"A game that should have been great, but wasn't"

This is a game, which some people may enjoy. There are others however that would not enjoy this game. This at first sight, is an RPG. It has all the elements of an RPG, but in fact it is less of an RPG, and more of a dungeon crawler. The game has a few good points, but has many flaws as well. The flaws tend to outweigh the good points in this game, which brings me to give it a low score. The idea of this game is good, but the way they did it wasn’t. For those who like dungeon crawlers, you may actually like this game, but don’t expect to. It’s not one of the greater games out there. This game looks good, but could be much better done. A lot of the flaws in this game, is not in story line, nor in graphics, but more in gameplay. That is where this game lacks horribly. The game was poorly done, and not even stunning graphics, nor masterful musical pieces can make up for what it lacks there.

Gameplay-1/10
The gameplay in this game lacks horribly. First there is the battle system, which is too complicated. I find the battle system creative, yet hard to comprehend. It takes a while to learn, and some people don’t have that much patience with it. The town map can ruin this game as well. You have no compass, and most of the time people won’t tell you where to go. I’ve been stuck in a town for a while, trying to figure out where to go next. They don’t give you enough clues to find where you need to go. This is probably my biggest complaint about the game. You cannot find out where it is you need to head next. They don’t tell you straight out like in other games, but rather, make you figure it out yourself. Then you have the other characters, which there is a good variety of. But the characters themselves cannot make up for the complicated battle system, nor the roaming around endlessly. The gameplay lacks too much for a descent score, and really ruins what could have been a good game.

Graphics-8/10
The best part of this game, is the stunning graphics. The areas really stand out in this part of the game. They look great, and have a realistic feel, which increases the graphics. The areas you go, you are capable of moving in many directions, without too much trouble. The many building in the game are pretty much to scale as well. The insides aren‘t done poorly either. They didn’t hold back in this department. The battles look real, the town looks real. The Cinematic scenes are beautiful, and there aren’t many flaws with the graphics. There are a few problems to the graphics, but the beauty of the rest of the game outshines these few flaws. The characters are a little 2-d, and for a playstation2 game, that is sort of expected. But then you have the looks of the characters, the expressions, and the movement. It all is well done, a stunning masterpiece of a game in this department.

b>Story-6/10
The story of the game is certainly not a complicated one, with a ton of plot twists and turns. Instead, the game is rather simple, but in some cases simple is not a bad thing. The story is about a ranger named Evann who is recruited by the army to stop the elemental disorder. That is the main focus of the game. The game plays off of him being an inexperience ranger fairly well. They could have added a twist or a turn here or there to complicate the story, but they chose not to. For an RPG game, this story isn’t excellent. This story is suited more for an action game. The story isn’t horrible, but at the same time it lacks that feeling that other RPGs give off.

Music- 3/10
The music is terribly repetitive, reused too many times, and gets annoying. Not only that but the tunes aren’t exactly catchy. The music in this game could have done better, and could have fit better with the plot. The music doesn’t follow, and really is sometimes out of place. When in town the same song plays constantly without a change, and this can frustrate a person. The music in this game was poorly done, and really didn’t fit in quite well. This does not set off from the other parts, and really helps destroy the reputation of the game. There was no great variety of music in this game, which didn’t allow for the game to come out in full potential. The music isn’t horrible, but the selections that were made for this game, weren’t great. This is one thing they should have focused in on more. The music could have been much better, and a lot less repetitive.

Voice Acting- 5/10
Voice acting gets it’s own category, because it’s not exactly music. The voice acting isn’t horrible, but it’s not that great either. It’s fairly average. I’ve yet to see a game with great voice acting, and therefore probably judge a bit lenient on it. They chose a good cast though, and that certainly helps. Voice acting isn’t the greatest accomplishment in a game, and usually sets off games. Many games that don’t have voice acting, doesn’t need them. The voice acting here wasn’t necessary, but was an added bonus to everything. The score is hurt because the voices weren’t needed, though no game needs them, some games do better with them. This is not the case here.

Challenge-4/10
This game isn’t extremely hard, nor extremely easy. This game at times is more frustrating, than challenging. The frustration of having to find out where to go makes this game a little challenging. But that is what makes it hard, not the skill needed, just the luck necessary, and the time put into it. The gameplay as mentioned earlier makes this game more frustrating as well. A challenging game should not be frustrations everywhere, but rather a minor problem here, and a major one there. This game fails to meet the standards, and make a challenging, yet fun game.

Replay Value-6/10
This game has a better replay value, because after you have had the hours on end trying to find out where to go in town, you’ll know where to go the next time. This helps the rating of the replay, because frustration a second time through is the last thing anyone wants. The only problem with it is this, the first time will frustrate you a lot, and may make you not want to try again, or finish it the first time for that matter. The replay value isn’t terrible, but needs a deal of improvement.

Overall-4/10
This game isn’t a great game, it’s one that should be passed by many times because the game isn’t defined well. The gameplay is horrible, for the type of game it claims to be, and the rest of the game isn’t a great achievement. Some things were completely wasted on this game, because they should have focused more on the gameplay issue of it. They could decrease the greatness in graphic quality, and give a hand to how the game is played. This game may appeal to you, but for many games, it isn’t an entirely enjoyable game.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/18/03, Updated 02/18/03