Guardian's Crusade

"The game nobody gave a chance."

A lot of people hate this game for some reason. It may be because one of the main characters is a pink Pokemon looking thing. Another reason might be that the friggin' disc is pink itself. Or maybe because of the strange looking graphics. Come on people, give this game a chance! It's no Final Fantasy, but it's still a fun RPG.

Story
The story isn't as bad as people say it is. Well, sure, it starts out cheesy. One day, Knight wakes up from oversleeping, and is asked to deliver a letter to a neighboring town. When Knight returns, he finds a pink Blob of Bubblegum lookin' thing on the ground. Then some un-named man appears, and tells you to deliver Baby, the pink thing, to it's mother, or the world will end blah blah blah. But the story becomes more interesting, and has MANY plot twists, which aren't so easy to foreshadow.

Graphics
This game sports a cartoonish look to its graphics. None of that realistic FF8 stuff. Knight looks so goofy, it's scary. But that's the way the graphics were supposed to make you think. Sure, they aren't the best looking pictures and sprites around, but they aren't horrible. Everything looks colorful and nice. Especially the world map, which Square needs to take a hint from. *Wink Wink*

Music/Sound
The music in this game was quite easy on the ears. A lot of the tunes were catchy, and I found myself humming them in my head. Just wait till you here the flying theme, and you'll see what I mean.

The sound was decent. Nothing horribly wrong, just tiny little bits that could have been improved on.

Controls
The controls are a tad annoying. The developers placed some bad button placement for the main menu, and it gets far too annoying to switch on and off from it. The battle control is also a pain, since at times, the control has a mind of it's own, and decides to float around, choosing random enemies AND allies for you to attack. A major mistake, which could have easily been averted.

Gameplay
This is what makes the game stand aside from other RPG's. Imagine it as a mix between Final Fantasy, and Pokemon. Baby, the pink pig thing, needs you to feed and nurture it. You get scold, praise, and even feed him. When I first heard about this feature, I knew this game would be deep. It isn't THAT deep, but it's still done nicely. Depending on how you treat Baby, he will act differently in battle. Act nice to him, and he will transform into powerful beings. If you act too harsh, he won't listen to your battle commands, and may even attack you. If Baby is in a good mood, you can occasionally send him out to find items, such as simple Potions, or mighty Swords. It all depends on his mood, what you will find.

You can also find over 70 Living Toys, or LT's. Imagine these as Pokemon, or FF Summons. It's very difficult to find some of these, but they are crucial for battle. Sure, there are stinkers in the bunch of 70, but some of them, like Walkbomb, can deal HEAVY, and I mean HEAVY damage to enemies.

Overall
This game is a decent title, mainly targeted to younger RPG fans. It's quite decent, if you ask me, and you should give it a try. It's not the best RPG around, but it's good for a rental, or borrowing from a friend.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/03, Updated 03/13/03