White Knight Chronicles Review

This brings me to the online play portion of the game. The online setup, as previously mentioned, is very much like Monster Hunter. There is a guild you receive your quests from and each quest has a difficulty ranking that you must work towards in order to take on harder tasks. Online side-quests are played with your customized character and everything earned in the side-quest carries over to your single-player experience.

Online play allows for parties of up to four total participants to take on these objectives cooperatively – this is a nice element to the game that more RPGs should think of incorporating in its own way. Not only does it further the gameplay value of a title, but any game that gives you the chance to interact with other people while improving your offline experience as well is phenomenal in and of itself. There are other games out there that do this, but none at the level of Level-5.

This may sound repetitive, but it should be known that these side-quests do take place on the same style of map design as the offline edition of the game. So, it is subjected to the same maze-like qualities, however, it’s much easier to overlook as you play through the quests with friends than silently by yourself.

Visually, White Knight Chronicles isn’t anything special. It’s what you’d expect from a roleplaying game that is set in the timeframe that it is. It’s not on the same graphical level as a RPG like Mass Effect 2 or Demon’s Souls, but it’s most certainly not an eye sore like some RPGs have been this generation. The character detail differentiates enough from character to character to keep you interested and the atmosphere of the game is very well done. However, while cities and towns are a nice getaway with very little complaints, the environments in between are a tad repetitive and bland. Overall, the graphics on offer are very average and would score anywhere from 7 to 7.5 on a scale out of 10.

The audio aspects of WKC leave a lot to be desired. Despite a strong score that is pleasing to the ears, the voice acting is nothing shy of bad and while I understand a lot can be lost in the localization process, the fact that this game took over a year to localize should have resulted in much stronger voice dialogue than what it offers. Maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine, but it’s something I can’t overlook.

In the end, Level-5 has delivered a title that falls within the realm of a love/hate relationship. Like many niche games before it, there will be some gamers who absolutely love the game while others will dislike it for its simplicity of enemy AI and difficulty. However, Level-5 has a foundation in place that they can improve upon for White Knight Chronicles 2 that should appeal to a more significant amount of buyers. If you’re unsure or on the fence about this one, I suggest renting it first to see if it’s your cup of tea, otherwise there is a chance you may regret your full-priced purchase.

Readers Comments (18)

  1. Awesome review. Sucks that I won’t be buying this until Sunday.

  2. I’m picking up this game today.

  3. me too

  4. my psn is ZIn_Oo-Orochi see you guys on Online mode of this game

  5. Great review. I was really worried about the battle system after watching the review of Gamespot, but it seems pretty decent after reading this review. Actually, I’m still contemplating whether I should get the game now or later.

  6. im gonna get it later

    and plz post a vid review that would be nice

  7. I GOT IT!! After the 3 years i been waiting for this game!

  8. So in few words the game sucks and is not even worth a rental :
    Bad Graphics
    Bad Characters
    Bad Battle System
    Bad Exploration
    Bad Story
    According to this review this is one of the worst videogames ever, ty i won’t even rent this crap =)

  9. Oh goody… I have to put up with N4G 260 *******’s on other websites too. Back to your cave bloodmask and bungie. Losers.

  10. To Bungie, your comment has been removed -we don’t appreciate racism. On-Topic: Great review The Dean.

  11. LOL at the two comments above.
    @Bloodmask, that’s your choice, I’ve been excited about this game a long time. I know Level 5 make great quality titles.
    @Bungie, you’re obviously a stupid fanboy and racist. Maybe member of the KKK too? Guess what, Japanese are way ahead of USA (and any other country) when it comes to technology. The Japanese are much better at not wasting recources in their factories (yes I know it cause I had a course called industrial production). And so on. I’m not saying Americans are bad, Japs are ahead in technology. “Is time for Japan to dissapear from the planet” Wow that’s really nazi…
    X-Box 360 being the ONLY real gaming console? Wow really? I’m sure none of Atari’s consoles are real, I’m sure none of Nintendo’s consoles are real, I’m sure none of Sega’s consoles are real, I’m sure none of Sony’s consoles are real, HELL I’m even sure that the original X-Box ISN’T REAL etc. .
    As for war, it’s really stupid and retarded.
    Make love, not war!

    Fanboys+Racists= One of the worst combinations ever

  12. Now this is a real review hahaha worst game ever ! the game is annoying, boring, repetitive “only on PS3” “a must NOT buy”, while we get the EPIC Mass Effect 2 , i love PSU the best pro 360 website ever! and proud americans too!

  13. Wow, fanboyism is back up to 2006/2007 levels. I’m AMAZED at how hard 360 fanboys are on the offensive. And it’s not just random idiots on the internet, the big/major websites are back to their 2006/2007 levels of fanboyism. I actually though MS paying these sites to bash anything PS3 related was over, but I guess with the amzing PS3 lineup yhis year, M$ got the checkbook back out to pay reviewers to give PS3 exclusives low scores just like they were doing through 2008. And of course the rats took the cheese.

    Noitice the bigger review sites have ALL been giving MAG and now White Knight alot lower scores than both smaller websites and users? That’s the tell-tale sign. Just like in 2007, PS3 exclusives are being given low scores for no good reason. Just like Ratchet and Clank Future being given a 7.5 with it’s only negative “too much variety” and Heavenly Sword being given 7.5 for being too short when it’s 8-10 hours long when Gears of War got 9s and 10s being 4 hours long. And in 2008 MGS4 getting a lower score for it’s story than Halo 3 (GT)

    Now MAG for example, IGN does a review, the review describes a SOLID 8 game, but then just randomly gives it a 7. All the big sites are scorring it low, while players of the game all LOVE it and smaller sites have all given 8plus. And now with White Knight it seems there’s a contest for who can score it lower. First I see 7s, then I see 6s, now IGN gives it a 5, lol. REALLY? A game that got all amazing reviews in Japan and by websites that reviewed imported copies? Yup…..M$ is cutting checks again, otherwise the gamespots, the IGNs and all the other big sites just have complete 360 fanboy trash reviewing PS3 games.

    It’s probably a little bit of both. This will be confirmed when these “journalist” start giving out their scores for Heavy Rain. If you start seeings 6s and 7s for that, you KNOW the M$ checks are flying. Then they’ll give GoW3 7s 8s, lol.

  14. You guys are crazy like the Big Mac Snack Wrap! Lol

  15. man i enjoy reading your reviews cause they are so not bias unlike other sites

  16. By this review, it sounds like this is a bad game but you love it :D. Definitely going to have to try this game, coming from Level-5, but maybe a rent, first.

  17. I just picked up my preorder and this great, but not amazing. If you’re into jrpg, pick it up now.All you haters and 360 fanboys stop wasting your time, M$ doesn’t pay you to cheerleaders.

  18. Good review of White Knight Chronicles. This game sound like it is more of a rental than a game someone would buy based on the review.

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