Saturday, July 11, 2009

Spectral Souls (PSP)

Spectral Souls is a strategy RPG for the PSP. The original
game was Spectral Souls 2 for the PS2 (JP only). This
remake removes the level cap, as well as includes some new
dungeons. Newcomers to this series should not be afraid.
You will not be lost in the story.

Story (8/10)- You play as three separate armies, are all
involved in a war to gain control. How you progress effects
the story effects the turn of events. It is a good twist on
the normal war story which tends to make SRPGs work.

Gameplay (10/10)- Always the meat and bone of SRPG. The
system is on a grid system like many of its genre. It
uses an AP system, which each action costs AP (Action
Points), and you have to wait once you use all your AP.
Using less AP allows your character to gain his turn faster.
So no longer do you have to be careful with the way you use
your special skills and magic, for with the AP system MP is
out the window. Another part of the battle system is the
chain and combo attacks. You can use skills alone, allowing
you to use the same attack several times, or use several at
once, sometimes combining the attacks into a stronger skill.
You can also get your other characters into the action to
rack up the damage.

If an ally falls during battle it gives you three turns to
resurrect that character, very much like Final Fantasy
Tactics. However unlike FFT if those three turns pass that
character is only out of the battle, not gone forever.

There is also a small amount of character customization is
the game. You gain points for the character to upgrade as
you please, and you also gain a type of point called party
points for completing story battles, which acts in the same
way as the points you use to upgrade your units, allowing
you to make the characters your own. You are also able to
change what skills they use, allowing you to change up their
attacks as you see fit, further customizing them.

Sounds (6/10)- The music in the game fits, however nothing
to really write home about. The few battle tracks feels
completely at place in the game, however grows repetitive
somewhat quickly.

Graphics (9/10)- I'm not one to be to picky on my graphic.
They are simple 2D character sprites with plenty of polish
to make them pleasing. The battlefield seems to be 3Dish.

Other notes about game: If you are to search for other
reviews, you will come across one simple factor. The
loading of the game does in fact take a while, however
using the cache feature in the psp slim and up helps
speeds things up. In reality the loading times using
a slim are very manageable.

The major flaw in my opinion is the hassle you have to
go through just to save every time. It is just plain
annoying, but you get over it.

Overall (9/10)- Overall its good. The loading times can
be a burden sometimes, but this is a fantastic SRPG that
a fan of the genre should not miss out on. The replay
value is great, and so is the fun factor. The fact every
choice and how you progress effects the story is proof
of the replay value.

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