I had heard about this game for the longest time and being a very huge fan of role playing games I had to have it. Unfortunately, for the longest time it did not even look like it would be released here in North America. Not sure why, as it is a very good game and a type of game the WII for the most part was sorely lacking (RPG games). Sure, Final Fantasy had a release that was pretty good and there was a sort of sequel to the Gamecube hit Tales of Symphonia; however, for the most part the choices for games of this type were few and far between. The best one I had played up until this point was a lesser known game called Arc Rise Fantasia which was also very good with its major flaw being a rather bad voice acting job. Here, you actually get the choice of English or Japanese and I had to pick Japanese due to my experience playing Arc. Unfortunately, if you play this one on the 3DS, you only get the English. The game has some unique things going for it and it is incredibly long. I did not think the WII was even capable of a game of this magnitude. I always thought Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers was so short because the WII was limited as far as power, so this game kind of makes the makers of that game look a bit lazy! This one is not without its flaws though as it took me forever to win, for reasons I cannot fathom a strategy guide was never made and there are some areas that are frustrating, but overall this is a very good RPG released for a system not all that known for them.
The story starts out with two colossal titans fighting. One creature is mechanical, the other biological. They both get their blows in and then cease moving. Years later we are thrown into a battle between humans and robots as the two groups via for position in a place called sword valley! Soon we flash a couple of years over and we are introduced to Shulk who is a smart guy who lives at a place called Colony 9. He is studying a blade known as the Monondo blade which was an essential weapon for the humans during their struggle against the Mechonis during the battle of Sword Valley as it was wielded by a man whose sister Shulk has a thing for. It isn't too long before the temporary peace that was brought about by the battle is over and Shulk soon finds himself wielding the mysterious blade and must go on an adventure that goes way beyond anything I can really explain. You will meet many different people that live on the giant creature known as Bionis and of course, there is something looming in shadows that will threaten all. Granted, there are a few twists and turns along the way.
The game play is all right. I would prefer turn based combat, but it does the hybrid action based turn based. The game is kind of annoying in that you cannot really heal using items so later in the game I felt handcuffed to a female character named Sharla as she is the best healer in the game. I had loads of trouble getting through this one due to the fact it takes a while to grasp some of the things you really need to do to get through this one. I never got the skill tree thing until the very end and I also did not understand the affinity coins! Finally figured it out at the last boss and it is what finally gave me the win. The game needed a strategy guide as there are hundreds of side quests to partake in and loads of difficult enemies to fight and the game uses time and day and night so you could use it to locate people in towns too.
Overall this game was very good. I think it could have been great had they tightened up a bit as it took me well over 140 hours to play through this one. I have heard of people not taking nearly as long to get through this and I think I too could have gotten through this one much faster if only they released, you guessed it...a strategy guide! The characters in this one are very likable and I love that you can use the Japanese voices. My fiancé got this game for the 3Ds and she did not have that option and from what I heard the English voices sound very off to me. The game has a ton in it and will encompass your time and if you can find it and do not have it and like RPG's I suggest you get it! It is hard to find for the WII, but not to hard to get on the 3DS. A great game where the vastness was very surprising as I always thought the WII a rather weak system.
