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Ragnarok Odyssey ACE

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Ragnarok Odyssey ACE 1

Back in 2012, North American video game publisher XSEED Games first launched Ragnarok Odyssey as one of their inaugural PlayStation Vita titles when the console was still new and in a way struggling to make a mark in the video game industry. While it underwhelmed with its storyline, the game managed to gain some points with me in terms of aesthetics and gameplay to walk away with a satisfactory overall score during its review on The Otaku’s Study. Ragnarok Odyssey ACE which has just been published by the same company for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita platforms is in most regards the same game, coming across more like a pricier expansion than a completely new release.

Most of the new features don’t revolutionise the experience, but add something new for returning players such as new enemies, weapons, skills, minor gameplay tweaks and possibly the most notable feature – the all-new Tower of Yggdrasil dungeon which randomly generates each time you enter. In all honesty it may have been wiser for XSEED Games to have held off on publishing Ragnarok Odyssey ACE for a year to offer what could now be considered a “definitive” experience. But while it may not offer enough to warrant a second playthrough in my mind, there is enough to warrant at least a single playthrough for those new to the franchise or just want to experience the game on the big screne.

Past experience is not necessary with Ragnarok Odyssey ACE and you can more or less just pick it up and start playing without knowing too much into the storyline. The storyline itself retains some of the lore and style from previous releases however is not a prominent factor in this game and aside from select scenes you are left to your own devices. If you are willing to dig around a bit for storyline, there remains quite a lot of dialogue that can be optionally viewed after the completion of each mission by manually talking to NPC’s.

That being said, the game is pretty much mission based, with missions progressively unlocking as you complete the previous ones – split up into a number of chapters. These are mostly linear tasks primarily consisting of the same pool of generic tasks such as collect X of an item or defeat #Y of Z. The environments are generally the same for each chapter although whilst you progress through the missions you may be given the opportunity to take a previously unventured side route or be able to progress further through the same route. Looking at just game progression, it could have been better implemented to incorporate more storyline and exploration opportunities, but benefits from the occasional mission that poses a worthy challenge. The boss battles in particular were well planned out and posed just a right amount of challenge.

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Gamers are able to select from one of six different character classes, each of which differing  by the skills and weaponary available to them – Sword Warrior, Hammersmith, Assassin, Mage, Cleric and Hunter. Once selected you will be stuck with it for a couple of chapters, followed by the game allowing you to change classes at will without penalty (Asides from equipment usage). While having different names, they are representative of Ragnarok Online’s six primary 1st Job Classes with differences between them in terms of attack speed, power and other stats. The game also grants over a reported 20,000 possible combinations for character appearances with many aspects of your custom character customizable from hair and facial expression to voice (English dubbed).

The gameplay consists of some rather satisfying ‘button mashing’ action gameplay, although may not be to everyones tastes given outside of class changes it is not possible to edit your characters skills or attacks at all. Attacks are performed using a mixture of regular attacks (Triangle Button) and skill attacks (Circle Button) – in which depending on the number of regular attacks used before using skill attacks will determine what skill combo you perform. The game also allows you to perform air attacks and to dash around using the square button when the situation demands. A new addition to Ragnarok Odyssey ACE is the inclusion of ACE Skills will can be charged up and used on the field when necessary, delivering much greater damage to the foes that stand in your way. The system is implemented well and offers quite a lot in the short term as the game throws new enemies at you – but in the long term it offers little appeal if you wish to stay with a preferred class.

Rather than the traditional experience / levelling system present in other Ragnarok games, to increase your power and thus increase your odds of completing a level you must turn to several systems which have carried over from the other games in the series – Cards, Equipment and Upgrades. Cards have been one of the more prominent elements of the Ragnarok universe, in which they can be added to equipment in order to grant you bonuses from stats to extra perks on the battlefield. Cards can have positive and negative effects attached to them, and can be added and removed from your character at any time outside of battle through the use of points – the better your equipment the more points you have to spend. It is a fun system and the game offers you plenty of opportunities to purchase or gather cards.

In addition, you can obtain or purchase weapons during your journey, and upgrade them using the built-in refine system. The game offers quite a bit in terms of these weapons by offering different stats built-in to some including element attacks, and can be refined through the use of loot gathered during missions. This loot can also be used to purchase weapons, new costumes (These unlock pretty slowly but some can be quite nice), Headgear and even music. While this may not appeal to gamers who prefer just to buy their goodies, it gives purpose to playing through and replaying specific missions.

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While the game is a single-player experience, you are able to bring up to an additional three players to the field through the in-game tavern, allowing you access to both Wi-fi and Ad-hoc multiplayer. Unlike the original release of Ragnarok Odyssey however, you can create your own single-player battle party using the new mercenary system, which is good if you don’t put your trust in other players but supposedly have a lot of faith in AI. This coupled with the new Tower of Yggdrasil dungeon made for a good match, and something they should have considered for inclusion in the initial release.

Ragnarok Odyssey Ace is very different visually from the popular online game Ragnarok Online, making use of more traditional 3D visuals rather than the (in my opinion) well designed 2D character models. While I don’t think it managed to meet the same standards, both the character and environment designs managed to hit the mark although are nowhere near the pinnacle of what either the PS3 or PS Vita is able to offer in terms of visual quality.

It also features a nice set of music that complement the game world well, and the included English voice acting for the custom characters were a simple but nice touch. While I don’t have an actual list of English voice actors/actresses supplying their voices to the game I did notice they included quite a few such as Johnny Yong Bosch, Sam Riegal, Karen Strassman and Wendee Lee. Japanese voice acting did not seem to be included.

While there are a few nice features included in this enhanced edition of Ragnarok Odyssey, I don’t think that there was enough included to warrant re-purchasing and playing through it a second time. However Ragnarok Odyssey ACE is nevertheless a competently designed JRPG that should provide enough for fans of the genre.


A PlayStation 3 download code for Ragnarok Odyssey Ace was provided by XSEED Games for the purpose of this review.


Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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