resonance-of-fate posts (Subscribe to this feed)

The debut of the Dragon Quest VI remake for DS proves that a Dragon Quest game doesn't have to be entirely new to sell like crazy in Japan -- just new enough. In its first week at retail, January 25–31, the new version of the classic Super Famicom RPG sold 906,458 copies, according to Media Create, making it by far the top-selling game of the week.

A pair of other newly-released RPGs also did quite well: the PS3 version of tri-Ace's shooty-RPG End of Eternity (we call it "Resonance of Fate") landed in second place on the weekly software chart with 118,088 units sold (the Xbox version charted respectably at #8, selling 27,048 units) and Ar Tonelico 3 hit #4 with 81,633 copies sold. Even the Japanese release of MAG managed to make it into the top ten!

See the complete weekly top ten sales list after the break.

For what it's worth, every bit of Resonance of Fate we've seen so far looks mighty enticing. From gorgeous screenshots, to long dramatic CG trailers, to those full of bullets (and even some gameplay), Tri-Ace's upcoming RPG certainly gives us the impression it'll be a blast to play -- heck, we even enjoyed our first hands-on with the game back at TGS 2009.

All that said, even in light of the four-minute-long opening we've dropped above (from the Japanese Xbox 360 version, titled End of Eternity), we're about as worried as can be for any game set to release alongside Final Fantasy XIII. Will the intensity of the opening scene's suicide jump entice you enough to snag a copy over the much ballyhoo'd Square Enix release? We're not quite sure, but it certainly got our zipper-clad boots all in a tussy.

We'll be frank -- there are quite a few JRPGs heading to consoles in the next few months. From Last Rebellion to White Knight Chronicles to Final Fantasy XIII, it's kinda hard to get excited for yet another in Resonance of Fate. That being said, the game's screens and video have thus far been unbelievably impressive (with the new gallery below serving to further that point), and our last hands-on with game was fairly positive. We'll do our best to remember all of that when the game releases on the same day as FFXIII. Seriously.

You can imagine our surprise when we discovered Nippon Ichi's Last Rebellion had gotten itself a release date -- it's been nearly nine months since we last heard anything on the title (and that was its announcement!). The game's set to hit PlayStation 3 consoles on March 12 in Europe and 'February' for North America, just in time for those of you who love JRPGs yet are stridently against the purchase of Final Fantasy XIII.

In fact, between the release of FFXIII on March 9, Resonance of Fate launching the same day, and now this, we're inclined to rename the whole month with a JRPG theme. How about "Manarch?" Maybe "Marchic?" Perhaps "Marchlotsofbeltsandzippers?" Alright, alright -- we've clearly gone too far.

Interested in Resonance of Fate but afraid of being burned by another tri-Ace RPG? If you have access to a Japanese PlayStation Network account or (less likely) a Japanese Xbox 360, you can sample the game today. Sega released a demo of the gunplay RPG in Japan, with a tutorial that Siliconera reports is easy enough to follow along with even in Japanese. We were able to suss out the mechanics during TGS with little issue, but we doubt the downloadable demo includes a Sega rep, as our TGS demo did.

What won't be easy to follow along with is the story and dialogue -- but referring once again to Star Ocean 4, maybe that's not the worst thing.

Listen, we don't need to understand the primary language used in a trailer to know that it's completely awesome. After the break, you'll find a six-and-a-half-minute-long Japanese trailer for Resonance of Fate (or, as its called overseas, End of Eternity), and while we don't really understand what's being said, the video possesses plenty of the universal language: Totally rad gun ... shooting. Gun action. Firearm discharging ... coolness.

Okay, there's not really a word for the video's awesome properties, but we trust that you'll know them when you see them.

Resonance of Fate was given a North American release window of spring 2010 way back in May, leaving the question of its Japanese release (as End of Eternity) unanswered -- until just now. Sega previously launched a cute "count-up" site to reveal the date, which has finally arrived at January 28, 2010*. The official game site now shows this information, as well.

Earlier this month, producer Mitsuhiro ShimanoIn told Joystiq that, with Resonance of Fate development on schedule, Sega had the freedom to set the Japanese release date "when it's going to be the best time to fully reach the potential." Apparently, the best time is ... a month after Final Fantasy XIII?

*Note: At the time of this posting, our browser still shows that several hours remain, suggesting that the counter is based on one's local time zone.

[Via Andriasang]

Immediately after I got my first chance to play Resonance of Fate, with my ears still ringing from virtual gunfire, I met with director Takayuki Suguro (tri-Ace) and producer Mitsuhiro Shimano (Sega) to discuss the futuristic title. In our brief chat, the developers talked about the unique setting, the guns, and the difficulties of making both a multiplatform game and a game designed for a worldwide audience.

