The wave of the realise of the recent JRPGs persists through this month with the release of  the Resonance of Fate from developers of Sega. Following fast on the heels of  the bigger names Final Fantasy and White Knight Chronicles, this game was in danger of being fully esclipsed, but has in reality come to be a dark horse entry, gathering a rising degree of appreciation from genre fans.

The Resonance of Fate centres on a distant world which is descending into chaos. Huge cities are being poisoned while the aristocratic upper classes do nothing to help, and you control three heroes fighting for justice. Gameplay revolves exclusively around firearm battles, and as you move forward further your firearms can be personalized and augmented.

The battle method used throughout Resonance of Fate has split many audiences and gamers. Initially, it’s quite unforgiving and piles loads of information onto the user at once, making it all appear fairly troublesome when beginning. Nevertheless, commit a few solid hours to mastering it and the result’s an involved and dynamic system boasting balletic gun skirmishes.

Visually, the game is impressive to have a look at and supplies a nice steampunk inspired world. The characters are attractive in a generic anime manner, although the recurring ’boutique’ shop, which allows you to customize your character’s appearance during Resonance of Fate, is a great inclusion.

Overall, this is a great addition to the JRPG style. It takes a risk with the age assured fighting method and, while the result will not be to everyones taste, it’s a worthy effort. It looks great and crucially includes the favourite RPG elements like towns and NPC interplay, which have been strangely lost in other recent high profile offerings. For those who’re a follower of JRPGs with an individual twist, give Resonance of Fate a chance.