Rogue Galaxy First Impressions, Crisis Core, and Updates

This rather large update is on my next couple of games and a change to my reviews. I’ve finally had an opportunity to make some progress (you’d think that school being out would give me more free time), and this is what I’ve been doing for the blog.

First of all, I just started Rogue Galaxy, an action-RPG by Level 5 that’s been on my list to play ever since it came out. Released at the end of the PS2’s life cycle after Squares epic Final Fantasy XII, Rogue Galaxy remains one of the little black box’s RPG classics. In a system known for having a large amount of fantastic RPGs, Rogue Galaxy manages to stand out in a crowded market- it’s arguably Level 5’s best game to date. It’s easily one of the best looking games I’ve seen. Level 5 proved with games like Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest VIII that they were masters of cell-shading, and Rogue Galaxy may end up being their ultimate visual achievement (at least until Ni no Kuni graces us with its presence). Gameplay-wise, while it’s impossible to judge seeing as I’m only an hour into the game, but Rogue Galaxy is a sci-fi action RPG in a similar vein to the Star Ocean games, and features a lot of the item and weapon synthesis elements from the Dark Cloud games (or at least the game’s menu bears a striking resemblance to Dark Cloud 2’s and has similar statistics). What I have played left me with a favorable first impression, and I’m excited to continue.

Second, I’m still playing Crisis Core, although I haven’t made a great deal of progress. I’m about ten hours into the game, having just fought Angeal and obtained the Buster Sword (Final Fantasy VII’s iconic oversized weapon). I’m enjoying the game- the mission system reminds me of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, one of my favorite portable games, and there is a lot of extra stuff to do because of the sheer number of optional missions. I’ll probably start making more progress in the game soon.

The last thing I want to address is my new review scoring system! Now, I hate scoring games. It’s my least favorite part of writing a review, and I’d much rather express my opinion of a game solely through the text of a review, but there’s no denying that review scores provide a convenient way to summarize the reviewer’s thoughts and to provide a focal point for the reader. Unfortunately, the tendency for human error is great, and my current letter grading system, I’m finding, isn’t accurate enough. I notice, for example, that Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter and Xenogears, two games I felt had problems but ultimately enjoyed, are rated less than Star Ocean 4, a game which just isn’t very good, but that I reviewed higher because I had some fun with it and glossed over a lot of problems. Now, I’d take Dragon Quarter over Star Ocean 4 any day, and I wish my review scores reflected this properly. So, my new system aims to be a bit more accurate.

What I’m doing is averaging scores for the three sections of my reviews. I’ve stated before that Story, Gameplay, and Presentation, the three sections of my reviews, are equally important. This new system reflects that; a score from 1-10, with ten as the highest, will be attached to each section at the end. The total review score will be the average of all of these points. To give an example, in my review for Xenogears, I enjoyed the story but found the gameplay to be flawed and the presentation to be average at best. So, my scores would look something like this…

Story: 9 A deep and complex story with very mature themes, limited by a somewhat wonky translation.

Gameplay: 7 Classic RPG gameplay that is functional, but limited by presentation issues and glacial pacing.

Presentation: 6 Obvious budget constraints aside, Xenogears’s presentation is very inconsistent in its quality.

Score: 22/30

Operating under the assumption that 50% is average, 22/30 is still a good score, but reflects the issues I found with the game. I like Xenogears because of its excellent story, but the gameplay hiccups were driving me mad by the end of it. Now, this score, I think, is far more accurate than the simple ‘B’ slapped onto the end. I may go back and add these new scores to the end of some of my older reviews, we'll have to see.

Cheers,

PG.