Surprised that I bought the game, and surprised that I'm enjoying it so much.
How could that be? Well, WKC is just plain fun. It just feels good to play--great to play. I really don't see how the game is forgettable, especially after the White Knight comes into play--it's undeniably awesome, even compared to Final Fantasy summons. And for all the disappointment expressed about the voice overs, I find them to be satisfying. In fact, watching the cutscenes felt more like watching an actual movie to me than it felt like just a game cutscene.
The problem with most critics these days is that they think being disagreeable and harsh is a sign of refinement and intelligence. You could say that the game's story is unoriginal, for example, but how many stories are actually original any more? Maybe it isn't about the originality of the story. It's the execution of the story that matters. It's about how compelled you feel to defeat the villains and set things right, even if the main villain looks just like Sauron.
I can dock the game points for several things, of course. It's a PS3 exclusive that doesn't seem like it takes advantage of the PS3's abilities. Draw distance could be better. Some of the content seems too familiar, like, "Did you really have to recycle the women with cat ears thing? Or the rabbit-people thing?" And couldn't you have done way better with the graphics?
The thing is, WKC very often looks fantastic as a whole, especially when the realistic quality of animation is factored in. And fantasy games all have some commonalities on at least a few levels. The question that mattered was, "Am I having fun? Am I proud to own this game?" And my answer was a resounding yes.
So--about the challenge factor. Many of us are so experienced with gaming that we should know better than to expect games to be ultra-challenging any more. Let's face it: we're just really, really good at playing RPGs. After a while, even Demon's Souls was a piece of cake. Do we really need to receive an unbalanced, unfair arse-whooping in a game to pad our egos any more?
I enjoy WKC not because the enemies make me quaff a thousand potions while barely surviving and spending half an hour chipping away at their hit points (at least not yet, anyway). I enjoy WKC because the execution of the battles is entertaining--creating your own combos is fun, and making strategic decisions about character and party set up is fun. Can I simply transform into an amazing giant robo-knight and rampage against the smaller enemies? Yep. Do I ever get tired of it? Nope.
The music doesn't hurt to listen to either. And the dialogue from friendly NPCs is some of the most interesting and well written dialogue I've seen in an RPG.
In conclusion, I just wanted to give WKC my approval and let any like-minded thinkers know that it's worth playing.