Some people might argue that video games are comprised of only mindless violence; presenting gruff, masculine protagonists with muscles on top of their muscles and mowing down hordes of enemies with guns coming out of their ears and chainsaws on their elbows.

However, standing their ground in the opposing corner – often stereotypically armed with fabulous hair (darling!) and endearing sensitivity – we have the classic Role Playing Game. Hexyz Force, the newly released RPG published by Atlus, is one of these games which brings a welcome break from the grim and gritty and, despite featuring an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it narrative, attempts to maintain an upbeat feel with flourishing environments and cutesy characters.

The story opens with the choice of two main protagonists – representing which story arc you wish to follow – Cecilia, a young Cleric girl from the Holy Temple of Palfina, and Levant, an elite Knight from the Rosenbaum Kingdom. The introductory cut scene tells the story of the world of Hexyz Force – a world in ruin facing an “Hour of Judgment,” during which the world would have to decide its own path – Creation or Destruction.

The storyline overall – as you might expect – is not one of the most original, earth-shattering narratives out there, but perhaps the fact that it is simple and focuses on a relatively small cast of characters adds to its charm. This does, however, make it stick out somewhat in Sting Entertainment’s catalogue, with their other releases (such as Yggdra Union and Riviera) sharing Hexyz Force’s traditional JRPG roots, but steering on a somewhat more unconventional path. Furthermore, the story’s simplicity does itself no favors in terms of character empathy. Both Cecilia and Levant find it so incredibly difficult to tell what’s going on, which certainly made me want to shout at my screen. Cecilia’s naivety would usually be endearing – and, dare I say it, cute – but in this instance her almost psychotic determination to refuse to “accept her destiny” gets old, fast. This does, however, show potential for more realistic characters, who don’t take on their world-changing destinies without batting an eyelid.

Although told from the perspective of two different protagonists, the storyline does not deviate much from the spine narrative, and demonstrates the two characters crossing paths at many crucial points in the game. Although this may be a good point for someone who is afraid of missing content when trying to decide which character to pick, this doesn’t provide much in the way of replayability.

One thing that shines about Hexyz Force‘s narrative is the animated cut-scenes. Notorious for being boring and longwinded, in this particular RPG the use of quality, Japanese-style animation makes them a joy to watch. They really immerse you in the game, bringing extra depth to an otherwise somewhat weak storyline, and helping to build up a clearer vision of the game world. The fact that they are few and far between compared to the actual gameplay aspects of the game means that they never get tiresome or lose their allure, making them more of a reward than a chore to watch.

The presentation of the two main characters in these cut-scenes is remarkable, again bringing new depth; seeing Cecilia in all her gorgeous glory helps to forgive her of her annoyances in the gameplay. One downfall of the dazzling cut-scenes, however, is that they can bring out issues with the in-game graphics, such as the jagged polygonal edges of the character models. Although to be fair they still serve their purpose with strong designs and silhouettes, placed on a backdrop of rich color and interesting locations.

These locations in the World of Hexyz Force are exciting and well-thought out, with liberal pathing often spattered with monsters appropriate to the world around them. Especially in built up areas, the complex life-like nature of the layout and architecture of the settings helps you to really feel involved in the game, often requiring you to remember key locations and make decisions on your journey, rather than aimlessly following corridors.

The challenges within the level design, including puzzles and teleporters, however, lets itself down. It provides little competition against the player, relying mostly on the wandering monsters to hinder you. The battle system itself changes nothing notable from the norm, and anyone who has played any turn-based JRPG will pick up the game mechanics pretty quickly. Keeping an eye on the characters’ health and power meters, and using weaker or more powerful attacks accordingly seems to be the basic monster defeating formula; any more thought than this only comes into play with larger boss battles.

Another aspect that Hexyz Force takes from the classic RPG is the concept of Save Points. Despite the fact that this encourages you to carry on and makes the game more challenging, the lack of a Quick Save feature can be tiresome, especially for a handheld gaming device. One of the most appealing factors of this game is that you can experience some RPG action on the move, but the lack of this feature means that it is much less pick-up-and-play-able than it could be.  The introduction of this, although a move away from its classic roots, would make it, in my mind, much more suited to its platform.

That is not to say that Hexyz Force doesn’t differ from other games of its genre at all. The subtle differences are most notable in the battle system itself, and the weapons you can equip. Each character is able to equip four weapons, one of which being the “Ragnafact” – the weapon bestowed upon them as part of their responsibilities as Hexyz. Apart from these main weapons, the character can also equip other weapons which have a limited number of uses. This helped to make the game more interesting, in the sense that the character retains a connection with their main weapon, but the temporary extras help to mix things up a little. The use of Power or limited weapons is generally implemented well in order to encourage you to use many different powers, instead of spamming your most powerful spell.

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the Ragnafact uses Power, which works similar to Mana or Energy in most games. The use of skills or powers throughout the battle only rely on how much Power resource the player has remaining, and should be used accordingly. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really go much deeper, and this means that Hexyz Force – for the most part – falls on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum. Apart from the larger boss battles, there isn’t much risk of the characters dying, and although this makes it less challenging and exciting, it is appropriate for a portable title which requires you to jump in and out of the game.

One element of the game that is integral to success in the Hexyz Force world is the creation system. Using this method, players can create all sorts of equipment to upgrade their characters, using abundant resources from monster drops. The main thing that can be created using this system is the breakable weapons mentioned earlier, and since most monsters in the world have certain weaknesses, this can be useful for quickly creating an item when facing a particular type of enemy.

The music and audio in general is fitting for its genre and style, with the normal classical fantasy sounds that players have come to expect. In this way again Hexyz Force remains similar to most games of its genre, but in a lot of cases this is because the music style used is the most appropriate and doesn’t distract from the gameplay. I can’t speak much for the voice acting (Most anime fans are often of the opinion that subtitled versions are better), which sometimes seems a little lifeless, but doesn’t take much away from the experience as a whole.

Overall Hexyz Force is classic RPG fare, doing little to break the mould – but then why fix what ain’t broke? It’s an enjoyable handheld experience, which could benefit from a Quick Save feature to really make the most of the platform, but does well in the fact that the story isn’t mind-bending and the battles aren’t ridiculously challenging. It falls into the “Playing It Safe” category of Game Design – not really doing anything that innovative or creative – but if you’re in the mood for some turn-based action, Hexyz Force provides a nice little visit to a comfort zone which feels like home for RPG fans.

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Things We Liked: Interesting characters with fun designs, including some crazy anthropomorphic guys. Pretty colors. Nicely designed environments. Gorgeous animated cut-scenes. The fact that there are two protagonists to choose from (even if they’re both kind of annoying). The fact that, although it didn’t take many risks, what it did do, it did well.

Things We Disliked: Annoying whiny characters. The fact that there is one plotline thinly disguised as two (we like replayability!). No Quick Save! The lack of any real innovation or thinking-outside-the-box – I know it’s a tried and tested thing, but take some risks, it could be AWESOME!

Target Audience: Classic Role Playing Game fans. JRPG fans. Anime/Manga fans. People who like to play a (if only slightly) deeper and more engaging game while on the move.

(Hexyz Force – Developer: Sting Entertainment. Publisher: Atlus. Available on PlayStation Portable. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)