Presumably due to having exhausted much of their creativity on the fantastic Valkyria Chronicles two years prior, Sega rolled the typical JRPG die for Resonance of Fate. After just dodging "use the power of friendship to save the world," the plot landed on "post-apocalyptic-esque future in which a steampunk utopia comprising a microcosm of pre-devastation society is mankind's only solace." Well strap 14 barrels on a handgun, that's actually not a terrible idea! Indeed, the game's central locale, Basela towering achievement of human engineering and the last vestige of life on Earthis an interesting one. The reasons for it are damnably vague, but mankind retreating into what is effectively a giant air purifier to escape a cancerous poison which has overtaken the planet is at least a far cry above your run-of-the-mill nuclear apocalypse. At least, it could have been were it not for, in practice, an absurdly convoluted and disjunctive story that has more extraneous characters and hanging plot points than it does bullets (there are lot of those, by the way). Things only get worse when you add in a monochromatic main cast which somehow manages to hit every extreme of forced acting while remaining flat as pressed carbon throughout.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
