Review: White Knight Chronicles - 2nd Playthrough COMPLETE

I planned on writing this when I completed it the first time through, which was sometime last December, but then I thought it better to write it after my second since it was more epic that way and I would more certain of my points regarding the game. Also, I had my brother to bounce opinions off of, which were pretty much the same - they usually are, except he seems to be less harsh regarding certain aspects and bases his impressions on gameplay and graphics...I tend to be more critical of the story and characterisations; graphics play very little importance and gameplay fits somwhere in the middle.

After all, you could have an excellent game with crappy graphics and basic gameplay elements. Take for example, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. Your run of the mill point-and-click puzzle game, with nice graphics - albeit poor continuity with style when switching to animated cutscenes - and a rather interesting story with fun characters. You could hardly call it a bad game based on it's 2D graphics and simple gameplay when the story and characters prop it up to greater heights. Thus, it frustrates me when people in professional positions as reviewers or other fan-reviewers give a one-sided opinion, rather than combing through the whole. It disgusts me - yes, disgusts me - when praise is heaped onto a title that is, quite frankly, awful and the only thing going for it is the graphics and/or gameplay, or at worst it's associations to previous successful titles in the series or developer. If you haven't figured out my prime example from those hints, then you'll get your answer as soon as I can get that review out - currently it's at 5 pages and I need to do some trimming, or at least sectioning of it.

Anyway, that being said, let us move onto the main topic - White Knight Chronicles.

White Knight Chronicles I Opening - English

Preview: Catherine

This is a post I've had in the draft stages since 28/10/2010. Not because I was stuck on things to write about, but simply because - much to my regret - I don't update as much as I'd like.

I came across Catherine while perusing my source for most information, Wikipedia, to get an update on the goings on at ATLUS, one of my favourite game developers/publishers. Honestly, I have loved every game they have come out with - specifically the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. People tend to dismiss JRPG's simply for being thus - we all know the stereotypical archetype associated with it and mainstream anime/manga doesn't help matters. When I say 'mainstream' I refer to the stuff we tend to leap to when hearing anime/manga - big-eyed, pretty boys, androgynous characters, amply-bosomed girls, gratuitous panty-shots etc. It's true most of the market is saturated with harem stories rife with fanservice - 1 boy + 10 girls, who to choose? The childhood friend or the sassy girl who calls him a pervert all the time? - or teenage angst, but you don't really have to dig that deep to find a true gem. The same goes for JRPG's.

My New Consoles and Data Transfer

So, what with my brothers going to Uni this weekend, I've been forced to buy my own PS3 and XBox 360. It's an investment I was going to make at some point, as I had hoped to have moved out by now, but someone's got to be there for my mum until they get back...

Anyway, with these shiny new consoles, the issue came with transferring my data over. Especially the PS3 - we've all heard the horror stories about not being able to transfer the 'copy-protected' stuff.

Moving my data to my XBox was pretty painless - luckily my bro had a 16GB memory stick on hand that had to be formatted for 360 use. I transferred my GamerTag, after syncing my achievements, and moved/copied over all my save data and downloads. Then naturally these were moved to my 360 and all was well. The reason for copying some of the data was in case something went wrong; after formatting the memory stick a warning was thrown up saying that while it has been formatted, the memory stick wasn't 360 approved and some data may be lost during transfer or some such.

The PS3 was a little more worrying as I had progress I didn't want to lose on Bayonetta, so using a method I found a few months ago that preserved data (which I can't seem to find on the net anymore...) I gave it a shot...after backing up the data on my bro's PS3 in case something went wrong. I then created a dummy account and initiated the transfer using this account after following the deactivation steps and syncing trophies for the other accounts. Once the transfer was complete, I checked both consoles and all data was intact, though the 'copy-protected' data had moved completely to my PS3. the next thing was to test the Bayonetta save files and everything was fine, though for some reason my trophies were re-achieved...

So I'm not sure if Sony fixed the data transfer issues or this method of using a dummy account was what did it, but I didn't lose anything...Either way though, I'm happy and sorted for my gaming needs. Though I also heard that once certain data has been moved, you can't earn future trophies on that data - will update once tested.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, a Fangirl's Dream

Well...maybe not in regards to the entire game, but I may as well admit this now. When I was young, I was raised on the Spider-Man Animated TV Series...you know, the 90's one. My most favourite episode/story arc had to be the one with Captain America - those episodes alone spawned an everlasting love for the heroic American icon.

But going back to Spider-Man, I crushed on him so hard...kind of weird when you take my age at the time into account. My next favourite episode/story arc was the one with the Spider-Men from alternate timelines being brought together, oh and then the one with the Heroes vs Villains. However, there were so many good episodes/story arcs, it's hard to just pick the top ones, though those are the ones that stick in my memory.

Even though I just found about this game a few days ago and it's due for release in a few days, I have been thinking a lot on this. That and my brother happened to zero in on the one aspect of the game that would interest me - the voice-acting...though story is always top on my list when it comes to rating a game. I don't usually have a gripe with the voice-acting in a game, but it is really cool that they brought back the Spider-Men VA's from most of the series out there...and it's especially cool that Prince Eric has come back as Noir Spider-Man, even though he voiced the 90's one. So yes people, Prince Eric/Spider-Man is my dream.

Watching the trailer, however, he sounds different...not that it's a bad thing - the tone suits the Noir-ness of the level. Needless to say, I will be stealing my brother's copy and he'll be lucky to ever see it again.