Post by Bytor on Jul 7, 2009 13:06:13 GMT -5
-Visuals- 7.8/10
This a case of the haves and have not's. At times the background's look really, really nice, then you walk around the corner and blam, the have not's, it's almost like Konami had two different teams working on the game, parts look excellent and parts are not even up to typical PS2 standards. The character development is also a similar case, although more of the have not's than the haves, while at time's the characters look pretty good over all they look poorly designed and rendered even worse. The look could have, and at times almost does, have added so much to the feel of the game, it doesn't take great graphics to make the game great (SMT games are perfect examples of this fact) but the graphics at least must help the feel and ambiance of the game.
-Sound- 9/10
The sound effects are remarkable and the voice acting isn't far behind. Where the backgrounds failed to add to the ambiance the sound not only passes but succeeds in a great way, it's too bad not everything is up to the same standard as this aspect of the game
-Gameplay- 8.2/10
OK...this is not, let me repeat, not a typical action adventure game even though it does reside in that genre more so than any other. The vast majority of your time is spent solving mysteries based on other characters explaining (or not explaining) what is going on and where you need to explore next. For some the game may be a tad slow and boring, and I admit it does take a hour or so to somewhat understand what is going on, but once you do it's a very enjoyable romp, albeit a short one.
-Story- 9/10
You are going back in time to solve your own murder, saying anything more would ruin the game.
-Overall- 8.2/10
This game is not for everyone. If you like non-stop action, you'll hate it, if you like complex areas to explore and worlds to discover while battling countless monsters and powerful entities, you'll hate it. But, if you have 6 hours or so to spend on a really good murder mystery you'll thoroughly love this game.