Hack and slash your way through a slow RPG with some new twists from the final Fantasy Series.
I'll do this review by good and bad points. I know this is not literally an FF game but it is from the maker...
The Good
Story
Graphics
Combat
Music
skill link (heroes learn skills from others)
Battle rings (Hold the right bumper to strengthen your attack)
The Bad
Pointless bits
Slow Gameplay
Repetitive Dialogue
Dream Sequences
Annoyances such as dying (try dying from a boss and you'll know what I mean)
Checkpoints are rare
No healing at checkpoints
checkpoints are save points (Can only load from them)
Redoing bits over and over (die and reload at 20 minutes back...?)
Takes ages to start a battle
bosses are fustrating
I... When I first got this game, I thought it would be pretty cool. It drops you into a battle and if you are familiar with the final fantasy series, you will know what to do in the beginning. Otherwise, You'll have to read the instruction manual (which you should anyway)
There are some puzzles that are obscure. In the beginning, when you are attacking a boss (you can't die...) the solution to killing it is obscure. I was hitting one part of the boss for about half an hour before I decided to go right-left-right which seemed not to have an effect earlier. It died 20 hits later or so.
Later, you are free to roam. Along a fixed path. Enemies come up to you and attack and make you endure a very long opening battle scene thing. (Swirling hoops and purple effects for 18 seconds)
Later, when you finally talk to people, another obscure bit occurs. You are told to take some resources but where are they? I found them 5 minutes later.
The menu screen? Boring. Very boring. Just a metal sheet. Oh, and don't try playing this on a small screen, you won't be able to see the tiny text that details each item. (I have a 10" how do you think I feel?)
Bosses reanimate. Bosses are awful. They should be fun and hard to beat, not fustrating. This is overdoing it. Magic insect A charges magic, powering up the boss. I defeat all the insects and kill the boss. Another one comes along, leaving you on the same HP and stuff as the end of the last battle. I have no more MP so I obviously lose.
Obscure, much?
Oh, and one more thing. The camera is fixed. Try working out where to go most of the time. I had to follow these guards at the beginning and they walked so slowly I kept walking into different areas and back. There's a zoom-in feature but I had to search online to find the ladder in the mining site.
If you want a proper, less obscure RPG (but still hard) try Final Fantasy XII. Even with all the criticisim against it, it is very addictive. There's more bonus to leveling up there than here. Bosses don't reanimate. They do here.
Keep in mind this is all personal opinion. I think this game is far too hard and while the combat system is ok, the rest of the game is SO BORING.
Rent it first... And prepare for the headache after an hour or two of playing. Wish for some on-screen prompts and instructions. Don't just drop us off like this, maker of Final Fantasy series, whatever your name is.
I'll go back to Final Fantasy XII. This game is not for me. (But go ahead and pick it up for £15/$30 if you want at a local preowned shelf or something)