White Knight Chronicles 2 Review (PS3)

A hard day’s Knight…

White Knight Chronicles was a Japanese style RPG , in the mould of Final Fantasy, that was released last year, if memory serves correctly. I must admit, even though I’m partial to some JRPG action, WKC was a game that passed me by. Not that I wasn’t interested in it, oh no! If truth be told, I was actually looking forward to it, seeing as it was a PS3 exclusive, and developed by Level 5 (Dark Cloud, Dragon Quest 8 & the wonderful Rogue Galaxy). But after a few lukewarm reviews, and a few big name titles released at the same time, as I said it passed me by.

So, when I got sent a review copy of White Knight Chronicles 2, I was rather apprehensive, again I wanted this game to be special, and keep me busy over the next few months. The first thing that surprised me about this game is the fact that they have bundled the original WKC along with its sequel. Talk about value for money. In a climate where money is tight, and so many big name titles only give you 8 hours of single player action, the option of an extra 20 hours of action without a massive download has to be commended.

When you load up WKC2, you are given 3 options. Start at level zero, and the beginning of the story, and play the (now tarted up version) of WKC. If you already had the first game, you can use your saved game an continue the adventure with your pimped up character from the first game. Your final option is to go straight into WKC2 as a level 45 character. I figured I may as well go the whole hog and dive into the adventure from the beginning. After choosing my own character and different look and traits, I found it odd that once I had got my party to around level 10, I finally got to see the Incorruptus. This is the Knight from the title, and plays like a cross between The Guyver (from the Manga stories), and the Final Fantasy summons…but it’s not your own created character that gets to transform. Nope, instead it’s the main character called Leonard. So why you bother creating a character just to become a spectator is beyond me. I could have sworn RPG stood for Role Playing Game!

Level 5 need to up their game if they plan another sequel

I will admit I did not play the first game till the end. I figured it best to grind through till about level 20, then start WKC2 as a level 45 player, so I could now enjoy this sequel after checking out the original. Things have not improved much I’m afraid. The story is still uninspiring , the localised voice acting seems average and there are only slight improvements in the mechanics of the game. It is basically an average JRPG, with desires on the MMO genre, letting you quest online with friends (4 for the original, and up to 6 friends in it’s sequel), if you can persuade any of them to purchase this game, which is doubtful. There is no sparkle, and I could just not get excited about the characters’ and their plight, which is a great shame, as I loved Level 5`s Rogue Galaxy on PS2, but maybe we have been spoilt with recent Final Fantasy games, and was expecting something special.

One redeeming feature is the Georama system, that allows you to create your own Town and upload it to the level 5 servers. This can also form a kind of online lobby or hub. Once created, you can place it in whatever location you like, be it dessert or plains, and can be populated with NPC’s from the story mode. Each of these characters have specific jobs, so each town you create will have a different feel, dependant on the NPC’s you choose to fill it. You can have about a dozen online friends explore your created town, which does help keep things a little fresh.

White Knight Chronicles 2 is not a bad game, it’s just not an awesome game. It’s a linear JRPG from a bygone age, when we were happy to accept rubbish graphics and little plot, added to hours of grinding. I am sure there are still a great number of JRPG hardcore fans out there that are already enjoying this game, and may think I’m being a tad harsh on it, but you have to be cruel to be kind. Level 5 need to up their game if they plan another sequel and simply must try harder I’m afraid. Ah well, let’s hope Final Fantasy XXIII-2 will fare better when it comes out after Christmas.