Steambot Chronicles: A Love Letter
What is Steambot Chronicles?
Before reading this article please do me a favor and play this in the background. https://youtu.be/gPIOb2Yp_8A
Steambot Chronicles is a Playstation 2 game developed by studio Irem in 2005 and published in North America by Atlus. Atlus is known today for their Persona series, but their extensive library consists of a laundry list of fun and quirky RPGs.
Before I continue I need to state my love for this game. Out of all the games I’ve played, none have provided the sense of wonder Steambot Chronicles has.
The story revolves around you.
You begin the game with a choice. What is your style? Do you prefer hats, shoes, jackets, or goggles? This choice, although seemingly minuscule at first, sets up the background of your character. You are then dropped into the world and discover you have amnesia. A girl named Connie is worriedly asking if you’re alright, and you’ll have a choice in what to say to her. Depending on your answer the game will keep track of what you say to key characters.
Shortly after this interaction, you find the illustrious Trotmobile. Trotmobiles are highly customizable mechs that citizens use in this universe for everyday tasks from mining and farming. The setting of the story takes in place in an alternate reality in which world war two never occurred, and bipedal machines were the way of the future. From your first Trotmobile you embark on an adventure with Connie and eventually join a band.
What you do in between those points is up to you. The story progresses in a linear manner, but your choices and actions affect the outcome of the main characters and the final ending.
The main idea here is choice. You can build your character however you want him to be, and respond however you’d like. His back-story is chosen entirely by you as well, so the games true role-playing nature shines.
Gameplay
This is an action adventure role playing band rhythm game
Navigating and fighting in Steambot Chronicles make full use of the analog sticks. The Trotmobile’s legs are assigned to each of the analog sticks and pushing both sticks forward moves your Trotmobile. To turn, you push one analog stick either up or down, and the second the analog stick the opposite direction. Controlling your arms is used with the shoulder buttons. L1 and R1 are your respective arms. Although clunky at first, it starts to feel natural as you progress throughout the game and becomes oddly intuitive.
You control a Trotmobile which is fully customizable (name and license plate included). The rotmobile can be fixed with three different sized bodies, small medium or large and a plethora of leg parts ranging from mech legs to tank treads. The variety of arms are no different. The weapon types range from sword and shields to Gatling guns, and even mechanized versions of medieval flails. These components can be switched out in the mechanic shops that are present in each major city.
Steambot Chronicles also has a subtle reputation system. With each passing day, your character becomes more and more famous with each action you perform. From simple titles such as “Gladiator” and “Taxi-Mobile” to “Gigantic Angry Dog.” Small changes affect your reputation, and NPC’s encountered on the street will talk to you and mention your current reputation.
Your reputation also changes the more often you play with your band. You start out with a simple harmonica which you can later choose between the trumpet, saxophone, piano, violin, string bass, accordion, drums, and guitar. Each of these instruments have different control schemes and varying difficulties. If you’re short on cash you can even busk for tips on a busy street corner.
Progression
You start off the game a clean slate and with no skills whatsoever. It will be difficult to commandeer the Trotmobile at first but just as the character improves his skill, the player does. Fighting is hard to get used to, and getting destroyed by better Trotmobile fighters will eventually happen. However, once the player becomes adjusted to the control scheme, taking down S rank gladiators will be no problem. Dodging incoming missiles and thrown rocks will become second nature. As the main character progresses with their fighting, the side characters improve with their musical ability.
The lead singer for example sounds terrible in their first performance. The first song you ever hear from the band leaves more to be desired. As you continue through the game however, your band practices more, and each consecutive performance improves drastically.
What you do in the world of Steambot Chronicles is entirely your choice. Like other JRPGS it has an overarching story to save the world that is streamlined through main quests, but your side activities form the meat of the gameplay.
I implore you, reader, to play it. Unfortunately, studio Irem was gearing up to create Steambot Chronicles 2 for the PS3, but due to the tragic tsunami in 2011, almost all the assets were lost. We may never see a true sequel to this masterpiece of a game, but at least this studio has brought us this.
Get ready for.
Steambot Chronicles!
