I just picked this up for the PSP. It’s a pretty good tactics RPG with a ridiculously varying, epic storyline; you can change which army you can control in-between each battle and control history as you see fit. There’s at least 3 endings, and a lot more different storyline paths that can lead to each one.
The writing/translation are pretty good, although there’s way too much vague, anime-y foreshadowing early on. The whole “. . .”/“What’s wrong?”/“Nevermind, it’s nothing.” schtick is used too much. There is some legimitate intrigue involved, and directing the whole course of history is kinda cool.
Gameplay doesn’t have to involve much powerleveling, and features a unique method for doing so if you feel the need. It features a somewhat Legend of Mana-esque item creation system, and a system within battles for chaining attacks together to make combos with one or multiple characters, which is a cool feature. The gameplay balance is good, although sort of weird (you’ll be controlling a guy and he’ll have 1,000 HP, then you’ll be fighting him and he’ll have 2,500 to keep the game balanced, then be back to 1,000 when you control him next) thanks to the army switch ability. The game makes you figure out a lot of things, from class changes to weapon building, mostly to entirely on your own, which adds challenge but can be frustrating.
Does that mean that the army switch can be used indefinitely to wage war against yourself, spoiling the land you try to conquer? Cause this is a concept I can get behind.
Yeah, sorta. I mean, the tactics aren’t all that deep, but you can do a really terrible job with one army and make the others armies lives easier.
Heh, I must have done that in a game when I was younger. Would do it again.