In the context of fireworks, this was a bottle rocket packaged within a mortar casing.

User Rating: 6.5 | Shirokishi Monogatari: Inishie no Kodou PS3
Enter a land of magic, a land of mystery, a land of back tracking and misery.

White Knight Chronicles presents itself very well, from the majestic music to the gorgeous cut-scenes, at least within remembering when the game was originally created. Right off the bat there were good vibes and fantastic ideas that called out from this game and its design, sadly they are but echoes in the background of gameplay that can be tiresome at best and downright boring and forgettable at worst with an ending that won't be spoiled but, felt like a kick in the face after all of those hours meandering the maps.

Starting with the story, a mere glance at the very box can give away the cliche, poor boy gets into mischief, said mischief makes him bump into damsel, evil plot winds up coinciding with this meeting perfectly, boy finds superpowers or legendary weapon of some kind and vows to rescue said girl. Its been done a thousand times, but, how this game happens to pull of the events and present them is what really pulls a player into the story. Now, baring that ending I wont spoil, storyline wise this achieves the game some high marks. Sadly this is where the well runs dry, though some of a game's faults can be overlooked with an engaging story, circa American Mcgee's Alice, a game in this day and age cannot use that as a single crutch to hold it together as being memorable. The character voices and cut-scenes are totally enjoyable and very connecting, which 'almost' immerse one into the game, almost.

Here is where the grit of the game is truly felt, the gameplay. Though there are a few wonderful ideas, they are totally and utterly overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and a learning curve that is like a shallow pond one can fall into. It can be understood that the creators were going to have a hurdle to jump bringing in massive monsters and the Knight system in, since becoming a knight pretty much makes all creatures weak and helpless that would normally pose a threat to your party *who, by the way, cannot also turn into knights for the most part* It just would have been a much more polished piece of work if the combat system remained in a playtest stage for a bit longer than it was. One can quite literally walk through the game with the basic slash attack and beat it, this is not a joke. As for the dungeon's, I will make this short. They are beautiful, long, arduous backtracking fiasco's that had quite a bit of polish put into them for "wow" factor and much less thought put into them for player enjoyment. I am all about exploring, but for the sake of a player's sanity... backtracking puzzles that require HOURS of walking the same local's is not enjoyable, save for the most "hardcore" fan.

The other unique system that was born into the RPG genre through this game was the online play and the clan system. Though very unique and a good way to grind for items, that "in my opinion" its pretty much all it is about. Getting together for a MMO feeling experience to grind monsters away for items. Though it would be wonderful to see this system expanded upon, with such a slim player base it is lost in an almost "abandoned western town" feeling. I imagine tumbleweed rolling by my small village as nobody but generated characters wander aimlessly through the roads going about their scripted existence.

As a final note, the controls are pretty nice and tight fitting, the camera was wasn't a bother, save for the huge monster fights when you were out of Knight juice, and the music was genuinely enjoyable.

To close, this is a game that can draw many a starved RPG player in with enticing visuals and the chance to "mech up" into a knight armor but sadly they will be all too disappointed by its repetitive gameplay, arduous dungeon backtracking puzzles, and a closing cutscene that begged players to anticipate a sequel, sadly this gamer will not be picking said sequel up unless it is lightning in a bottle.