White Knight Chronicles

Platform: PS3 Exclusive
Publisher: Level 5
Release Date: February 2, 2010


Story: Miss
Character Development: Miss
Graphics: Miss
Sound: Miss
Re-playability: Hit
Overall Score: Miss

I want you to know that I went into this game excited. I was hopeful that this would be a game to put beside the next gen RPGs. No matter how hard I tried to resist it, the first hour of game play found me heckling the story like a robot from Mystery Science Theater. When the pace really picked up, I laughed as Leonard jumped into the cockpit of Megazord to fight off Lord Zedd. In case you were getting your hopes up, it's not REALLY Megazord, its Incoruptus (The White Knight). They are not actually power rangers, they are as colorfully created. So if you thought the story of Tommy switching from the green to the white ranger was absolutely riveting, this game was made for you. For the rest of you that have an IQ that is greater than 80 do not play this game for the story…

White Knight Chronicles is not a "next gen" RPG, regardless of what anyone says. After playing this game for some time, it was evident that this was nothing above mediocre in most facets.
I started a new game up and was encouraged by the many design options. Think the Sims without clothing options. I made my character with the false conception that he was actually going to be a character. I spent time thinking about how I wanted him to be. After playing Mass Effect 2, I was prepared for making a Renegade-like spell caster. I was terribly mistaken. My guy didn’t do anything but stand around staring at the main characters making creepy faces as they had childish dialogs about saving the princess from the dark prince (yea… I know…). Not only did he stand back there watching, but he made this awkward facial expression that I had designated him to make from time to time. It is a really uncomfortable experience. You would think that the lack of character development put into your avatar would be replaced with copious development in the other characters, but the characters are dry and seemingly hollow. Upon entering the game I watched a queer little cut scene that seemed to go forever, but realistically lasted around ten minutes. The voice acting was terrible, and the mouths move with classic Godzilla syndrome synchronization. After the game quality that we have seen recently this game falls far below PS3 exclusive expectations.

To give credit where credit is due, there are a couple things worth noting. The online play was decent. It felt a little like Guild Wars Jr. The gimmicky rewards that are supposed to encourage you to continue playing online probably won't satisfy most social gamers, but it will intrigue them for a time. I won’t lie though, it was fun, but nothing that I see many people giving this game more than a single run through even with the online option.


Another decent piece of work by Level 5 put in this game was the system in which you decide your character’s class. There are different parent skill trees that are accessible by every character (swords, great swords, elemental magic, divine magic, etc...) and you use points that you receive after leveling up to purchase skills (slash, fireball, heal, etc...) you set these skills up in an interface that resembles a Final Fantasy XII meets Kingdom Hearts user interface.
Sadly The UI is not the only thing borrowed from Square Enix, the entire story itself feels like the concept work stolen from Square Enix's trash can. From the shady performance troop giving a show at the princess' birthday with intentions to kidnap her (FFIX), to fleeing the scene of an assaulted castle through the sewers (FFXII). Even the way that you take charge of Incorruptus (the White Knight) is a pilfering of acquiring new Summons in FFX. If this game had an original story, with creative twists and attractive characters, it would be a top pick for me amongst RPGs that are currently available. It is upsetting that many people have waited such a long time for this game. With FFXIII just around the corner, I will not be surprised if this game slowly disappears into the depths of obscure bargain bins in towns with names like “Podunk”. This game really brings nothing new to the RPG table. I really mean that… Keep playing Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Origins if you like RPGs. If you have finished all the great games that are available right now, rent it, play it, then punish yourself for wasting $5.