Enchanted Arms

"Tactics, Gambling, Collecting, and... er... Transvestites?"

Story:
The game starts off with you (Atsuma) in class with your two best friends; Toya, a genius you are striving to better, and Mokoto, a "flamboyant transvestite" (taken right from the manual). The first 30 minutes are dull, but if you stick with it, it starts to get really good. The just of the plot is to save your friend from a monster, I won't go into much detail as to not spoil anything. Nothing ground breaking here, but there isn't much ground to be broken either.

7/10

Graphics:
I'm sure most of you who have ever played a RPG, mainly Final Fantasy, wouldn't expect much in the graphics area, but here it is going to change. It could be the next gen console, or maybe the company just put a little extra time into, but the graphics are great. There is only a slight change between the CG cut-scenes and the actual gameplay. Some of the environment seems to be lacking, but the characters more than make up for it.

9/10

Sound:
You can't really expect much in the dialog avenue of any Japanese ports, and this isn't really much of an exception. The voice overs aren't too bad and the voices seem to fit the characters, but a lot of the less important dialog (i.e. Golem Battle Cries) are still in Japanese. Some to think that there is a bit too much talking, but I didn't notice it. A couple pros are that a great deal of the dialog is voiced, and it really isn't as corny as most RPGs.

6/10

Controls:
Not really much to discuss here. It's a RPG; you use the stick to run around and use the buttons to select a menu. It's all mechanic, so even if you find the controls a little bit awkward the game won't suffer. I myself felt comfortable.

7/10

Gameplay:
This is the great part about the game. Even though it's turn based, it involves a lot of tactics. Played on a grid 8x4 and with skills only spanning a certain amount of blocks, you have to use a good measure of wits in order to succeed in the game. Not too much to make the game miserable for the mentally challenged, but enough to flex your brain.

In the sense of difficulty, I found it to be very comfortable. It could be challenging at times, but I never really found myself "force leveling" myself just to get past certain parts.

The game also has a "gotta catch'em all" theme going on. Besides the main characters, you can also use what are called "Golems". Golems are both the main enemies and allies in the game. You can find cores throughout the game, which are used to create your own Golem. There are about 100 in all, and I myself haven't gotten them all yet. I tend to stick with the main characters myself.

The only con I can think of is that the game is very linear, but then again what RPG isn't. Not much to do besides the story. There are a few side quests/areas, but nothing compared to other games in it's category.

Even without side quests it still has a pretty good length. From what I here it averages around 40 hours. My finished time, side quests and all, was 48 hours.

9/10

Multiplayer:
Not really much you can do in the sense of multiplayer in RPGs (MMORPGs are in there own category). This game as a little, but it's slow paced battles with Golems you have leveled up in the game. I haven't bothered with it much myself.

5/10

Replay:
Once again not much here. Very few RPGs have great replay value, and the only thing I can find pulling me back to this game is the fact that I have yet to get all the Golems.

6/10

Overall:
A great RPG. If you are a RPG fan or a tactician definitely pick this up, but even if you aren't you might still enjoy it.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/06