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Generally well-presented, though feeling a bit generic as a whole, the story and dialogue on a broad level is fine, though I suppose as is typical many of the characters are essentially archetypes, falling into their roles and not having a great deal of added dimension. The art has a tendency to be quite striking visually, complete with some interesting costumes and moments of the camera becoming a bit distracted. I get the impression this isn’t unusual, but at most I found it a bit amusing. In terms of the combat, while I didn’t find anything to be mechanically wrong with it, everything felt very run-of-the-mill. You position your characters, try to take advantage of the high ground when possible, and carefully manage your health and MP from using skills. In a somewhat interesting move you can opt to have the CPU take control of some or all of your party, I suppose opening the door to you being able to focus on what roles interest you most and leaving something like the buffing and healing to something more automatic in the interests of keeping the pace going. As is often the case with these titles, the time spent in combat tends to be on the long side, but I suppose some interesting battles can take place, especially if you’re not wise in how you manage your characters, their skills and jobs, and their positions on the battlefield. Given the pace of the combat, the length of the many cutscenes, a meaty campaign, expanded additional content, and myriad options for managing your party this is a massive game. That said, the volume is only a positive if it can keep your interest and given the plodding nature of things I can’t see it appealing to everyone. Certainly in the AAA arena something like Kingdom Battle is more fun and engaging, and now on the indie side you’ve got quicker and tighter titles like Into the Breach now closing in from the other side. However, if you’re a bit fan of this style of strategic RPG combat and are into its great art and while not minding its somewhat boilerplate characters and dialogue there’s plenty for you to enjoy.
Justin Nation, Score:Fair [6.5]