ARC RISE FANTASIA REVIEW SERIES

Once in combat, a party of three (or occasionally four) dukes it out in turn-based fashion. Battles are mercifully not random enemies can be seen in the field and avoided.

ARC RISE FANTASIA REVIEW SERIES

The gameвЂ™s robust, categorized dictionary - combined with a Tales-inspired series of optional вЂњskitsвЂќ - helps clear up a lot of the confusion, although certain finer points are liable to be lost in the wash of each succeeding subplot.Д¬ombat, ever theВ centerpiece of the RPG,В draws its lineage from traditional lines but also manages to innovate. Just as Tales of Symphonia baffled with all sorts of complicated and confusing elements surrounding Desians and angels, so does Arc Rise Fantasia befuddle with its religions that all seem to run together and its esoteric political factions. The plotline is the sort of head-scratching, convoluted journey that seems to be endemic to the genre.

The game runs, at aВ casual pace,В from 40 to upwards of 50 hours - a solid length for a game of this type. There is no use of motion or IR at all in Arc Rise Fantasia, and most players will probably want to use either a classic or GameCube controller (both of which are supported) if they have one, since the Wii remote / nunchuck controls are a bit awkward to use. Turn-based combat, elemental magic, experience points, leveling up, equipment and items, characters with defined combat roles, inns, world maps, optional sidequests, optional side-bossesвЂ¦ the usual elements are all in place. A 17 year-old spiky-haired protagonist with an oversized sword sets off on a quest to vanquish a secret evil, joining up with the requisite cast of demure white mages, rough military types, Chosen Ones, and rogue-ish mercenaries who have a heart underneath it all. The fundamentals will be familiar to those versed in the genre. It isnвЂ™t innovative and it has some flaws, but it also delivers the honest-to-God JRPG experience that the system has been sorely lacking and will be a welcome sight for Wii owners who enjoy the traditional, epic, party-focused,В turn-based journey. Arc Rise Fantasia, by contrast, is a by-the-numbers Japanese-style role playing game, derivative from top to bottom.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, for example, deviated from its traditional predecessor into monster capture territory Opoona was as much job and relationship sim as it was role playing. Up to this point, every Wii role playing game seems to have veered off the traditional JRPG formula in some substantive - and at times calamitous - way. Arc Rise Fantasia is unusual among Wii RPGs in that it isnвЂ™t unusual.

Arc rise fantasia review