Sigfried1977
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Is Nolan North in "Drake mode" again? (like in Dark Void) or did they let him do a different performance for a change?
Resonance of Fate [PS3,X360]
- Thread starter Dr. Nick
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From what I've heard till now it feels a bit different....maybe its Desmond/Ezio/Altiar mode ?
GameTrailers Review: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-hd-resonance-of/63361
Quite easy, in my opinion.
It's essentially turn-based, though the actual combat actions occur in real-time. Your characters have a gauge that depletes while they are acting (moving or shooting, basically). There's also the concept of "hero actions," which are essentially bullet time style choreographed running and shooting sequences. Finally, there's the concept of "scratch" damage, which functions somewhat like Final Fantasy XIII's chain gauge.
Unlike Final Fantasy XIII, they give you full access to the entire combat system immediately. As you can imagine, this can be daunting the first time you start the game. There is a tutorial at the arena which is available immediately and highly recommended. The tutorial has around 16 stages and takes you through each element of the combat system one-by-one, so it's quite thorough.
I have very little faith in tri-Ace nowadays. It may be asking a bit much, but I'd love to hear impressions from anyone who loathed Valkyrie Profile 2's combat as much as I did. Did they get a grip on themselves?
To spare you the full rundown, to me it seemed like all those layers of complexity were just there to hide the one-trick pony that it really was (dash behind enemy, spam random combos). Plus the polygon hit detection led to lots of nonsense (as it did in Star Ocean, but that at least didn't include all that other VP weirdness).
To spare you the full rundown, to me it seemed like all those layers of complexity were just there to hide the one-trick pony that it really was (dash behind enemy, spam random combos). Plus the polygon hit detection led to lots of nonsense (as it did in Star Ocean, but that at least didn't include all that other VP weirdness).
Really looking forward to getting this game after paying for the extra class [differential equations] I have to take next semester. I plan on buying the game new so that the developer gets my money for making such an intriguing game.
I'm in chapter 7 right now and I empathize with reviewers who complain about the difficulty. If there is an option for easy mode, I'd have used that already. The thought of giving up actually entered my mind on one or two occasions, which is quite unusual for me. I normally feel obliged to finish the games I started at least once.
I'm not sure "too difficult" is the right phrase for what I experienced because if you count the number of times I died per playtime or per enemy encounter, I probably died as often in many other games but I usually don't get the same impulse to throw my controller as I have been feeling with Resonance of Fate.
It probably has something to do with the "critical condition" before death. It is a near death condition in which your ability to fight back is greatly reduced and there is only a very small chance of recovering from it. To me, it makes the deaths a drawn out process. It's the gaming equivalent of a slow and painful death. I'd toil through any possible move that may get me out of it because of the tiny bit of hope dangled in front of me while knowing how everything is stacked against me and then go on to watch just that, e.g., enemies pick up the "shards" I lose to recover their health. It's like seeing limb after limb torn off your body before a final fatal blow. The glimmer of hope is a bait that makes me struggle longer, and suffer more.
This is also one of those RPGs where there isn't an easy exchange between grinding time and difficulty. I'm thinking leveling up may make me enter critical condition more easily in some situations. In an old style RPG, at least I can use the implicit easy mode by grinding an hour or two.
The battle is interesting and even small changes in what you do (e.g. walk forward a few steps before attacking) can make a big difference. With a system like that, it's probably going to be hard to tune the difficulty. What seem like a difficult battle to some, may seem easy to others who simply do certain small things differently. The flexibility and hugely varied possibilities in battle may have come at a cost of less tightly controlled playing experience.
Having vented my frustration, I'd add that it's not all so negative playing this game. I do enjoy it when I'm not finding it hard, or watching enemy attacks interrupt my action. :smile:
I'm not sure "too difficult" is the right phrase for what I experienced because if you count the number of times I died per playtime or per enemy encounter, I probably died as often in many other games but I usually don't get the same impulse to throw my controller as I have been feeling with Resonance of Fate.
It probably has something to do with the "critical condition" before death. It is a near death condition in which your ability to fight back is greatly reduced and there is only a very small chance of recovering from it. To me, it makes the deaths a drawn out process. It's the gaming equivalent of a slow and painful death. I'd toil through any possible move that may get me out of it because of the tiny bit of hope dangled in front of me while knowing how everything is stacked against me and then go on to watch just that, e.g., enemies pick up the "shards" I lose to recover their health.
It's like seeing limb after limb torn off your body before a final fatal blow. The glimmer of hope is a bait that makes me struggle longer, and suffer more. This is also one of those RPGs where there isn't an easy exchange between grinding time and difficulty. I'm thinking leveling up may make me enter critical condition more easily in some situations. In an old style RPG, at least I can use the implicit easy mode by grinding an hour or two.
The battle is interesting and even small changes in what you do (e.g. walk forward a few steps before attacking) can make a big difference. With a system like that, it's probably going to be hard to tune the difficulty. What seem like a difficult battle to some, may seem easy to others who simply do certain small things differently. The flexibility and hugely varied possibilities in battle may have come at a cost of less tightly controlled playing experience.
Having vented my frustration, I'd add that it's not all so negative playing this game. I do enjoy it when I'm not finding it hard, or watching enemy attacks interrupt my action. :smile:
Me? Hard to say at this point. Certainly the most frustration I've had from an RPG, though I also see there are plenty of merits in the design. In fact, the combat feels quite awesome when I'm not stuck somewhere, or hearing the critical condition music every 5 minutes.
