28th August 2004, 5:07 PM
i'm stuck again because i got to the end of the first disk and left the second disc at my mom's house...
it also doesn't allow you to save between discs, so if i just shut it off i'd have to go through the whole like 15 minutes of story before the disc swap all over again. and i'm not up for that, i'm afraid.
anyway, a quickie review for those of you without the game.
it's really very cool. the graphics are gorgeous although they are rather bright and colorful. the art style is beautiful and the spell effects are top notch. character designs are a little bland IMO, but they make up for it with strong personalities.
that said, the behavior of the characters is somewhat cute and lighthearted, but the story is anything but. it's extremely dark at times and really disturbing at others. it's also really long. i spent 40 hours on the first disk alone (although there were times when i'd leave the game running on it's own for an hour or so while i went about doing other things), so hopefully the second disk contains close to as much content and the game extends to at least 60 hours.
the puzzles in dungeons are very clever and some left me stumped for quite some time. it's also not an easy game when it comes to boss battles. most enemies can be defeated by just hitting the A button until the battle ends, but the bosses are another story all together and will require you have a healer in your group as well as some quick fingers for throwing out gels at just the right moment.
the only real downside i've noticed is that some of the characters are really annoying (genis, collette), and that the world map is not very impressive to look at (although it easily gets the job done.
so for anyone that's looking for an absolutely jawsome RPG for their gamecube, this is the title to buy...assuming you don't already have it.
Graphics: 9.0 beautiful characters, towns, and dungeons. world map is spartan.
Sound: 9.0 well composed music, plenty of voice acting (tho it is sometimes irritating) and sound effects.
Gameplay: 10 challenging dungeons, fun battles, and an interesting story
Lasting appeal: 9.0 quite long so far and i'm only at the end of the first disc. ROCK ON!
i give it a 9.3 (out of 10, not an average)
it also doesn't allow you to save between discs, so if i just shut it off i'd have to go through the whole like 15 minutes of story before the disc swap all over again. and i'm not up for that, i'm afraid.
anyway, a quickie review for those of you without the game.
it's really very cool. the graphics are gorgeous although they are rather bright and colorful. the art style is beautiful and the spell effects are top notch. character designs are a little bland IMO, but they make up for it with strong personalities.
that said, the behavior of the characters is somewhat cute and lighthearted, but the story is anything but. it's extremely dark at times and really disturbing at others. it's also really long. i spent 40 hours on the first disk alone (although there were times when i'd leave the game running on it's own for an hour or so while i went about doing other things), so hopefully the second disk contains close to as much content and the game extends to at least 60 hours.
the puzzles in dungeons are very clever and some left me stumped for quite some time. it's also not an easy game when it comes to boss battles. most enemies can be defeated by just hitting the A button until the battle ends, but the bosses are another story all together and will require you have a healer in your group as well as some quick fingers for throwing out gels at just the right moment.
the only real downside i've noticed is that some of the characters are really annoying (genis, collette), and that the world map is not very impressive to look at (although it easily gets the job done.
so for anyone that's looking for an absolutely jawsome RPG for their gamecube, this is the title to buy...assuming you don't already have it.
Graphics: 9.0 beautiful characters, towns, and dungeons. world map is spartan.
Sound: 9.0 well composed music, plenty of voice acting (tho it is sometimes irritating) and sound effects.
Gameplay: 10 challenging dungeons, fun battles, and an interesting story
Lasting appeal: 9.0 quite long so far and i'm only at the end of the first disc. ROCK ON!
i give it a 9.3 (out of 10, not an average)
All the kids black and white, together we are dynamite.