Hot to Trot- Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament

Detractors of role-playing games often have an extended list of criticisms for the genre. From the habitually linear (and frequently melodramatic) storylines, to the inclusion of unskippable cutscenes, cynics have a number of reasonable gripes. While the recently released action RPG, Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament, shirks many of these axioms, it also grudging clings to a handful of old, familiar ones.  Still, the title’s relentless charm and relaxed difficulty will likely win over a legion of PSP-owning fans.

Players control either a male or female protagonist who arrives in Orion City with an absence of memory, and an abundance of cheer.  While the concept of an amnesic lead might seem clichéd, the title loosely constructs a backstory from player’s response during dialogue. Although some RPGs contain conversation options that are conspicuously good or evil, Steambot Chronicles’ exchanges are consistently interesting and delightfully ambiguous. It’s regrettable that dialogue doesn’t truly affect the trajectory of the story, but that may be beyond the PSP’s capabilities.

A majority of the time, players will be controlling trotmobiles, large stream powered mechs that scamper through the city. Gamers use the analog stick to steer the trot, with the shoulder buttons spin the game’s camera. Button presses initiate basic attacks, while charged attacks, dashes, and throws are all part of the game’s varied arsenal. The title’s control scheme is intuitive yet offers enough variation to maintain player’s interest through the duration of the game. Picking up and tossing a car at an enemy is consistently rewarding.

Three different diversions via for the protagonist’s attention. First, gamers can perform jobs offered from the local employment agency. Usually, these are variations on fetch quests, requiring players to travel to the town’s outskirts. These areas are populated by groups of bandits which inexplicably respawn in the same locations every time- a bit of randomization would have alleviated the tedium of these jaunts.  Players may also compete in a series of gladiatorial challenges that offer an escalating challenge. After players pay an entrance fee, bouts in the game’s coliseum will test the potency of the player’s trotmobile. Lastly, player can customize their mechs, with a myriad of offensive and defensive attachments. The game’s weapons are satisfyingly diverse, from brawny maces, projectile weapons, and flamethrowers. The game’s assortment of trot augmenting accessories recalls the depth and flexibility of the Armored Core series, and is one of the title’s greatest strengths.

Although fulfilling job requirements and skirmishing in battle tournaments presents short bursts of play, perfect for the PSP player on the go, more sedentary gamers may experience fatigue from the similitude of these tasks. Although the player can initiate a local ad-hoc clash with a group of friends, or design a new logo, a greater variety of required and noncompulsory tasks would have been advantageous.

Graphically, Steambot presents a well rendered Orion City populated with the occasional bus or scooting trot, complete with a day/night cycle. Trails on the outskirts of the municipality jut off the main hub, showing a range of colors absent from the Victorian hues of the township. Charming hand-drawn character portraits express emotion during exchanges of dialogue, lending the title a strong sense of personality. Steambot’s voice acting is wonderfully nuanced and full of energy- it’s a shame every line isn’t delivered by the skillful actors.