Namco x Capcom Import Impressions

Crossover Crazy!

Namco and Capcom jam their respective character stables into one weird strategy RPG mélange.

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In a time where major game makers are announcing their mergers one after another and collaborative projects are becoming commonplace, a cross-company title like Namco x Capcom seems like a natural thing. The game has been one of the most anticipated Japanese titles of the year since it was first announced back in January. For Capcom, this will be the second time it has collaborated with another developer--a number of years ago the Japanese developer teamed up with SNK for the Capcom vs. SNK series, which turned into a pretty big hit. The game was so successful it was even used in an official national tournament in Japan. Given the level of success of that collaboration, the question is: will Namco x Capcom be as big a hit with gamers? We got hold of the quirky new RPG to find out.

When you turn on Namco x Capcom for the first time, you'll be greeted by a very high-quality opening animation produced by Production I.G., the well-known company that made the FLCL anime series and the theater release of Ghost in a Shell. In case you're not familiar with anime, an example of a movie is Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1, in which the animation sequence was also done by the studio. While it's not rare for games to have an anime opening sequence, it's definitely unusual to see one as long as three minutes, which is a great way to get you hyped to play the game.

Namco x Capcom takes you to the empty streets of Shibuya in Tokyo in the year 20XX, which is one of the many locations that have been closed down for evacuation due to space-time distortions that have been happening all over the world. Agents Arisu Reiji and Xiaomu, the two main characters in the game, get dispatched to the city by a government organization named Shinra, which investigates supernatural occurrences that can't be handled by the police or other factions.

After taking on a few monsters, Reiji and Xiaomu realize that they're facing something more than the usual distortions. The pair of veteran agents barely has time to wonder if the current distortions are related to events that occurred 10 years ago--when the distortion phenomena began--when they find themselves fighting against a huge group of Gnosis from the Xenosaga series that have suddenly appeared. Thankfully, Shion Uzuki, M.O.M.O., and Kos-Mos appear to lend a hand, and they realize that they've been warped to an alternate dimension. The story gets even crazier when characters from the Street Fighter series, Cammy, Juni, and Juli, appear on the scene, chased by ICPO agent Chun-li. After beating all the enemies and advancing through the next few stages, you realize that the distortions are happening throughout the Namco and Capcom universes. Your quest is to learn the reasons behind the supernatural phenomena and bring everyone together.

Namco x Capcom plays like a standard strategy RPG, though it features a touch of action game elements, like when you're fighting against enemies on the battle screen. You move your character units around a field map that consists of square cells, and when you're in range for combat, you can select to attack an enemy unit. The game is stage-based, and you need to fulfill mission objectives--which is usually to beat all the enemies in the map--in order to advance.

Unlike typical strategy RPGs, which require you to move all your units in a single phase and then wait for your opponent to take all its actions, Namco x Capcom adopts a traditional RPG turn-based system where character units from both sides move one after another, with the units that have the highest agility and active points in the lead. Your AP are the main deciding factor for which character unit moves first and how much action they can perform.

The system is similar to the movement cost found in many strategy RPGs. All the character units start out in the beginning of the stage with the maximum of 10 AP. The points will be reduced whenever you take actions with them, such as moving them around the map and making them attack an enemy. The basic way of recovering your character unit's AP is by waiting through a number of turns. So if you use very little AP on a character unit's turn, the character will have a lot of AP remaining, and its next turn will come quickly. On the other hand, if you take too many actions with the character unit, it'll take longer for their turn to come up. But all in all, the game is set up in such a way that players won't have to worry too much about holding back on their moves, since some of the vital actions, such as the use of skills or items, don't require any AP at all.

You never thought you'd see characters from Megaman and Street Fighter up against those from Xenosaga, did you? Think again.

As with most strategy games, the number of cells that each character unit can move in each level is different, and trying to walk over the ground will decrease the number of steps you can take. On the other hand, some character units will fly instead of walk, which frees them from these terrain issues. A few character units "warp" when they move around the field, which allows them to even pass through walls. This comes in handy in certain strategic situations.

Most character units, such as the Street Fighters, are limited to attacking enemies that are in close range on the field. But other units, such as Megaman's Tron and Kobun, specialize in ranged attacking instead. A few character units can conveniently do both, in which case they switch their attacking methods depending on their distance to the enemy. One example is Gil and Kai from the Tower of Druaga, who fight together as one unit. Gil attacks with his sword when they're in close range to the enemy, and Kai does all the attacking with her magic when the enemy's far away. It's worth noting that Namco x Capcom features two kinds of character units: single units and pair units. Single units, as you'd expect, feature one character that fights alone. Pair units consist of two characters, though the difference is mostly graphical, since they function basically the same as the single units.