Change "Traditional" to "Tired and Used", and you'll understand what kind of RPG this is.

User Rating: 5 | Brave Story: Aratanaru Tabibito PSP
When I first heard of Brave Story: New Traveler, I was expecting something fun and entertaining for the PSP, an RPG that was ORIGINAL! Luckily I soon found it used but in great condition and took it for a spin. Everything started off a little awkward, expecting starved PSP owners to buy into a typical shonen manga plot to carry us an entire game, but it seems SO generic that maybe it's all a trap, right? Maybe the characters will be deeper than 2D cutouts from any JRPG promo poster, right? Turn based battles too? Maybe we'll be offered some very deep character customization and development, Right???

Unfortunately, the answers to all of these is a resounding no. The story is mind numbingly generic, failing to ever capture your heart or attention, and the same can be said of the characters as well, whom never seem more deep and interesting than a ham sandwich (and HEY! It's based on a shonen manga). The battles are a deadly combination of being both simple and easy, coupled with the standard grinding of any RPG and the game just about kills itself. The art style may as well be nonexistent, as everyone you encounter looks like they're making a cameo from one of a thousand other games you never cared for, and the environments are as dull to look at as they are to traverse.

Sadly, the game does seem to have had quite a bit of work put into it. The graphics, though lacking in style, are well more than serviceable and the battle animations are smooth and even charming, like in the case of Yuno's constantly twitching ears. The voice acting is good enough to avoid complaints, and load times are kept to a minimum. The team behind this game could have had a gem, but instead they chucked ingenuity out the window and stuck with what they and everyone around them knew would work and nothing else.

I sincerely wish RPG loving PSP owners would stop lavishing praise on the game and just admit that the system has little to offer in the way of GOOD original RPGs. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play Etrian Odyssey 2 while waiting for Monster Hunter United to launch.