Resonance of Fate (known as End of Eternity in Japan – a reference to Isaac Asimov’s novel “The End of Eternity“) was first announced earlier this year and I’ve been keeping an eye on it ever since. There isn’t a whole lot of information out there on this title yet, but we do know that it’s the first time tri-Ace and Sega have collaborated. Usually tri-Ace hooks up with Square-Enix, but not this time. For those who don’t follow the RPG genre, they’re known for games such as Radiata Stories and Infinite Undiscovery as well as the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile franchises.

This time around they’re building what looks to be a darker RPG with a steampunk feel. Resonance of Fate takes place in a future where the Earth has been polluted to the extreme by some unknown force, and humanity is nearly wiped out. Before that happens, though, they build a device that purifies the air surrounding it, and the humans congregate to that location. The plot of the story apparently begins to unfold as the device malfunctions. Within this city, there’s an “upper class” and a “lower class” – the upper lives up high on this tower-like structure and the lower lives down below, at the base of the city. It will likely be a familiar concept to those who have played Final Fantasy VII, no doubt. If their reference to Asimov’s novel is any indication, we might be dealing with a story that involves social engineering, time travel and perhaps a time paradox of sorts. (Disclaimer: I haven’t read the novel, I’m just going from its Wikipedia entry.) If this is, in fact, the case, it will be a welcome change to standard JRPG plot devices. Although, I have to mention that no game has done time travel justice since Chrono Trigger and I doubt anything could best that classic these days.

I’ve enjoyed past tri-Ace titles quite a bit, so I’m looking forward to their next delicious plate of RPG goodness. Let’s hope they don’t half-ass it like they did with the ridiculously titled Infinite Undiscovery. Resonance of Fate currently has no North American release date, but assuming it hits the Japanese release time-frame of Q4 2009, it may grace our PS3’s and 360’s next year.