Game: Hexyz Force
Developer/Publisher: Sting/Atlus
Platform: PSP, PSPGo
Price: $29.99
Pros: Two storylines, RPG goodness abounds
Cons: Can get a bit overwhelming with systems
Verdict: Rent it first, buy if a big RPG fan
Let’s face it, Atlus is known for publishing interesting, out of the norm RPG games for portable systems. Hexyz Force, another team-up with developer Sting, is no exception. It features two complete storylines, each playable on their own without reference to each other, yet both complementing the overall world storyline. It’s like getting two games for the price of one.
Here’s the situation: The world, named Berge, is under attack by the forces of darkness. Cecelia, our female protagonist, lives in Lustrous Berge, and deals with the light side of the story. Levant is a knight errant in Dark Berge, serving his king and fighting with his big bad sword. Cecilia is the long-foretold Mistress of the Staff, but she’s having a bit of teen angst over the issue, not really being sure if she wants to deal with all this stuff. She’d rather hang out in the sunshine, goofing off with her friends and a smart mouthed little flying rodent, Ralu. Levant is sent on a mission of peace to help his king join the warring races of Berge into a peaceful nation. He finds this task daunting, to say the least, and must team up with a member of one of the feared and hated other races just to stay true to his mission and escape with his life.
If you’ve played a game like Final Fantasy or Class of Heroes (an Atlus/Aquire production), you’ll be familiar with the game mechanics. Battles happen in real time, with the requisite wait time, special moves and super attack powers. There are a host of different systems in place here, but none of it needs get in the way of just hitting the basic attack buttons until the monster or monsters are defeated. Each main character uses a special Hexyz weapon, which can be upgraded using FP, or Force Points. Force is the source of all things, and can be used in a variety of other ways as well, such as healing characters. Each attack type has elemental status effects, which will determine the kind and severity of damage to opponents. Using the same status effect in a row also adds damage points.
It would be fairly easy to geek out with all these mechanics and numbers and stats numbers, but you don’t have to. It makes the game more interesting, because let’s face it, who hasn’t played their share of turn-based RPGs so far? No one, that’s who. What makes this game interesting is the two storyline feature, and the different types of battle maneuvering, all tied into the main world lore that is presented in fairly digestible chunks. Cecilia’s storyline is light and airy, as you’d expect from “Lustrous Berge.” The main character here is not really into the whole “heroine” thing, and complains quite a bit about having to fight monsters all the damn time. It’s charming and funny at times, if a bit on the tween side of angsty dialogue. Levant’s storyline is much more in line with a more traditional battle-based RPG, in that it’s fairly serious and focused on knights and royalty and the like. I found it a bit more palatable than the Light side of things, but both storylines are interesting and worth the price of admission. Plus you get some really nicely produced anime-like cutscenes in addition to the game engine ones at Chapter markers. Nice, right?
If you’re looking for a quality turn-based RPG experience with a nice balance between deep number crunching and solid storylines, look no further. If, on the other hand, you’ve played quite a few of these types of games in the recent past, you might consider renting first, grabbing it on GameFly or the like. It’s a great game, but is definitely loyal to its roots.
GrE Grade: B-
Popularity: unranked [?]
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