Namco x Capcom

"Perfect? Hardly. A Namco/Capcom fan's dream? Yes!"

This is my first review, but I figured what the hey - this game has caused a big stir on forums, on other news sites, etc. Might as well give my comprehensive thoughts on it!

As it is, the game is far from perfect - a lot of the complaints I have heard are valid. If you don't happen to be an avid SLG / SRPG fan, then this is going to be a very different game for you. A lot of people thought it would be a fighting game, or that it's going to play exactly like Final Fantasy Tactics, or Shining Force, etc. It shares similarities with any number of games within this genre, but it also has a number of differences.

One thing that rather surprised a lot of people about the title: this game is *long*. Shortly into the game, the maps start to take a long time - easily an hour to three each, by the end of the game. Couple this with 5 Prologues and 47 stages on top of that, it's a pretty hefty title. Many people may find the nature of these missions - you can almost always count on reinforcements for the enemies popping up, extending a mission you may think is over. Even mid-game, this can make the stages incredibly long. However, one thing to remember, is that you *can* save mid-battle, thus you don't always have to play it in one, huge sitting. Oh, and of course, the obligatory obvious statement: many may be turned off by the fact that the game is all in Japanese.

Graphics-wise, if you're a fan of 2D, it will be enjoyable. It seems that Morrigan has, finally, gotten a new sprite! Anyone who has played any of the Darkstalkers / Vampire Savior games, up through Marvel vs. Capcom 2, will know what I mean! Otherwise, it's pretty simple to break it down - You'll love it or hate it, depending on how much enjoyment / nostalgia you get from 2D graphics.

Sound-wise, the game is fantastic. Any number of classic tunes from the arcade games through the console versions which you may have enjoyed for many a year. Remixed and brought up to par, I really have no complaints about the soundtrack, except for (personally) disliking Lei-Lei and Fong Lin's theme. The voicing is superb, and much in the same vein as Super Robot Wars, important scenes as well as battle scenes are voiced. Anyone who wanted the game fully voiced.. while I can understand.. it would cost about a billion dollars to pay the seiyuu, as well as be about 4 dvds - this game is text heavy.

Gameplay-wise, I have no complaints. However, this is where the game has caught a lot of flak. Some people love it, some people hate it -I can't change your mind if you find it tedious as heck. However, one thing to note - as more faqs come out with translations and lists for all the Skills, etc, some who found the battles tedious may find it a little easier, if they haven't been making use of some of these things (because they may have not known what they did, etc!) - Especially when you get to mid-game, many of the characters become absurdly powerful, and you can really mop up fairly quickly with them. Conversely, some people have found the game to be too easy - I cannot really help you there, except for suggesting that you take on personal challenges - Don't use skills, use only a handful of characters, etc. You can also try beating the game, and playing it on Expert Mode - but I can understand not wanting to have to beat the game first to up the challenge.

One other point that has made a lot of people unhappy is the fact that you cannot create your own squads. However, in my opinion, that is understandable - many of the characters work very well with their partners. It would be much more difficult if you could create any squad you want - some pairs, one character may only have 1 or 2 moves. The pairs all make enough sense to me, and oftentimes they compliment each other very, very well. Also, think on this - no game gets everything 'right' on its first try. I think they did remarkably well, creating a game completely out of their usual fields, Perhaps, if they decide to make another game, or similar sort of game, they will have more characters, allow squads to be created, etc. For a first venture, I think they did remarkably well.

I happen to enjoy the long stages, the powerful characters - but I can understand how it might seem repetitious. Also, the fact that many people don't really understand any of the story doesn't help - there's little drive for them to play other than simply the gameplay. This game is also not the be-all-end-all game. I think a lot of people got hyped and really, really played their hopes up too much over it - which lead to a lot of disappointment in the end. As it is, it may not be for you - but if you're at all an SLG fan as well as a Capcom and/or Namco fan, give it a go - you may be surprised at how fun it is!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/05