White Knight Chronicles International Edition

"Start of the Next-gen MORPG"

What happened since the good old days when grinding was fun in Diablo II? Wait, it was called "MFing" or Magic Finding back in the days. You stay up all night doing repeated Mephisto runs in a series of game names like 'asdfjkl1' and so on hoping to get a Storm Shield.

Times have changed dramatically in regards of MMORPG, with a lot of MMORPG focused on level grinding, and equipment grinding for endless hours in big raids. MMORPG or even MORPG has been particular rare in consoles, and with the release of White Knight Chronicles, it's probably one of the first true Multiplayer Online RPG to appear on the market.

Being the first is not always the best, since you have no one to compare to; that being said, White Knight Chronicles has its up and downs being one of the first major Multiplayer Online RPG to be released in the 'next-gen' consoles.

First of all, there are few misconception about what type of game White Knight Chronicles is. Is it a traditional Japanese RPG like Final Fantasy (Except XI), and the Tales series? Or is it an online and multiplayer heavy game like Monster Hunter, or Phantasy Star Universe? The answer is - bit of both.

White Knight Chronicles borrowos HEAVILY from Final Fantasy XI in many aspects including battle mechanics, and character development. It also borrows its online structure heavily from Monster Hunter, and Phantasy Star Universe. The result is a addictive 'grind' heavy offline/online RPG that'll keep you for many hours if you are into any of the 3 above mentioned games.

What people make the mistake is and will be disppointed within the first 30 minute is that this is NOT a story-telling RPG like the traditional Final Fantasy, and Tales series. Without further adue I'll break the game down in parts.

Visuals - 9/10

The graphic runs on similar engine as Soul Calibur IV which was released couple months earlier. It is not breath-taking, but it gets the job well-done. If you want to compare to the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII, WKC will probably be a laughable title.

However, consider this a game with heavy MORPG element; it's probably one of the best looking online RPG at this point in time.

Character creation is beyond deep, probably deeper than your Bethesda games. Even after creating the character, all characters (including story character) will change look according to the armo they wear! This is nothing new for online RPG, but for offline RPG, have you ever wonder why your character never change cloths?

The visible changes of equipments includes, Body Armor, Hand Armor, Leg Armor, Feet Armor, Glasses (talk about fan service...), and Capes/Mantles (WoW Style). Combine these visible changes and the deep characterization, you'll have a harder time finding your twin in this game than in real life.

Sound - 7.5/10

Although the game have amazing potential with its allowable sound setup, there is just nothing amazing. Battle tracks all sound nearly the same, area music are bit too mellow to be memorable. The best music I found, sadly, is in the GeoNet profile pages... Makes me wonder how much they paid their composer.

Sound effects are serviceable, but nothing amazing as well.

Story - 7/10

The story runs on a laughable script. If you are looking for a SquareEnixstyle story-telling Japanese RPG, look somewhere else. The story is targeted to teen audience in Japan, who loves power ranger transformation, and princess peach saving plot. It's not convoluted, incomprehensible or just plain bad, but it's just not the type of "mature" story that SquareEnix likes to play around with.

If you play through the story with a 'mature' mind, you'll without a doubt find yourself disappointed at its cheesy script.

Gameplay - 8.5/10

On to the core of WKC. The games' battle system runs on a Real-Time Turn Based system that you see straight out of Final Fantasy XI. All menu choices, and action occur in real time (even if you bring up the main menu that takes up full screen, the game do not stop); all attacks occur in 'rounds' where each round is designated by the characters' speed.

In other words, there is no "pause" in this game like you'll find in other strictly offline Japanese RPG.

Character growth in this game is shallow and deep in both ways. It's shallow in the way that it's easy to understand and falls into a linear hiearchy. It's deep in the way that it allows countless combination that contribute FURHTER into your already unique character physical appearance. You ever wonder why every single shadow priest build are the same in WoW? Ever wonder why every single Red Mage use the same spells? In WKC, you'll most likely never find another person that have the exact same skill build as you thanks to the gamesystem.

