Enchanted Arms

Enchanted Arms
North American box art
Developer(s)	From Software
Publisher(s)	JP From Software EU Ubisoft NA Ubisoft
Designer(s)	Masanori Takeuchi
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 [1]
Release date(s)	Xbox 360 JP January 12, 2006 NA August 29, 2006 EU September 8, 2006 PlayStation 3 JP January 27, 2007 NA April 3, 2007 EU March 23, 2007
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single-player Online multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen (T)
Media/distribution	DVD, Blu-ray

Enchanted Arms (known as [eM] -eNCHANT arM- in Japan) is a science fiction/fantasy-based role-playing video game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Although the game was intended to be an Xbox 360 launch title for the Japanese market, its release date was pushed back to January 12, 2006, by the developer, From Software. Ubisoft published the game in August 2006 in North America, and in September 2006 in Europe. The game retitled as Enchant Arm for its Japanese PlayStation 3 release. At the time of its PS3 release, it was a launch title for the European market.

Since its release, it has been confirmed that the game uses only a single DVD, in contrast to earlier multi-disc reports. It also comes with an art book and mini-calendar in Japan. The supplementary content included with the initial American product shipment was a 48-page prequel manga.

Story

Atsuma, Makoto, and Toya are students at the Enchanter's University in Yokohama City. At the university, they study to become enchanters, while learning about topics such as the man-made golems that populate the world. Although powerful self-aware golems fought each other and laid waste to the land 1000 years ago during the Golem Wars, golems in the modern era serve mankind.

One day, while the three are skipping class to attend a local festival, an apparent earthquake occurs. Additionally, the golems in the area appear to have gone berserk and are now attacking people. Rushing back to the university, the three find that things are in chaos, and that the mysterious "sealed ward" had been opened. While seeking to discover what has happened, the group meet up with the Queen of Ice, a Devil Golem sealed long ago. With her immense Ether capability and regeneration power, she overwhelms the three, taking Toya as ice falls on Makoto. Atsuma strikes back, guided by a mysterious voice, using his right arm that turns into something out of the ordinary that could harm a Devil Golem.

Atsuma wakes up in London City and is locked up in a cell while being refused to go and find out what happened to Yokohama.

Characters

The main characters involved in the game are as follows:

• Atsuma (アツマ): Atsuma is a student at Enchant University in Yokohama City. Atsuma tends to act first and think later, if at all. His best friend Toya considers him hot-blooded. He also has heterochromia (one eye being violet while the other is green). Atsuma is actually an oddity at the Enchant University, as he cannot enchant as most other students can, but instead is able to draw ether and enchantment power from others through his right arm, which worries many of the students at the school. He is voiced by Johnny Hawkes for the US version and Daisuke Kishio for the Japanese version
• Karin (カリン): Karin is from London City. She's an expert in a London-style martial art that relies primarily on various kicks, and she is sufficiently skilled to qualify as an assistant instructor. She is thus justifiably proud of her legs. However, Karin's boundless energy runs to excess at times, and she can be stubborn and sharp-tongued.
• Raigar (ライガ, Raiga): A giant of a man who wields swords with amazing skill, Raigar accompanies Karin everywhere. He watches over her out of a sense of obligation to her father, to whom Raigar became indebted long ago. Currently, he fights by Karin's side as a member of the resistance movement in London City.
• Yuki (ユウキ, Yūki): A girl who makes a living hunting Golems with her two guns. Yuki values money above everything else and wanders around trying to find legendary devil golems with expensive bounties. She is a bit naive and often tries to act like an adult. She is always full of energy but frequently is not taken seriously by people around her. She will fearlessly challenge opponents bigger than she is, but still has a kind heart for smaller creatures. Yuki takes great pride in being a hunter and does not let a target escape, no matter what. She claims to be the greatest Golem Hunter in the World, though no one else seems to agree.

