Well, let's see. Since this is my first crack at this system, I'll stick with a bit of an older game (though, not too old).
Xenosaga: Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht
It began, with a key, one that man was never meant to find. Well, of course a scientist finds it, and the door it goes to. Placing it into the door, the scientist and entire group of diggers brace themselves for the unknown, not realizing that this one single act would be the end of the world as they knew it, a world called Earth.
Story: 10/10 - I KNOW story isn't one of the above categories, but in Xenosaga's case, it is borne out of necessity. Basically, 4000 years after the fated event I overly exaggerated above, you assume the role of Shion Uzuki of Vector's First R&D (Research & Development) Division.
As you might have guessed from the above, humanity now exists only in outer space, and on a few inhabitable planets. In space, humanity is constantly fearful of attacks by the Gnosis - etherial beings made of salt (don't ask me - it's anime). Anyway, Shion and the 'good' people of Vector have developed the ultimate weapon against the Gnosis, KOS-MOS, an android that has 'more abilities than a fully equipped Samus Aran'. Well, the game opens up as you're bringing this project to completion and... Well, you'll have to play the game to find out more.
Visuals: 9/10 - The visuals in this game are phenominal and really bring the universe to life on an unprecedented level. The characters are all done in an anime-style that really brings them to life. The backgrounds look generally sterile and a bit too clean, which is a result of the whole Anime thing. While there are a few hiccups (a very few), and some lip-synching issues, this game is still one of the most gorgeous looking RPGs of its time. Character - environment interaction is easily on par with even the most up-to-date RPGs out there, including Final Fantasy.
Sound: 10/10 - Being orchestrated by Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, etc...), people who have played any other games he's done music for won't be disappointed. The London Philharmonic Orchestra did not disappoint with its spectacular musical score, possibly one of the best ones in RPG history. Every single tune used in the game was perfect for the situation at hand, and the instrumentals ranged from calm piano overtones, to creepy, to truly epic-sounding scores. In fact, if there was one gripe I had about the music, I'd say that there wasn't enough of it. But that wasn't serious enough for me to deduct points off, especially with the spectacular score.
Control: 9/10 - For the most part, I found the controls smooth and responsive. My only real issue was the fact that there were a few times that I had to press a button more than once to get the game to respond, but it usually limited itself to conversations, making it a minor problem.
Gameplay: 8/10 - I'd have to say, other than the above control issues, the gameplay was as flawless as a title like this one can be. If I had to say one thing against the gameplay, it would have to be the fact that some of the traps in the dungeons were poorly placed, rendering themselves useless when trying to avoid enemies, or gain an opening advantage in battle. As for battles themselves, while the system is definitely unique and provides many options including giant robots (AGWS), it isn't really at all necessary. Most of the time you can just level up and pummel even the toughest looking enemies just as easily as any other enemy. The only exception comes with bosses. Each one has a particular method to its madness and will likely kill you very fast if you make any mistakes against it. In fact, until you find a particular boss' weakness, you'll feel that the battles are quite unbalanced, even though they really aren't. That's not a negative, just a warning.
Replay: 7/10 - The game is good enough to play through more than once, but once you get bored of the story, it seems to become tedious and motonous to play it through again and again. But despite this, it's a game one may find themself going back to every once in awhile.
Overall: 9/10 - Overall, this is a great game that can easily satisfy even the most experienced RPG veterans out there. However, word of advice, the cinema scenes are looong (some over an hour in length). So if you're playing a game to jump right into the next area rather than for the story, this might not be a game for you.
Average: 8/10
On the positive side:
- The storyline is outstanding, rivaling even the efforts of Final Fantasy.
- The visuals are on par with even the most advanced games out there.
- The music will literally give you chills as you play.
On the negative side:
- Battles have a few unnecessary elements and get repetitive quickly.
- Slight control lags may be a bit annoying.
- The sheer amount of cinema scenes may turn off gamers wanting to 'dive right in'.
