White Knight Chronicles: International Edition for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

I was all psyched when my cousin told me about this RPG for PS3, really one of the first RPGs for the system that can go multiplayer. To my disappointment I finished the game in like 20-25 hours. The way they left the ending sets them up for a White Knight Chronicles 2, which I hope will be designed better than the first.

There is a mode called GEONET which allows you to go online with others and even create your own town "Georama" by hiring NPCs in various towns to come work for you. Chances are you will probably end up beating the game way before you even start doing this, so if I had to do it again I would work on building my Georama before I went too far in the storymode (to make it worth doing at all).

When you flip the game you start at level 35 and get to keep all your equipment and weapons. Seeing that they let you do that, you would think that the creatures would have to be tougher to make the gameplay more challenging, but unfortunately this is not the case. You can zoom through the storyline again within a few hours because most mobs can be taken out with one swing. Very weak.

The multiplayer mode is probably the best thing this game has going for it, with about 50 quests it barely makes the game worth playing. Unfortunately there is a HUGE flaw with this mode. Since the developers do not tell you this, I ended up doing some quests 3 or 4 times before I figured it out. When doing multiplayer mode it is IMPERATIVE that you keep your characters inventory as empty as possible. If your inventory is full and you are doing a quest, the game will send a neccessary item (for example a gem that you need after defeating a dragon) directly to your GROUP INVENTORY, and the item cannot be used to finish the quest. Thus the quest cannot be finished and needs to be restarted. A HUGE game flaw. Very poorly created game by a well known game developer (Level 5). I hope they get it right the next time around.

Level 5's newest RPG, "White Knight Chronicles: International Edition", looked quite promising in the trailers and previews. After all, Level 5 had given us some terrific RPGs on the PS2 such as "Dark Cloud", "Rogue Galaxy", and "Dragon Quest VIII". Sadly though, this "Knight" arrives with a bit of tarnish on it. Graphically, the game looks good enough, with some fine enviroments and some imaginative looking monsters. The character models are pretty much standard for a JRPG- the boy who's more than he appears to be, the plucky girl friend, the older, seasoned warrior. All we've seen before. While it has a deep avatar creation set-up, your creation is not the main character. Nor does he/she ever speak. You're just kind of there, along for the ride. The voice acting is passable, though not memorable, and the soundtrack suits the game well. The main thing that keeps the game from being what it could have been is its broken combat system. Using a clunky menu to scroll through for your next move, all in real time, it basically boils down to fill up a gauge meter,act, then repeat. The big problem comes from the uneven rules. Your character's attacks have limited range. The enemies do not. Even if you run, and run far, you can still be struck. This leads to a lot of cheap deaths and frustration. Sadly the story is so generic (boy with hidden power goes to save the princess from evil guy) that it's hard to find a compelling reason to continue the repetitive quests through the 25-30 hours it takes to complete the single player game. This could have been great, the potential was there. But, alas, it was not to be. Perhaps "Final Fantasy XIII" will be the answer for our next great RPG fix. This tarnished "Knight" is a rental only. It's far too broken to be a purchase.