Sound really depends on your settings. Most of the sound focuses on the voice acting, as that is most the story, discussions. The English dub was pretty bad. I give props that the voice actors did a good job, and at some points they do falter where they their emotion does not fit the scene, overall they carried out a good job portraying their characters. From the gleeful trigger happy golem hunter Yuki, to the stereotypical flamboyant Makoto. (That’s right he has a queer eye for every guy, and a strong sense of fashion). However the English dubbing was poorly applied, so the voices do not often match the lips. And then there are many points where there is no English dub, the lips move, and the sub titles continue, but there is no verbal conversation. The music is okay, but you have the same animation sounds whenever you encounter a random battle. And as there are 1000’s of battles this is really repetitive. Fortunately each location has its own tune, and beat depending on the environment you are in. I’ll never forget the end when you are approaching the castle of the Queen of Ice, the fairy hum, and sounds of shooting stars, makes the location put you at ease as you feel as though you are actually approaching Cinderella’s castle at Disney Land, and this is where all magic comes from.
Game play is amazing. As a fan of TBS’s this is one title I felt helped expand on an otherwise familiar genre. Gamers will trek through miles of vast environments; from secret underground sewers to garden oasis atop lavish mountains. In this course you’ll be pulled into random battles, enemies will of course vary by locations, and battles take place on a grid system. Set up similar to Chess, you will have your characters on one side, and the enemies on the other, with a line in the center of the grid that neither may cross over. Each player has an array of attacks; that vary in effect. Not just power but range as well, and what squares on the other side will be hit by the attack. Used in combination with team attack, or support abilities, the attack combinations are endless. Overall this helps keep the game play fresh and from becoming too repetitive. Now while the random battles may seem tedious over time, they are inevitably essential. You’ll want to keep boosting your parameters to the extreme, and level up frequently to increase the effect of your powers. Random battles can be won easily, but the boss battles are another war entirely. The rare adaptations of an online battle mode, is also quite interesting for this game. Gather your party, and then challenge others players like yourself online in more Golem Battles.
"Would you like to think about this before I woop you"
The replay value is rather low for this game, but circumstantial to any end. There are a few side missions, mainly exploring the “Temples, and Shrine”. However they are not part of the main plotline and may be skipped over without losing out on plot or achievements. One advantage to exploring these ruins is obtaining some of the most powerful Golems in the game for your own personal use. And they add hours of extended game play. Now maybe you do these missions on your first time through. Or you can come back and do them later, after completing the game. The only thing you must be careful of on this last note is once you complete the game you cannot come back to these locations. So you want to load up or reserve a game save before the final battle(s) at the games end. Or if you want to make it your goal to acquire all Golems and Skills, or max out your stats.
Again, the online battle mode helps introduce replay value to a genre that usually does not have much. I mean honestly, after beating a 60 hours game how often do you replay them to complete the same task? Anyways, the online mode does help add replay value. But like the shrines and temples, there are no achievements for this either. So few people are actually active online, limiting the replay value feature further. That and most gamers tend to (of course) use the most powerful characters, or simply “Omega”. And then the battle just becomes a matter of “he who strikes first, inevitably wins”.
"Yup, you’ve really pissed it off now."
Overall, the game was hours well spent. I loved all the unique Golems, and attacks. The Grid combat system was original and helped revamped such a common genre. The story was amazing, with a cast of original and sometimes annoying characters. The dialogue was very casual at times, and tended to discuss real-life matters, rather than focuses so much on their fictional journey at hand. Which helped make the story seem more…real, while remaining purely fantasy. A nice shot at replay value as well proved the developers where making a strong effort on the game, and showed that such titles have more potential than what most developers actually apply in the end. It’s one game I’m glad I played, and enjoyed every minute of it.
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