Order Record of Agarest War Limited Edition

Let me explain that title. Put the pitchfork down.

Record of Agarest War is an interesting game. It tries very hard to be something that it's not, while at the same time managing to surpass other games in the same vein. You are "Golden Leo", a high ranking official in a local kingdom that has recently been discovered taking over other lands and terrorizing the citizens of the lands in search of something. During one of your missions, you decide to take up arms against your comrades to protect a young Elven girl, and are later killed. A young lady revives you, with the condition that you and your progeny become Spirit Vessels, essentially giving your soul(s) to her.

The way you meet your characters is almost identical to the method in Cross Edge. Even the general storyline has slight similarities to that game, with the exception that you aren't in another world; just another land separate from your own. You'll meet characters with different skillsets as you attempt to find out what's going on with your kingdom. Branded a traitor, you will face some of your former allies on the field of battle.

All of this sounds good. But the game has its issues. For example, the packaging boasts anime scenes, but these are just still images with voices and text for the most part. Given this is a 360 game, I find this quite inexcusable, especially when compared to games like Sakura Wars where anime cutscenes are the norm rather than the exception to the rule. Also, the still scenes bounce hilariously between characters as it comes their turn to talk - unlike other games where the inactive characters just fade out or swap to the active characters, Agarest just decided to swap left and right between characters as conversation takes place. It gets even more silly when each character has only one sentence (which happens quite frequently, mind).

The sprite-based battle engine is a derivative of that found in games such as Enchanted Arms, Final Fantasy Tactics, and other strategy games. Your characters are positioned on a board, facing in given directions, as are your enemies. Depending on how you place your characters, you'll use various Skills to attack the enemy and vice versa; certain tiles and certain placements will give you linked abilities, giving you the ability to combo attacks against enemies for an easier fight. Single characters can also combine two or more skills to create stronger attacks; these can also be combined with other strong attacks. Later in the game, as you get better at linking, your characters will do increased damage with their team attacks, allowing damage into the millions. This is vintage Cross Edge, vintage Disgaea, so if you like that style of battle, this is the game for you.

One major complaint I have is the rather uninspired overworld map. Instead of free roam, you're forced along a given path, which generally consists of two event points (a town and a cave, for example), with 2-5 generic fight stops in between. This wouldn't normally be so bad, were it not for the fact that each battle area looks the exact same as the others. Even worse, the enemy AI fits into one of three categories: cowardly (certain fairies who use spells and run away when chased), bold (werewolves and other creatures of those types) and stupid (everyone else who puts themselves in open position to get attacked). This ends up with you generally usinge the same strategy every battle with a few alterations. Not too bad of an issue, but I had to note it as a complaint of mine.

When you first start the game, you'll find that it's just not easy. Not enough experience or party points, definitely not enough gold (the only real gold you get is from defeating a boss or a major enemy). You could easily find yourself tired of this game in short order if you're not the patient type. Once you get past hour 8, assuming you're following the storyline, then it starts to get a little easier to manage, and you'll be able to take full advantage of the game's additional features such as blacksmithing, alchemy, and the adventuring quests. This is also the time that the branching relationship system starts to come into play. Each action you take falls into one of three categories: Dark, Light, and Neutral. These speak for themselves, but what you don't know is how they pertain to the relationships in the game. Certain girls are tuned to one alignment or another, so the choices you make will not only affect your alignment, but also the affection level of the girls you meet. Near the end of each game section, you'll then be presented with the choice of which girl you want to procreate with, and your children will continue the quest in the next generation.

Those in the older generation of gamers may find this to be a familiar feature. That's because if you played Phantasy Star III, it's essentially the same concept. It keeps the game somewhat fresh by allowing numerous options for gameplay, with different heroes and skillsets. For some though, this might be more of a burden than a blessing: the same challenges as far as the sectioned off paths persists here, and to put things in perspective, I beat Sakura Wars in 15 hours, with sidequests and all; in Agarest, I got my seventh character in the same time period, and that's without grinding. If you are a fan of lengthy, detailed games with challenge, this is definitely a game that you should try out.


So....do I recommend it? Maybe. I will say that it's an acquired taste; it's not for everyone, to be sure. It's worth a try, but buying it is hard to recommend unless you're a general fan of strategy RPGs or anime-based games. It's a good game, but it's not going to go down in any history books, except for the most flagrantly bold packaging in history.Get more detail about Record of Agarest War Limited Edition.