I searched around and couldn't see a thread for this, so here goes.
I love portable RPG's, they just seem to suit being played anywhere, so upon getting a PSP (finally) I looked around and decided to plumb for this. The game is basically a tweaked and remixed version of the two PoPoLoCrois games on PSone that never left Japan, and it kinda shows in the presentation. The game doesn't really push the hardware but everything is charmingly drawn and the anime cutscenes are well done. The music is pretty nice too.
I'm a good couple of hours in now, and it seems by the book stuff. A ten year old kid discovers his mother is not dead, but in a coma, so sets off to find a cure etc... this involves, yup you guessed it, making friends, visiting towns and venturing into dungeons.
The combat kinda reminds me of a turn-based Grandia (as does the presentation), as when your ATB-style bar fills, you get a grid to move around in and set up attacks, then chose whether to do a special attack or spell. Nothing new, but it works well, and the AI of teammates (which you can control if so desired) is pretty good for once. The gameworld seems huge, and offers a lot of scope for exploration, but the map is useless, so it is easy to get lost.
What does stand out is the charm of the game. It reminds me a lot of 16/32 bit RPG's like SoM and Grandia, and this is a good thing in my opinion. It doesn't seem likely to become a groundbreaking title any time soon, but certainly ticks all the right boxes thus far. I'm definately happy with the game at the moment, and it seems far more polished than many home console RPG's I've played.
Thumbs up so far... now to cram a few more hours in before the new year revelry kicks in!
I love portable RPG's, they just seem to suit being played anywhere, so upon getting a PSP (finally) I looked around and decided to plumb for this. The game is basically a tweaked and remixed version of the two PoPoLoCrois games on PSone that never left Japan, and it kinda shows in the presentation. The game doesn't really push the hardware but everything is charmingly drawn and the anime cutscenes are well done. The music is pretty nice too.
I'm a good couple of hours in now, and it seems by the book stuff. A ten year old kid discovers his mother is not dead, but in a coma, so sets off to find a cure etc... this involves, yup you guessed it, making friends, visiting towns and venturing into dungeons.
The combat kinda reminds me of a turn-based Grandia (as does the presentation), as when your ATB-style bar fills, you get a grid to move around in and set up attacks, then chose whether to do a special attack or spell. Nothing new, but it works well, and the AI of teammates (which you can control if so desired) is pretty good for once. The gameworld seems huge, and offers a lot of scope for exploration, but the map is useless, so it is easy to get lost.
What does stand out is the charm of the game. It reminds me a lot of 16/32 bit RPG's like SoM and Grandia, and this is a good thing in my opinion. It doesn't seem likely to become a groundbreaking title any time soon, but certainly ticks all the right boxes thus far. I'm definately happy with the game at the moment, and it seems far more polished than many home console RPG's I've played.
Thumbs up so far... now to cram a few more hours in before the new year revelry kicks in!
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