Enchanted Arms PlayStation 3

Enchanted Arms Product Details

Released on 23/03/2007

• Enchanted Arms Preview

  The 360 might finally have an Eastern RPG to be proud of...

  It's not a big secret that we Westerners have taken to Microsoft's Xbox brand a bit more warmly than our Eastern counterparts. What many of you may not know, however, is what a big deal this really is for the US hardware giant. Despite massive sales in the States, and also being well received over here in the UK, the Xbox suffered in the land of the rising sun for its severe lack of Japanese-developed software - in particular the traditional Square-Enix style RPG; a genre altogether neglected on Microsoft's first console.

  Sadly, without a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest to the Xbox name, gamers had only the more Americanised offerings such as KoTOR and Fable to tide them over, which did not go down well in Japan. Indeed, fast forward three years and Xbox 360 is out in all territories, but the RPG situation remains largely unchanged, and as a result Microsoft still struggles to find its feet in that most lucrative and idiosyncratic of software markets.

  Which is where Enchanted Arms comes in. Or rather, games like Enchanted Arms. You see, while one solitary Japanese-developed RPG isn't going to single-handedly swing things in the 360s favour, it does at least mark the start of Microsoft's about-turn on oriental themed adventure titles. Oh, and it gives us Western-based RPG loving next-gen Xbox owners an altogether different type of game to sink our claws into as well. Which makes a nice change.

  Lighting is particularly pretty, environments are detailed, characters stylised and it all looks positively lush running in high definition.

  So, then; Enchanted Arms: a game that adheres about as closely to the eastern role playing template as you'd expect for a game with a name like that (it's always Arms or Clouds or Skies or Fantasies or Sagas or Quests with these things, isn't it? Honestly, you can spot a fantasy RPG title a mile off...). And as far as ticks in boxes go, it has them all: shiny japanime art style, wide eyed characters, war-ravaged backstory and a directionless teenage male protagonist with mysterious abilities and an undiscovered destiny. It's hardly original stuff.
  

  Which would be a bad thing...if it wasn't all so well done. The story itself, though largely familiar, is still a sharply compelling concept: Enchanted Arms takes place in a world with a war-torn history; a war fought by magically controlled dolls called Golems - and in particular, by the most badass and hardcore of these dolls: Devil Golems. The story goes that when the controllers of the Devil Golems died in battle, their puppets carried on the destruction to untold degrees until...well, nobody really knows. All that's clear from the outset is that standard Golems populate society alongside normal humans, the world itself has rebuilt, and the disappeared Devil Golems now hold an almost mythical, unseen status in the gameworld's lore. Like a very evil tooth fairy. Without the wand. Or the minty-fresh breath.

  Within this world lives the game's main character, the improbably named Atsuma, a student at enchantment school whose right arm holds the somewhat object-defeating purpose (for a kid at enchantment school anyway) of nullifying spells - so he's sort of a techno-age wide-eyed white haired anti Harry Potter. All is well in Atsumas class (a scene which serves as the game's opening tutorial section) until an earthquake shakes the city - at which point the Golems all of a sudden remember their previously violent tendencies and start attacking people, setting in motion a chain of events which eventually leads Atsuma and friends to their first run-in with a Devil Golem.

  Standard-setting visuals

  Where the story treads from there is anyone's guess - though it is clear is that the visuals are a standard-setter for the role-playing genre. Lighting is particularly pretty, environments are detailed, characters lifelike and it all looks positively lush running in high definition. Admittedly the same shiny effect prevalent in Perfect Dark is a little overused here, but it shouldn't prevent Enchanted Arms from being regarded as a fitting first next-generation showcase for adventure-playing 360 owners.

  Like the shiny visuals, the random, turn-based battles of Enchanted Arms are going to something gamers will either love or loathe. Having said that, as a traditional Japanese RPG they really shouldn't be expecting anything else. Those approaching the game with an open mind will find a reasonably frequent rate of random battles, offset by what promises to be a streamlined and stylish turn-based battle system.

  It may all seem a bit derivative of card battling games, but with a little mastery we're assured you'll be moving characters around the 4x3 grid, positioning them for advantageous combo attacks, casting spectacular spells, and keeping a steady eye on the Hit Point (health) Ether (essentially magic power) and Vitality Point meters. Of these, the latter is particularly interesting; while hit points regenerate after every battle in Enchanted Arms, Vitality is a kind of over-arching stamina gauge that decreases with taking damage and fleeing from battles, and can be topped up at certain Refresh Points in the gameworld or with inventory items. When it reaches zero a character's health will dramatically lower as a result - so it's going to be an ongoing strategic balancing act between resource management and battle tactics, and should encourage players not to run from too many battles.

  Treads the well-worn fantasy RPG line like so many others - but that should be no bad thing for RPG-starved 360 owners.

  Adding extra depth to battles will be the game's Golems - which, in the vein of Shin Megami Tensei, can be built and recruited into your party. This is set to be a little more involved than it sounds, necessitating tracking down materials at shops or obtaining them through winning battles to build the magical beasts, but from what we know so far will soon give way from being a laborious find-and-combine quest to something much more rewarding when you start forming your own army of death-dealing puppets. Moreover, weapons are synthesized in much the same way - without any armour or accessories to equip, you'll be hunting for certain materials to combine in order to make new and improved weaponry. In all that should make for an engaging, if highly familiar, RPG experience.

  Indeed, that would tend to be the underlying feeling with Enchanted Arms: it's a game that treads the well-worn fantasy RPG line like so many others - but that should be no bad thing for RPG-starved 360 owners. With an added online battle mode in which to pit your player-created Golems against the world, an epic story, expansive gameworld and some established genre conventions at the heart of its 50-hour singleplayer adventure, it would appear all set to be the next-gen's first truly magical RPG outing. Of course, whether or not that will help the Xbox brand in Japan remains to be seen - but it's certainly not a bad beginning, and will finally give us Western gamers the best of both role playing worlds. It's about time...

  Preview by: Mark Scott
  Preview Published: 24.08.06

  Published: 24/08/2006

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