Namco X Capcom

Here's our in-depth look and comprehensive verdict on the zany collaborative RPG Namco X Capcom, along with a truckload of gameplay videos.

	Version PS2	Developer Nacmo	Publisher Namco	Genre RPG

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Conversely, long-range attacks are generally harder to chain and not as damaging, but leave you a good distance from the enemy and offer more in variety. Usually, if a character can use both types of attacks, their strength will be more concentrated towards one or the other. Attack properties are also different for each character, some characters have strikes which cause heavy damage but are difficult to chain, while some have very easy to use multi-strike attacks that result in huge combos. Certain characters have super attacks that can be used within a combo, while others have supers that function almost exclusively as combo enders.

Several characters also have the ability to use attacks called "Multiple Assaults." MA attacks involve multiple characters on either the attacking or receiving end (or both), and can be executed under special placement conditions. MA attacks cost a pretty large amount of MP, but they have special advantages (besides looking really cool): the damage is guaranteed, the MA attack can't be countered, and it doesn't affect enemy abilities that activate upon receiving attacks.

When a character is attacked by an enemy and put on the defensive, they go into a different battle screen. As the enemy attacks you, controller prompts appear on the screen. By pressing them in time with the display, you can defend and recover up to 2 AP (depending on how well you perform). If a character is being overwhelmed by enemies, this gives them a good opportunity to get their next turn more quickly and recover. Some characters also have counter and evasion attacks, but these cost both AP and SP, thus stalling their next turn for a while.

One other element that can throw a wrench into your defensive plans is the faint meter. This is a gauge that increases whenever a character is attacked. As it increases, the character faces a danger of fainting. Even if you're able to use HP-restoring items often, a character still might be stunned if their faint meter goes over the limit. The character will then be unable to move, act, or defend until they are either attacked or several turns pass. Either way, that's bad for you, but possibly advantageous if you can stun a difficult enemy.

It's a very clever and fun engine overall, but the best thing about NXC's battles is that all the characters are distinctly unique. Everyone has their own attacks, combos, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. All of the characters play some role in the storyline, and since there are often chapters where you get a Game Over if you let certain characters die, it's important to keep them all at fairly high levels (don't worry, it's not too much of a hassle). Since they all come into play at certain points in the game, you won't see any of them falling into complete disuse - a problem many SRPGs seem to suffer.

In spite of what's great about NXC, it's plain to see that there are many ways that this game could have been even better. For starters, the difficulty is horribly inconsistent, though it tends to tip towards the "easy" end of the scale. This is especially true when another problem comes up: certain characters have properties that give them a huge, unfair advantage in battle. Most every SRPG has its "powerhouse characters" (T.G. Cid from FF Tactics comes to mind), but some of these guys are absolutely ridiculous.

For example, KOS-MOS learns an auto skill that restores a small percentage of MP based on the amount of damage she deals. She also has a self-healing skill that restores HP and reduces her faint gauge. Oh, and she also has among the highest attack and defense stats in the game. Since you have the ability to use techniques immediately before battle, she can heal after almost every attack and recover MP soon afterwards. This essentially turns her into a near-invincible defender. And she's not the only one who's got particularly potent skill combinations, either!

But perhaps the biggest issue with the game is its length. The battles can sometimes take hours to complete, and when you combine that with cut scenes, you'll wind up with at least 80 hours of playtime (I went over 100). Now, I like a long, involving RPG as much as anyone, but even with the fun battle system and amusing character banter, you can find yourself starting to grow a bit weary of it after a while.

So is this game coming to the west? All signs at the moment currently point to "no." While this is a sad turn of events from a gamer's standpoint, releasing this game on these shores would probably be a poor business decision. The localization costs would be very hefty; along with translating several tomes' worth of dialogue, Namco would need to find voice actors to dub the voices for all the game's characters. In addition, many of the Namco characters would not be recognized at all by Western gamers.

Namco enjoyed a renaissance in Japanese arcades in the mid-late 80s, resulting in titles like Tower of Druaga and The Legend of Valkyrie. While characters from these and other old Namco games are much beloved by Japanese fans, they hold little appeal to the typical westerner who is only familiar with Pac-Man and Namco titles from Tekken onwards. Finally, the presentation of the game is well below par for this generation. Namco is very well known for producing titles with top-notch visuals, and NXC falls a mile away from their own watermark.

All in all, Namco X Capcom is a good game that could have been an absolutely fantastic game. It's a fine first foray into the SRPG field for Monolith, and will hopefully set the stage for future company-spanning crossovers. (I'm hoping for Namco X Sega, myself. Could you imagine VF4's Vanessa in a heated rivalry with Nina Williams from Tekken?)

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