Finally, another game to review! The last console game I played through was FFXII (I think). Let's talk about the PSP this time. This poor, misunderstood handheld system has attempted to hold its own against Nintendo's juggernaut, the DS. While the PSP has done a respectable job over the past two years, it never did have more than a handful of "must have" titles.
That's all about to change, especially for RPG fans, starting with Brave Story, New Traveler - the first in a long line of (what appear to be) amazing RPGs coming out soon (or already released) for the PSP.
I read several reviews of this game, mostly on gaming blogs. They all had nothing bug good things to say about it. Some major game sites (here's looking at you, Gamespot), didn't rate it all that high.
I've been aching to dust off my PSP, especially for a new RPG experience. This game has given me the chance.
I'm only about six hours into the game, and I'm pretty sure I'm barely into the story, but the game looks, plays and feels awesome. The graphics are really, really sharp and vibrant. The character designs are top notch, like something you'd expect from Square-Enix.
Although its a typical Japanese-style RPG with random enemy encounters and turn-based battles, it feels new and fresh somehow. Probably because the plot isn't very standard (read: cliché) and the battle system has just enough tweaks to it to make it feel like more than the usual "press X to win" setup.
One of the first things that struck me after reading through mounds of dialog near the start of the game is that the localization of this game is amazing. The dialog (especially that of the main female lead character, Yuno) is creative and actually pretty funny. I laughed out loud a couple times at the terminology that character used in certain instances, and I could actually see people in the real world saying that in similar situations.
The boss fights I'm participated in so far have been interesting and innovated (although one was quite annoying).
SPOILER (highlight to view)
About the third major boss fight in the game has you sneaking into a bandit's hideout. The bandits are a kitkin and a waterkin (races from the game). You find them and you fight. Typical boss fight, right? Wrong! You kill them (and they hit pretty darn hard, so you're already hurting), a scene of dialog takes place, then another duo of a kitkin and waterkin come out - not twins, just another bandit duo that has one of each race. You then proceed to fight them. Ok, I get it...in the story earlier it said that two crimes that involved a kitkin and a waterkin were observed taking place at the same time. This makes sense. You beat them, you're nearly drained. Another scene of dialog. What's this!? A third group?! W T F! That's a bit too far, if you ask me. Fighting three duos in a row of two enemies with the exact same abilities = boring timesink. But, that's a minor flaw and my peronal opinion on that one boss encounter.
END SPOILER
So far, I'm hooked on this game a lot more than I've been hooked on any PSP game in the past (RPG or not). We'll see where it goes from here.
That's all about to change, especially for RPG fans, starting with Brave Story, New Traveler - the first in a long line of (what appear to be) amazing RPGs coming out soon (or already released) for the PSP.
I read several reviews of this game, mostly on gaming blogs. They all had nothing bug good things to say about it. Some major game sites (here's looking at you, Gamespot), didn't rate it all that high.
I've been aching to dust off my PSP, especially for a new RPG experience. This game has given me the chance.
I'm only about six hours into the game, and I'm pretty sure I'm barely into the story, but the game looks, plays and feels awesome. The graphics are really, really sharp and vibrant. The character designs are top notch, like something you'd expect from Square-Enix.
Although its a typical Japanese-style RPG with random enemy encounters and turn-based battles, it feels new and fresh somehow. Probably because the plot isn't very standard (read: cliché) and the battle system has just enough tweaks to it to make it feel like more than the usual "press X to win" setup.
One of the first things that struck me after reading through mounds of dialog near the start of the game is that the localization of this game is amazing. The dialog (especially that of the main female lead character, Yuno) is creative and actually pretty funny. I laughed out loud a couple times at the terminology that character used in certain instances, and I could actually see people in the real world saying that in similar situations.
The boss fights I'm participated in so far have been interesting and innovated (although one was quite annoying).
SPOILER (highlight to view)
About the third major boss fight in the game has you sneaking into a bandit's hideout. The bandits are a kitkin and a waterkin (races from the game). You find them and you fight. Typical boss fight, right? Wrong! You kill them (and they hit pretty darn hard, so you're already hurting), a scene of dialog takes place, then another duo of a kitkin and waterkin come out - not twins, just another bandit duo that has one of each race. You then proceed to fight them. Ok, I get it...in the story earlier it said that two crimes that involved a kitkin and a waterkin were observed taking place at the same time. This makes sense. You beat them, you're nearly drained. Another scene of dialog. What's this!? A third group?! W T F! That's a bit too far, if you ask me. Fighting three duos in a row of two enemies with the exact same abilities = boring timesink. But, that's a minor flaw and my peronal opinion on that one boss encounter.
END SPOILER
So far, I'm hooked on this game a lot more than I've been hooked on any PSP game in the past (RPG or not). We'll see where it goes from here.
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