It’s one of the things I like about the game, and picking up the Ki book is recommended for anyone who wants to play a ki user.
This means that each character has a unique style with their own special techniques, something that has a lot of flavor. This game has a very, very cool ki technique system, with various ki abilities bought by ‘martial knowledge’ and ki techniques which can be constructed by each player. The subsystems for various abilities are interesting as well, and I’ll touch on a few of these real quick. It’s an open-ended exploding d100, which can result in some pretty wildly-varying rolls and some incredible feats. The system is somewhat interesting as well, though very hard to model in some ways. In another game this might actually be too much detail, as it can feel stifling, but the developers have helpfully provided maps with other cities upon them, and indicated which cities they will never be detailing so that referees can be confident they won’t be contradicting upcoming material, so long as they’re matching the nation’s attitude. Ethnicities, languages, culture, technology… it’s all detailed, including rough population of each nation and several points of interest.
All of them(excepting the GM toolkit) come as hardcovers with high production values, and the GM screen is sturdy stock with a nice coverage.Īnother thing to like is that Anima, although only half the setting books are out, has the most useful and incredible setting manual I’ve ever seen.
The book is full color and of pretty decent print quality, though some of the supplements have the binding too tight and can result in some severe splitting if people aren’t careful. For one, let’s start with the art: it’s absolutely gorgeous. It has a richly-detailed setting with a number of important NPCs, mostly used in the tactical and card game. In brief: the focus of the game seems to be fantastic powers in a world where said powers are distrusted, with anime-like abilities with the sword and ki combined with magic and psionics. This has some unfortunate side effects, but we’ll get to that later. Originally hailing from Spain, what we get here in the states is a translated version from Fantasy Flight Games. It has a tactical game, a card game, and even an upcoming video game. This game is actually not just a pen and paper RPG. I, for one, am very excited to get some hands on time with this title.Today we’ll be talking about a pen and paper RPG called Anima: Beyond Fantasy. However, the trailer and the ambition behind the title definitely looks to defy these anxieties. Not being familiar with the staff that make up developers BadLand Games and Anima Project also causes some concern that maybe what will be delivered won’t match the lofty promises. Allowing players to return to previously explored areas to gain access to previously locked content looks to lend the title a Metroid like feel that tends not to appear in these types of games.Ĭonsidering the announced bargain price of twenty dollars, and the lack of lead up hype, I am tempering my excitement with some trepidation. The world itself, known as Gaia, is built to be open ended. Still, getting there is where the entertainment lies, which is why this title features a combat system that will be heavily influenced by common RPG tropes, as well as the expected skill tree systems found therein. The game itself promises to feature numerous endings dictated by player choice over the campaign. The North American PlayStation 4 release is June 7.īased on the Anima: Beyond Fantasy role playing books, Gate of Memories features numerous characters as they travel the tower of Arcane to recover an old artifact called The Byblos. This title is set to release on Xbox One, Steam, and PlayStation 4 (outside of North America) on June 3. Having just learned of its existence, it’s even more heartening to learn that it’s coming very, very soon. An action-RPG set in a dark fantasy world, with heavy lining on the character models to make them pop, and non-stop, high-flying combos certainly catch the eye. Still, the upcoming Anima: Gate of Memories is hitting pretty much every button needed to garner my interest. I’ll admit, this one came out of nowhere for me.