This game was bought for me under the recommendation of my former manager at GAME Bangor. It is an RPG game where you design your own character and venture forth on some grand adventure. Before you do this, you must decide on what Life you are going to choose; whether it’s a mercenary or a cook, the choice is yours. You create your own character and make friends with some random butterfly that can talk and away you go.

 

This game HAD massive potential but it fell short at the very first hurdle. The story is childish and very patchy. Whilst I was playing it I found myself sitting there wondering what was actually going on and only after playing it for nearly twenty hours did the story start making sense. The NPC’s are weak and you feel like some of them have just been included in the game for the sake of it. To level up and increase your rank, you must complete jobs and also gain bliss, which is the key to unlocking certain aspects of your character. That aside, the game doesn’t really make it very challenging and they jobs tend to be boring and repetitive.

 

It seems to me like the graphics have been based loosely on the avatar you create for the Wii, which doesn’t really make the game any better to play. Everyone is always smiling and even the pre-made faces for your character are all happy and jolly, which to me makes it feel like you have to be around 6 to play the game.

 

That aside, the coolest thing (and the only good thing) about this game is the fact that there is loads to do. There is always a job that needs doing or a request that you need to meet (which consists of fetching and carrying things for people) to gain bliss or EXP. It also offers a massive amount of replay value as you can go back and change your class. I started off as a mercenary and then as a cook…

 

This game also includes the dreaded ‘in-game purchases’ which Ubisoft have recently been slammed for. You can either spend hours doing jobs to gain EXP and bliss or you can just jump to the store and empty your bank account to level up, which to me, defies the point of the game entirely.

 

However, as I am old and grey, the game is suitable for young children as the story isn’t overloaded with violence and there are a lot of morale issues webbed into the storyline, for example, how making friends with people is the key to being happy. A friend’s daughter highly enjoyed the game and she is now on her third play through!

 

So if you want something different to mix up your gaming experience, then this game is for you. I do strongly advise, however, that you wait for it to go on sale or pick it up pre-owned because the £40 price tag is really not worth it.