Once you get around its various complexities, there's a great experience to be had in Resonance of Fate.
The Earth has decayed to the point where it is no longer hospitable, forcing the ancient ones to construct an enormous structure capable of sustaining life and keeping humanity away from the threshold of extinction. Known simply as Basel, it is a machine-driven monolith tasked in purifying the thick toxins that blanket the earth's atmosphere, providing the fundamentals of human sustenance, and forging a path for the restoration of mankind. However, as people started building numerous cities and shantytowns around Basel's gears, its infrastructure began to weaken from the strain of rapid growth, endangering the pockets of life therein. Thus, three lives are about to intertwine with one another as their structured world slowly teeters on the brink of destruction. You'll assume control of Vashryon, a smug, pony-tailed badass who was once a renowned soldier; Zephyr, a cocky yet promising rookie coming off a rather horrible incident; and Leanne, a young girl living a second lease on life after having almost willingly committed suicide. It's a rather complex story filled with all the necessary components that generate a heightened interest, avoiding most of the traditional cliches typically seen in other role-playing games.
That also applies to how the entire game is structured. The world map is composed of a hexagonal-type grid which is traversed by moving an on-screen pointer over hexagons that you must place in order to access new areas of exploration. Hexes perform a variety of different purposes--specific pieces will generate power to energy plants, uncover hidden treasure chests, and forge outwardly paths that were otherwise inaccessible. However, placing hexes on the world map is no simple matter----they come in different shapes and arrangements, and you need to strategically place them when they aren't hindered by obstacles like town icons and edges. This prevents you from getting too ahead of yourself when trying to fill the entire map with hexes, which you will eventually be able to do later on if you're gunning for a certain trophy. Though the system is a bit restrained, it is also very convenient when you're performing missions that require you to backtrack between towns--eliminating the drudgery of walking long distances across enormous fields. Of course, expect to encounter monsters even when effortlessly shuttling a cursor across a hexagonal grid. If you're worried that the game's towns might have also fallen into a hexagonal state, you'll be pleased to know that those areas in particular are not affected whatsoever---you'll still be able to talk to NPCs, walk around in cities, and gather quests for important and optional missions.
A lot can be said about Resonance of Fate's elaborate and dynamic battle system; yet one thing remains clear--the developers not only eschewed the traditional means; it rewrote all the rules. Swords and sorcery have no place in this steampunk world---your heroes come packing modern firearms and hand grenades. And this factors wholly into the unorthodox system of combat. Damage is categorized into two factors---scratch damage and direct damage. Scratch damage from machine guns will deal considerable hurt but not kill an enemy outright; yet when applied with a handgun or hand grenade's direct damage, expect enormous bonuses and quick kills to monsters with thick plates of defense. In many cases, such methods are crucial in winning important battles. Hero actions are cinematic combat maneuvers that spend a Bezel from your Hero Gauge, allowing you a comparable degree of control over your character as they jump in amazingly high altitudes, fire their pistols capriciously and do all sorts of crazy acrobatics. Juggling enemies in mid-air with bullets is also possible. You can even slam them to the ground by means of the appropriately named "smackdown" technique. Bezels that are spent doing these things are also your lifeline of sorts, healing scratch damage that you'll invariably suffer as some of your enemies also pack a few pistols of their own. The environment can be used to your advantage as well. You can hide behind bunkers and climb stairs to avoid direct enemy fire, giving you that much-needed strategic edge. Character growth is also wholly dependent on how well you develop your characters' use of weapons----for instance, if Leanne attains a level for her Handgun, her overall level will also increase. Likewise, if she switches to a Machine Gun and develops that, she will gain her overall level yet again regardless of how much or how little progress she actually made in using the Machine Gun in the first place. Although at times this sort of thing can be a bit of a nuisance, it's actually an interesting leveling system that forces the player to stay a step ahead of the task at hand by giving as much attention to their individual weapon use as they ordinarily would the raising of their hit points.
There are so many elements to the overwhelmingly complex battle system that it may take you well near half the entire adventure to master, and what I've described thus far only scratches the surface. Fortunately, the tutorials will get you accustomed to it all, and the game allows you more than enough ample opportunities to practice for as long as you need to until you have at least the basics of it ingrained in your memory. Once you manage to come to grips with it, it's a hell of an experience unlike anything else you've played in other RPGs.
Resonance of Fate is divided up into sixteen chapters consisting of optional side quests and crucial story missions that must be completed in order to turn the page. Finishing these missions will reward you not only money and items, but also Guild points that go towards your overall Hunter Level. Needless to say--the higher that Rank, the better off you'll be and the more opportunities for character growth you'll have at your fingertips. You will also be able to customize Vashyron, Zephyr and Leanne's individual weapons; such as sight scope attachments which increase charge time, gun barrels that affect attack power, etc. It's a really neat feature that plays as much an integral part in success during difficult battles as overall preparedness and acute strategic planning. (I mean, what can be more fun that building guns?) Furthermore, you can craft items from scraps that go into firearm customization as well as dismantling stuff to seed out raw materials. Another interesting element in the game is the opportunity to buy costumes to retrofit your characters. While these flashy duds do nothing to protect you in a fight, at least you're going to like the way you look when you're getting shot at. (I guarantee it.) You can earn new costume sets to purchase at the Boutique as you delve further into the game, including those earned from difficult challenges.
The music of Resonance of Fate is well done with some rock accompaniments and dramatic change of tempo during Hero Actions. The worlds capture the essence of a steampunk environment to a foreseeable fault---everywhere you turn, you'll catch sight of working gears, machinery and steam-powered engines. Rarely do you ever see anything organic or natural---like a tree or a river. Character models are generally passable----albeit a little strange and artificial. But that's not saying they don't look good when they're flying around and voraciously expending their shell casings. The English voice acting is not bad but not necessarily all that great either. Fortunately, for those who prefer it, the original Japanese audio has also been included.
Resonance of Fate is one of those games that requires a bit of patience when navigating the curves of its complexities and the intricacies of its variable elements. Understandably, many of you might not take too lightly its meaty combat system, but if you appreciate at all the concept of strategy and lots of dynamic gun battles, you will want to give the game a chance. Honestly, from my perspective, there's a lot to like about it; yet it may be the victim of its own ambitions unless willing gamers are determined to get the most out of the experience. If you're one of those gamers, and I hope you are, you'll find a truly enjoyable role-playing adventure that is indeed worth your effort, time and money.