This game is so mediocre it drove me to give my first review in Gamespot. This game took me over 100 hours to finish according to the game timer. That probably was 80 hours too long. I mean I love long-winded games but this was chock full of meaningless battles. Plus the storyline was non-intriguing. The only reason I continued to play it for so long is that it held so much promise. But I guess after the 40 hour mark I just had to finish it to justify my time spent. I love turn based strategy RPGs. I was hoping eventually for large battles and long difficult conflicts that was rewarding at the end. Plus it got some good reviews that I thought maybe it would pay off eventually. But there was no long drawn out battles with several combatants. At most, I believe, you could put 7 gladiators on the field but usually only 4-5 in most cases. Early on the battles were quite difficult. But eventually I got to the point about a third through the game that I realized I was usually finishing most battles the first time through. Rarely did I need to restart. Basically the game got easier as you progressed. Oh yeah the ending is horrible. After you finish the grand championship it seems the game designers was at a cross roads. The wimpy battles aside, the grand championships seem like a logical end but I guess they didn’t think so. Basically a great beast attacks the capital after the championships and your crew has to abandon the city. You father’s enemy takes credit for the beast’s death. Valens, the main character, travels to the temple to seek advice. Then he is sent off to acquire the favor of the gods and some cool gear. Then off he goes to defeat the baddies and avenge his father’s death. This could have been a whole game in itself. But they just decided to tack this all in about an hour of gameplay. Now I wish they were that short with the other parts of the game. I guess I could comment on the technical aspects. Sound and voice work is nothing special. I turned it down most of the time. Graphics are pretty good. I wish there could have been varying effects for special abilities but most just used the same graphics. I guess my overall problem was with the story, the length, and the lack of difficulty in this game. This is actually quite similar to my opinion of the movie Gladiator. That also had a horrible story and was too long.
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