For those of you out there who don’t like the Disgaea series, please kindly switch the page to something else because this preview will not be for you, sorry. The Guided Fate Paradox is a strategy RPG from Nippon Ichi Software that runs off the Disgaea engine, and the similarities are immediately clear. We sat down at E3 with publisher NIS America to check out how far along the title is and what makes it special.
The Guided Fate Paradox is a spiritual successor to Z.H.P Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman, which released back in 2010 for the PlayStation Portable. In GFP, players will play the part of high schooler Renya Kagurazaka, who has struck gold by winning the lottery and turning into a god. As a god, instead of conquering the world, Renya is tasked with making people’s wishes come true by traveling to a copy world and making changes to it. It’s just the kind of script you would expect to come out of Japan.
In our demonstration, we were shown a fair amount of the combat, which if you have played either ZHP or Disgaea, you should be familiar with. For those who haven’t – players move the main character Renya on a chess like map, taking out enemies that he comes across. One thing to note is that you will only control your main character, with side characters attacking based on preset commands. The combat is all about over the top attacks, which have become a staple of Nippon Ichi Software. Combo your attack with an ally and all of a sudden you are throwing the enemy 40ft into the air, doing a 720 spin into a bicycle kick. It is all about flair when you go into battle and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The combat is incredibly complex and in-depth while managing to make you laugh at the same time.
Your goal during each level is to fight your way around until you find the exit on the floor. There are 10 story levels to be played plus dungeons. The catch here is that each time you move and attack, your energy starts to countdown until you reach the end or eat something like armor and food. If you reach zero you will then start to lose HP until you of course die. Death in the game forces you to not only start over, but you will also lose any equipment or money gained during the level, so you don’t want to die. The game also offers an insane amount of customization, letting you put tank treads on your legs as boots or something crazy as a weapon. It’s all about making your guy combat ready while also giving him some serious style!
The Guided Fate Paradox looks great as well, with artwork done by Noizi Ito, who some might know from the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The high-resolution 3D sprites really pop onto the screen and the levels are all bursting with a lot of color. I know this might be beating a dead horse, but the game looks so much like Disgaea 4 it’s crazy, and that’s not a bad thing either.
As a fan of this genre, I couldn’t help but get excited during the presentation. It’s over the top, insane, complex, and a game that people should really be keeping an eye on. The Guided Fate Paradox is currently slated to release this fall exclusively for the PlayStation 3.
