Post by Bytor on Nov 4, 2010 21:45:34 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.2/10
OK, now this might be a tad high to some, however, I have my reasoning. The game itself does not, at first appearance, look next-gen. However, as you look closer you will realize that the art style is rendered beautifully and over all wonderfully. The entire world is basically comic book style with the color palettes being based in pastels and soft colors. The game will not blow you away with unreal graphics, it also won't have slow down and pixelating issues, lol, but what it will do is remind you that a game can be awesome looking without so much attention to detail that it sometimes takes away from gameplay due to rendering/loading issues. Simply a beautiful game overall.
-Sound- 9.7/10
The voice overs are wonderfully acted out,. I especially enjoyed the Japanese voice overs, the emotions were wonderfully displayed and the attention to detail in the vocals was obvious. The background sounds were enjoyable as well and certainly added to the feel of the game. Once again a great job of not being over the top and yet still fitting the look and feel of the game in a great and unique way.
-Gameplay- 9.8/10
To my knowledge there is no other game like this, and if there is I doubt it succeeds in fusing the various elements of gameplay together as well. This game is basically a RPG which turns into a RTT which then turns into a TPS! Basically you have a map and you have to deploy your various troops (scouts, shocktroopers, engineers, lancers, and snipers) based on terrain, various individual strengths/weakness and location of objectives and enemy forces. What makes this aspect interesting is that each, and I mean EACH, of your troops has various strengths and weakness on top of their normal attributes, for instance one of your scouts may be allergic to pollen, so no way you use that unit in a meadow/forest type engagement, and trust me , it does matter! Once the units are deployed the real battle begins. This is where the game turns into a true third person shooter and if your deployment was wrong and/or you move some units into a bad position it can be mission over pretty quick! Have everything set up right and make some right movements and the challenges are not only fun but very hard and yet very enjoyable. The shooting and aiming is challenging and yet fun, the various actions which can be used are also varied and fun to use (these are learned based on experience in battle) and the customization of weapons is easy and straightforward. SEGA simply got it all right here, by far one of the best games I've ever seen designed in it's gameplay elements.
-Story- 9.6/10
The events take place in Europa (a fictionalized and alternate universe type of Europe) shortly after The First Europan War. You control a group of militia who are trying to save their neutral country, Gallia, from being overtaken by The Empire and made a vassal state, due in large part to their supply of "Ragnite" which runs most machinery. The story evolves into the ages old Valkyrians/Darcsen battles, as with the gameplay this is a strong point of the game. Great storyline and great voice acting will make you care greatly about the game, and I'm not going to spoil anything but let's just say character development will leave you at times going WOW!
-Overall- 9.7/10
Simply the BEST game most people have never heard of. I logged a tad over 81 hours on it and I wish there were more. C'mon, SEGA, release II and III (due out 01-11 in Japan) for the PS3, don't make me buy a PSP!