Enchanted Arms (known as [eM] -eNCHANT arM- in Japan) is a science fiction/fantasy-based role-playing 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.

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 later wakes up in a cell in London City, learning that the Queen of Ice had destroyed Yokohama. After escaping with a mysterious girl named Karin and her bodyguard Raigar, they reveal that they are part of a resistance movement that opposes King Caliban's plans to revive the Emperor of Fire, another Devil Golem hidden right under the city. In exchange for joining, Atsuma wished to see what happened to Yokohama City.

After traveling far, they find that Yokohama is now an icy wasteland. Venturing further in and returning to the university, they encounter Professor Kou, a teacher at the university. He reveals that he was very interested in Atsuma's right arm and started the golem riot to awaken its power, all for the Queen's revival and the restoration of Magic, the greatest technology in existence. Toya, possibly having been mind controlled, is now the Queen's Magicore, the power source and activation device of a Devil Golem. But the Queen turns on Kou, causing the destruction of his lab.

Back in London City, Atsuma is admitted into the Arsenal, the resistance group and the golem hunter, Yuki, who he encountered in Yokohama before the golem riot, join him. But after an attack from the London Knights, the arsenal suspected Raigar, who was a former knight and brother of Ooka, who lead the attack. The others looked into the matter and revealed to everyone that the Leader and his giggling companion are collaborators and gave the Emperor of Fire's Magicore to Ooka. Apparently, Ooka and Baron Hartson were conspiring to ruin the king's public image and unleash the Emperor themselves.

With the Queen of Ice's arrival, Karin, revealing had no choice but to merge with the Emperor, for those who have ancient blood can activate and control Devil Golems to some extent. The emperor had a huge fight with the Queen in the city before he was weak enough to defeat and to be absorbed by Atsuma's right arm, saving Karin.

Hearing of a secret art taught near Kyoto City, the group leaves London to go there. After a bit of a scoff in Junk City, they made it, but the Queen had ordered Lord Tokimune, Shogun of Kyoto, to revive the Lord of Earth and thus, they could not enter the city until tomorrow. They stayed in Iwato village, the home of Sayaka, Raigar's fiancee. They learn that the secret art is taught by the Ascetic Monk, who lives in the Ascetic Court, which is accessible from the village but Tokimune has the key to get in. Though he refuses an alliance with London City, he stubbornly allows them the key. Once they get it, Karin is kidnapped by ninjas, led by Oboro, a former knight.

Rescuing Karin, they confront Tokimune, who was collecting Ether to revive the Lord of Earth, who forbids them to enter the Ascetic Court. Getting past Sayaka, blindly bounded to her duty, they meet the Ascetic Monk, not exactly the enlightened type. Told to get a portion of the Lord of Earth's core material in order to master the art of "Gaea". With ease, they succeed. But upon returning to the village it is attacked by ninja, so they again, confront Tokimune who escapes. He is then killed by Oboro who learns the location of the Magicore: inside the Shogun; he is then killed by Toya. They then fought against the near revived Lord of Earth but when he transforms into his full form, Atsuma absorbs him into his right arm.

Strangely, the Lord of Earth's Magicore is drained of Ether, so they seek the help of the Sage, Raigar's teacher. But she rejects them so they wait until she cools down. The Queen of Ice appears to invite them to her ice castle north of Gravekeep Holm. Atsuma is sent into a mental vision where he retrieves a God orb, which was molded into a weapon for him. Raigar learns from the Sage that Atsuma's parents left him as a baby at the base of her tower, so sick that she used the cells of an unknown Devil Golem named Infinity, to save him. She also theorizes how to separate a human Magicore from a Devil Golem; just insert its original one to set the human free.

Arriving at the Ice Castle, the four confront the Queen of Ice in a titanic battle and save Toya. Also, the mysterious man they encountered so many times was actually Makoto. They then fall through the floor, at the base where they saw another golem previously. Atsuma then goes into a vision, back to the time of the Golem War. The mysterious voice then reveals itself as Infinity, who was ordered to reconstruct all matter in the world to the time of the Era of Magic. But he needed tons of Ether to complete his job and is going to absorb Atsuma. Toya and Makoto manage to destroy the parasite controlling him and free Atsuma. But Infinity is reviving and cannot be stopped. Remembering the Monk's words of the opposite of Gaea, "Fury", Atsuma transforms into his half-golem form and combines everyone's enchanting to annihilate Infinity. The game ends with the restoration of Yokohama and the return of its scattered population.

Characters

These are the main characters involved in the game. As follows:

• : 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.
• : 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.
• : 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.
• : 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

• : 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 bright future as an enchanter. Even though he and Astuma are like opposites, the two have developed a deep friendship. This mystifies everyone.
• : Atsuma's and Toya's classmate at Enchant University. Makoto is openly gay 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.
• 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. It is Inferred that Makoto is the Mysterious Man, the only question is how did Makoto gain his power after being defeated by the ice queen.
• 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, Josei eventually earns the respect of Raigar 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 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.
• 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 : A golem battler in the Yokohama golem battle tent. He is Atsuma's first official opponent.
• Saori : A student at Enchant university. She is a possible love interest of Atsuma.

Major/Minor Antagonists and Plot Devices

• : 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 friend go on quest to stop her evil intentions.

• 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.

• 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 everyone despises because of his crude attitude. Tokimune also enjoy cuddling with his bodyguard golem Honoka. 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.

• 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. At one point, the Lord of Earth is inexplicably called the "Stone General".

• Infinity: The lord of all devil golems, given the task to reconstruct all matter in the world to before the Golem War, in the Age of Magic, by his creator. However, he is so set in his goals, like all other golems, cannot disobey his directive.

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.

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.

Status changes

Enemies or friendly characters in the game can cause changes in the status of their foes through use of the appropriate techniques. These status changes include:

• Turn-ELM --- This changes the target character's elemental affinity to a different element. It is usually the opposite of the individual utilizing the effect, allowing them to attack the character for more damage on subsequent turns.

• Poison -- This saps the character's HP at the end of every turn until cured.

• Gravity -- This roots the character in place, rendering them unable to move until cured. Because positioning is important in the use of techniques, this can lead to difficulties aiming offensive or defensive techniques.

• Anger -- This makes a character stronger, but the player is not in complete control. While the player can choose who to attack, the character might change the target and technique. Similar to the "Berserk" attacks seen in other RPGs such as Final Fantasy. This status lasts until cured.

There are also beneficial status changes a player can bestow on the characters by way of techniques.

• PRM+(X) -- This boosts all the characters parameters by the amount designated in the X. This is usually 25%, or 50%, or in some cases even 100%.

• No Effect -- Prevents the character from gaining adverse status effects.

• Blurred --Makes the character "harder to hit", although it seems that it is impossible to miss in the game.

Each character may only have one effect active at a time. As such, status effects replace any previous effect, with "No Effect" canceling out any previous adverse effects.

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

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." http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/emenchantarm. 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, 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 http://www.deeko.com/xbox_360/reviewDetail.asp?id=696, 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." http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/enchantedarms/

Penny Arcade spoofed the game's critical reception in its cartoon dated September 4, 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."

Trivia

Raikoh of the Otogi series makes an appearance sans the "h" at the end of his name as a playable golem.

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.

fr:Enchanted Arms ja:ENCHANT ARM sv:Enchanted Arms

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