The 4th installment of one of my favorite RPG series brings a new battle system and likable characters.
You play the game as Jude, a 13 year old boy who lives with his mother in a floating man-made city in the sky. One day his world is invaded and he is exposed to ARM's which enables him to release his inner powers and control a gun type weapon. He also meets Yulie an innocent girl who was brought up in a place where they created ARM users and she also has powers that control ARMS. Soon they meet Arnaud and Raquel and a team is made. At first they set out only to protect Yulie from the Brionic army trying to capture her and use her powers to control the Divine Weapon. But soon their mission turns to stopping the Divine Weapon from being used at all.
The battle system is new as it is called a HEX system. There are 8 Hex's arranged in a pattern and each party member and the enemy are placed randomly at the start of battle. 3 Hex's are elemental hex's where your special moves can be increased or powered by that specific element. (water, fire, wind & earth) Standing on a normal hex does the normal damaged based on your characters level. Each character can learn new moves as their level increases but you can also learn combo moves by being in the same hex as another character. These are normally more powerful or can increase stats. Its tricky at first but then you get used to it. Being in the same hex with another character can be good and bad as an enemy strikes the hex it hurts ALL characters within the Hex. This of course applies the opposite was with more than one enemy in the same hex. This system actually works great. I was impressed.
The graphics arent super but they fit the story and gameplay as your travelling thorugh a war torn world. There are treasure chests hidden throughout the game and the occasional travelling salesman. Most items and weapon are purchased at shops in towns.
The experience point system is also enhanced as you dont always get just the standard EXP per fight. Each character can get different amonts of EXP depending on how the do in battle. For instance, the character who kills the final creature gets 0.7% higher EXP and if you kill one enemy you get an additional 0.2% EXP. This can help out as some characters need to catch up to others so you can make it so they get the final kill. Blocking and evading hits also increase the amount of EXP you receive. Kinda makes things interesting and creative as you battles hundreds of enemies.
Even though this game is a standard RPG, turn based and kinda straight forward there are a couple of extras that might make playing passed the final boss worth your time. There is a battle arena, hidden super bosses, the black market, finding every treasure chest to unlock a super boss battle and learning all the secret attack moves.
Overall in my opinion this game was worth playing and the storyline and gameplay was surprizingly good. I had alot of fun playing and found myself having a hard time putting down the controller. Likable characters that you can relate too and a not so happy ending to boot!