Steambot Chronicles Battle Tournament [PSP]

Those missions, though, range from mildly amusing to repetitive to an utter waste of time, but all of them require the same convoluted process: go to the Employment Agency, speak to the honey-voiced receptionist, ask to see missions, pick one, go talk to someone in town (though sometimes this step happens outside of town), head outside to slog through the same enemies that spawn in the same spots in every smallish area, pick up the item (or talk to the person), return to town, and then report first to the person that gave you the mission, then head back to the Employment Agency to actually get paid. Did I mention there's at least two instances of having to go to a preset spot and climbing in-out of the Trotmobile per mission?

When riding in a Trot, it's a little easier -- at least when scooting around town. Holding X will let them sprint infinitely (though outside the city, it's just a dash, the boost level of which must be monitored), so you can at least scuttle about fairly quickly. On foot, though, you both move more slowly than in a Trot and lack a way to run. As there are missions where you have to run from one end of town to the other, it all just kind of feels mindless and boring. And there's a ton of it as you work to earn money to upgrade your existing Trot or add more bits.

After a while, it all just kind of starts to smear together. I'm a sucker for any game with elements where you can see and appreciable difference in skills, so the Monster Hunter-like Trot upgrades do indeed make you feel a little more powerful (particularly during coliseum battles), but the legwork needed to see it all play out was just so... draining. It's a shame, too, because the game isn't without its own particular bits of charm.

Much of that charm comes from the game's aesthetics. Both the characters and buildings sport a kind of bent version of Victorian style and architecture, which goes very nicely with the whole steampunk atmosphere. There's a fairly lengthy day/dusk/night cycle, and when the sun sets, the windows of buildings will glow brightly, Pola Motors (Venus' shop) has yellow light pouring out and the coliseum is ringed with searchlights punching up into the sky. It's all static, of course, but coming back into the city from outside and seeing the glow of light is kind of... comforting -- especially if you're running on fumes are nearly out of HP.

Though there's a bit of close-up fade-in of people, other Trots and vehicles, the whole of the city (such as it is), is shown with no real pop-in. Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of some slowdown and framerate dips when looking toward the coliseum from some of the side streets.

Similarly, the audio does a decent job, but isn't built to amaze. The music is plucky and quaint (and actually changes with the time of day), and the voice acting is solid, but it's delivered with a bunch of mostly-still torsos, and not all lines are actually voiced. Not bad, mind you, but not exactly headphone-required listening either.

Closing Comments
If it weren't for the painful amount of repetition and the grindy nature of everything, Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament probably would have been a lot more fun. The more I played, though, the less I liked it, and by the end I just wanted it all to be over.

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