Spectral Souls

"Could have been one of the greatest games if not for one major flaw..."

Spectral Souls Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires had so much potential. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great game but it has one major flaw...the loading times.

Basic layout
2 Kingdoms with a 3rd army joining soon after are at war. You control all three of them making one conquer the others or vice-versa. Multiple endings will have you playing this game for hours and hours.

Game-play 6/10
Never have I played a game that you need to plan out your every move, one bad move could cost you the whole battle if you're unprepared. The basic layout of each battle is - you get 3 to 6 characters for battle, it varies depending on what kind of battle you're in, while the enemies have usually 8 or more including a commanding officer that's much stronger then the other units. Most of the battles include certain victory conditions like killing a certain enemy on the field or getting to a certain location on the field. The game-play is solid if you can withstand the load times. That won't be a problem if you're playing it off of a Memory stick though.

Graphics 7/10
Nothing new to turn-based tactics games. The graphics are nice and crisp so it's nothing to worry about. The maps are well designed which is nice, but I feel this contributes to the loading problem in a negative way. I'd compare these graphics to that of Final Fantasy Tactics on the Sony Playstation.

Fun factor 5/10
The fun factor...this game does okay with it, even though most of the time you'll be waiting for your characters to finish their attack or just waiting for enemies to finish making their moves. You have the option to turn off attack and move animations if you'd like, but one shouldn't have to do that to enjoy a game. Besides, the attack animations are nice to look at. I guess if you play it off a memory stick, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

Music 8/10
This game has some nice music, it's not very memorable but it's well placed in each scenario. Never out of place.

Replayability 9/10
Like I've said before - If you can withstand the load times, this game will be great for you. Dozens of unique characters, weapons, and skills will have you playing this game over and over again.

Great game, bad load times.

Thank you for reading!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/07

Game Release: Spectral Souls - Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires (US, 09/26/06)