Supporting/Other characters

• Toya (トウヤ, Tōya): Atsuma's classmate at Enchant University. Toya is cool, intelligent, good looking and very popular, especially with the girls. Enchant University even has a Toya fan club [TFC]. Toya's nickname is the "Blue Calculator"(Atsuma calls him "Stone-Cold Calculator." and he is also known as "Blue Computer.") due to his calm and calculated nature. His bloodline runs very deep because he is a direct descendant of the ancient Enchanters. As a result of his heritage, his talent and enchanting abilities are especially strong. Toya has a bright future as an enchanter. Even though he and Atsuma are like opposites, the two have developed a deep friendship. This mystifies everyone and their relationship has incited hatred for Atsuma amongst his classmates for they believe he is a bad influence on Toya.
• Makoto (マコト): Atsuma's and Toya's classmate at Enchant University. Makoto is homosexual and his friends like to call him the "yellow otomegokoro." He is blindly in love with Toya (though Toya does not appear to reciprocate Makoto's feelings) and Toya is the center of all of his actions and thoughts. Makoto has a confrontational attitude with Atsuma because he is jealous of Atsuma and Toya's close friendship. Makoto has a tendency to act first and ask questions later and bases his actions on likes and dislike rather than on the logic or social conventions. It is learned near the end of the game that Makoto survived his "death" and was undercover as the "Mysterious Man"
• Sayaka : Sayaka is from Iwato village. A master swordswoman with many techniques who is forced to fulfill her vow to serve the current Shogun of Kyoto. She is also the fiance of Raigar but her father Josei has a deep hatred for what Raigar and his evil brother did during the war of London and Kyoto. Sayaka also owns a pet cat named Jezebel.
• Mysterious Man: His name, age, background, and intent are all unknown. He seems to value the pendant he wears, but the reason is shrouded in mystery. He periodically appears to help and give adivce to Atsuma and his party, but his motivation is unclear. He possesses superior physical and enchanting abilities. It is presumed that he is a very powerful enchanter, but his identity and how he received his great abilities are unknown. His main weapons are two giant Yo-Yos.
• Josei: Josei is Sayaka's father. A elderly man living in Iwato village who only hates Raigar but respects everyone else. Despite several attempts by Atsuma to get him to forgive Raiger, Raiger eventually earns the respect of Josei when Atsuma, Karin, Yuki, and Raiger repel a ninja attack on the village led by one of Raigar's arch enemies Oboro.
• The Sage: A 200 year old Sage who lives on top of the Sage's Tower. Its revealed the Sage is a female but appears to a young beautiful 20 year old woman. Raigar used to be her apprentice but apparently left to fight in the London/Kyoto war. She seems to know a lot about Atsuma's arm but she can unleash a banshee scream out of annoyance if annoyed.
• King Caliban : The 16th King of London city who apparently ordered a major resource lockdown in London City. It is rumored that he plans to revive the Emperor of Fire in order to fight and defend against the Queen of Ice.
• Professor Kou : Atsuma's teacher at the Yokohama university. Atsuma always seems to fall asleep during his lectures. He seems to have a sadistic look on his face, and other students fear him. He fights Atsuma and gets killed by the Ice Queen afterwards.
• Junkyard Boy: A poor boy living in Junk City. He scavenges the junk piles for relics and owns a dog named Sandy.
• Cassanova : A minor resistance member who fights along with Karin and the Resistance.
• Crawford : Atsuma's first opponent in Yokohama before Yuki in the Golem battle tent
• Cota : An Akita Inu and Atsuma's dog. After Atsuma, Toya, and Makoto, leave town square to the school while the golems are going berserk, he leads them to the Sealed Ward.

Major/Minor Antagonists and Plot Devices

• Queen of Ice (クイーン・オブ・アイス, Kuīn obu Aisu): The Queen of Ice is a Devil Golem with several hundred times the Ether capacity and power of an average Golem, sealed within Yokohama City. A combat Golem with the Ice Elemental who can affect the movement of particles to slow, solidify, and shrink objects. This Devil Golem takes the form of a female and is very intelligent. She is the primary antagonist of the game as Atsuma and his friends go on a quest to stop her evil intentions. She is known in legend as the Ice Witch.

• Ooka: Ooka is Raigar's evil brother. At every turn during the London City affairs he tries to attack the London resistance and get revenge on Raigar for events in the past that earned him his scar. Ooka first appears when Atsuma attempts to head to Yokohama across the Yokohama bridge. However Ooka order the demolition of the bridge before Atsuma can cross.

• Oboro: A dark ninja who appears to be serving the shogun of Kyoto but actually owes his allegiance to no one and intends to revive the Lord of Earth for his own purposes. He is also a long time enemy of Raigar.

• Baron Hartson : The current Baron of London City. He is suspected to be in league with King Caliban. But it turns out that he is against the king and wants to take the throne himself

• Fubial: A selfish rich golem hunter who lives in Junk City. He appears to be a rival of Yuki. He is a merciless person who does not tolerate failure for any of his hired guards and is feared by the people of Junk City.

