Rondo of Swords

"Some new fresh concepts for a turn based SRPG...."

Do you love the turn based strategy RPGs. Me too, they are probably my favorite type of game. If you like games such as Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Advance Wars you will love this game too. It uses many different things that you have probably never seen before. There are new ways to battle and new ways to level up even whenever you do not battle. There are unique concepts the game tries to use like Momentum Counter and Route Maneuver System. If you want an in depth story with deep characters than this game is for you. I picked it up at the store (One of the two copies my store had) and have not taken it out of my DS. It is a very unique game and in a very good way.

The story is very good. It starts out packed full of action. You find your self planted in the middle of an invasion by a neighboring country. The Prince Serdic is dying and he is found by his body double. He tells his body double to continue acting like him and reclaim Bretwalde. The body double escapes and begins his life as a Prince. He sets out with one thing on his mind. The former prince's dying wish. You will meet a variety of eccentric characters in your quest. The characters all have unique personalities. They are funny at times, a little cheesy at times, but are also very in depth. They are all unique looking and acting. You will feel like you actually know the characters. From the almost polar opposite twins to the knight that only thinks about hitting on women, there are many personalities for you to fall in love with. You will use your favorites who will sometimes have conversations in the battle that let you learn a little more about that character. There are alternate endings so you will be able to play through multiple times and the story will be different. This increases the replay value of the game. You get to play along the two different paths and both have two different endings. You also may want to use some of the characters you didn't use this time around.

The game play is very good as well. The battle system is very unique. It is called the Route Maneuver System. You pass through units to attack them. You can pass through many units at one time to do a lot of damage or move to better position yourself defensively. You can move through allies to get stat bonuses or heal yourself. Be careful though the enemy will be doing the same as you. During the battle you get experience and level up. When you level up, you gain skill points and can put them on various skills that the character has. Some have skills that raise attack and others can learn powerful spells. Another unique concept they try to use is the Momentum Counter. It raises as your units attack or perform certain skills. The higher the Momentum Count the more likely they are going to be attacked. Some units may not be able to come to the battles. They can still get stronger if you make them train or do quests while your other units are fighting. Make sure that all of your units are doing something during the battle so you can raise the strongest army possible. Most of your units can promote. As you go through the game, you will obtain certain seals and proofs. These can be used to promote your units. When they promote, they grow much stronger and gain the ability to learn more skills. The units must go on a trial during a battle to change classes and promote.

The graphics of the game are pretty good. The characters are all very well drawn and all different. The battle animations are pretty good and all of the spell and OB animations are unique and fun to watch. The music is sort of like Fire Emblem' s music. It is upbeat at times and dramatic at other time. All of this is of course done at the right time. I can't stand on some RPGs when they play the same music through out. You have a victory and it is basically the same music. A unit is killed and once again it is basically the same. I was glad to see this was at least a little different.

Overall this game is really impressive. It is fairly long and has good replay value. It is fairly challenging as well. You should definitely buy this game whenever you have a chance. You will not regret it. You will spend hours having fun playing this game. Well thanks for reading my review, I've got to get back to playing this game now.

Story: 10/10
Game Play: 10/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Music 8.5/10
Replay Value: 10/10
Overall: 9.6/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/08, Updated 06/23/08

Game Release: Rondo of Swords (US, 04/15/08)