In-depth impressions of the offline portion of Level-5 and Sony's giant robot/fantasy RPG!
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As I sat down to write this preview, I reflected on the influence a major
critical entity can have. In the case of White Knight Chronicles, my
preconceived notions were strongly colored -- stained, really -- by a damning
29/40 review from Famitsu. The score seemed shockingly low, especially for a
game coming from a major advertiser like Sony. Even the generally horrible
Infinite Undiscovery did better (32/40), while the unfairly maligned The Last
Remnant did much better (38/40). More alarmingly, Level-5's own disappointing
Rogue Galaxy was considered the superior game (36/40). In short, I was
expecting a disaster.
White Knight Chronicles is anything but. I don't get the feeling the game is a
vibrant masterpiece -- not yet, anyway -- but it is certainly superior to
Infinite Undiscovery, and corrects most of the problems with the deeply flawed
Rogue Galaxy. Although WKC will turn out to be enjoyable comfort food for JRPG
fans in whatever state it arrives on Western shores, a few simple tweaks here
and there could improve it dramatically. I hope this preview will serve to
highlight some of the niggling interface problems I encountered in WKC -- those
little issues that all too often find their way creeping into otherwise highly
polished Level-5 games.
Despite how Sony has promoted WKC since its announcement at Tokyo Game Show
2006, it is an MMORPG at heart. Indeed, online adventuring is ostensibly half
the game: The giant robot fantasy you've been seeing images of for two years,
or "Story Part," is but a one-player experience built on a foundation clearly
erected to serve the "Live Part," a Final Fantasy XI-lite four-player online
RPG. (I say "ostensibly," as it has been impossible to play WKC online since
its release two days ago; more below.) To serve the Live Part, the game
presents you with an incredibly elaborate character creation mode as soon as
you complete the five-minute, 2GB install necessary to play the game. Level-5
president/evangelist Akihiro Hino has said he expects gamers to spend two hours
crafting their avatar before the game even begins, and in my case that turned
out to be accurate: After an evening spent coaxing nine pages of sliders
ranging from ear curvature to nasal-labial trough ratio, I ended up with an
unnervingly accurate 3D representation of myself -- faithful down to slightly
asymmetrical eyes. When all is said and done, WKC may be best remembered for
this feature; I'd be fully comfortable calling WKC's avatar editor the most
advanced in gaming history. Indeed, it makes the character creation modes of
titles like Oblivion and PlayStation Home look laughable in comparison.
Once you're satisfied with your in-game persona, the one-player Story Part
begins (you aren't able to access any online functions until you've advanced a
few hours into the campaign, which serves to act as a tutorial for the various
game systems). Your avatar turns out to be a mute employee at the hero
Leonard's liquor shop, where you are both tasked with retrieving a shipment of
wine for the Princess Shizuna's coming of age festival. By nightfall, the
low-born Leonard has finagled his way into the royal palace, an event which --
wouldn't you just know it -- happens to coincide with an enemy invasion led by
a menacing Black Knight. Soon the Princess is kidnapped, and her father the
King of Valandor killed...but not before Leonard makes a pact with a suit of
ancient, sentient armor lying beneath the palace, granting him the ability to
transform into a 30-foot-tall robo-knight. All this before the opening credits!
接着就进入游戏, 这边是一些游戏序章的剧情描写, 为了没玩过的板友,我就跳过不翻译了.
The story may not be remarkable (being penned as it is by Hino, who "wrote" the
wildly incoherent Rogue Galaxy), but the experience it sets up is an enjoyable
one. I mentioned that WKC was an MMORPG at heart; that might be too kind. WKC
is Final Fantasy XI. The near-identical controls, battles, camera angles,
on-screen log, emote commands, macro shortcuts, and design -- extending even to
legal action-worthy analogues of FFXI's Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Mithra and
Galka races -- nearly convinced me I was living a cruel flashback. FFXI held my
life in a death grip for half a decade, but to return to its familiar control
schemes was strangely enjoyable. For those who never tried Square Enix's
soul-stealing online RPG, its game engine was a brilliant one; you've already
experienced a great deal of its influence in FFXII, but it is even more
profound here.
That influence is first noticeable in WKC's vast, wide-open areas, which can
take a good 15 minutes to traverse the length of. Cities are completely
seamless -- opening the door to a shop or home simply lets you inside, with
nary a screen transition to be seen. Environments have a true lived-in quality;
there is a sense that the world continues beyond the boundaries your characters
can move within, and that it would continue to function whether you inhabited
it or not. WKC may not be a technical marvel, but its superb world design can
make for the occasionally breathtaking moment, as you crest a rise to see
glittering lakes far below, or stop to admire the intricate way a bridge loops
back over an area you had been through hours before.
Control is also lifted from FFXI, with movement on the left stick and the
targeting of enemies, NPCs, and objects accomplished with the digital d-pad.
Targeting your own character brings up a list of commands. In battle, you can
freely assign individual attacks, weapon skills, and magic commands to a
palette of shortcuts -- a concept identical to FFXI's macros, though with
somewhat less freedom. Enemies roam on the field, some aggressive, some not,
and will link together on sight just as in...yeah, I don't even have to say it
anymore.
Two areas in which WKC differs significantly from FFXI are its character growth
and Combo systems. You have complete freedom to acquire whatever weapon skill,
magic, or stat bonus you choose through the use of Skill Points obtained when
you level up, and only through the learning of them are subsequent skills
unlocked. It's like FFXII's License Board system, though with a less visual
implementation. You can also create custom Combos by linking together several
attacks via a sub-menu, which are unleashed in battle through a Quick Time
Event-like button tapping scheme. Contrary to how they may sound, Combos may be
the most enjoyable aspect of WKC's battle system, offering great freedom and
accompanied by spectacular camerawork.
There is no pause function. You're completely out of luck should you need toput the game down for a few minutes during one of the lengthy cut-scenes. 没有暂停功能
There is no camera recentering function, which can occasionally cause awkward control issues. 没有镜头回正功能
There is no auto-run. For a game so clearly inspired by FFXI, this is an egregious omission. Auto-run was designed so that targeting could be accomplished simultaneously with movement -- something that is virtually impossible in WKC. 没有 auto-run 功能
There is no quick access to area maps. Although a minimap is always present, the vast areas require frequent calling up of maps buried in the Select button sub-menu. 没有大地图的快捷建
Most unfortunately, there is no voice chat -- a complaint voiced by Famitsu and confirmed by the game's manual. In this day and age, there is simply no excuse. I realize Japanese gamers are frequently nervous about speaking online -- during my FFXI days, half my LinkShell members used voice changing software -- but Westerners have no such qualms. 没有语音交谈功能
Despite these issues, my two days with White Knight Chronicles illustrated that
highly valid, age-old point: Don't believe everything you read. The game is no
disaster, and all its issues could conceivably be addressed with a patch, or
eliminated entirely from the forthcoming English version. It is immediately the
best RPG on PlayStation 3, a platform that is desperate for a good one.
Depending on how much the online mode has to offer, it may even have the
potential to be great.