• Lord Tokimune: The current Shogun of Kyoto City. He is a selfish mean hearted person whom almost everyone despises because of his crude attitude. Tokimune also enjoy cuddling with his bodyguard golem Honoka. In fact, he prefers the company of his female golem consorts to humans. In the game he is coerced into reviving the Lord of Earth by the Queen of Ice. However he is not aware of the true intentions of Sayaka and Oboro.

• Honoka: One of Tokimune's main bodyguards.

• Emperor of Fire: The devil golem hidden under London City. He possesses devastating fire ether attacks and possesses a second form where he wields a giant fire staff. Is absorbed by Atsuma after he is defeated. The Emperor of Fire is known in legend as the Flame Demon.

• Lord of Earth: The devil golem hidden somewhere in Kyoto. Though he does not appear powerful he possesses a powerful defense force making him a powerful defensive based golem. He also has Raigar's special EX attack. The Lord of Earth is known in legend as the Stone General.

• Infinity : A devil golem who was created to obey one command: to reconstruct all matter in the world and return it to its original state. Infinity was part of Atsuma's right arm and responsible for the events of the game before he was destroyed by him at the end of the game.

Combat / Battle system

The fights in the game are turn-based and use a grid field similar to what might be found in games like Shining Force, but on a smaller scale. Allies generally attack first and enemies afterwards, except in the case where the party's speed is significantly lower than the enemy's, in which case the enemy attacks first. All characters and enemies in the game have an elemental affinity—Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, and Dark. Characters hit by their opposite element suffer double damage while characters hit by the same element only suffer half damage. The elemental relationships are as follows:

• Fire <--> Water

• Wind <--> Earth

• Light <--> Dark

The player must position up to four characters in strategic positions on the grid to take advantage of their skills. It should be noted though that when a battle begins, the player's characters are placed randomly on the grid. The characters can either be the ones used in the main storyline of the game, or the robotic golems which are acquired throughout the player's travels. The characters' life is measured in Hit Points (HP), and the power to perform their techniques is measured in Ether Points (EP). A reduction to 0 HP results in the character being knocked out (KO'ed). If an ally or enemy is KO'ed, the player or the enemy has three rounds to revive the character or they are lost for the remainder of the fight. In the case of a character being KO'ed due to massive damage (referred to as "Upper"), the character is lost immediately. Damage may be mitigated by standing behind another character. Standing behind two characters nullifies the damage. This mitigation does not work for Distance Damage attacks, however.

Active techniques used in battle are separated into 3 categories: Direct Damage (attacks that hit the enemy in spaces adjacent and beyond to the attacker), Distance Damage (attacks that hit the enemy in spaces non-adjacent to the attacker), and Support (healing, stat boosting, and status curing). The main characters of the game acquire techniques through leveling-up, triggering certain events, and buying them at stores. Passive techniques that boost stats, protect against status changes, or provide other beneficial effects may also be acquired. Even though there are many techniques the player can acquire throughout the game, only six active techniques and six passive techniques (per character) can be readied at any given time. All active techniques use EP when initiated. In the event the player doesn't have sufficient EP, the character can either rest a turn or use a restorative item to recover EP.

The majority of techniques use a three-tier system in terms of power and/or effect: Regular (no prefix), High, and Mega. The techniques in themselves do not improve with usage or experience, but a more powerful version of the technique must be acquired as the player progresses.

As enemies are defeated, a special gauge shared by all the main characters called the EX Gauge fills up. The amount of power in the gauge determines what special attacks or status affecting techniques the characters can use. A full gauge can allow multiple EX techniques to be used in succession or one powerful technique. The main characters acquire new EX techniques by triggering certain events in the game.

Additionally, if the same enemy is attacked by multiple party members, a Chain Gauge fills up for each character. If two or more characters with a full gauge attack the same character, a chain attack with increased damage is initiated.

Statistics and points

Each battle fought expends Vitality Points (VP) for the characters involved in the battle. The longer the battle lasts, measured in turns, results in more vitality points lost. In essence, these points are used to automatically restore them to full health after every battle. If a battle is ended in a turn with no damage incurred, there is no expenditure in VP. As long as characters have at least one VP, this restoration will happen. If not, the character will begin battles with 1 HP and 1 EP. VP may be replenished at way-stations on the map, or by restorative items. VP also comes back slowly if a character is switched out of the party and put in the reserve ranks. Running from battle expends a great amount of VP, but is generally successful (except in the case of boss battles). This system encourages players to use a variety of characters, instead of relying on the same four individuals for every battle.

