Reviews// Key of Heaven (PSP)

Ah, the Action RPG. A genre surely conjured up by the Gods themselves. The involved storyline and character development of the Role Playing Game, with the opportunity to actually use that new sword you just shelled out for. It's Predator meets Chaucer. Hardy spliced with Van Damme. As the ever so effeminate Pet Shop Boys sung, "You've got the brains, I've got the brawn - Let's make lots of money."

And that's certainly what the greatest examples have made for their developers. Zelda is one of the longest running, and arguably greatest, series in videogame history. And with the relatively young, but so far entertaining, 'Tales of' series, the genre is a healthy one for those with some serious gaming hours at their disposal.

Of course, as with all hybrid genres, there are weightings across that which it intersects. So far the 'Tales of'' games have been stat-heavy affairs, spanning continent-size environments, giving it a more RPG bias. Zelda's block-pushing, puzzle-solving, swordplay-dominated proceedings are more inclined towards action. Key of Heaven leans even more heavily towards action, in fact its genre would sit more comfortably between scrolling beat 'em up and RPG.

"I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope"

The game is set in a fictitious, far-eastern-inspired fantasy world called Ouka. There is no mention of a central government, and land seems to be controlled through feudal clans, akin to ancient Chinese times. Your character, Shinbu, once belonged to the Seiryu clan, but was exiled for looking at some rock. "Harsh!" you might think. But this was no ordinary rock, it was non other than the clan's Sacred Stone, said to hold the mysteries of the Seiryu's hallowed "chi arts" (explained later).

The game begins with a girl being chased by some ne'er-do-wells. Naturally, you step-in to teach the scoundrels a lesson, at which point the game hands you control to give you a taste of how the combat works. When they scarper for it, she reveals her name as Sui Lin, and is a member of your old clan. More importantly, she reveals how she narrowly managed to escape the extermination of the entire clan, thought to be at the hands of a notoriously blood-thirsty neighbouring clan, the Kirin. For the sake of a spoiler-free review, I won't disclose what is gradually revealed, but, needless to say, a world-saving adventure opens up before you.

The Bugei Monster

As stated before, the game is basically a scrolling beat-'em-up, with RPG elements, and the core action is based around Bugei scrolls and chi-arts. These are the two methods of attack at disposal to the player. Bugei scrolls, attained at various junctures, are your bread 'n butter attack, and each one offers a different attack combo. But to utilise their maximum potential, you must fill tile slots on their surface, called Kenpu tiles, which represent an individual move within the combo. As you collect scrolls, the key to a successful array of moves is micro-managing which tiles to use with which scrolls.

Chi-arts cover the (mandatory in all RPGs) "magic" element of the game, and can be strengthened as the game progresses. Like the scrolls, there is an extra twist to chi-arts, based around the scissor/paper/stone principal. Each clan or boss enemy is based on one of the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element has a corresponding weak and powerful element. For example, Wood is strong against Earth but weak against Metal. Fire, however, is strong against Metal, but is doused by Water. Your ex-clan, the Seiryu, are a Wood based clan, and this is where your initial strength lies. Rather handily, the initial foes you encounter are from the Kirin, an Earth based clan, against which you have a natural advantage. However, your foes will eventually become more varied. So in order to adapt your powers as the need arises, it's worth strengthening your chi arts across all elements, ASAP.