6 replies to this topic

[dave4shmups]

I LOVE Level-5 but the ratings for this game from both IGN and Game Spot have been really low, so I'd like to know if anyone on here has played it yet-and if so, what are your impressions?

[moycon]

This title looked very interesting to me. I also am interested in hearing some input from AA members.

[Lord Thag]

I had it, and then promptly got rid of it.

It's basically like this. It's big, has a lot of online content too, and the combat is fun in a WoW-ish kind of way (turn based but quick). So if you like your RPGs with good, deep combat and leveling up systems, you might like it....

Unless you need an actual plot to go along with the thing.

I am not kidding when I say that this game's 'story' is pretty much EVERY stupid stereotype and cliche since the dawn of time. Silent character? Check. 16 year old super-positive orphan main character with secret ancestry? Check. Double-D sized, lingire wearing best friend with tough-girl attitude? Check. Helpless princess that main chracter falls for? Check. Bad guy troup of circus freaks led by guy-in-black-armor who turns out to be your standard metrosexual japanese Sephiroth guy? Check. Main character's town gets raised to ground in first chapter? Check.....

I could go on.

If you like RPGs for the game system alone, this might be worth your time. Otherwise, the plot is dumber than a box of hair.

[dave4shmups]

Lord Thag, on Sat Feb 27, 2010 11:29 AM, said:

I had it, and then promptly got rid of it.

It's basically like this. It's big, has a lot of online content too, and the combat is fun in a WoW-ish kind of way (turn based but quick). So if you like your RPGs with good, deep combat and leveling up systems, you might like it....

Unless you need an actual plot to go along with the thing.

I am not kidding when I say that this game's 'story' is pretty much EVERY stupid stereotype and cliche since the dawn of time. Silent character? Check. 16 year old super-positive orphan main character with secret ancestry? Check. Double-D sized, lingire wearing best friend with tough-girl attitude? Check. Helpless princess that main chracter falls for? Check. Bad guy troup of circus freaks led by guy-in-black-armor who turns out to be your standard metrosexual japanese Sephiroth guy? Check. Main character's town gets raised to ground in first chapter? Check.....

I could go on.

If you like RPGs for the game system alone, this might be worth your time. Otherwise, the plot is dumber than a box of hair.

Well, IMO, most RPG plots are pretty dumb and include the elements that you mentioned. I mean, in terms of storyline, the RPG has got to be the most cliched genre of game. Unless an RPG includes a lot of robots, or other non-human characters, then it's bound to have a dumb story. I thought Dragon Quest VIII had a fairly good one, but it was still ridiculous.

[Tempest]

Lord Thag, on Sat Feb 27, 2010 11:29 AM, said:

I am not kidding when I say that this game's 'story' is pretty much EVERY stupid stereotype and cliche since the dawn of time. Silent character? Check. 16 year old super-positive orphan main character with secret ancestry? Check. Double-D sized, lingire wearing best friend with tough-girl attitude? Check. Helpless princess that main chracter falls for? Check. Bad guy troup of circus freaks led by guy-in-black-armor who turns out to be your standard metrosexual japanese Sephiroth guy? Check. Main character's town gets raised to ground in first chapter? Check.....

Yep, you took the words right out of my mouth. The cliche's in the plot were pretty bad, but the actual story started getting good towards the end (although it did have the FF VIII syndrome). Too bad they stopped the game about half way! Not only were several plot points not wrapped up, but they set the stage for a sequel that may or may not happen. I wouldn't be so pissed if the game had been longer, but I beat it in less than 20 hours. It's like they sold you half the game.

The combat interface seemed a bit clunky to me, and your party's AI is terrible. I got killed several times by charging into a swarm of monsters only to realize that the rest of my party was stuck behind a door that they couldn't figure out how to open. The various skills you could learn were generally useless, they all did about the same damage but just looked different. Waiting for your action circle to fill up was painful, it made the combat go sooo slowly, especially against the bigger monsters.

All in all it played and looked a lot like FF XI, but without the fun. I'd give it a solid B-.

Tempest

[moycon]

Tempest, on Mon Mar 1, 2010 6:03 PM, said:

All in all it played and looked a lot like FF XI, but without the fun. I'd give it a solid B-.

B- isn't a bad score. I'll probably check this out when it drops in price a bit.

[Tempest]

moycon, on Tue Mar 2, 2010 1:10 PM, said:

Tempest, on Mon Mar 1, 2010 6:03 PM, said:

All in all it played and looked a lot like FF XI, but without the fun. I'd give it a solid B-.

B- isn't a bad score. I'll probably check this out when it drops in price a bit.

Yeah I'd wait. It's not worth the $60 they're charging for it. More like $40 or even $30.

Tempest