Emerging victorious in battles earns the characters Skill Points (SP). SP can be used to purchase new skills (for non-golem characters), or to boost the characters' HP, EP, Direct Damage, Distance Damage, Support, and Speed parameters. Direct Damage, Support, and Speed parameters have a cap of 999. Only characters which took part in the battle receive SP.

Leveling-up also increases these stats, which happens when a character obtains enough experience points. Characters and golems that travel in the player's reserve ranks gain experience, regardless of whether or not they actually took part in a battle. The maximum level which can be obtained is 999.

Golems

The player can obtain robotic assistants named golems to assist in battle. Golems have preset techniques that cannot be modified, but they can level up and use SP. They are also the only characters the player can put in the party that have the Light and Dark attribute (As none of the controllable human characters have these attributes).

Although the player chooses one of three basic golems near the beginning of the game, later golems must be constructed before they can be used. The materials for construction may be purchased or gathered from enemies defeated in encounters. The number of materials varies according to how powerful the golem is, as well as its physical strength, speed, and intelligence.

Up to eight golems and three human characters may accompany the player in the reserve ranks in the 360 version, gaining XP as the player wins battles. Other golems must wait in storage to be used, gaining no XP. Golems may be switched from the party to storage and vice versa by accessing any store location in the world. The PS3 version does not contain the store locations and instead all players and golems reside in the reserve ranks.

Online element

The online element of the game involves selecting characters from a particular save point and using them to battle other online participants. Strategy is involved in picking the best characters and starting positions to maximize damage. This mode is only supported on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Above and beyond these staged battles, the title includes no additional multiplayer capabilities.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
Publication	Score
Game Informer	6/10
GameTrailers	7.0/10
Official Xbox Magazine	6.5/10

Reviews were mixed, tending toward neither extreme. In the October 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine, Enchanted Arms received a review score of 6.5 from the editors. The magazine stated: "But ultimately, it's hard to whole-heartedly recommend this game to anyone but the most diehard turn-based RPG fanatics." GameSpot gave the game a 7.1, claiming that the game is an experience quickly forgotten after finishing. However, the title did receive a score of 84% from RPGFan.com, an 8/10 review score from Play Magazine, an A- from Gaming Age, an 8.5/10 score from Planet Xbox 360, an 8/10 from GameCola, and an 8/10 card from Deeko.com. The G4 program X-Play gave Enchanted Arms for the Xbox 360 a 4 out of 5 and the PlayStation 3 version a 2/5.

In its review Deeko.com called Enchanted Arms "a great game" and stated that its storyline is surprisingly enjoyable and its battle system is addictive. They go on to state that the full-motion video cinematics of the game are described as on-par with Square-Enix's offerings. The review also mentioned the in-depth character development of Atsuma, whose torment and emotions intensified as the story moved. This made him unique and more human compared to the lead characters of other RPGs. RPGFan.com reviewer Patrick Gann, who gave the game a score of 84%, extolled the game's visuals and gameplay, calling it "one of my favorite RPGs of the year."

Penny Arcade spoofed the game's critical reception in its cartoon dated September 6, 2006. In the accompanying column, and additional news post the authors assert their opinion that many of the 'flaws' highlighted by reviewers are actually common features of the Japanese RPG genre, with Tycho writing: "Japanese role-playing games tend to be fairly linear in terms of narrative and feature a ton of strategic combat. These are genre staples. If you don't like those things, or if you wish they were something else, that isn't really the genre's fault. If you told me that you weren't fond of turf or "kicking," I would hope that you'd have the wisdom to avoid soccer."

Miscellaneous

• The name of the final boss was changed in the U.S./PAL versions from "Brain of Head" to "Infinity". The "Infinity" name was originally used in the Japanese version for the boss at the bottom of the optional "Godbeast Shrine" dungeon and was changed to "Omega" for the non-Japanese versions.

External links

• UbiSoft's Enchanted Arms site
• Enchanted Arms Metacritic review aggregation
• Enchanted Arms trailers at Gametrailers.com
• Q&A with Ubisoft Localization Specialist Michiko F.
• Enchanted Arms at MobyGames