I have to say though, in general, I like games to be easier. The thing I miss most in console gaming now is a cheat device which I can use to get out of tight spots. For some RPG, the varied possibilities in fights are mainly about the equipments, a few stats and matching elemental/physical properties of attack and defense, e.g. Fallout 3. For the more conventional JRPG I played such as WKC, FF12 and before, it may also concern some specialization, who learn what magic etc. Once you've set up these basics, what happens in battle are mostly quite predictable. You may not know the weakness of an enemy the first time you see it, but I'd say it's mostly straightforward decisions if you already know the enemies.
Resonance of Fate has those elements that you need to prepare but is far more varied comes the time of battle. The way a battle plays out is more unpredictable even with the same stats and equipments. By that, I don't mean unpredictability coming from a random number generator. It's how various small things can interact to make a big difference that's hard to foresee in advance. It's probably not entirely by design either. In the Neogaf official thread, someone posted some funny photos about a fight that made him suffer long and hard. It turns out to be extremely easy for the way I play. I simply stood still and only use basic attack from the starting position. I don't think stats or equipments are the crucial difference in this example. I think it's just me not moving, not triggering the big hitting enemy's move towards me and hence the cascading effects that would follow.
Small things like moving a character forward a bit can also affect AI's targeting in general and affect who takes damage, how much uninterrupted time another character can have to charge up an attack etc. Attacks of sufficient strength can stop action in this game. Who charge up a bit faster to stop who, how long to charge up for it to be enough to stop an enemy's attack, the relation between target distance and charge speed etc. all combine to make battles less straightforward than other games. On top of that, the HP (& Hero Action) management pile on another layer of risk. Without going into details, I'd say the HP management is like keeping a ball on the peak of a dome. You try to keep it center and it may seem ok for a while, but then an unexpected jerk and now you watch in horror as it goes downhill at an increasing rate, taunting you all the confidence and comfort a moment ago was totally misplaced. The game is designed with positive feedback loops to stamp on your balls when you're down.
The way turn-based and simultaneous actions are blended together draws comparison with Valkyria Chronicles. I played the Japanese version of VC and don't understand some of the special effects, but I can say the combat of RoF and VC are very different experiences. They don't just differ in scale and length. Other than some scripted events, in VC, you carefully play it step by step and you'll win your battle in due course. It doesn't work like that in RoF.
The talks about difficulty also invite comparison with Demons Souls. I'm quite sure I died far fewer times in that game than I'd end up in RoF. I played DS cautiously, mostly keeping my distance from enemies and that served me well throughout. I'm as yet unaware of any approach that can work so well throughout RoF. Anyway, as I mentioned previously, I think my frustration in RoF may have more to do with the way I die rather than how often I die or intrinsic difficulty of the task.
Having said all that, when I rate/remember an RPG, I mostly think about the story and I'm less than half way through this game. My favourite RPG remains Xenogears. If you also count Folklore as an RPG, then that would be joint top in my mind (despite feeling it's too hard in a few places).
It's funny because sometimes I think the game is too easy. It reminds me of the Grandia series in that there's always a way to win. Here's some tips if you're having trouble:
- Use Hero Actions
I'd say I use hero actions at least 90% of the time. You also want to build up Resonance Points so you can do tri-attacks.
- Always lead with your machine gunner
The most effective way to kill enemies is by building up scratch damage. Lead the assault on an enemy with your machine gunner and make sure you charge your attacks to the point where you get the full scratch damage bonus. I've killed bosses in two moves with this technique!
- Customize your weapons
Customize your weapons as much as possible. Make sure the machine gun has as high a charge rate as possible. I have my machine gun equipped with a Long Scope and lots of barrels.
- Use elemental attacks
Make sure to use the appropriate rounds against tough enemies. Incendaries against cold enemies and metal-coated against mechs, etc.
- Have your gunners do Hero Jumps
Hero Jumps generally bypass armor, and kill enemies quicker.
- Keep an eye on your Hero Gauge
I'm usually never down more than two bezels in a fight, since I generally kill enemies on the second or third hero action, and you recover bezels for destroying enemy armor or defeating enemies. Having a weapon with strong gauge break is also useful, since you can easily double or triple your gauge recovery with it.
A typical battle for me starts with Vashyron using the MG. I do a hero action against the first enemy with max charge. This gives me 1 RP and does lots of scratch damage. Then I follow up with a HG user and lock in that damage with another hero action for 2 RP. Finally, I activate a tri-attack with the third character and generally take out my main target and one or two other enemies.
It reminds me of the Grandia series in that there's always a way to win. Here's some tips if you're having trouble:- Use Hero Actions
I'd say I use hero actions at least 90% of the time. You also want to build up Resonance Points so you can do tri-attacks.
- Always lead with your machine gunner
The most effective way to kill enemies is by building up scratch damage. Lead the assault on an enemy with your machine gunner and make sure you charge your attacks to the point where you get the full scratch damage bonus. I've killed bosses in two moves with this technique!
- Customize your weapons
Customize your weapons as much as possible. Make sure the machine gun has as high a charge rate as possible. I have my machine gun equipped with a Long Scope and lots of barrels.
- Use elemental attacks
Make sure to use the appropriate rounds against tough enemies. Incendaries against cold enemies and metal-coated against mechs, etc.
- Have your gunners do Hero Jumps
Hero Jumps generally bypass armor, and kill enemies quicker.
- Keep an eye on your Hero Gauge
I'm usually never down more than two bezels in a fight, since I generally kill enemies on the second or third hero action, and you recover bezels for destroying enemy armor or defeating enemies. Having a weapon with strong gauge break is also useful, since you can easily double or triple your gauge recovery with it.
A typical battle for me starts with Vashyron using the MG. I do a hero action against the first enemy with max charge. This gives me 1 RP and does lots of scratch damage. Then I follow up with a HG user and lock in that damage with another hero action for 2 RP. Finally, I activate a tri-attack with the third character and generally take out my main target and one or two other enemies.
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