A game so nice it deserves to be played twice!
GAMEPLAY ~
+Positives+
+ Large easy to navigate worlds. Warp pigs are used to travel between different regions making travel easy.
+ Huge assortment of recruitable characters which are halved due to two different paths the story can go. So you'll have to play through twice, or even three times to recruit them all. Almost everyone can be recruited.
+ Simplistic battle settings on which you command a team of your choosing. Using battle commands you control your teams actions from parameter raising skills to all out assault on a single enemy.
Specialty meter called Volt meter controls all specialty actions from leader commands to healing magic and powerful special skills called "Volty" in where certain characters unleash their ultimate attacks!
+ The novelty of kicking people for fights and the inclusion of power-walking was priceless!
+ Over 60 hours of initial playing time! More if replayed!
-Negatives-
- Only save spot is in Jack's house during downtime between missions. An Jack's house is also the focal point of main-game progression, so you will be doing most of your saving at night.
- Thought the battle system has allot to offer, yet most of the time you will be mindlessly smashing the "O" button through out ever battle, that includes the final boss.
- No hints in game on how to recruit almost all of the characters, you will mostly be relying on stumbling into a certain person at a certain time, or just plain luck. You will miss many characters your first and maybe even second time around if a guide is not handy.
STORY ~
You are Jack Russell, son of Cairn Russell, a famous dragon slayer. The knights exam has come around and you are finally ready to join the royal guards. You initial fail, but due to your heritage, you are accepted into knight hood. They place you in the Rose Cochon with another son-of-a-hero named Ganz Rothschild and daughter of the chancellor Ridley Silverlake. After a failed mission Ridley is hurt and Jack and Ganz are released from the Knights brigade and must now makes ends meet by joining the local guilds in town. All three's stories progress into the final battle between humans and non-humans. Which side will you take?
GRAPHICS ~
No complaints whatsoever on graphics. Everything is well placed and the addition of the Steam-Punk style world setting is one that is pulled off fantastically. The near 200 characters you recruit will each have their own Identity and personality as well as battle style (some even come with a Volty attack).
The shift between day and night is like watching the real thing! One thing that was amazing to me is that this huge world of recruitable characters and landscapes is that there was no slowing down, and seems completely void of load times. Lets not forget that whatever amour your put on is represented in real time and even in cut-scenes. The cut-scenes are basically just the actual game just not controlled by you. That is how nice this game looks! It's one huge cut-scenes!
SOUND ~
Here is where the game faltered... the music was ridiculous, but in a strange way enjoyable. It didn't take away from anything, nor did it give back. It set the game mood, which wasn't too serious to start off with. Thought, most of the time I turned it off and listened to the radio or something. But what brought this game up from a lower score was the voice-overs! They were fantastic! Conveyed every mood needed! From child-like enthusiasm to complete and outright comedy! Some of the best vox work I’ve ever heard to date in any game!
REPLAYABILITY ~
There are several secrets that can be uncovered by collecting all of the characters and completing both sides of the quest. There is even a multitude of littler secrets in the game, like heroes from other titles and a strange amour that seems bestows you someone else’s Fayt. You will be playing this game ALOT! And wanting to replay it just to find out the other side of the story!
OVERALL~
It's the best RPG to come out in a long time that doesn’t stress itself with being serious, the characters and the storyline are all what a good RPG is know for, and this one shines through as an awesome example of what SquareEnix can do if they put their time and effort into finding out what people want! I wish I could have given it a 10, but that music made me drop it down by a small percentage... sorry...
Anyway, go play this game if you are a fan of the Star Ocean series, cause it’s the only game that comes close to it’s style.