Not only skill builds are different, combos or what other MMORPG or RPG consider just a single "class specific special attack" are COMPLETELY left up to the user. First, you learn single "skills" for specific weapon, and through the combo making function, you can chain these "skills" together to make a SINGLE "combo attack" that have different power, and attribute. In other words, you can make up your own "class specific special attacks." However, combos are limited in the ways that the skill used in the combo must be for 1 weapon type only, but you can add a magic attack in it to give it a elemental attribute.

To the downside of the gameplay. The single most annoying aspect or "boring" aspect of the gameplay is the AC system. AC are required to do combos, and there isn't many ways to gain AC at a higher rate besides using skills that cost MP. The AC system in this game slows this game down to a "turn" base feel and less "action" type feel that you'll find in Tales game. Combat speed is just a bit faster than Final Fantasy XI. It's definitely slower than Phantasy Star Universe and Monster Hunter.

The difficulty of this game varies greatly. The main offline story portion is laughably easy where there you can beat the story with zero leveling up session required. However, the starting from Guild Rank 7 quests, the enemies in the quests are tremendously tougher than any enemy you'll encounter in the story events. In other words, it's time to make some friends on PSN.

Online Multiplayer / Replayability - 8.5/10

The Online aspect of this game is going to be a love/hate. Starting from Guild Rank 7, you are almost required to go online since monsters become tremendously tougher than the final boss. Not only that, you may not bring any party members besides your created character into the offline quests. For those without internet connection to their PS3, you might consider a different RPG because this game will definitely not be worth your money.

That being said, there is little doubt that this game continues on MANY hours after you actually finish the story quest. In fact, it is more than likely that your story time is probably less than 1/10 of the game's life.

On the bright side, to play online is painless and seemless from the offline. When you buy quests from the guild, they appear on the world map. Selecting a quest gives 2 options, play by yourself, or play with someone else. Choosing the second option will automatically put you into network mode, and will search for a suitable game. If no games are found, the game will prompt you to create one where you can wait for others. Playing online allows you to party up with up to 4 other players to tackle a quest together.

The other way to play online, and the way to play with your buddies is via the games' GeoNet system. GeoNet is accessable at "Logic stones" (save points) or on the world map. On the initial log in, you'll be prompted to link your PSN account to the GeoNet service. There is NO CHARGE for GeoNet, which is a BIG plus. Once you are done with initial setup, you'll be brought to your profile page. The most important tabs are the "MyTown" tab and "Adventurer Diary" Tab.

"MyTown" Tab is basically the space where you can create rooms (lobby area like the hunting house before mission in MH, or lobbies in PSU) to meet with your buddy. From these lobby areas, there is a equipment shop with equipment that you won't find offline, as well as a general item shop. You can also create games/quest by talking to the guard at the billboard. Once you create a game, others can specifically join your game from talking to the same NPC in the same room.

If you don't have enough for 4 people in the lobby area, you can make your quest available for people that are playing online via auto-matching.

"Adventurer Diary" is basically a portal in which you can jump to other's profile page and other's "MyTown." This page is usually filled up with other's headline with what they are looking for, or what they are planning to do. One interesting note is that at the top of these headlines, there are always the official WKC staff's profile page, where it's usually filled up with people.

Sadly, there is no trading of equipment and synthesis material. Only things that can be traded are consumable items like potions and medicines.

Overall - 8/10

If you are looking for a epic offline single player Japanese Role Playing Game, White Knight Chronicles is definitely not for you. However, if you are into treasure hunting, and playing with friends or other people, this will be a game that will keep you many hours entertained. Even as I write this guide, there are new quests, and items being planned; two new quests has already been added since the game's launch in Japan, and that's less than a month ago!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/21/09

Game Release: Shirokishi Monogatari: Inishie no Kodou (JP, 12/25/08)