Another month, another KEMCO RPG. But wait! Instead of being a Poundland Final Fantasy, Armed Emeth is a new RPG IP from the prolific studio, and it looks kinda great.
There’s no farmboy who finds his magical abilities, nor does he realise he’s at the centre of a prophecy to take down an evil sorceror. Instead, we’re getting steam-powered golems, bounty hunting and a clockwork universe.
You play Valess, a young boy who is just about scraping by in a small community. But then things go haywire when he meets Lock, a golem who can move and talk on his own. He brings you your own personal golem to travel about in, but then drops the bombshell: Valess has a hefty bounty on his head, and various hunters are coming to collect.
Rather than go on the lam, and to the credit of Valess, he decides to become a bounty hunter himself. When in Rome, eh? This takes him on a journey across continents, collecting bounties and gathering a ragtag group of companions. Because when are you not gathering a ragtag group in JRPGs?
The focus on bounty hunting and golems gives Armed Emeth a real freshness. You are hunting down monsters and enemies and bringing them back to your Bounty Centres for rewards, which is a nice take on the usual random battles. And the golems make the upgrading and battles original, as you’re upgrading your exosuit with Edea Stones (think Materia), passive skills and specialised ammunition.
While battles aren’t completely original, they look very different. You and your opponents are either end of a battlefield, lobbing explosives at each other from your Golems, and it reminds a little of the cutaways in Advance Wars. It’s better than the usual 2D battles against dragons and goblins.
Key features include:
- A quest for friends and bounties!
- Enjoy a story full of unique characters.
- Use specialized golem equipment and Edea Stones
- Upgrade golems at Workshops
- Hunt bounties!
We’re actually quite excited for this one, and you can expect resident KEMCO enthusiast to give it a once-over.
Armed Emeth is out now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and starts at £12.49 from the Xbox Store. It’s also out on PC.
There are a couple of DLC packs available too – the Experience x3 pack for £4.19 and No Encounters for £1.69.
Game Description:
Valess, a boy earning petty cash in a commune of drifters is suddenly met by Lock, a stand-alone golem. Upon discovering that the leader of a criminal organization has an enormous bounty on his head, Valess receives a golem of his own from Lock and decides to join him on an adventure into the unknown where numerous bounties await. Thus begins their journey of grit and oil across several continents! As well as upgradable golem equipment, there are also Edea Stones imbued with life force, specialized passive skills and special ammunition for a variety of circumstances. Visit Bounty Centers to find out information on active criminals and monsters, including their rewards, locations and special characteristics. Visit each commune and take on as many bounties as you can to find fame and fortune!
This is more or less an exact copy of metal max returns (snes) from the early 1990s. Kemco, as usual is a few decades late to the party. They also already did this, with rusted emeth so they are also copying themselves.