Arc Rise Fantasia for Wii Reviews by Gamers

Since Namco decided to eliminate half of their fanbase by not releasing Tales of Graces in the US, many Wii owners will welcome this with open arms. Arc Rise Fantasia is the traditional JRPG experience.

Graphics
Far from HD, players will more often than not be annoyed with the "pixelated" look of Fantasia. At the risk of using the wrong word, I'll call it low-definition. It looks like a PS2 game; you'll feel the same way you did a couple years ago when you played a PS2 game that looked like a PS1 game. Of course, that's not bad; PS2 had wonderful landmark RPGs, and while it's not carried in an advanced vehicle, the art is pleasing. The character designs themselves are pretty great, and every environment feels lush; every animation feels organic. Inconsistent framerate, though.

Sound
Consistently nice contemporary classical. Some epic tracks (boss battle themes, overworld theme), but in a very familiar way; nothing new. Sound effects are mostly stock from what I can tell, but again, they're pleasant.

Oh, right. It's glaringly obvious that none of the voice actors were in the same room. Leading lady Ryfia clearly learned English as a second language, and while I haven't gotten far enough to confirm that this was unintentional, she sounds horribly awkward. L'Arc sounds unexcitable. Honorable mentions must go to Adelle, who plays well the role of level-headed girl. It's reminiscent of Saturday morning anime.

Gameplay
A simple take on turn-based battles: The AP system. Those of you who enjoy cozy, relaxed battles will swoon, but there are some real challenging bosses that demand real strategy. Granted, most mooks won't be dealt with by mashing the A button. You can customize you weapons by placing Tetris pieces on a chart, but equipment is pretty shallow.

Story
Even with shallow VA, you get used to the nonsense characters. Some players may even become endeared. Some crazy plot twists, expected and unexpected. Just a standard epic tale. Epic, cliche, and nostalgic.

This game is amazing. The graphics are a sight to see and pleasant to the eyes. The characters all stand out and aren't horrible to look at. For those of you anime people, the artist is the infamous Bones. One of their animes? Eureka Seven.

Pros:
The graphics are amazing.
The music is pleasant to the ears and gets good when in a battle and when some dramatic scene is played.
The controls are simple and can be used with the Wii Remote w/ Nunchuk, Classic Controller, and GameCube Controller.
The battle is interesting as there's an AP system, which is a lot like Skies of Arcadia, and can be diverse throughout the party.
The overworld is a lot like the Tales Of Games and is vibrant.
Many things to do, like upgrading weapons during battle and then using transferring the power from the weapon to another.
The magic system is like the ORIGINAL Final Fantasy, where you use a point system (which is your MP) and can upgrade it in shops
They have on-screen monsters, so no random battles (though I'm used to that due to Final Fantasy)

Cons:
It's slow in the beginning and the battle system is a little hard to get use to, but is way easier than you think.
The voices...........THE VOICES!!!!!!!!!

The biggest drawback in this game is the voices. About 90-99% of you reading this will agree on the voices. They are horrendous. In fact, this some of the worse voice acting ever....EVER!!!! L'Arc is below average. Alf's voice is wayyyyy too deep, like he chained smoked before he came into the game. This new guy I met, Niko, sounds like he has a horrible cold, and the worse of them all........the main girl, Ryfia. She is literally THE worst voice in the game. Monotonous, sounds too old for a 16 year old character, doesn't fit her character, her fighting voice is ugly....I can go on and on about her and you'll believe everything I just said.

Anyways, this game is good. No joke, but if you can get past the voices, you're in for a good game.

8/10. -2 because of the voices.