Spectral Force 3

"For true fans of the Spectral Saga and the Underworld Stories"

I wouldn't only buy this game if you are a fan of the series, but I would also buy it because it's one of the first, if not the first SRPG to come out in the US for the 360.

Gameplay - 9/10: Fairly generic, as typical as any other Strategy-Role Playing Game. But the thing that makes the Spectral games different from others is the fact that you can use 'teamwork' and 'assists' to form devastating combos on your opponents. As far as battles and enemies, its pretty basic. You start as mercenaries for the Army of Flauster but when the game progresses you can gain achievements from recruiting different characters from different armies, ex. Elf Alliance, Overlord Arm, Underworld, etc. You can also obtain objects to invent your own items. Which makes for an interesting game. You can money buy finding work and doing required missions. As the story progresses, you can use other armies to destroy other armies as well. You decide which army you wanna focus your strength on. As with other Neverland games, the usual characters are in it. Diaz and Dragan, etc. Good gameplay, tedious at times but definitely good gameplay.

Storyline - 8/10: The story line goes along with pretty much every Spectral Storyline. Except I do believe this takes place earlier than Spectral Souls(PSP). As you go along Diaz, gets stronger and you can choose from all the characters you recruit. Up to five. There is an option on the menu to converse, when you trigger different missions in the game you can converse with you peers to affect the outcome of the game or just to get useful hints. This particular game doesn't have the story I was quite looking for but it isn't THAT unsatisfying like people say. The story can be overwhelming after a while if you are dealing with all the victories and defeats from different armies. You can really get in depth with this. Say, the Elf Alliance was defeated by the Underworld Army, you can then attack the Elf Alliance and Destroy their kingdom easier.

Replay Value - 10/10: Maybe twice but that's it. New Game+ doesn't really have much to offer if you did everything right the first time but it's not that bad.

All-in-All this game is pretty in-depth when you sit down and look at it. It's got a friend-gauge for teamwork and assists. Geomancy lines. Many different characters to converse and recruit. I am really enjoying this game and I think someone that enjoys SRPGs will too, even with no background knowledge of the Spectral/Generation of Chaos Saga. Average rating - 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/09

Game Release: Spectral Force 3 (US, 07/29/08)