Enchanted Arms

There is nothing quite like a console’s first RPG. The hype, the anticipation, the overanxious feeling to get your hands on it – that’s what the previous generation builds and is the dream gamers hope the new generation can fulfill. PlayStation 3 has had successful firsts in the FPS (Resistance), racing (Ridge Racer and MotorStorm), and fighting (Virtua Fighter) genres. Each were PS3 exclusives at the time of release, and the first three will stay that way. Most other PS3 success stories, however, have been linked to ports like NBA 2K7.

For whatever the reason, role-playing games are often the last genre to make the next-gen leap. The first RPG for Sony’s new console is yet another 360 port, this one being from publisher Ubisoft and developer From Software. Chances are you’ve heard its name a dozen times, but if you’re a PS3 owner it’s unlikely that you’ve played it.

The game is Enchanted Arms, a turn-based RPG with strategy game influences. Battles occur on two 4x3 grids, the story is developed with flashy CG sequences, and the soundtrack is one of enjoyment and (unfortunately) repetition. If this sounds like a game you’ve played before, that’s probably because it is – just not in this setting, not with this structure, and not with these characters.

Armed and Dangerous

Enchanted Arms is an unusual RPG in that it doesn’t follow the golden rule for camera angles. Everyone knows that a turn-based RPG must use a series specific and generic, Final Fantasy-inspired angles. At least, that’s what most developers seem to think. From Software had different plans, which is good for the player but bad for anyone perusing screenshots. Without any familiar angles, Enchanted Arms looks more like an action game than an RPG.

But never fear – this is without a doubt a game of role-playing. Battles are separate from the main world, which resembles Rogue Galaxy and Final Fantasy X in layout and design. There are a few specific battles that may be avoided, primarily those involving a Golem. The rest are engaged at random. Golems are Pokemon-like creatures that are formed using a Golem core – the item retrieved from defeating standalone Golems. As with the Pocket Monsters franchise, Golems must be fighting without a master in order to obtain their cores.

Golems fight alongside you in battle as fleshed-out characters. They have the same stats as the rest of your party: skills, SP (stat points), HP, EP, and the ability to gain EXP. Stat points are used to increase the health, attack, defense, and other parts of the character.

Battles are fought on a grid that allows you to move a certain number of spaces before attacking. Up to four player-controlled characters are allowed to fight at one time, though your enemies don’t necessarily have to follow that rule. Standard enemies take up just one square on the grid, but a boss may take up multiple squares, changing the way you have to combat its attacks.

Without any player interference, Enchanted Arms moves at a solid pace. The game is quick for a polygon-drenched RPG, even when lengthier spells are being unleashed. If that’s still too slow for your tastes, hold the triangle button to speed up the action. This is not a new option to RPGs, but it is a rare one that more developers need to utilize.

The fast battle speeds bypass many of the traumatic problems that plague RPGs. But this game is not free of flaws. Keeping with the pace of Enchanted Arms’s battles, I’ll sum it up quick: repetition, linear world design, uninteresting puzzles, and boring “go here, do this” objectives. There’s nothing more disconcerting than an RPG that forces you to waste time chatting with NPCs before you can continue your journey. Excluding villains and main characters, NPCs have never had anything important to say! Not in this RPG or in any other video game. Once more, I’ll sum it up quick.

Example NPC dialogue: “This place is safe and interesting. I’m so glad I was born in this city!”

In the Literal Sense of the Word

Enchanted Arms’s story is more symbolic than it appears. While “Final Fantasy” has little significance to the journey, and “Dragon Quest” is merely a cool title, Enchanted Arms refers to the lead character’s enchanted arm. Most of it is as crazy as it sounds. Most of the dialogue sequences consist of idle chitchat – the kind of boring drivel that makes a schoolgirl’s American Idol rambling seem interesting.

Finally, after skipping through several minutes of dialogue and one too many monster encounters, something cool happens. The world is attacked by a vicious being, one who refers to herself as a Devil Golem. She’s more powerful than anyone in your party (except for the one with the enchanted arm). In the tradition of most console RPGs, you’ll fight this Devil and lose. You won’t die, but you might lose a friend or two. It was exactly what the game needed to shift the story into gear. The dialogue isn’t magically improved after this time, but it is more tolerable. Just having a reason to fight – a goal that involves the saving of comrades and all of mankind – is better than no reason at all.

Enchanted Arms uses a mix of real-time and CG sequences to tell the story, the latter form being a moderately attractive version of the real-time sequences. There are minutes of CG that far surpass the game engine, as you’ll see from the Devil Golem encounter. But it appears that the developers wanted the transition from real-time to CG and back to be as seamless as possible. Thus, they couldn’t go overboard in making the pre-rendered movies more beautiful than those comprised of polygons.

Enchanted Arms is the mixed bag of mixed bags. It’s got a fun battle system that’s repetitive, and a story that’s only enchanting when a major event occurs. The music is good but, like the battles, repeats itself until you want to hit the mute button.

I’ve played more than my share of RPGs and can tell you that this game could have been a lot better. But as a first-gen RPG, it could have also been a lot worse. If you love the genre (and that must be a given if you’re reading this review) and want to know what’s possible on a next-gen console, make this your next rental.

Gameplay: 7.0
Turn-based role-playing with a mix of strategy/RPG. Enchanted Arms’s combat system is likely to be too basic for an avid gamer. But if you like strategy games but think they’re too difficult, or if you’ve never played a strategy/RPG before and would like one that’s super easy to learn, Enchanted Arms is the game for you.

Graphics: 7.9
Somewhat like a pretty painting, Enchanted Arms is a gorgeous game that doesn’t move. There is a certain liveliness that comes with a large-scale RPG – a sensation this game lacks. You’ll be amazed by the high-res backgrounds, the next-gen environments, and the enormous appearance of each location. The battles also look good, featuring some of the biggest and most interesting spells in RPG history. But none of these elements, no matter how impressive, come out feeling like more than a step up from the previous generation.

Sound: 7.0
Great music that’s highly repetitive. Not all dialogue sequences are voiced, but when they are you’ll wish they weren’t.

Difficulty: Easy
If there’s one thing first-gen RPGs have in common it’s that they rarely provide a high challenge.

Concept: 7.5
Enchanted Arms rides high on the stereotypes created by the Square Enix conglomerate – futuristic worlds, flashy clothes, overacted dialogue, annoying (and expendable) conversations, etc. The battle engine is the most interesting thing about the game, and it’s not much more than a mix of two different RPG styles.

As a bonus, the SIXAXIS’s motion functionality is supported. But it’s wasted on mini-games, world actions (that can be executed with the X button), and magic boosting.

Overall: 7.0
Enchanted Arms is a decent RPG that – while filled with repetition and scavenger hunt annoyances – has reached a higher level of quality than any other first-gen RPG released for PSone, PS2, GameCube, or the original Xbox. (First-gen are the games released within the first 6-8 months of a console’s release.) Its flaws prevent it from being recommended as a purchase, but anyone who enjoys RPGs is encouraged to play it. The game is just as strange and flashy as it looks – but among that weirdness is a game that’s pretty darn fun.