The players are starting to be used to see many Japanese titles pass under the nose without being able to taste it. Fortunately, things are slowly moving land and see more Japanese games atypical. Thus we can now accommodate as required Cross Edge, a cross-over rather greedy that brings together characters from five different world to the delight of fans.
If the cross-over have been the joys of game enthusiasts baston, the recipe is a little more surprising when it comes to the world of RPG. Indeed, role-playing generally derive their strength from their very special world they invite you to explore in depth. In these circumstances, it is not always easy to arrange meetings between these different worlds. Some titles such as Kingdom Hearts or x Namco Bandai have yet proven in very different styles that the exercise could be paid. It's time for Nippon Ichi Software of the challenge with Cross Edge. Their last baby together indeed characters from their own Disgaea, but also the protagonists of Darkstalkers Capcom, from Atelier Marie and Gust of Mana Khemia, Ar tonelico Namco and finally Spectral Souls of Idea Factory.
As might be expected, it is not easy to meet all the beautiful world around a scenario that is actually the road. And you start with the two new characters as such, York and Miko, who wake up in the middle of a landscape totally unknown and hostile. They will meet other adventurers quickly lost as they have all been thrown into this parallel world, was this universe was created by the energy of souls stolen from their respective size. Also note that the protagonists have to pass lost part or all of their memory and you will understand that we should not expect much from the side of the scenario Cross Edge. The main frame is still light and shifted without ever reaching the heights of absurdity that Nippon Ichi we had used. Fans of the original series will still find consolation is that they like the characters.
If the lightness of the scenario is quite excusable, many players will find it difficult to cope with the graphical decidedly retro title. Nippon Ichi Software we had already prepared a Disgaea 3, which was not visually impressive, but the studio has pushed further the limits of design with Cross Edge. Both say frankly, the graphics that are not even on the level of what one might expect to see on PS2 ... One example among many others, on the surface of your fighting characters are represented by 2D sprites in a fairly ugly while some of your enemies, but not all, have a 3D modeling. Do not rinse your eye on during the cinematic cut-scenes, they are limited to simple sequences of still shots. The only small feature that will flatter your ward lies in the possibility of changing the behaviors of your heroines, it is difficult not to think that the PS3 could offer us a little more.
You will understand, Cross Edge is not on its austere presentation to attract shoppers both quickly tell you, the game system is not necessarily easier to access. You will choose from three modes of difficulty in beginning the adventure but are now receiving the intermediate mode to provide you with a good dose of challenge and opt for the hard mode unless you have some predisposition to masochism. It does not complain a second be faced with some challenges bodied. Things go bad when the lack of a comprehensive tutorial, the weakness of the manual and the presence of diverse and varied menus require you to look on the net information that you were supposed to discover for yourself. The downside is that Cross Edge finally offers a particularly rich and full that deserves to be studied in depth. You'll quickly a plethora of characters to find out who all have skills and unique characteristics. If you can not send a team of four of them in combat, those who remained in reserve still gain some experience at the end of the confrontation. This does not mean that you can dispense with the fair level, in effect also gain the skills levels and improve or resolve other skills. There was therefore no secret, you should use them again and again to change all that little world.
Fighting inevitably cut the lion's share in the gameplay Cross Edge. These take place on a checkerboard on two scales in three of four to be exact: the left welcomes the enemies while the right contains the four characters you have chosen to send the breakout pipe. The clashes are taking place in turn-based and each player has action points, the AP, which allow it to move on the chessboard and to launch an attack. The combat system in a few tunes of tactical-RPG, in fact all have different skills rays of well-defined action that you must take into account in the composition of your training. Some fighters are more willing to be first in line while others find their place in the middle of the pack or even prefer the tranquility of the rearguard. The tactical aspect is still limited since it is impossible to take back to his enemies or even to come alongside them on the chessboard that occupies the left of the screen.
The system gains in complexity when we take into consideration the gauges coming bloom the screen during the phases of combat. Once a stroke is increased, the hit points (HP) of the victim are displayed but the other three gauges are also emerging, that of Burst, of Down and Break. To understand their use, you must keep in mind that the clashes are not necessarily confined to his opponents out of business one after another. It is gaining more and more effect to all its forces to harp on an enemy. For example, when it has more life, but you continue to abuse, you make up its HP gauge the other way and you finally realize Overkill. There lies a system not unlike that of Valkyrie Profile, but it is further enriched with the contribution of the Guard Break and Overbreak. Some attacks will indeed bring down the two gauges Guard, the Burst and Down, and you can make shots even more powerful when one of them will be dead. The Overbreak is even more interesting character to be able to gauge his opponent's estate to recover dry directly AP. The latter technique allows to perform devastating combos well over a hundred hits or chaining enemies during a single round of play
It does not need to neglect the importance of combos in Cross Edge: your characters will not go very far if they do not their abilities. Skills all come together in a complex classification: chaining two shots of a specific type and you trigger a combo Branch, continue with two other skills to get a second Branch combo even more impressive ... The key is to make good combination's, while respecting the timing indicated. You can also use Skills Extras particularly strong coming draw both gauges in the AP and SP, the latter filling slowly bringing or receiving blows exceptional. It is also possible to link these famous EX Skills for truly explosive combo ... All this may seem obscure but the system part of a basic yet simple: the different skills of each character associated with the four main buttons of the joystick. These provisions are generally quite strict: it is the weapon carried by the soldier to determine the number of sites available and the type of expertise that may be involved.
Regular series of Gust is probably already suspected, the creation of objects and improving them necessarily takes an important place in Cross Edge. This is the small issue of Marie Atelier Marie, who will gently Lowlands tasks. The girl has a lot to do because not only is able to synthesize new items from the objects collected on the basis of income that you have purchased, but also give a good boost for the equipment you already. There are two distinct ways to improve an item: either it does evolve using points Enemies (EP) that you have earned in the sweat of your forehead over the fighting, is it involves other items that she sacrificed for the occasion. The first option allows for example to obtain a weapon with better features that can give you bonuses to AP, whereas with the second method, the same weapon may directly increase the characteristics of your character. You can of course use both methods to improve the same object.
You will understand, Cross Edge is really intended for a highly targeted audience: to appreciate its true value, we must not only be Japanese RPG fan and if possible be a fan of the series involved in this cross-over, but also be prepared to spend at least a hundred hours to explore a system of comprehensive and complex that does not reveal its charms to come first. The packaging has no binding effect: the graphics are far from appetizing and the script takes the found excuse to rush to meet the different characters. But despite all these flaws, Cross Edge certainly eventually seduced by the players who have an overdose of cinematic and combat systems simplified or automated .
The graphics are far from the level of what we can expect to find on PS3. It must be admitted that even the most PS2 titles manage to be a little more attractive .It is really difficult to judge the playability of Cross Edge: the game is incredibly comprehensive, but nothing has been done to make it accessible. Of navigation through the menus to the phases of combat, you can expect a grip which is anything but intuitive.Like most RPG stamped Nippon Ichi Software, Cross Edge offers a lifetime of more than correct: count easily a hundred hours to go around.
It is really not easy to give a general appreciation of Cross Edge as the game is unbalanced: its appearance is far from engaging and his script is not really exciting, but it also offers a combat system complete well put together that will attract players demanding.There are some touches of humor, but the whole is much less crazy than Disgaea. Fans of the series will have the satisfaction of characters who find their loved ones, others will be sorry by the general poverty of the scenario.
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