Reviewed: May 23, 2006
Reviewed by: Megan Dyer

Publisher
Atlus Software

Developer
Irem Software Engineering

Released: May 23, 2006
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Teen

6
7
8
8
7.1

Supported Features

The latest game from Atlus, Steambot Chronicles, promises to be a “relaxing, non-linear adventure,” according to the opening screen. While I have some doubts about the “relaxing” part due to certain control issues in the battle system, and while it’s only non-linear to a certain extent, Steambot Chronicles is still a charming and fun game overall.

From the very beginning, you can choose how you’d like to play Vanilla by deciding how he responds to other people and situations presented to him. Want to be the typical nice, humble hero? No problem. Want to be the even more typical cocky, yet likeable hero? You certainly may. Or how about the less common completely belligerent jerk? Well, now this is getting fun. Or how about the somewhat clueless, yet creepy weirdo with an odd charm? Even better!

Choosing the direction of Vanilla’s personality is the main “non-linear” aspect of the game. Aside from his attitudes, you can choose the direction of the story only in limited ways. There is a definite storyline that revolves around Connie, who is supposed to be something of a love interest for Vanilla, and her band, the Garland GlobeTrotters.

Throughout the game, you can choose to make Vanilla learn an array of musical instruments by practicing a series of Parappa the Rapper and Dance Dance Revolution -type rhythm games in the menu screen or on street corners (spectators even toss you tips, if you do well enough) and perhaps eventually earn a place in Connie’s band. The timing on most of the instrument mini games seems to be a bit off, but you get used to it after a while.

There are also roving bands of thieves and bandits attempting to take over towns, make trips to the moon (they are odd bandits, apparently), raid ancient ruins, and roam the land in search of travelers to torment (such as Vanilla). You can even join their ranks, if you want to be rotten enough. The main storyline is rather weak, but this was probably done in order to make the game an open adventure, and therefore, non-linear. Still, it’s not completely open, as there are certain things Connie will want you to do, despite even your best efforts to be a jerk, such as escorting her about and saving her town from bandits.

Trotmobiles are the main means of transportation and battle in Steambot Chronicles. A trotmobile is a large, robot-like vehicle that walks on two (or more, depending on how you customize your trotmobile throughout the game) legs, can jump, dash, use mechanical arms to punch, throw, and shoot cannons, and be an all around vehicle/killing machine. They’re pretty nifty little contraptions, but the battle system with your trot mobile, is, to be perfectly honest, pretty crappy.

The main complaint I have about Steambot Chronicles is the battle system. The trotmobiles are controlled using tank controls with both analog sticks. This is fine, but the controls are rather clunky, and non-responsive, and take way, way too long to get used to. The first battles are simple enough, but they get ridiculously tough very quickly. There is little scale in difficulty, which means I saw the frustrating Game Over screen too many times before I finally got a knack for the unnecessarily touchy controls.

After I finally got a touch for the poor control design, battles became far too easy. It got to a point where I could walk right up to certain enemies, stand in place, and press the attack button over and over again until the whole anti-climactic scene came to an awkward end. It’s a shame that the controls are so frustrating and the battle system so poor. It’s a huge, glaring flaw in an otherwise fun game. The best thing about Steambot Chronicles’ gameplay is, of course, its non-linear aspect, but try as you might, battling cannot be avoided any more than Connie’s requests

While there are certain story sequences that cannot be avoided no matter what, there is tons of non-linear stuff as well. It’s not 100% open-ended, but if nothing else, there are a ton of things to do in this game. From buying and furnishing your own house, or trading supplies between towns to turn a profit without having to fight for it, to earning rank in the battle arena (if you’re a touch masochistic and enjoy torturing yourself with the battle system) to exploration, to learning new instruments, Steambot Chronicles should keep you busy for quite some time.

Vanilla must be fed every once in a while, there are many different outfits to be found or bought to get different responses from people, favors and errands to do for many people, and side quests that will earn you money, reputation and unlock other story sequences. And customization options for your trotmobile are nearly endless as well. I found all this extra stuff to be very fun, personally. If not for the fact that you can’t avoid fighting, I could even almost overlook the bad trotmobile controls. Almost.

The trotmobiles themselves can be customized, with different body parts taking on distinctly different graphics along with their new capabilities. If that’s not enough customization for the bizarrely cool looking contraptions, you can also customize colors and create your own license plate from scratch. If you want to look like an abominable eyesore, go for the bright bubble-gum pink body and banana yellow accents with a ridiculous design on your plate. If you want to look cool you can tone it down a bit, but it’s pretty fun to play around with either way.

For all intents and purposes though, the design, like the game, isn’t terribly fantasy oriented, but meant to be something that the players can be drawn into for a vivid experience. So don’t expect anything too eye-popping. It wouldn’t fit anyway. Believability is the name of the game in Steambot Chronicles, by and large.

There were some minor instances where the overlapping of textures was visible, but it was only fleeting and hardly noticeable. At its worst, Steambot Chronicles doesn’t look all that amazing, but it’s never less than above average in the graphics department.

Much of the voice acting is this way mind you, not all of it. Some characters’ voices are downright grating and obnoxious. For example, the museum curator that Vanilla helps out by digging up fossils and bringing them back to the museum for research and display, has an unnecessarily high-pitched and nervous voice that makes him sound like he could have a complete mental breakdown at any moment.

Don’t even get me started on Dino, the borderline offensive, stereotypically gay battle arena manager who has an unhealthy, um, obsession with the young Vanilla. I’m sure he was meant to provide comic relief or something, but his voice acting is beyond annoying, and I hurried through his dialog with my thumb impulsively smashing the X-button repeatedly in an attempt to cut him off as soon as possible.

Music is in much the same boat as the voice acting. In some areas, the music is actually pretty cool. For example, the cities that Vanilla visits at night have a very nice, lazy, end-of-a-busy-day sounding theme to them. Also, the bars have a somewhat drunk, sleazy, slow jazz theme that fits their whole scene rather nicely. The drastic differences between the quality of the voice acting isn’t quite as prominent as it is with the music soundtrack, though. At its worst, the soundtrack can be a bit forgettable. But a handful of blah is better than a few nails-on-chalkboard-obnoxious songs, in my opinion.

Most of the “blah” stuff comes in the form of the pop songs that Connie’s band, the Garland GlobeTrotters, sing at their various concerts. Their tunes wander and the lyrics are very poorly translated. It doesn’t help that Connie the singer sounds nothing at all like Connie the speaker, either. And depending on the choices you make (i.e., if you join up with the band), you may have to listen to them a LOT. But like I said, even these songs aren’t completely unbearable. It could have been a lot worse than it is.

The best thing of all, though, is that if you feel like getting the main story out of the way as soon as possible, you can do so without having to miss any of the extra stuff. The story doesn’t end at the “end,” really. You can go back after the main game is over and test your skills in the battle arenas, buy houses and decorate them, explore, meet new people, and do absolutely everything you skipped along the way before, plus a few extra things to boot. So when it comes to value, Steambot Chronicles does a good job of delivering. It would be pretty ridiculously disappointing if it didn’t, given its open-ended nature.

There certainly are better games out there, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a good time with Steambot Chronicles. Give it a rental first, but I have a feeling that once you do you’ll see what I mean.