The year 2010 was quite the time for video games, with stellar releases like Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bioshock 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Mass Effect 2.

Amid all those excellent games, sadly one game flew under the radar.

This game Resonance of Fate (or End of Eternity as it’s known in Japan).  This hidden gem turns 11 years old this month and sadly still wallows in obscurity, only really known by people who have played the game. And that’s just really sad because this game deserved better than to be that one game to show your obscure gaming knowledge. 

Setting/Plot: In the future after Earth’s pollution has made the surface of the planet uninhabitable, humanity did the reasonable thing and bult a colossal tower called Basel that reaches far into the sky, where the air is much more suitable. 

This is where our story takes place. The game follows the lives of three mercenaries (or hunters as they’re called in the game), Zephyr, Leanne, and Vashyron. We see how they live day-to-day, taking whatever kind of job to get by. The plot is told in a mystery box fashion, building up questions to keep the player asking why. It’s a good method to keep players interested.

Sadly, the story falls flat on its face at the end as the payoff to all these questions only leads to more questions and very few answers.

Characters and Tone: The characters in this game are fantastic. The main cast of three are all interesting in their own rights, with fleshed-out beck stories and very likable personalities.

 Zephyr comes off as your average angsty teen on the surface, but makes sense when you learn what’s going on underneath his cold exterior. 

Leanne in her down time is your typical girly girl. But when it comes to a fight, she’s more than cable of keeping up with the boys and holding her own. 

Vashyron is the experienced mentor of the group. He looks out for Zephyr and Leanne well, teaching them everything about the job along the way. All three characters bounce well off of each other, which makes the time spent with these three all the better as they really feel like a family, as dysfunctional as they may be at times. 

The tone of the game can drift drastically at times. It can go from silly or serious in the flash of an eye. But it’s never off putting as the more comedic scenes play out wel. The main cast is on the job and the serious scenes are played at the end of each chapter.

Graphics: Graphicly speaking the original game doesn’t look all that bad considering it came out 11 years ago. The HD/4K remaster that it got for PS4 and Steam is stellar overall; the game looks a lot clearer. The textures were improved from the original release. The character models also look less doll-like as well and lighting was also improved. 

Sadly the only thing that didn’t improve with the remaster was the color pallet. This is due to the steam punk aesthetic of the game, so you’ll be seeing a lot of browns, grays and the occasional red every so often. 

Game play: The game play of Resonance of Fate is where the game shines as it’s unlike any other game on the market.  The battle system can best be described as real-time strategy. 

What real time means is any action you take in combat will happen in real time in game, the enemy will react and respond to what you do. If you stop moving though, so will the enemy so take your time, strategize an attack plan and adapt accordingly as panicking or failing to think ahead is a quick way to lose. 

Your weapons list consists of guns, grenades, and more guns. (If you couldn’t tell, the inspiration for the combat came from American action films.) There are two different types of guns in the game — you have sub-machine guns, which deal “scratch damage,” which accumulates quickly but it doesn’t kill enemies.

That’s what the handguns are for. These firearms are used for killing enemies. 

The main loop for game play is dealing scratch damage with sub-machine guns and then dealing direct damage with handguns. Grenades also deal direct damage like handguns, but they can also damage multiple enemies at once and certain grenades inflect ailments on the enemies such as poison, slow them down, freezes them, etc. making grenades handy to have.

“Hero Attacks” is the most important mechanic in the game as your usage of the skill is what all battles hinge on. How a hero attack works is you set out a path for one of the characters (in a straight line). The character will run this path well doing so you can attack the enemy.

It’s also possible to do jump up into the air to during hero attacks and preform as the game calls them “gun acrobatics.” This can be helpful for getting around enemies or to better position your characters. Hero attacks cost “bezel shards,” and if you run out your party will be left vulnerable, so it’s a good idea not to run out. You gain these back by killing an enemy or breaking a piece of their armor. 

Lastly if there’s one thing this game is known for it’s being hard. The game’s difficulty just comes from the fact that it’s a strategy game. The flow of battle is dependent on your skill at the game. The better you are the faster battles will fly by. The whole game really depends on your skill level with it. This game will not hold your hand. It expects you to learn the mechanics quick and master them even quicker.

Which makes the fact that the tutorial is optional and easily missed all the more baffling. Here’s a tip: To access the tutorial you’ll need to leave the starting area Ebel and once you’re on the world map go to the arena building that’s behind the town. It’s the only other place you can get to on the world map at the start so it shouldn’t be too hard to find. 

Once you do that enter the arena, talk to the person standing behind the desk on the left and there you will find the tutorial. It is highly recommended that you complete it fully. Not doing so is just setting yourself up for failure. 

The world map is also different from anything that else in the gaming sphere. The overworld is a hexadecimal grid to advance and to be able to explore more of the world,  you need to gain hex pieces. You’ll get these after each battle and they’re what you use to fill out the world map. It’s well worth going out of your way to explore the world of the game as you’ll net all kinds of goodies by doing so. 

So how did this game go unnoticed? It got great reviews, was praised for being new and different, the unique combat, characters and (90 percent of) the story. The game was praised for being able to break out of the mold set by the role-playing games that came before it. 

First off one thing commonly referred to is the cover art. Most consider it to be boring and generic, which would make your eyes skip over it in the store. A lack of marketing on Sega’s part also didn’t help ether. 

Something else that hurt its chances was the fact was that it was a new property, which can be hard to get off the ground. Since gaming is an expensive hobby, it’s common for people to be wary of new experimental games like Resonance of Fate. 

Last and the most cited reason as to how this game became the forgotten masterpiece that it is, was its release window. Resonance of Fate was released on March 16, the same day as God of War 3, one week prior to that on March 9 Final Fantasy XIII was released. Many gamers were waiting eagerly for these games. 

Ultimately all the hype around these two games overshadowed Resonance of Fate, taking any sales it would have gotten. There was no competing with two hotly anticipated sequels that were coming out that same month, let alone all the other sequels that came out that same year. It seems like Resonance of Fate was doomed to obscurity from the start. 

So, if you’re looking for a new real time strategy game that challenges, you’re critical thinking warped up in a steam punk world with fun characters to follow along the way, give it a try. 

You can purchase Resonance of Fate digitally on the PlayStation store or for PC on Steam for $34.99. Who knows, might find yourself a new favorite.