[Review] Project X Zone - When worlds collide with too many references

Wikipedia states that, "A gaming crossover occurs when otherwise separated fictional characters, stories, settings, universes, or media in a video game meet and interact with each other." This past decade has been host to more than a few crossover games. Arguably, the most notable is 2011’s Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. Namco Bandai Games is taking another stab at it with Project X Zone for the Nintendo 3DS.

From the game’s official European site: "When a rift in time and space suddenly appears, a doorway to various universes is opened allowing both heroes and villains from different worlds to cross paths. Players will be able to take control of a massive selection of heroes [...] and discover the cause of the rift and stop evil from coming through and spreading into their world." Project X Zone (pronounced "Project Cross Zone") gives the player the ability to play as 50 characters, not only from Namco Bandai Games franchises, but also from Sega and Capcom franchises. These include Devil May Cry, Street Fighter (4), Tekken (Tag Tournament 2), Tales of (Vesperia), Resonance of Fate, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and Space Channel 5 just to name a few.

Project X Zone is a tactical role-playing game (also referred to as a strategy role-playing game), where the battles are more like traditional strategy games, such as chess. You have to come up with a strategy to win, and carry it out. As with real life, nothing goes as planned, so you need to be able to adapt your strategy as condition change.

Gameplay is separated into two parts, the first being movement. You move your party on an isometric grid to get closer to or away from the enemy. It is here that you can also use skills and items. In order to move, you need to use the Circle Pad. The D-Pad is used to control the camera, letting you rotate the grid for a better view.

The second part is the actual battles, which are more or less straightforward. The goal of battles is to knock your opponent up in the air and keep attacking them, or juggle them for massive damage. You only have a certain number of attacks, which increase as you level up. To attack, you use the Circle Pad or D-Pad and the A button.

Juggling your opponent is your main objective during battle. As such, you need to take time between each chapter to get your timing between attacks down. This is important, because later on, enemies are able to block attacks if you fail to juggle. In order to inflict damage to these enemies, you need to break their guard, which costs you several attacks.

There are more ways to damage your opponent than just pressing directions and A. Your party consists of 2-character pairings, but you can put certain solo characters with a pairing to assist them (by pressing the L button). Also, if another pairing is within a pair's attack range, they can support them (R button).

As you attack, you raise your XP meter. Once the meter reaches 100%, you can release a damaging super attack by pressing Y. However, getting your XP meter to 100% is slightly harder than it sounds. Using a skill, countering or defending against an enemy's attack costs a certain percentage of XP.

After each battle, pairings gain Experience Points (EXP). As pairings' EXP grow, they level up, eventually getting more attacks to use in battle. In addition, the longer you juggle your opponent, the longer your combo will be. You get an increased percentage of EXP the longer your combo is.

The game's soundtrack is star-studded. It contains tracks by greats like Kajiura Yuki, Koshiro Yuzo, Fukasawa Hideyuki, BONNIE PINK, and Fukuda Chikayo. However, because Project X Zone is on a handheld, the tracks are a little downgraded from their originals.

It's worth noting that Project X Zone isn't Namco Bandai's first crossover game; it's their 4th. They've previously done Namco X Capcom, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier EXCEED, This is ultimately Project X Zone's biggest flaw. The game is littered with references to the previous games. References like the fact that Demitri Maximoff knows Valkyrie; Reiji and Xiaomu know Haken and Kaguya, and; Ryu and Ken tell Jin it's been a while. You could argue that Ryu and Ken are referring to the events of Street Fighter X Tekken, but Xiaoyu was with Jin at the time and yet she doesn't know Ryu and Ken in Project X Zone. Ryu, Ken and Jin first crossed paths in Namco X Capcom. References are all fine and dandy, but the problem with all these are that the average Joe will not get them. Especially the Namco X Capcom ones, because that game was never released outside of Japan. However, I've played all of them. As far as accessibility goes Project X Zone is very accessible for the most part. While the shoulder buttons are necessary, you have ample time between your presses of A to press them. The touchscreen is only used during the movement phase to look around the map.

Overall, Project X Zone is a fanboy's wet dream. A game that combines 50 characters from 3 of the biggest publishers in the industry. This is something I've been hoping we would get in the States, as I really enjoyed Namco X Capcom. Project X Zone is the spiritual successor which was developed by Banpresto and Monolith Soft. It was released on 2013.06.25 by Namco Bandai Games, and is available as a physical retail version on game card or as digital download on the Nintendo eShop. As of the writing of this review, GameStop is selling the physical version for $29.99 USD new, while the digital version is $34.99 on the eShop.

Game Rating: 4.5 stars
Accessibility Rating: 4.5 stars