So how's the game so far?

[321jassman]

For those of you who already have it, how is it? Haven't got it myself yet since I'm going to have to procure funds for PSN cards since I'm not a U.S citizen and all that.

So how's the gameplay, story and characters?

[Fuepepe]

I am still in the first dungeon, but I am enjoying the game a fair bit so far. Dungeon navigation is easy since the onscreen minimap does not have to be opened manually while exploring. The skill tree for most characters offers 4 main paths from what I could see. Fang for example can specialize in spear, sword or claw skills depending on the path he takes with different kinds of magic thrown along all options. Followers provide more utility than I first thought, as I considered them gimmicky to begin with.

Turn based combat is more or less identical to any other turn based jRPG, no point in changing what isn't broken. Some of the characters seem a bit cliche but I can already tell this game is going to have more of a plot than Legend of Grimrock or Wizardry, which definitely was a selling point for me as that was the main criteria I wish those titles had.

[Ryos]

I like it quite a bit so far.

Characterization: Some characters are irritating at best but Fang makes up for most of them. For the most part at least the voice acting is pretty good in making the most of them.

Story: Can't say the story's all that great (so far anyway) but for a dungeon crawler, it's certainly much more engaging than the norm.

Gameplay: The difficulty spikes are pretty nuts...you can go mowing down a dungeon and hit the next one and get slaughtered in one fight (at least for the first/second, maybe the rest of the game levels off...but I doubt it). If you're a masochist though, this game is awesome with a lot of payoff when you (slowly) get stronger. As mentioned the customization between the skill trees and followers is actually quite remarkable so if you're one for min/max gameplay, it's great for that.

Music: Though not mentioned, the music is of course phenomenal and does a great job in adding atmosphere to everything.

[wrath]

The story...I find it a little odd the goddess smited Fang for not having a wish....mabey the game would have been avoided if he said "I wish to know who the strongest guy alive is"? The begining came across as a little "special" to me ...

But all together I have to agree with the above post on all accounts but predominantly the gameplay aspect. Once I hit the middle/almost end?of the second dungeon,at least I hope its the middle at any rate, I decided it was bed time. The enemies get much stronger and my only real problem is I tend to run out of MP quick for a certain charecter and ive yet to find an MP restoring item other than sleeping at the Inn.

As for the charecters im enjoying their interaction and how the story is going along,Fang has simply become my favorite charecter because of his value of strength he ends up being very likeable to me, he will end up praising the other charecters for what they think of as their faults and it comes across as pretty damn cool to me though I dislike the Phoenix girl and im kinda not wanting to get her shes the type of charecter I dislike most personality wise.

I geuss its a pretty standard game for its genre and plays out like it so if you enjoy turn based jrpg's this will end up being just as enjoyable to play. I also realy realy like the "follower" aspect where they talk to you, their comments/questions and the possible answers are amusing enough it dosent bother me if I lose a charm rateing....