And if you ever wondered what tri-Ace does to unwind after a hard day at the RPG mines, that happens to come up too.

The first TGS trailer for Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity in Japan) had us very excited due to its unique John Woo-inspired bullet-riddled action. However, the second (and presumably last) trailer for the game from the game show goes back to traditional JRPG form by focusing exclusively on the game's heavy-handed story.

While there's chance for greatness in tri-Ace's upcoming story, we can't say that's what's keeping us interested in the game. For once, could it be that a JRPG is keeping our attention more for its gameplay than its pre-rendered cutscenes?

The stylish Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity, as it's known in Japan) blends a semi-turn-based, conventional RPG battle system with a high-speed action game -- with guns. Guns fall into three categories: machine guns, handguns, and grenades. (Machine gun–class weapons do "scratch damage," which depletes an enemy's life, but leaves the possibility for it to regenerate over time.)

I got to check out the TGS demo before interviewing its developers, giving me this opportunity to tell you about it. More importantly, though, the experience gave me something to talk to the developers about (more on that later), and in turn I avoided a very awkward social interaction.

Sega has seemingly forgotten that Tokyo Game Show hasn't started yet, by releasing a brand new trailer for its upcoming Resonance of Fate (aka End of Eternity in Japan). Tri-Ace is breaking the JRPG norm by creating a trailer that isn't entirely comprised of CG cutscenes. There is a lot of gameplay footage here -- and as noted earlier, it's bizarre.

Resonance of Fate creates a rather distinct look for itself by giving its main characters guns, and moves that would make Chow Yun-Fat jealous. It's entirely over-the-top, and gives the game an original feel missing from tri-Ace's previous works. It'll be interesting to see if Japanese gamers will pry themselves away from Final Fantasy XIII long enough to give this game a fair shake.

[Via Sega Nerds]

You won't see enormous breasts in this game, we were told by a Sega producer, as he started playing through an untranslated Resonance of Fate. While this is rarely used as a selling point (especially in games), he wanted to emphasize the gritty "realistic" look of tri-Ace's upcoming RPG. Gone are the over-the-top wacky hairdos, cute talking mascots, giant swords and neon-colored hover-vehicles that seem to permeate nearly every Square Enix JRPG. Instead, this fantasy world is meant to resemble our own.

Granted, the people of Bazel, the fictional world in which Resonance of Fate takes place, still have perfect hair and outfits from the trendier shops of Shibuya. It may still not jive with the American sensibilities of "reality," but it's certainly a far cry from tri-Ace's other current-gen efforts, Star Ocean and Infinite Undiscovery.

Resonance of Fate is being billed as a significant departure for tri-Ace. Its first non-Square Enix-published game comes with a brand new graphics engine, and a few new ideas to boot. The word "cliché" was uttered more than once during the presentation -- to describe exactly what the team is trying to avoid. Considering the studio's track record, we obviously had our doubts.

It's not often we're able to do this so long before a game is released -- before we've ever even seen the game on a screen other than the Joystiq Blogtop 3000s™ we're assigned -- but we can categorically name Resonance of Fate as our game of the year as of this morning. Why, you ask? Three simple words, friends: Dogs wearing jackets.

New screens of the game, coming from Japan (likely from End of Eternity, the Japanese title of RoF), look, in certain cases, a bit less than thrilling. Sure, the game's CG trailer looked like 95405000 yen, but we're talking still shots of RPG gameplay here -- not exactly life-altering stuff. That being said, well, there's a dog. And he's wearing a jacket!

New details about tri-Ace's latest RPG, Resonance of Fate, have surfaced, shedding some light on the game's battle system. As if resonating with the fate of most J-RPGs, RoF is your standard turn-based affair, though it does try to shake things up by blending in some potentially strategic damage rules and pseudo-real-time combat (think Eternal Sonata).

The way battles play out is a little something like this (as laid out by 1UP): the player chooses a party member and controls one character at a time. While in control of this character, a timer counts down signifying the duration of this character's actions, which include running around and shooting stuff up. Interestingly, enemies don't have their own individual turns; instead, they attack at the same time while the player's character is currently in action mode. This means enemies can only target the character that's currently being controlled.

Additionally, different damage types add to the strategic gameplay. There are two known types: direct damage, (which is a basic attack) and scratch damage (which is a weaker attack that allows HP to slowly regenerate). We're not sure how this all plays out, but we're assuming there might be more damage types to be discovered later, as the game seems to revolve around guns and ammo (possibly linked to ammo type?). Perhaps, we'll find out more at E3 next month. That is, if RoF shows up.