Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Mike Escobar

For fans of JRPGs, 2010 is looking to be a great year for you.  Some of the biggest developers of the genre are releasing brand new titles just about guaranteed to blow you away.  Everything from classic franchises like Star Ocean and Final Fantasy to new titles like the interesting Nier are showing up this year.  Each of these games has their own take on the JRPG genre, many of them bringing new and intriguing ideas to the table.   The first game to show up this year is the much-delayed White Knight Chronicles International Edition (WKC).  Was it worth the wait?  Let’s find out...

White Knight Chronicles was released in Japan almost fourteen months ago and while no clear reason for the lengthy delay has been given, it would appear that developer Level-5 had more going on than the usual localization work that takes around six months to complete.  While this might have been a warning flag to some, the playable demo that was available all the way back at the Tokyo Game Show in 2007 had enough eye candy to keep people drooling over the release of this title.

Graphically White Knight Chronicles comes through on its initial promise.  The character models are bright and sharp and the attention to details is amazing.  Going through the customization of your in-game avatar presents you with dozens of choices, down to such minute details as eyebrow shape and chin width.  Most of this tweaking can be skipped, but if you’re inclined to take the time then you have a wealth of options.

The attention to detail obviously doesn’t stop at your avatar.  The game environments are all lush and unique.  Dust blows through the streets of the desert town of Balana, and the plains of Balastor come alive as the wind blows through the trees.  The areas all have their own unique feel, providing plenty of variety in the scenery.

Unfortunately, Level-5 didn’t extend that variety to the monsters you encounter.  Most areas you play through will have two types of smaller creatures, and two types of large creatures.  The monster models all look fantastic, and when I say large monsters, I’m talking about creatures that tower over your characters.  This brings real weight to the battle when you’re taking on trolls and treants (the two large creatures in the beginner’s area) but it just leaves you aching for more variety.  With one exception, you are able to see all the monsters from a distance, eliminating random encounters.  Certain areas will have scripted events, consisting of an encounter with a special type of monster.  This might be the gigantic cousin of one of the standard mobs, or just a rogue creature that inhabits the area.  These encounters provide some great spice to the game and provide the opportunity for some good loot, but they make me wish the developer would have put more of them throughout the world.

Level-5 is no newcomer to the JRPG genre, and much of their previous work is highly regarded.  One of the more recent examples, Dragon Quest VIII, is definitely the high point of their catalog, and its influence is seen in the dialogue in White Knight Chronicles.  The voice acting in WKC is solid, but there are so many cheesy lines that are delivered it detracts from the overall quality.  While this goofy dialogue worked very well in Dragon Quest VIII, it just doesn’t fit that well in WKC.  For example, at the very start of the game you are asked by your boss to go retrieve a shipment of wine from a nearby town for the princess’ big party.  After some very minor adventuring, you find the town and cart full of wine, but it’s late in the day.  Mustering your group to head back to the princess, you motivate your party by shouting “Let’s haul cask!”  Groan.  Environmental sounds are all well handled, and the score throughout the game is excellent.

Controls for White Knight Chronicles are all over the place.  During gameplay you are pretty much limited to using the X button for everything from selecting what attack or spell to use, to opening doors and chests.  The confusion creeps in when you want to access the menu system.  If you’re looking to quit to the title screen for whatever reason, hit Start.  If you want to access the map of the current zone you’re in, or to change which character you are controlling, then you press the Select button.  If you want to access the in-game menu and change your attacks or train new skills when you level up, you press Triangle.  The menus themselves are well-organized, but having three different ways of opening up the menu screens seems like a strange design choice.

At its core, WKC is a fairly standard story – young peasant falls in love with princess who is subsequently kidnapped by the Big Evil.  For whatever reason, the rulers of the kingdom decide that you, the untrained peasant, are the best hope for venturing forth and rescuing the damsel in distress.  Fortunately, WKC has added in a few twists and turns on this standard storyline to keep the player guessing about where things are going. 

The first twist in the story is that, while you do play the main character in the story, you create your own custom avatar that is part of the party.  This avatar is a normal part of your party that can even be played as the leader of the group if you so wish.  Your created character is also who you play as when you participate in multiplayer quests online, or when you visit the online towns that have been created by other players.  Since this is a character created from scratch there is a limited amount of voice work present, making your avatar more of the “strong, silent” presence in your party.

The next twist in WKC is the history of the Incorruptus, of which the White Knight is a member.  Thousands of years in the past there were five Incorruptus that were used as the ultimate tools of war between the two powerful nations of the time.  Recently these giant warriors have been rediscovered, but researchers have no idea how to control them.  That is until our young peasant Leonard discovers and uses one during the kidnapping of the princess.  This makes Leonard the perfect choice to lead a party of adventurers to rescue the princess.

