White Knight Chronicles- February 2, 2010

[dloiscute]

I think WKC is in limited release- similar to Valkyria (in the early stages). Normal stores like Target, Kmart and BigW don't seem to stock it at my local stores.

If there is anytime to pick it up Cyph... Now's the time.
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☑Tekken

[ANDYBALLINA]

I'm hoping this hits platinum price soon or is cheap in the Mid Year sale at EB, cause it looks good. But I'm not paying full RRP for it.
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PSN: ANDYBALLINA1

[admeister]

Have you got any games you can trade in Andy? That's what I did to get the price down. I doubt the game will reach Platinum any time soon (if at all) and you don't want to miss this.

Cyph: I've been playing heaps, but dlo has been fairly busy so we haven't met up again. We've been keeping in touch though, and we might get to do some questing later tonight.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[ANDYBALLINA]

[klee123]

[Cyph]

I cracked and picked this up this afternoon at GAME Perth CBD; last one in stock (although their stock was only 2 or 3 copies). Here's hoping for the best, as I'm yet to play it

[admeister]

Nice one, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I just finished the story mode now, good stuff.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[admeister]

Due to the recent bug I've lost my guild rank 4 trophy... The game still says that I'm at guild rank 4, but I don't have it. I tried completing a quest to see if it helped, but nothing happened. Any ideas?
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[dloiscute]

That sucks man. Props on the guild rank 4 though. I'm keen for coop next time your on.

What level were you when you finished the main story? I just recently got to the Buncarlo Mines. I'm assuming I'm more than halfway?
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☑Tekken

[admeister]

I was at level 33 (still am). You're getting pretty close to the end now, but you've still got a couple of hours to go.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[Cyph]

So... I might be walking into a grilling here, but here goes. White Knight Chronicles does nothing for me.

First, the things I like, or didn't mind;
The graphics are generally nice, but sometimes they look surprisingly 'PS2-ish'. Obviously this is because the game is rather old (it was released originally in 2008).
That said, the game, its menu system and general presentation is aesthetically pleasing.
Sound wise the game does nothing wrong, however, music tends to be of the usual JRPG fanfare, which I've long grown tired of.
Character creation and development is actually quite well planned. Firstly, the character creation is rather robust and you can easily create a nice looking model without much effort (unlike Demons Souls monstrosities). Regarding character development, as you level you obtain skill points, which are used to assign to separate abilities. These abilities are broken into categories, for example, sword skills, long sword skills, divine magic and so forth. Thus, you can work within the system to develop a character to suit your tastes, such as an axe wielding elementalist.
The game itself plays like a mix between an MMO and a real time RPG. Battles tend to be quick and streamlined (as enemies appear on the stage and are not random encounters) and the party AI seems to do tow the party line without any issue. There are also resource nodes around the field that can be harvested for upgrades and the sort, just like an MMO.

Now the things that didn't work well for me;
The combat system, in my opinion is flawed. Enemies have no concept nor range restriction; they can perform short ranged attacks from the other side of the battlefield. Thus, you'll likely not be using range tactics in battle. That by itself was a big letdown.
I've already mentioned the MMO play style of the game as a positive, however, after a while I felt that this mechanic combined with the battle system became quite drawn out and boring. Battle moves (attacks, spells, item use, etc) can only be performed once your character is ready, so a lot of the time is spent simply waiting. Furthermore, while you can create customised combos based on learnt skills, but usually you can just sit there and perform regular attacks and easily win battles. Rarely did I need to put my thought into what I was actually doing. Ultimately, I feel the game would've been more suited to a traditional styled turn based mechanic rather than a real time/turn based amalgamation. It's not broken in its current state, just rather boring.
Also, the menu system for the combat can be rather cluttered and fidgety, however, I feel this is more because I'm generally a PC gamer; it's not that different from any other console RPG.
The voiceovers aren't lip synced, which in itself isn't that much of a big deal, it just breaks immersion.
And lastly, from what I found, the story was rather forgettable. Which is a shame, I'm still waiting to relive childhood experiences of playing something as captivating as Chrono Trigger.

I see why some people like it but for me, it just didn't hit the spot. That said, I'm looking forward to what they can do with the sequel, there is definitely room for growth and improvement. Meanwhile, I'll be taking up GAME's 7 day return policy and pre-ordering FF and Yakuza 3 instead.

[Reepa]

gay....
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Got any MK1 Cortina parts??? email or pm me....

[Cyph]

Comeon Reepa, I'm sure you can contribute more than that!

[admeister]

Cyph: If you've ever played a game with an ATB system, then you'll know that waiting for your turn is nothing new in JRPGs. I admit that the battle pacing is probably a fraction slower than it should be, but it really didn't bother me. Maybe I'm just the patient type. I'm sad to hear you're returning the game though, I guess you have no interest in the online side of the game... If I enjoy a game then I keep it. Obviously you enjoyed the game enough to finish it, it seems a shame. To each his own I guess.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[mikezilla2]

so whats the verdict , is the print as limited as VC ? is there any bonus for it worth hunting down ?
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[dloiscute]

@ Cyph

Sorry to hear you didn't like very much. I respect your thoughts though. I've played a lot of jrpgs this gen and surprisingly I found WKC to be defiantly one of the better ones. There is so much more to do online that it is almost like a second game.

@ Mikezilla

Yeah by the looks of things it is in limited release, but I haven't seen any bonuses or anything that come with it sadly.
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☑Tekken

[Cyph]

[admeister]

Well, I think you can't say that a story is forgettable unless you've seen all of it.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[Cyph]

Well, no, I haven't seen all of it. The point of that comment was that I didn't find it compelling enough to make me want to see all of it (combined with the other things that turned me off the game).

[TamTam79]

I agree in part with cyph, I don't think there is anything particularly "special" about WKC. At least so far.

There doesn't really have to be though, does there? I like it and am finding I like it more and more as I get into it. The story is developing and it's not too bad.

I think the real charm of this will be if I can get into the MP elements. I need some WKC friends I think. Most of the guys on my friendslist are playing MAG or sporting games at the moment.
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[Cyph]

Admittedly I haven't played enough of the game to comment on the multiplayer component; it may be good, but it's not my thing.

[klee123]

It's definitely not for everyone and I do feel that the combat system was suited to multiplayer more than anything. It's one of the things I hope Level 5 improves on for the single player mode in White Knight 2.

Right now I'm nearly finished with NG+ and I've basically saved at the final save point before the final boss. From now on I'll just be playing multiplayer only. Still just as addictive as ever.
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[dloiscute]

I know it's been said before.... but this game would be an absolute nightmare for trophy whores.

I just completed the dandelions puzzle part which (I think) is very, very close to the end (admeister feel free to correct me), and I have only unlocked 4 bronze trophies haha. I'm 20 hours in, so technically that's a bronze every 5 hours.
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☑Tekken

[mikezilla2]

[klee123]