An all around great game hindered by a complete focus on one aspect, battles.
GAMEPLAY ~
I did enjoy this game, mainly because I am a huge fan of the "Tales of..." series.
+Positives+
This game runs on the Linear Battle system. Which means, instead of your basic turn-based battles like The original FF series, you get the all out action of the "Tales of..." combat. It's one man (or woman ) against a group of enemies (1 to maximum 4) and at your side is a bevy of weapons, well, 6 different types an about hundred sub-types you can create! But I'll get more into that in replayability. The battle controls are "A" to swing, and "B" to block. There is also a perfect guard so to say if timed correctly. Pressing forward twice or back twice allows you to run and the Up button lets you jump whilst down... lets you strike down. Out of battle, the "B" button lets you run and the "A" button is for talking. This is really the most redeemable factor in the game, battles were fun to get in there an just brawl! An the bosses in the game really implored you to use some intelligence to battle against. That is the difference between the Tales series an this, it's basically you and your summon beast against the world!
-Negatives-
But in there lies the fault. The game was built around the battles, an for this, everything else gets hurt... There is a limited number of enemies for the first 4 hours that you will repetitively vanquish as fast as they come. An after awhile your combat skills will be jumping, running and constantly slashing. An since your basic weapon is a sword, it's the all around best type in the game. The axe is slow, the spear is long range an hits multiple targets but you can't jump-strike, the knuckles are fast but severely short ranged an finally the drill, which is only to be used by those looking for a challenge, they take alot to get us to.
The main dungeon "The Labyrinth" is so repetitive, and it isn't even that long! You'll breeze right through the initial 50 floors! After awhile you'll be asking yourself... will I ever see daylight? Well, there are other areas to explore, but those don't come till later, and with a lack of any puzzles what-so-ever (besides a game of "hide-an-seek" in central tower three) this game has nothing to offer but a wonderful battle system and a few swings of your hammer on some forging skills.
STORY ~
Generic. I am not even gonna completely recount it! Lets just say your dad is a Craftlord, he vanishes an now the town you were raised in is holding a tournament to fill your fathers shoes. Along the way you find out more about the true reason behind everything going on.
The story can be changed, an with a certain summon beast it can even be enjoyable and humorous. Just try not to be such a "goody-goody" when answering the commoner’s questions.
GRAPHICS ~
Ah, the graphics... can't really complain much. The battle graphics were just phenomenal! So much room to just battle it out! In battle designs were nice too. The main character (boy or girl) are huge, an their heads are even bigger than one can imagine! Everything flows nicely an there is no slow downs. The enemies are actually cool too, even thought the re-painting gets old real fast, the enemies almost look like claymation! It's really wondrous to behold the battles! An the boss battles with the monsters take up the whole screen! It's truly something to behold!
On the downside, all the other graphics are pretty boring. The town looks cool, like a warped view of an industrial capital, but sadly, it's one of three towns you'll visit, an the other two towns you are in for maybe 2 hours a piece due to storylines. The main dungeon the labyrinth gets repetitive VERY FAST. So fast you'll be wishing for story progression! An I tried originally to play this game on my GBP. No luck, everything looked to warped for me to fully appreciate.
An if you want my opinion on what character to choose, try the girl, she has better walking / running animations as well better battle animations. An she looks cooler too!
SOUND ~
Nothing of this score is worth remembering. For awhile I was humming the battle theme, but that quickly faded once I went through 20 of the same exact battle scenarios. The SFX were nice, with swings an slashes a plenty, but again, it's a GBA product! It's on the move! No need to bother your neighbor with all those blips and blurps!
REPLAAYBILITY ~
Initially, this game shouldn't take you over 12 hours to fully, complete, an that is with leveling and weapon forging. Without leveling the game holds a weak 8 hours of actual story.
Yet there is a bit to do in and after completing the game. In game there is weapon forging! If you wish to undertake this long and rewarding quest of getting ever weapon forged, there is over 100 to make! Than that is up to you! You get enough materials from the labyrinth and once the game is over, you get an additional amount of floors after level 50 to explore, I originally attempted them, but than started a new game with the girl and attempted to summon a different beast. There is 4 different types you can summon, I got two so far, a fairy and a demon the rest is a mystery.
If you are thinking that both the boys an girls game link up to one another or they may have different story-lines completely, think again! They are exactly the same, just with a different gender. There is also a bestiary if you choose to track down every enemy in the game, but it isn't necessary, an by the time you get the bestiary, you'll already be 5 hours in the game... thanks… it really doesn’t help out much, and is basically overlooked!
The one thing I always bump the "replay" score is for a "quick save" option. EVERY RPG NEEDS THIS OPTION! No matter what! An this "quick save" works wonderfully.
OVERALL ~
A quaint little RPG that can be picked up an played at anytime. Why? Because the story is non-existent. So if you like to hack enemies to bits an want to do this on the move for a short amount of time, check out Summon Night! Now, if you want your games to have some depth, look somewhere else.
Sorry!
I wish I could have given this game a higher grade, but it really offers nothing but a well established battle system. That is all.