- Title: Shirokishi Monogatari -Inishie no Kodou-
- Release Date: 12/25/2008 (Japan). February 2, 2010 (US/EU).
- Genre: RPG
- Platform: PlayStation 3
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Developer: Level-5
- Official Website
- Price: 6,980 yen
Online Meet-up Thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386461
Boxart:
Level-5 has been very quiet on the full story as not to give much away, however, the details we do know paint a very classic story of a hero rescuing the princess.
The story begins in Balandor Kingdom, where Princess Cisna is having her coming of age ceremony. All is not well, however, as a dark organization known as Wizard interrupts the party and raids the banquet.
The protagonist, Leonard, takes the princess away to safety and while doing so uncovers a mysterious armor that transforms him into the White Knight of ancient legend. With this power, he is able to defeat the monsters summoned by Wizard.
During the battle, Cisna is captured and so Leonard must set forth with his new powers to rescue her.
- Full High Definition Role Playing Game - Level-5's first HD game as well as their first PS3 title.
- 100 hours of gameplay in the single player experience.
- Music by Level-5 composer Tomohito Nishiura (Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy, Professor Layton)
- Advanced character customization - complex avatar creation for online adventures as well as insertion into Leonard's party in the single player campaign.
- Completely separate online mode - Two RPGs in one!
- Trophies - WKC has been confirmed to launch with trophies.
- Extensive DLC is planned - WKC will be continued for a long time through downloadable quests.
- In-game screenshots - Take screencaps with the Crystal Shot feature.
- The first truly epic, traditional RPG for the PlayStation 3.
According to reports, there is no slowdown even with a large number of enemies on screen.
Equipment changes will be seen in cutscenes as well.
Online mode is a completely separate entity from the single player experience. In fact, it's completely optional, but the great part about it is that you can go on quests with up to 4 people to gain experience for use in the single player mode.
Your character in the online mode is your avatar, which can be changed at any point, even in the single player mode. All items, money and levels are shared between the two modes.
Players can invite other players into their game.
When meeting up with other players in the online mode, you will meet up in a lobby where you can chat with a maximum of 16 people.
From there, 4 players can launch into a quest mode and play in real-time in the world of White Knight Chronicles.
The game will use it's own Geonet Social Network System, an internal email and message system for the online mode. There will be an ignore function. At this time there is no voice chat implemented, but the developers would like to include it at some time.
The online quests have a lot of volume to them, some lasting 45 minutes or more. You can quest without having 4 people in your party. Rewards are given similar to Monster Hunter. There is also no transforming.
The graphics in the online mode are slightly toned down and the draw distance is slightly less than the single player mode, but it's nothing concerning.
Trailers:
Tokyo Game Show 2006
Promotional Trailer
Tokyo Game Show 2007
Tokyo Game Show 2008 Story Trailer
Tokyo Game Show 2008 Online Trailer
TV CM 1
Single Player TV CM
Online Play CM
Screenshots
Famitsu: 7/8/7/7.
Summary:
Lots of optional content.
Big boss battles.
The combat system is simplistic.
Online chat has some issues that the reviewer hopes get patched in the future.
Reviewer #1 mentioned that he wished there was an autorun option because it's hard to chat and fight at the same time.
Offline play is balanced.
You can create your own combos. Fighting is fun.
The SNS system is difficult to use, in the future it would be nice if they patched it.
A beautiful world with huge monsters and intense battles.
Descriptive narrative and events in the single player mode.
The combat system can be repetitive.
Armor synthesis to easily strengthen weapons, is good.
Not complex, easy to get into.
Creating combos is fun, however, the way the menu works could be more polished.
The online mode's future depends on if they upgrade it.
For the time being, the chat function is inconvenient and needs improving.
Final thoughts from Shouta
Dengeki: 90/85/80/65.
Eurogamer: 8/10 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/white-knight-chronicles-review?page=1
Thanks to BruceLeeRoy for the banner!
