Laplace no Ma

"Good idea with momentum hangups"

This game has a number of things going for it: A curiosity-inducing story, fight-sequence innovations, creepy-weird moments, main character customization...

It also has some things working against it: Annoying random battles, tedious level-building, and collecting money gets very boring. Collecting clues is fun; huge doldrums in the mystery-solving while you're forced into experience- and money-collecting mode is not.

The story is nifty, initially; later developments need not be mentioned here. Anyway. People disappear when they enter Ye Old Spooky House in the greater Boston area. Many would-be ghost hunters, bounty hunters, and their ilk have tried to figure out what's going on with varying degrees of success, ranging from finding a random clue to getting themselves killed. Enter you. You decide to take a swing at the whole thing, and since you're you, you actually can go the distance. As far as company goes, there's one character of every class in the game in the town pub, none of them dynamic or terribly interesting, but they do their best to help you not die.

The classes in this game are somewhat unique from other games. You can be a detective (fighter), medium (magic-user), scientist (fighter that can hurt ghosts), journalist (take photos for money...and that's it), or a dilettante (fighter-mage hybrid). There's no such thing as a ''best'' class, although it's not a good idea to make the lead a journalist.

The fights have a rudimentary limit break system. Other than that there's nothing new on that front.

The spooky atmosphere holds up well in the beginning and in new areas, but all the time you spend gathering random non-plot items, experience, and money wears down on it quite a bit. Maybe that hallway was creepy the first few times through, but it's lost its edge by pass number 437. There's the key weakness: The game destroys its own momentum. If you really get into the story and can ignore all else, then have at it; you'll be no more bored with this game than you would any other. If, like me, you think the story is nifty but not engrossing, well...it just stinks that once you finally dig up more clues and get the ball rolling, the game steps on the ball and says, ''Hey. No more having fun until you level up some more. And go find some random item we didn't give you very good clues about.'' Sure, it's not as if I want the monsters in this game to use my small intestines like streamers for decorating the bedroom, but come on. I didn't start playing the game because I heard about its battle system, I started playing because I thought the story was worth looking into.

This game is slightly above-average, with aspirations to be so much more. The driving fun and enjoyment of the game is the plot, not the mechanics. Too bad the game designers didn't get clued in on that.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/31/03