Rating: 4 stars

If there were three words to describe Project X Zone (pronounced “cross zone”), they’d be “an enjoyable mess.” By combining the various game franchises of Sega, Namco Bandai and Capcom, Project X Zone delivers a surprisingly complicated mix of tactical role play and fighting game genres.

The story is the messy part of it all. Some sort of flux in energy across multiple worlds force the 60-character cast across multiple worlds, either their game’s home turf or unfamiliar ground. There’s basically no explanation for anything and seems totally random at points, as the character Frank West from Dead Rising loves to point out.

However, one thing the game certainly gets right is how the cast is portrayed. It’s possible to glean a lot about the characters’ attitudes and personalities from their dialogue. For example, I’ve never played Tales of Vesperia, but I can tell that the main character of that game, Yuri, has an inferiority complex with his friend Flynn. If the dialogue wasn’t so faithful to its sources, the story would flop entirely.

Gameplay takes place on a  large grid with a bird’s-eye view. Players’ units, which are always a pair of characters, and enemies take turns moving, activating skills and attacking. Battles take place when a unit moves into attacking range of an enemy, where it transitions to a 2-D fighter.

Attacks used by the unit will launch enemies into the air a varying amount, where it’s important to follow up with another attack the exact moment before the opponent hits the ground. This is done in order to execute a Critical, which will increase the damage dealt. It’s a very complex system, and with 20 different units’ moves to learn, it’s a lot to ask of new players. However, as new units join, there’s plenty of time to learn how they handle.

The presentation of the game is extremely well done. Some song on the soundtrack are remixes from their respective games, such as the piano-focused “Stairs of Time” from .hack//Link and the metal style song “Devils Never Cry” from Devil May Cry 3. Others are originals, like the techno tunes of “Brave Parade.” But one of the best aspects of the game is how well it’s animated: a lot of attention to detail is put into the way every character moves. In particular, Soma and Alisa from God Eater have very smooth animations.

Overall, Project X Zone is simply an enjoyable mess. The story is entirely inconsequential, but that’s compensated by the great gameplay, catchy soundtrack and spot-on animation quality, all within a 45-hour play time.

Project X Zone

Developed by Banpresto and Monolith Soft

Published by Bandai Namco Games

Current retail price listed at $20.99

Image: http://goo.gl/0K5wgN