Check out Ignition’s new big-name Wii title, as well as a downloadable platformer from Atari.
Ignition Entertainment
Last year, Ignition impressed pretty much everyone on the planet with their demonstration of Muramasa: the Demon Blade; this year, they’re taking on traditional RPGs by localizing and publishing Arc Rise Fantasia, developed by imageepoch. The game was released last year in Japan to good sales and reviews, and revolves around a land known as the Meridian Empire, which is being poisoned by the deaths of passing Contaminant Dragons.
I gave the game a brief go, and the game is very much a traditional RPG. I spent my time running through an apparently deserted town, selectively avoiding and running into the enemies wandering around onscreen, depending on whether or not I wanted to battle at that time. Most of the time, I did, though, since Arc Rise Fantasia has a pretty nice battle system going on.
The game’s battle system is turn-based, without being active-time or anything like that. For the most part, it’s traditional RPG fare, with a couple of interesting modifications. Instead of selecting one action for each character in your battle party, you’re given a number of Action Points that you can use any way you like; if one character has a really awesome attack, you can use it and only it as many times as your AP will allow, while the other characters just hang around. Of course, that may give enemies a chance to attack, since having one person do one thing a bunch isn’t as efficient; you can check out the attack order in the corner. You also have to keep an eye on your MP, for some special attacks, and along with your HP, you’ll have a bunch of things to keep an eye on, but the freedom is rather appreciated.
At the same time, you can streamline the process if you like; Arc Rise Fantasia allows for you to pre-set up to three battle plans, depending on the occasion. You can’t select specific attacks to do, but you can instruct certain characters to only attack, or to heal, or to use magic; you can then pick those out on your turn, depending on what enemy you’re up against, and the characters will make a choice based on what guidelines you give them. It certainly saves a lot of time, especially against smaller enemies where you would just be hammering the A button to do attack after attack after attack; if specific enemies have specific battle strategies, you can pre-program them before heading into an area, and whenever you run into fodder, or whenever you feel like grinding, you can just select the proper set of attacks.
I didn’t get to see much besides the battle system, but with a traditional RPG that’s by far one of the most important aspects, and Arc Rise Fantasia looks to me to have a good setup. The game’s due for an American release next month, so keep an eye out.
Atari
Earlier that same day, I stopped by Atari to check out what games they had to show; there wasn’t anything on hand for Nintendo systems, but I did check out a neat downloadable title called Blade Kitten from Krome Studios, which will be showing up on the PlayStation Network, the XBox Live Arcade, and PC. The game doesn’t make any attempt to take itself seriously; you play as a catgirl with attitude, chasing down an old enemy while making insults at each other the entire time. The game’s a free-roaming platformer, where you can easily climb up most walls, and even on the ceiling, without even pressing any extra buttons. The developers take advantage of this freedom by hiding about half the stage, forcing you to climb around and explore if you want to see all the title has to offer.
It’s got a colorful look to it, though I spent a good portion of my playthrough in a not-so-colorful cave setting, and the developers made note of how light just sort of shows up in the level without any notable source, which gives it an interesting appearance. The combat is fairly straightforward button-mashing; it’s not too deep, but there’s not much of it from what I can see, as the focus is really on the platforming, which has been refined nicely and goes smoothly. Blade Kitten will be available for download later this year.
Stay tuned to NintendoGal.com for more impressions as the week wraps up.
