An RPG requiring twitch-reflexes.
The combat is almost exactly like the first game. You chose an action command and a disc appears on the screen. The disc is called the fate wheel. A red line will start to circle the disc and there are tan and red wedges on the disc. You press the 'X' button to stop the arm on the brown for a standard hit, and the red for a great hit. Most characters have two or more places where it can stop, so the more places you stop the arm successfully, the more damage you do. If you miss the stop, you miss the hit. The same concept also applies to magic and item use as well. The disc just modifies a bit for each person and the action you want to perform. This can be a bit frustrating at time because you want to try for the great hits as often as possible to do the most damage, cast the most powerful spell, or receive the most HP from a healing item and if you miss stopping the arm, you flat-out miss and get nothing. You do have the option to have the computer do all of the actions for you, but you do less damage or receive less HP from items or spells. Plus, it takes away a lot of the entertainment of the game. Also, if you are the type with twitch reflexes, you can make the disc harder, to do even more damage, but the areas to hit are a lot smaller.
Battles are random and are not a frequent as other titles. There are three statistics to gain from battles: experience, money and souls. The first two are common in all RPG’s, but the souls are unique to this game. The player applies those souls to either unlocking fusions for the main character, Yuri, or leveling up fusions. Fusions are a morphing skill for Yuri. They actually allow him to change into a type of monster the gives him boosts to his statistics and it is the only way he can cast spells. Later in the game you will meet another character with this ability as well.
The game has a lot of playable characters, more than most RPG’s. You will gain new playable characters until you have completed three-fourths of the game. There are a total of eight characters and none of them are hidden. Some are better fighters, some are better spell-casters, and a couple is a good blend at both. You will pick your favorite team of four and mainly play with those four members. The plus is that all members gain experience even if they are not in your main team, but I think they get slightly less points. I cannot say this for certain, but I have noticed that the members I do not play as often are a few levels lower than my common team. A neat little perk is that you can preset three teams of four and you can switch those teams whenever you are on the field.
Overall, the game mechanics and characters are pretty interesting and make the game worth playing, but the story is a little thin. I am used to a set goal to achieve in an RPG. There may be a couple of plot twists, but the underlying plot is pretty much the same. It usually involves saving the world in one way or the other. This game is a little strange because it is set up more like a serial. You defeat one major villain and the game storyline could end there, but a new one picks up from there. By the end of the game, the plot has almost nothing to do with the plot that began the game. I am not saying that the story is uninteresting, just a little weak.
Overall, it is a fun RPG. People who want a little more action to the game play will like the mechanics, but if you are an old school RPG fan, you will not like the triggered button hits that are needed to truly enjoy the game. The best part is that there is a third title hitting the shelves in March 2006, which you can get a copy of this title for as little as $20.