For those of you who know me, you know that I’m a Final Fantasy nut and thus am particularly critical of JRPGs and games of a similar genre. I’ve also in the last two days read a plethora of reviews on this game and I have to say I disagree with the vast majority of them. So here goes, this game is simply amazing! Yes I agree that at face value its more cutesy graphics and kids saving the world, so what?! It makes a great game and I personally find the story to be very moving yet at the same time, everything you’d expect from a decent fantasy media. The game focuses on the last moment of Fredric Chopin’s life as he decended into a dream on his deathbed. This then manifests in this fantasy world which sees the struggle of two nations battle for power and world whereby magic triumphs over might.

Unfortunately, this game has got panned by some “reviewers” on the internet. This I believe is because, quite frankly they’re not as good as me at RPGs, there I’ve said it. One of the main angles of dispute is that they said there’s only about 20-25 hours of gameplay involved within the core storyline. Well this is what I think as a hardcore RPGer, get fucked. The whole point of an RPG is to build up your character to a degree whereby through your hours of hard work to attain the higher levels, thus the harder special attacks, you actually feel that you’ve earned the right to feel a tiny piece of omnipotence. I personally can’t stand it when people absolutely race through an RPG, skipping the storyline so that they can boast how they completed the game in three sittings and struggled through every single fight after the halfway stage. That to me is pointless. I’ve just reached chapter 5 (there’s 8 in total excluding new game plus) and I’m 20 hours deep already. Then again my hardest characters are about the level 34 mark which is pretty good going considering I have done a fair amount of grinding to get to that stage.

The battle system is great, and that is something I do agree with these retarded reviewers. Yes it may be a bit “button bashing” but that makes the whole fighting system just that more interactive rather than selecting a list of attacks with a mickey mouse glove, a la Final Fantasy. The special attacks are brilliant and later on there’s the opportunity to unleash a chain of special attacks (called Harmony Chains) similar to the Quickenings in FF12.

Visually, the game is stunning. If Video Games were considered Art (well they should be if a gump in a bear suit is considered to be so!), this is a masterpiece. The cel-shaded graphics are simply stunning and it moves so well. The music is also another asset. Not only have they got the famous Stanislav Bunin playing some of Chopin’s classic pieces, the ambience of the game is everything an RPG should feel like.

So the music is great, the graphics are wonderful and the battle system is incredible yet innovative. So why else are people criticising it? They don’t like the story. The story is original and captivating. PLus what people are forgetting when they write their convoluted reviews on the internet is that it’s a FANTASY GAME. I don’t remember seeing any Shawshank Redemption-esque dialogue in the Neverending Story?! I don’t remember Willow saving the world using diplomacy and politics?!?! Why? Because is it’s a sodding fantasy story! Some people just like picking holes in it.

So in conclusion, the game is an absolute winner in my eyes and rivals that of even the RPG behemoth of Final Fantasy 7 in places. So if you read any reviews on the internet which criticise the length of the game or the storyline, just remember, they’re not as good as me and therefore their opinion is based on a gamer who spends more time trying to be macho on Gears of War than actually appreciate a fine piece of art.