Enchanted Arms

"Enchanted Arms Review"

Story: Nothing new from what anyone whose ever played a PS1 RPG would expect. Same general plot with the same predictable plot turns. The story does get convoluted and contradictory towards the end however. One of the characters is "fabulous" if you get my drift. This is weird, but unique.

Battle System: At first, it is an awesome mix of tactics and turn-based, but about halfway through the game, the enemies begin to get harder, and the battles take a long time to complete. Thank god for the reasonably smart auto-battle AI button. Revive potions are useless b/c once you revive a fallen character, the opponent will kill him before you have a chance to heal because characters can only target themselves when healing w/ items. Spell healing helps, but is ultimately a waste of time. Furthermore, you have 3 turns to revive a character before they disappear from the battle, and you can only do it if you are next to the player on the grid. Basically, your better off keeping them dead instead of wasting the turns b/c: You have something called VP. It is at a different number for each character, and it goes down 1 point for each turn it takes you to kill the opponent. Furthermore, it takes 5-10 points off for each time you run away. This makes it essential to not escape from battles because it does not recover unless you find a "recover station." If a character is reduced to 1 VP, he/she will begin every battle at 1 HP. The nice thing is that, as long as you have VP, you will automatically heal after battle.

Interface: The menus can get messy at times. There are alot of menus buried in menus, and an easy, but annoying system of "learning" your skills before equipping them. This isn't really a big deal.

Graphics: Very nice. Not Oblivion or Gears nice, but no flaws.

Sound/Voice: The voice acting is pretty good. It can get corny at times, but its pretty good overall. The soundtrack is not memorable, but its fine.

Difficulty: It holds your hand for the first 6-8 hours, and then it drops you into hell. The game can go from moderate to very hard. I had to try multiple times on many various bosses. This isn't a game where leveling up while moving through the story is going to be enough. Its not the hardest out there though. Vets should be fine, but a little surprised.

Characters: One of its best qualities. The characters are very likable, and watching the relationships build is heart-warming. There is also a poke-mon' aspect to it, where you collect 100+ "golems" that can fight for you.

Overall: Its the best the 360's got in terms of turn-based Japanese RPGs. Albeit, its the only, but if your hungry for an RPG, you could do far worse than this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/07