	Enchanted Arms
	Developer: From Software Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: Out Now Players: 1	Words By:
Just for once, we, the easily mollified western gamers have been given a Japanese action RPG that doesn’t have a bizarre, misleading, or non-related title (see: Final Fantasy, et al). But that literal translation doesn’t mean the game’s narrative revolves around a mystical cuddle or a ghostly embrace. No, sadly not. In Enchanted Arms, the main playable character actually has and ‘enchanted arm’. But does the accuracy of the title attract or repel? Indeed, would we all rather the game had some oddly ill-fitting Japanese title that didn’t convey said enchanted appendages? It’s a tough call, but ultimately one not in the least related to the core of Enchanted Arms, which, for the purposes of this review, is of much more concern. As with a great many Japanese RPG offerings, Enchanted Arms and its clichéd, attitude-addled, student central characters exist more as an interactive graphic novel rather than a genuine role-playing game. It’s perhaps unfair to western titles of note to call Enchanted Arms an RPG, especially when the ‘true’ gameplay interaction we’ve come to expect through games such as Fable or The Elder Scrolls - real RPGs that evolve with the player rather than simply offering fight infested travel segues between narrative action set pieces - is so much worthy than the likes of Enchanted Arms and Shin Megami Tensei (see, now there’s an intriguingly vague title for you). Enchanted Arms is an all-too clear example of the linear RPG, an adventure (barely) that involves following glaringly obvious game markers to the next story development, and trawling through a never-ending cascade of banal and random battles along the way. Any dedicated side-quests and minor distractions are so disgracefully brief that it’s almost as though the game doesn’t want to let go of the player’s hand for fear of them actually seeing how limited the environmental options actually are. Furthermore, players cannot even take solace from the repetition and lack of variety by empathising with the game’s well-crafted and layered characters, because it doesn’t have any to speak of. The game’s central character, Atsumo, is immediately dislikeable as the main protagonist, with an unending streak of self-importance and arrogance in his ‘Enchanted’ abilities (though initially he’s somewhat unaware of his latent power). Then there’s Makoto - perhaps the game’s most shockingly misplaced and stereotypically wince-inducing character - who’s a male contemporary of Atsumo. Makoto is clearly a homosexual (both visually and aurally) and only tags along with Atsumo, who he plainly dislikes, because he’s madly in love with Touya, who’s Atsumo’s closest friend - and the game’s unsung hero. It’s all exhaustingly bizarre, and not least because the English characterisations are so unfailingly poor. So bad, in fact, that switching the audio options over to original Japanese is a welcome relief; and while the player then needs to follow subtitles that are flawed in their localisation, at least the delivery of the character performances exudes more genuine emotion and believability. It’s not all bad news though, and Enchanted Arms’ visual facade certainly looks very appealing, although exploration of its environments always feels restrictive. However, as already mentioned, if viewed more as an interactive graphic novel, or perhaps a Broken Sword-style point and click adventure - without the pointing and clicking - then Enchanted Arms is at least an extremely pleasant water colour forgery of a next-gen RPG. Back to the beating, I’m afraid. The character development interface, though more immediately accessible than regular western RPGs, feels oddly unfulfilling and lacks the draw required to pull the player into its possibilities, which isn’t helped by the actual gameplay of Enchanted Arms always managing to fall on the wrong side of immersive. Ultimately, playing Enchanted Arms soon feels like a returned favour offered up to developer From Software by the player because it’s done such a thoroughly nice job with the graphics. But, as we all know, graphics are simply not enough these days, with most gamers being not so easily pleased by aesthetic glitz and gloss alone. In that sense, where Enchanted Arms collapses in on itself, is in its annoyingly relentless fighting aspect. Without any form of exaggeration, once beyond the walls of Atsuma’s suddenly besieged school (I’m not even going into the dire storyline), the player can barely take more than a few steps without the game cutting to a random battle with evil creatures that cannot be seen, or avoided, beforehand - even though Atsuma and co. are moving in a physical 3D world. It’s a game world fault that’s unforgivable considering the untapped power of the Xbox 360 - we’ve come a long way since Final Fantasy VII, someone should let From Software know that. This singularly fatal fracture in the gameplay is perhaps the biggest obstacle and deterrent for any player wishing to tread beyond the game’s linear pathways. And, as a result, it doesn’t take long before that desire is beaten down by the incessantly dull turn-based action. Thankfully, the fights can be put into an automatic tactical mode where needed, which is handy when the same selection of creatures are blocking character progress for the umpteenth time in two minutes - but its addition smacks of an escape route apology by From Software for the mind-numbing stream of confrontations. Let us not forget, dear reader, that the Japanese gaming market adores this kind of repetitious battle monotony; one need only look toward the rampant success of Koei’s truly awful hack-and-slash series Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors to see exactly how well Enchanted Arms suits the need of battle-hungry (Japanese) gamers. And therein lies the problem, because the pseudo tactical battle mechanic is the meat on Enchanted Arms’ bones, and the story, gameplay, evolution, characters, and environments are merely peripheral afterthoughts designed to surround the action in a paper-thin shell of justification. The only genuinely attractive aspect of the game’s evolution - though it barely qualifies - emerges through its character ‘golems’, which are similar to the progressive sidekick character demons seen in 2005’s Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. These golems, which range from the insanely cute to the more overtly powerful, can be purchased and then honed via inclusion to the battle grouping in order to create powerful allies that evolve alongside the characters. Yet, as appealing as the golems are, they’re not nearly enough to drag the player forward for more than a handful of hours before cerebral function begins to deteriorate and the Xbox 360’s power button starts whispering words of tempting release… Enchanted Arms is poor. It’s very poor. Surprisingly poor – it’s far from next-generation in every way, and even its impressive graphics do not fully utilise the potential of the platform and successfully distract player attention from the generally low-end execution of every other facet. Frankly, Enchanted Arms offers an excruciating experience from start to finish, and it’s a game that should sink to the very bottom of the bargain bin and be wholly forgotten by all who are unlucky enough to cross its path.

Best Bits
- The environments and visual detailing are fairly solid throughout
- Battle effects are also quite decent
- The Golems raise an element of enthusiasm

Worst Bits
- It’s far too linear to qualify as an RPG title
- The incessant fighting soon grates to the point of actual anger
- Character evolution is unfulfilling, and vocal performances are poor
- The lack of on-screen enemies in the game world is unforgivable
- It’s riddled with easy clichés and, in the case of Makoto, a borderline offensive homosexual stereotype
- It just isn’t next-gen.


by: Stevie Smith