Mania Grade: B-
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Info:
- Platform: PSP
- ESRB: E 10+
- Genre: RPG
- Players: 1
- Online: No
- Developer: Never-Land Company
- Publisher: NIS America
- Suggested Retail: $39.99
- Graphics: B
- Sound: C+
- Gameplay: B-
- Replay: B
- Fun Factor: C+
- Reviewer's Wild Card: B-
Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos
By Captain Gordon Edward
May 07, 2007
Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos
© Sony
In Aedis Eclipse war is breaking out between the factions and it is your job to either lead the march into Hell or try and stop it. This multi-layered storyline focuses the gameplay in three different ways by allowing you to choose which perspective of the storyline you wish to follow to the end. But it is not only the storyline that is layered but also the worlds that exist, as there are three worlds are Galandia, Aedis, and Greckland. In any event you must try and battle your way through to the end, and hopefully deal with the Demon Lord.
Moving from the storyline to gameplay, all action takes places on maps and on each map there is a set path that characters must follow. They have strict guidelines for success or defeat but they generally fall into the lines of defeating all of your opponents or capturing their base to win. These are also the conditions to lose a game, so you must always beware of how far apart your troops are spread out. On the map there is a trail that allows characters to travel to different landmarks but it always leads to the enemy’s base. It is a path, which characters are unable to deviate from but if you use it to your advantage you can bottlenecks the enemies and take them on one at a time.
Maps are divided up into segmented panels that can be occupied by any number of characters. Each character has a specific max amount of movement, which means while they may start on the same block they may not end up on same one. During your character’s turn you may move them out of their base to other panels, but generally to other cities or landmarks. Occupying cities or other buildings can boost their regeneration after battles, which can be pivotal to completing the map. These areas also allow them the chance to exploring, where they can find hidden items, characters, trails, but generally you will stumble across generic battles that can be used to gain extra experience.
On specific areas of a map you will be able to construct your own buildings, which help change the affect that they offer to teams that occupy the area. As previously mentioned some will replenish lost units that the team may have every turn, but others can add status elements to the area that can poison the enemy. Normal panels may also hosting a specific element -- like fire or ice – and that is another important thing to consider when sending elemental classed units into battle. Of course there are a few other battle specifics that make the general world a complex system, but even if you choose not to use them the average player can still succeed with a bit more difficulty.
Actually getting into the battle is fairly easy if you move one of your units onto a panel occupied by the enemy, but the battle style leaves a little something to be desired. The overlay of the battlefield changes depending on the level of your character where you can have extra units stationed with you, which is also true for the opponent. You will start off with five up front, and can eventually add more not only to the front lines, but also the back ones as well as you move up in level. These little soldiers deal out damage and try and whittle down their opponent’s forces so that there can be an all out assault between the captains plus whatever support remains.
These units can range depending on who you control, which adds a minor strategic element. Some are great for close range, while others are used for long distance. Some long distance units can hold back enemies with barrages of attacks, which can be a key to victory. The close range enemies generally damage opponents much more, but may end up being defeated before the reach their target. You can switch up the forces so that you have a few different types but it can be a little cumbersome to do so.
The captains are the strongest of all the units, but they also have the most life. They generally attack multiple enemies with a single swipe of their weapon as well, which make them the most valuable ally. If these captains are defeated the battle is over, so it can be very important to keep them out of the face of danger. After the battle is over there is a chance that the winners may capture the losing side. This may lead to them being converted to the other side, which mainly happens when they are brought back to a base and worked over with the persuade command.
Back to battle though, battle is where formation comes into play but also different abilities. You can either customize your own formation or select from several of the preset formations. These formations will adjust the statistics, but with every bonus received there is a negative attribute as well. In the end it allows all of the stats to balance out. For an example, you can push your forces forward with a bonus to attack but their defences will suffer as a result. Likewise you can also change other things like magical abilities and the like, but generally it is safest to go with straight up attacks.
Moving onto abilities, most captains have specific abilities that use up their skill power gauge. These important abilities can help out teams by boosting moral, but they can also be used to decimate opponents with special attacks. Of course you may also equip captains with items that can help their attack or defence, but there are also status items that open up the game on another level. My main problem with battles was that you were unable to directly control your captain, which left their control to an auto battle script. You could try and position your troops during battle but it did not work out as well as you had hoped, where your units may end up in a straight line while attacking the enemy rather than surrounding it.
Graphically the game is similar to all other games released by NIS. You have a mixture of sprites mixed in with 3D environments, which work quite well load time wise. The characters and environments look pretty, and while not fantastic, certainly good enough to look at for hours on end. The sound in the game is also pretty good, featuring a lot of solid voice work. Fans of NIS may notice a few similar voices from other games, which make you feel right at home with these different characters. The music is also good/decent, but that seems to be something that the game accomplishes across the board in all areas.
In the end, the game takes what was done in Generation of Chaos and bumps it up a notch. It is not a giant leap in gameplay, but it certainly is more enjoyable. Another issue that was resolved in the upgrade over the last one were the load times, which were definitely much more manageable even to the point where I hardly noticed them. I hated the control that you had over the captains and units, but it did not kill the experience altogether. Even despite a few errors it is still a pretty good RPG for the PSP, but there is still ways to go before it being fantastic. Since there is plenty of storyline for the RPG fan, it will be a good purchase for those who are looking for that. Wrapping up, Captain Gordon gives Aedis Eclipse a B-.
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