Rise of Incarnates

Japanese gamers have been enjoying the frills and spills of 2vs2 gaming for some time now, with series like Gundam pushing the idea that these kind of arena battles are best shared with a friend, but no more than one (via Gundam Extreme Vs). It's a relatively new concept to Western gamers, and although many of us will have played doubles playlists (2 on 2 in Bungie's last full Halo games springs immediately to mind), a game focused solely on four player battles is something of a novelty.

Rise of Incarnates is a completely new IP, and for those of us on this side of the globe, a largely unexplored genre. It's also part of Bandai Namco's big push into the free-to-play space, however they're not talking about exactly how it's going to be monetised just yet, although they're making all the right noises about it not being pay-to-win. What we do know for certain is that it's going to be available on Steam for PC, and not in the usual space adopted by games from the same publisher, that being PlayStation in its many forms.

So it's fair to call ROI a bit of a departure for the company. That shift manifests itself most acutely in the game's focus. It's a title made in Japan to be consumed by a western audience, and while it certainly retains some traditional flavour, it's also clear who the game is aimed at. The Japanese style is apparent in both visual and gameplay design, yet they're trying to make it appealing and accessible, with the aim being to integrate enough western-style features so that gamers won't feel like they're playing an import.

There's four characters that have been announced so far, and each draws inspiration from mythological gods from various Western cultures. There's a story, whereby these god-like individuals are persecuted for the abilities at first, go underground, and later are involved in a battle to save the planet or destroy it. They've each got two names, one civilian and one steeped in lore. For example, Ares, who you may remember is the Greek god of war, goes by the name of Terence Blake. He's got quite a party trick; at the tap of a button you can unleash a special attack the summons an additional winged figure to his side, ready to unleash powerful hits on your enemies.

A Faustian Mephistopheles is played by a character with big hair called Jedrek Tyler, Grim Reaper is called Gaspard Watteau (and he's got big hair too, and is something like 103 years old), while the game's only female character so far is called Lileth, but also goes by the name of Miriea Valentin. Each has special attacks that embody the lore surrounding their god-like character. Grim Reaper can activate a special that allows him to seemingly surf into attacks on a wave of undead bodies (that can also be rolled up around him into a ball - zorb of the dead style), Mephistopheles can transform into a winged being as befits his infamous name, Lileth kisses her enemies and in doing so turns into her succubus form.

The designs of the four characters are distinct and there's plenty of variety in the attacks that they have at their disposal. Lileth, it was said by the developers during the presentation, is a "sexy character". While this is certainly true, we thought that she was perhaps over-sexualised, noticeable when contrasted by the physicality and style of her male counterparts. Women can look beautiful without being dressed up like lingerie models, and given the game's western gaze, we were surprised that a little more thought hasn't gone into this.

However, the design of one character wasn't enough to throw the whole thing off course, and when it comes to gameplay, there's potential in Rise of Incarnates. The controls have apparently been streamlined (from their Gundam origins), but there's still a variety of options available to players on the battlefield. Characters jump/boost into the air and battle from above, there's ranged attacks, melee attacks, transformative moves that change your approach. Different characters will have different strengths. We sampled three of the four, and they all felt sufficiently different even though we only had limited time with them. That said, the movement and the attacks of each seems to have retained the mechanical feel of the genre's origins. It's more than a simple reskin of Gundam, but they'll have to do more if they're to really differentiate it from its source material.

There are going to be a selection of different arenas, modeled on different real-world settings. We were teased with the Houses of Parliament (London) and the Arc de Triumph (Paris), but the only stage on display during our hands-on was the streets of New York, complete with the head of the Statue of Liberty as backdrop (just in case there was any doubt as to where we were, though perhaps it's best not to ask how it arrived in the middle of the city). The environments seemed to be mildly interactive, but just how much difference their composition will make to the game remains to be seen.

The 2vs2 dynamic is interesting, and it requires coordination, otherwise players will quickly find themselves isolated and outnumbered. Partnering up with well-suited allies may well be half the battle, and if you can develop robust and functioning tactics, it's clear that you'll stand a much better chance of winning.

Achieving the sweet taste of victory is fairly straight forward. You get a shared pool of lives (five for each team) and your own set of hit points that last as long as you can keep them. The winning team is the first that can whittle down their enemy's health bars five times, so even if you're super skilled, you are only as strong as your weakest leak. The devs stress that there's deeper tactics in 2vs2, more so than when larger groups scrap it out in other games, and we can see potential in players balancing their play, protecting each other, and targeting enemies for deadly flanking attacks. Even if you're not very good, they say, if you've got a capable partner then you may still have a chance of success.

The quality of matchmaking is going to be key. If there's horribly mismatched teams then it's just not going to connect. A strong player paired with a newb is only going to work if their opponents are modestly capable, and if they're any better than that then the weak link is going to be picked on and punished, with the result likely to be a forgone conclusion. Let's see how it fares out in the wild before we get too worried on this front, but, if they can pull it off and facilitate evenly matched battles, ROI could end up being a fun action game.

It's a long way off though, and it's the many features that are yet to be added/announced that are going to be central to any future success enjoyed by the game, from matchmaking and balancing, to creating a rich and diverse roster of characters. There's reason to be optimistic, but we'll remain cautiously so for now, as so much will come down to the forthcoming content, and the community that forms around the game. If player interaction is friendly and (when necessary) forgiving, it could end up a welcoming and enjoyable game. If it goes the way of the MOBA, with players being overly harsh with those starting out, well, nobody likes being horribly insulted by strangers on the internet.

There's work to be done for sure, but the concept and its early execution has us intrigued. We weren't sold on some of the decisions made around character design, and the combat - the crux of the matter - lacked a touch of heft that perhaps might have made it more satisfying, especially in the melee. It's inescapably the spiritual successor to Gundam, and that's reflected in the way characters move about the arenas. It's too early to tell whether that's going to be a help or a hinderance. We also need to know more about how the free-to-play is going to be implemented. Having said all that, when it comes to the action, there's loads going on and it's frantic, explosive and engaging. We enjoyed the handful of rounds that we played, and that's a good start.