I have 2 words to describe this game: "Amazingly Short"
GAMEPLAY:
This game focuses on unity. You are on a planet called Sudeki, which was divided into light and dark way back in them days. Therefore everything had 2 parts to it, but there was also another whole world where the darkness thrived. The story leading up to the game was pretty pointless though. The main god felt bored and brought upon some demigod that was obviously evil, but the good god, tetsu, couldn't realise that. Then the demigod divided Sudeki, and then many years after, the game begins.
You start off as a noticeable main character who has great physique, skills as a swordsman, but is put off by family problems, like the loss of his brother and mother, and the fact that his father ran away and is now a total pain. The world of Haskillia is being plagued by frequent Aklorian attacks, which they are identified as Light Spawns. Basically, in the game, you seek the truth, and you travel to many places to find it. The twists are cool and surprising, so they definitely pulled that off nicely. Early in the game you're able to use the three other characters in their own entrances into the main plot, and the attacking styles are nice and varied. You have your two FPS characters, Ailish and Elco, and your two third-person killers, Tal and Buki. It's a good thing you have a choice who to fight with, and more often than not there's at least one of each, FPS and third-person, in your party at any one time. There are some skill testers in the game where you only have one person in your party, either FPS or third-person, to battle, travel, and even face bosses and other things. On top of this, you get magic that every character can use that varies between characters, and you also have the ability to summon great gods to aid you in battle. This is really reliable but in order to do so, you need to build up this meter, and there is no purchaseable magic allowing you to build it up faster, so it's kind of a bummer. There are many quests in this game, so be sure to talk to everyone in any city. These quests can give you great rewards, such as weapons, orbs that permanently (yes, permanently) raise your HP, power, SP, or magic, and keys to other places, or totems for the four gods.
Taking from Suikoden series a bit, you are able to enchant your weapons and armors with runes. Enchanting with runes enables your weapon to damage your enemy higher, or even inflict effect that give your party the upper hand, such as slow, poison or breaking their defense.
The gameplay is unique to other games of this genre, but it still has the same battle concept: slash 'n kill! Once you figure out your two melee attackers' criticals, you're bound to have a smashing time.
GRAPHICS:
It looked amazing a year ago, and still baffled me now. The textures on the many small details really makes it shine. The character designs and modifications of weapons and armor are great, and the expression of magic is used better than other ways I've seen; you can totally feel the power.
There are a few glitches which hinder your gameplay, like when Buki climbs up a wall, more often than not, if you're not really careful, instead of hopping onto the top ledge, she falls through the wall, forcing you to reload your save. Although, the downloadable patch seems to fix that problem. There are other small glitches here and there, but they don't really do much to stop you from playing this wonderful game.
SOUND:
The intensity level is perfect. The only time I had a problem with the distribution of sound was in the Aklorian stronghold, where the rushing of the water overpowered everything, such as speaking, battle effects, and everything else. There's some nicely produced ambient tunes here, as well.
VALUE:
If you like a great anime-inspired action-adventure RPG slash-'n-kill, you'd love this game, as it's just what you need to revive your fantasy drive. Don't delay, grab a copy today!