I dare say, the most addicting RPG game I've played in a long while.
Story: White Knight Chronicles easily gets a B in story, since it is going to be a Triliagy series the ending was no suprise when it became a cliff hanger, not really an ending but it wasn't really ment to be one in the first. Asside from a few Cisna and Leo moments the voice acting and story telling is quite good, not perfect but better than most none JRPGs out there, though voice acting quality is not equal to a Final Fantasy title it well matchs some of the later half of equality JRPG translations.
Graphics: are not really something to drool over, though it is nice a majority of the cut scenes in the game use the in game engine, making the gameplay and cut scenes fuse together nicely... unlike a Final Fantasy game *snickers* there were a few cut scenes which made me smile, where the character acting, voices, and lines fit together nicely enough to give me an excellent smile of joy. In gameplay graphics are excellent though some regions on the game feel a tad rushed, and the lack of a ice world was disapointing, but tree leefs blow, grass sways, and the water glitters, leather on Leo's jacket really looks leathish considering that the game is ment to be cartoonish, it is one of the latter when it comes to beauty in the cartoonish JRPG world.
Gameplay: I'd rate it as an A, now this is where I thought this game completely ripped off FF XII a lot when I first started playing, though confusing sometimes since I kept thinking it was the same game I quickly learned it was completely different in other areas, it much better polished, controls are simplifed so you're not scrambling to find the right spell in a real time environment something FF XII failed. Everything is thrown into action bars which while your turn charges you can quickly change to the spell, or skill you require, it is very simple and saves a lot of time and headache. Fighting monsters can be quite easy, everything has weakness larger monsters have weak points and actually attacking specific areas will decide what drops from larger monsters. Oh yes monsters do not drop armor and swords, no more JRPG face palming wondering why a bunny rabbit holds a Sword. Combos make the game, you can link various skills together into a combo which use up MP and AC counting which skills you place, these can make for excellent in game eye candy when you start hacking away at a monster. Only bad part about combos is you can not link support skills into a combo, like poison arrow with strike simplifying the steps a player has to take to make a poison arrow for example. Other than that it's quite good.
Music: very good have to be a B easily, I enjoy must of the music ni the game, much of it feels classic, not over welming and drowning out the world, the city of Greede is extra special in the music department, the games theme is also excellent.
Multiplayer: This is addicting, brings me back to the game, though I wish it had more features, but who knows the newer versions of the game may add more, though players can do over 50 online quest, some ranging from idiot proof easy to lets all die in two hits from the boss monster hard. yes if someone said this game was easy they clearly never played the online modes very far. This mode allows for interact with fellow players not felt on console RPGs very often, in fact it almost makes it feel MMO like, though without the countles sboring hours of grind, though some grind does exist if you want it to exist if you think getting ot the max online Guild Rank is truely worth wasting your time grinding. I myself rather spred out my time spent getting it and not waste whole days getting it maxed out just to gloat. No real way to rate online so, it works, it is fun, that is all that matters.
All in all White Knight would get an A minus. It easily Beats Final Fantasy XII out of the park personally, but we can only tell if it beats XIII out of the park which I doubt it. I doesn't mean perfect but the game does have it's problems including lack of any free roam mode for online, only questing. All in all it's a very well done game, with some iffy story moments because the fact it is only part one of a series of games being made. It isn't too hard, nor too easy, it is perhaps the most balanced JRPG I've seen in a long time, online modes give enough challange for hard core Role Play heads, while story mode gives just enough challange to entertain the casual player, and Hardcore people can just choose not to use the Knights to make it harder as well.