open for the characters realisation, the sets, the cut-scenes and the combat effect are (in some cases, extremely) well-done.
A fistful of... Golems
Furthermore, everyone, who can't go on without collecting something, will find a reason to live in this game, as there is the great possibility to acquire more than 100 different golems. Generally, we'll have to obtain a golem core (fighting or buying it) and combine it with a certain number of 3 different gems. Once we have all the ingredients, the golem can be synthesised whenever we want in whatever shop: in these shops we'll be also able to choose which golem to carry with us (8 slots available) as well as buy and sell items.
At the beginning it could be difficult to understand the reasons behind this collecting, as it can have a really little impact on the single-player game: in the 95% of cases we'll use a party made of all humans, because they are stronger than golems on average, and they have more "personality". However, the reason for this collecting can be easily explained: it's the multiplayer mode. In an arena, we'll challenge other people on a PvP basis, using only 4 golems among those we've collected and with all the power-ups we've earned during the single-player adventure.
Even if the online game concept is good, the little player community and the feeling that the stronger always wins, no matter about the adopted strategy, make this mode neither long-lived nor winning.
And now, let's spend some words on the game audio. Sound effects and music are never really part of the game and, like everything that is not related directly with the combat system, they are un-essential for the game-experience. Moreover, dialogues are only in English and Japanese as well as the subtitles: as English audio cannot be defined as excellent (bad lip-sync), our suggestion to non-English native speakers is to set Japanese for dialogues and read English subtitles. We can give you this suggestion also because, unfortunately, dialogues have NO impact on the story: you'll won't be able to choose anything: dialogues are just there to be read.
Conclusions
Enchanted Arms is a game that lays itself open to criticism: no interaction with sets, no choices, linear dialogues, no ancillary quests and combats every 10 steps. However, despite all, you'll like and appreciate Enchanted Arms, for its great combat system, for the variety of characters and for a plot that can arouse your passion especially if you've played and liked the almost banal Oblivion main quest.
Eventually, Enchanted Arms is not perfect but, starting from its concepts and timings, it would have been difficult to create something better.
Evaluation
Presentation: 7
Good menus with all the necessary information: even if the character cards are a little confusing, generally all is intuitive and well-realised.
Gameplay: 7
A mixed blessing: combats are the reason why we'll appreciate the game, but once we'll discover how deep the combat system can be (against bosses), it'll be difficult to face again the numerous routine-fights.
Graphics: 6.5
Good and sometimes surprising thanks to some excellent light effects. Unfortunately, in the long run, we'll understand that several effects are "recycled" and that developers helped themselves creating a camera with little vertical movements and with strong limits in sets exploration.
Sound: 5
A part from the music in the main menu, neither the soundtrack nor other sound effects help in immerging the gamer in the title. Localisation is, moreover, nonexistent for non-English native speakers.
Longevity: 8
For such a linear game, 40-hours longevity is certainly good: then, if we also consider all the time we'll have to spend preparing the party to the final "Queen of Ice" fight... the total longevity increases to about 50-55 hours.
Multiplayer Factor: 5
The concept is not bad, but the little community and the feeling that strategy is not part of the game mode sap the on-line experience.
Overall Evaluation: 6.8
Whoever has been able to end the game will admit that he had fun, and from this point of view Enchanted Arms is a must-buy title. Unfortunately, when the same person is asked to list the merits of the game, he'll start with an almost infinite sequence of little defects that saps the game overall quality.
Discuss this article in our Forums
--
Original Article by David Famà, XboxWay Staff