Markus1395

Certainly my preferred way to experience this game; It combines the classic graphics and music with new, very fun post-game content that essentially just makes this version the original with bonuses. I've played the SNES version, the PS1 version, this, and the DS version, and this is by far my favorite.

This game is... alright. I just never got the sense of freedom and choice that the reviewers raved about; there are many choices you can make, sure, but you're never really "free". Everything is written, and that's honestly the feeling I got from it. Warren Spector (the lead on Deus Ex) once talked about how he could watch people play his game and come up to solutions to problems that he'd never thought about- that's the definition **** driven game to me. The Stanley Parable tries to pull this off, but ultimately, it's just leading you down a path, no matter what. The Stanley Parable is more just the ILLUSION of choice wrapped in a well-written, humorous narrative. It's nothing like it tries to make itself seem, and it suffers greatly for it.

I honestly don't feel like giving a huge review tonight, but let me just say that I firmly believe this is the greatest game of all time. From the masterfully crafted story (holy s**t, a Final Fantasy story that makes SENSE?) to the beautiful sprites, to the impeccable job system, to the amazing characters (some call them "boring", I say they are very realistic. I named my dog Agrias after one of the characters, for f***s sake), to the punishing but fair difficulty (that can be decimated with psychotic levels of grinding- and I love it)- everything comes together to make this my most beloved game. I'm confident enough to say that it'll never be topped, either. I've played uncountable amounts of Tactical RPGs, and I think only 3 are really worth extended playtime- and this one is on the top of the heap. Also, don't listen to the guy above me, he apparently can't play TRPGs worth a s**t if he's having THAT much trouble.

This game right here is why I could never be a professional game reviewer. Is the game flawed? Yes. Is it inferior in a lot of ways to most other games in the same genre? Certainly. But I can't help but giving it a 10 and calling it one of my favorite games of all time. The secret is in the combat- some of the smoothest in any video game, difficult in the way that makes you want to overcome insane odds, and unique skills for each of the very useful classes that makes this one of them most just plain fun games I have ever played. I've new game+'d it 3 times now and it remains to be insanely fun. So no, it's not as big as an Elder Scrolls game, It's not as optimized as most RPGs are these days, it doesn't have the story or characters of Dragon Age, and I can understand why some people wouldn't like it. But I wouldn't change a thing.

At the core of every Hack and Slash game, one thing in particular needs to work well for the game to be fun- The actual hacking and slashing. This, unfortunately, is something this game fails to deliver on. Both the combat and animations are so rigid and stilted that I felt like I was trying to control a wooden puppet instead of a human, and it made for an entirely frustrating and un-fun experience. When you screw up that badly on the core mechanic of the game, how bad do you think the rest of it is? Spoiler: It's bad. From the exceedingly boring story to the (extremely limited) 4 characters that all had, honestly, pretty poor class archetypes, to the terribly limited equipment system, this game just gets everything wrong. Even the dialogue sections don't work well, as it tries for a Mass Effect- style system and ends up being shallow, and the close-ups on the characters reveal just how "off" the face models look. If you're thinking about buying this game, even just for some couch co-op; don't. Do yourself a favor and go out and find a copy of Champions of Norrath for the PS2. It's hard to believe that a PS2 game can both look and play miles better than A mid-gen 360/ PS3 title, but it does. So don't waste your time on this sorry excuse for a hack'n'slash, if you really want a console hack'n'slash, there's multiple superior options. Champions of Norrath and its sequel, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance and its sequel, Diablo 3... Even Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes is better than this game. Don't waste your money.