The ultimate cross over game?

Project X Zone is a title many of us thought would never leave Japan; but I’m glad it did. Project X Zone is a cross over game that shares famous characters from the history of Capcom, Sega, and Namco Bandai. It has a unique blend of two genres, which are turn based strategy and fighting games. With a ridiculous story and presentation, Project X Zone has the power to turn people off or grab them and never let go.

The game play of Project X Zone is very user friendly despite its outer appearance looking overwhelming. In this game a unit of two characters moves across a grid to engage enemies. When engaging in battle a simple set of moves are displayed on the bottom screen of the 3DS. Depending on where you move the circle pad while pressing the A button determines what out of this world combo you will pull off. In combat you are allowed to receive aid from an additional character called a solo unit, which can be added to any team as back up. Since the game plays as a turn based strategy game you will have multiple units on the field, which can be used to your advantage. If you move near a unit right before you engage an enemy you will be able to receive help from the other unit as well with the simple push of the R button. When using these aids you are able to pull off cross hits which simply means when your unit attacks an enemy at the same time as another which increases damage and XP points. The combat is a pure visual feast and appears to be something that could only be pulled off with the charming 2D sprite visuals the game pulls off.

While the combat is a very fun yet simple experience the balancing of XP is what makes this a strategy game. In combat every time you attack and use combos experience is added to your XP bar. When you reach 100% XP you are able to pull off a special combo which is best used for bosses and higher level enemies. When an enemy attacks you are given the choice to counter, defend, full defend or do nothing. When you counter it takes away 20% of your XP bar and you are given a chance to fight back with only the use of one move set. This is an excellent strategy to choose when the enemy that is attacking you is low on health. Defending takes 20% XP away while full defending takes away 60% XP but completely blocks an attack. Deciding to do nothing is just as important as any other choice as when you are attacked you get a 5% increase in XP. This is a great strategy to choose if are inches away from pulling of a special combo. You can also revive a fallen unit when the XP bar has reached 100% or you can attack multiple groups of enemies at once for certain characters such as Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.

The story in Project X Zone doesn’t really make much sense or is it really good. Every level of the game plays out in chapters and usually introduces a new cast of characters. Because Project X Zone features a cast of 200+ characters you are never grounded to any certain cast of characters that you can choose to be your A team. About every chapter has a group of characters asking what is going on over and over and its pretty funny because I don’t think the user knows either. When you have a cast like Project X Zone’s its pretty easy to understand that the story was made just to bring over 200 characters together in anyway they could, and what better way then multi dimensions that rip open over and over!

Project X Zone doesn’t want you to grow too attached to a certain group of characters. This means that there is a lack of customization that can be seen in other strategy games such as February’s Fire Emblem Awakening. Every chapter loads you up with a random group of characters to play with and I can see how this can be very disappointing to someone who loves to build teams up. Besides solo units you cannot mix and match other units as they are fixed. The main reason this was probably done was because there is so many characters in this game that there is no way the developers could have created special combos that are beautifully animated and choreographed like they are with the fixed unit every cast of characters is assigned to.

Closing comments: Project X Zone is a game that calls out to the fans. If you have ever seen trailer for this game or played the demo and enjoyed it chances are you will love Project X Zone. The game is flashy yet simple and was crafted for anyone to pick up and play immediately. While the story is underwhelming and the lack of customization may turn off strategy enthusiast, the concept of this game is enough to get most gamers excited.