Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos

PSP owners are spoilt for choice when it comes to excellent Japanese RPGs, especially with reissues of such classics as Persona 2 and the incredible Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Unfortunately Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos doesn’t quite join those ranks, despite its efforts to inject some originality into the genre. Its developers Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) are well known for turning out hardcore and solidly made entries into the genre, perhaps most notably their Disgaea series, and Aedis Eclipse, with its kitsch manga aesthetics and crazy cast of characters, similarly shows scant regard for western sensibilities. In short it’s precisely what any fan of the company’s output is looking for.

Sadly the game’s stories (of which there are a generous three: one set on the surface world, one in the divine and one in the infernal) are a grab bag of JRPG clichés, awkwardly cobbled together with idiotic plot developments and dialogue that is often so inane you’ll be thankful for the skip button. In the story set on the surface world of Aedis, which includes a tutorial for the game’s many convoluted mechanics, three kids in a military academy (though unbelievably naive to the nature of global politics) visit a minor skirmish in order to see a new unauthorised cyber suit in action and promptly get sucked into a huge war that centres around the leader of a rival nation attempting to summon the demon king. That’s not to say that most JRPGs are famed for their logical and mature stories (although there are notable exceptions such as almost any Final Fantasy game) but whilst many rely on the ridiculous to compel their colourful-haired protagonists towards the final confrontation, they at least do so with a degree of quirky charm, something which Aedis Eclipse doesn’t quite achieve despite some nice character portraits and voice work (fans will appreciate the choice between English and Japanese dubs).

Story aside, a good JRPG lives or dies by its battle system and although Aedis Eclipse has plenty of tricks and admirably fresh ideas up its sleeve, none of it seems solid enough to carry the game and engage the player beyond the lacklustre storytelling. Players move from key locations via a basic world map, but each stage they enter is an area map made up of tiles that can be moved around much like a board game. After thoroughly preparing your captains, you can dispatch them from your HQ in an attempt to capture your enemy’s base in a turn-based battle. Meeting an enemy on the map will cause you to engage in a battle, and to stack the odds in your favour you can terraform the squares around you to take advantage of your captain’s elemental alignment and your foe’s weakness, giving a vital power boost (though as with many of the aspects of the game this is poorly explained). If you defeat your enemy you take him prisoner and can attempt to persuade him to join your cause, a vital and quite clever way to grow your ranks. In short this part of the game has tons of neat ideas, and although some of them are clumsy in execution, it’s fun and fresh to play.

It’s the Battles themselves that are the problem; fought in a separate arena, they are a realtime paper scissors stone affair, with each side choosing a formation that gives various boosts and penalties to stats. However as soon as you press the start button it seems that your carefully arranged plans immediately break apart; your soldiers milling around in circles or standing motionless as your captain is pummelled to a pulp a few feet away. Although you can pause combat to perform special skills (with painfully slow, unskippable animations) and use a single item it often feels as though battles are hopelessly predetermined. In short the battles reduce you to a spectator. There are many excellent games that have used an automated battle system that relies on tactical preparation rather than combat dexterity, most notably Final Fantasy XII, but sadly this isn’t one of them. Aedis Eclipse reminds me of an unsuccessful version of the excellent Resonance of Fate, a game which dared to be different in almost every way. Unfortunately, whilst most elements of Resonance of Fate came to feel visionary once you got your head around them, here they frustratingly fall short.


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