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Sega presents Resonance of Fate, a new JRPG from Tri-Ace. It's a role-playing experience that swaps swordfighting for gunplay, and it's designed from the ground-up for hardcore fans of the genre. Jason D'Aprile has logged in dozens of hours on it, but according to him, it wasn't necessarily time well-spent. Here's why:

"On the surface, Resonance of Fate offers up a veritable smorgasbord of destructive possibilities. It is an RPG focused entirely on acrobatic gunplay where you upgrade and level up your weapons  with the same detail you normally assign a character. The mix of firearms and otherwise traditional JRPG elements is an intriguing combination, likely to attract players sick of giant swords and sorcery.

Unfortunately, Resonance of Fate ends up feeling more like a proof-of-concept experiment than a game. Granted, it’s a really long experiment, but rife with frustration and torment because of the obtuse and absurdly complicated game mechanics. To put it mildly, RoF is a game for the hardcore, and it makes no apologies or exceptions on the matter."
 
 
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I recently read the article by Stephen Johnson of G4TV about the recently crown Miss America, Caressa Cameron from Virginia.  Ms. Cameron used the competition as a platform to speak out against video games.  She actually suggested parents should: "Take away the TV, take away the video games, set some standards for our children." She went on to suggest kids should be outside, "playing imaginary games with sticks in the street like I most of us did when we were little."

While Miss America's advice is relatively sensible, consider the source. Is Cameron suggesting that little girls should be discouraged from playing video games in favor of participating in beauty pageants?  In order to be a pageant queen like Cameron, you'd have to devote a considerable amount of time to all the skills needed for Miss America-hood. Like wearing a sparkly dress; and waving and walking at the same time. All that is time when you're not "playing imaginary games with sticks."

So Cameron is suggesting it's better for girls to bleach their teeth, scrub their personalities, and starve themselves to earn the right to parade around in front of America and Rush Limbaugh (a Miss America judge) in order to be rated and evaluated like heads of cattle than it is to play video games. I’d rather see my daughter taking out noobs with headshots in MW2 than teetering around on too-high high heels and being evaluated for her looks by old men.

Now as for the fact that for some reasons video games continue to get the bad wrap of teaching children bad values, whatever happened to the parent actually taking responsibility for their lack of parenting?  I have seen many individuals that have happily let their child play video games for hours on end just to get the child out of their hair.  What is that teaching kids?  Video games have some value to them.  Right now my kids are playing video games that are teaching them, math, spelling, problem solving skills, and so forth.  I am glad they love playing the games because since doing so their school desire to do their work has increased because they are learning in a fun way.  Now are they monitor as to how much time they spend playing those games of course!  Are they encouraged to play outside and have some good old fashion fun?  Yes!  So I really think that Ms. Cameron needs to pull her head out of the bucket and stick to world peace or something like that because she clearly doesn’t understand the world of gaming.
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It's a game of choice, as established by its risk-taking but somewhat flawed predecessor, and this focus expands in the world of Fable 2 -- not only can you take the path of good or evil, but you can also choose someplace in between. How Fable 2 accommodates these decisions is found in the open-yet-focused world of Albion, a setting for people who like freedom -- in moderation. 

Similar in scope to games like Oblivion, but not quite so vast that you ever feel lost, Fable 2 manages to strike a clear line between its primary quests and its side quests by detailing which is which in its menu system. If you ever become distracted by the need to make money (which you will) and get sidetracked by a job (bartending, blacksmithing, chopping wood, gambling, etc.) or a side quest, Fable 2 -- unlike some RPGs -- allows you to check up on your primary objectives and see what your quest status is, where you need to go, and what you've already accomplished. Getting to any quest is as simple as finding it in the menu and confirming that you want to teleport there (assuming you've discovered the region it's in). Of course, for people who prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, you can simply run from zone to zone while exploring and fighting along the way. The purely optional glowing "bread crumb trail," which always points you in the right direction, keeps you from getting waylaid. While it may sound like it makes things too easy, it's merely convenient -- especially when you're constantly roaming off the path to sniff out treasure chests and "dig spots" found by your faithful canine companion (more on him later). With treasure chests, dig spots, and even secret underwater areas in bubbling points scattered around ponds, oceans, and lakes, it could be really easy to get disoriented chasing after Fable 2's many temptations. So, simply put, the glowing trail is a real lifesaver, especially in underground caverns (which, while mostly linear, occasionally offer multiple paths to explore). This is probably the reason that Fable 2 ditches the tiny overhead map that fans of the original Fable will fondly remember. Now, if you want to check the area map, you need to pause the game to pull it up in the menu, which wouldn't be too bad if the menu screen wasn't so laggy. The glowing trail is useful in a lot of ways, but if you're simply trying to get your bearings and figure out where you are in relation to, oh, the barbershop, you'll soon wish you had a minimap in one of the unused upper corners of the screen. The sluggish menus also make simple tasks -- like using multiple status-enhancing potions in a row -- quite cumbersome, as you have to re-enter the menu system after using each item. This gets pretty annoying.

Menu gripes aside, another of Fable 2's big additions is the aforementioned pooch partner (who you can name -- and rename -- once you purchase a collar for him). Your pet is useful in a number of ways; the first and most obvious is that he's good at sniffing out treasure and dig spots (which, with a spade, results in more treasure). This might suggest that it takes the challenge out of finding free loot, but when you're dealing with Fable 2's lush, overgrown woodland areas, finding the lush, moss-covered treasure chests can be quite challenging. You can improve your dog's loot-finding abilities (as well as his ferociousness in combat) using training books

The highly improved combat system is where Fable 2 really shines. It's glorious to behold, and this is where the game really separates itself from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republics and the Legend of Zeldas of the day. Featuring excellent melee-combat mechanics and an initially awkward but eventually elegant five-tiered spell system, Fable 2 keeps its fights out of menus. The combat and magic work so well because they're carefully entwined. The magic system features five tiers, all controlled by holding down the B button to charge between the five tiers (the higher the tier, the longer the charge). By using these Will spells in tandem with melee attacks (a quick tap to activate a tier 1 Time Control area-of-effect slowdown paves the way for bullet time-style carnage with swords, ranged attacks, or even more magic), Fable 2's combat proves incredibly flexible -- and as customizable as every other facet of the game.

The script is clever, well written, and frequently hilarious. Even the most serious characters often punctuate their ominously intoned orations with things like "Friday is poker night," which sounds mundane on paper, but in the right place, it's a genuine laugh-out-loud moment. The consistently awesome voice acting really helps -- even the tiniest, inconsequential peons in the world of Albion are rich with character and wit, and for the primary characters, the voiceovers are peerless.