Another great feature of this game is the ability to complete quests online and receive rewards that you can take back into the single player adventure.  Completely separate from tasks assigned to you in the single player game, from time to time you have the opportunity to purchase quests.  These quests are tied to specific zones and can be repeated as often as you like, with bonus money awarded if you complete the quest faster.  You also have the option of working on a quest solo or joining a party of up to three other people that have the same quest.  This is a fantastic way to share your progress and gameplay time with other players.  With voice chat fully supported, this feature adds a great multiplayer addition to what is usually a single player type of game.

The major component of any RPG, besides the story, is the combat system.  Since so much of your time is spent in combat, it makes sense that this needs to be one of the strongest parts of your game.  Unfortunately, this is where White Knight Chronicles really has problems.  WKC uses a real-time battle system where the action never pauses while you make combat choices for your characters.  Instead of making decisions for each character in your party, you only directly control the party leader.  For the other two characters in your group you choose a play “style”.  These styles range from Heal First, to Conservative, to All Out.

For your own character, you create a list of commands that will be available during combat for you to choose from.  Like so many other games, spells and special attack moves cost magic power.  These special moves can also cost Action Chips, which are earned by executing normal attacks in combat.  The more Action Chips you build up, the more complex and more effective the special moves become.  Leonard, the hero of the story, can also use his Action Chips to transform into the White Knight.  This huge, extra-powerful creature dishes out tons of damage for a short time.  The more Action Chips you have when you transform, the more moves that are available and the longer you have to control the White Knight.

As far as that goes, the combat system works fine.  Where it really fails is with combat range and minor things, like switching targets.  In WKC, combat range only applies to you and your party.  This may sound strange, but sadly it’s true.  During combat you will frequently get messages stating that you are too far away for your current attack to take place.  Try and run away from a fight that’s too tough or you’re not prepared for, and your enemy will stand in place swinging his melee weapon doing full damage to you no matter how far away you are.  I’ve had battles that I’ve run away down a tunnel, around a couple of corners, and still took melee damage until the game decided I was out of combat.

This is not as big an issue as you might think, since it is extremely rare that you will ever need to run away from a battle.  As any RPG veteran can tell you, your standard party needs someone that can do heavy melee damage, someone that can do heavy magic damage, and someone to heal.  Since you decide how points are allocated for each of the characters as they level up, you can determine where their strengths lie and plan your group accordingly.  Playing the game with this kind of group makeup makes the game an absolute breeze, with very few of the battles offering much of a challenge.  At most you might need to change up which spells you’re using when you go into a boss battle, as you do run into some magical immunities from time to time.

Another problem plaguing this title is the lack of individuality among the characters.  None of the characters that end up joining your group have any kind of class or racial restrictions placed on them, meaning that any character can become proficient in any kind of skill.  While this provides a huge amount of flexibility in who you use in your main group and how you develop them, it also means that there is not much to differentiate the members of your party.   On top of that, there’s little limitation on the gear that each class can use, so you end up with a party of clones, everyone is interchangeable and  it’s hard to get attached to any of them.

The amount of gameplay offered by White Knight Chronicles is where this title really shines.  As with any respectable console RPG, WKC offers anywhere from eighty to one hundred hours of gameplay to work your way through the main story.  This doesn’t include staying in one area and grinding out a few levels, or doing too much exploring not related to the plot.  What really adds to the amount of playtime you can spend on White Knight Chronicles is the development of your town, known as the Georama.

Fairly early in the game you have the opportunity to purchase a deed to a parcel of land where you can create your own Georama.  Georamas have their own set of rules as to how big the land is and what types of buildings you can place on it.  As you grow and develop your Georama, it is automatically updated online for other players to visit.  The coolest feature of the Georama is that it acts as your own personal set of shops.  For example, as you buy more of the warrior shops and accessories, the weapons and armor that is available at your shop increase in quality and variety.  You also recruit NPCs from the game world to live in your Georama.  Pick the right NPCs and your shops will get even better, offering even rarer items for you to purchase.  Best of all, other players can visit your online Georama and purchase items, earning additional income for you.  All this flows seamlessly back into the single player game, providing an alternate path for you to upgrade your character’s equipment.

White Knight Chronicles has an excellent look and feel, and throws in enough unique twists on the JRPG genre to make this title something unique, but it is marked more by its missed opportunities and clichés than anything else.  Many people will be able to forgive the flawed combat system and enjoy this title for its innovative approach to multiplayer RPG action, but the majority of folks will end up frustrated or worse, bored by the lack of challenge and variety this game offers.  For those looking for a quick JRPG fix, White Knight Chronicles fits the bill; just don’t expect a genre-defining experience from it.

Gaming Trend Score

79

1. Graphics: 85
2. Audio: 85
3. Controls: 75
4. Gameplay: 70
5. Value/Replay: 90
6. OVERALL:79