Out: November 20

Good bits: Weekly Famitsu's reviewers, all of whom know a thing or two about RPGs, had almost nothing but kind things to say the battle system, which the game apparently hinges on. "The gameplay begins and ends with the battle system, which is reminiscent of Romancing SaGa but has been refined to a wholly new class of RPG," wrote one. "It's undeniably complex and difficult to get to grips with, but gamers have got to experience the unique battles; you can't get something like this anywhere else."

Another thought that TLR isn't as difficult as all that, however: "You're fighting battles with huge forces, but the commands involved are easy. A lot of the equipment and order commands that'd be considered by most to be fiddly have been greatly automated for you."

TLR's battle system is such an integral part of the experience, apparently, that Famitsu's reviewers hardly talked about anything else. One reviewer called out the "great" graphics and character designs, also noting that there's a ton of content to explore within the game.

Bad bits: All the reviewers mentioned a bit of a learning curve involved with enjoying the game, though they all took pains to note that it was easily surmounted. Said one: "Not being able to freely choose your skills in battle makes things bewildering at the start, but things do an about-face once you form your own Unions," the teams of soldiers you control in battle. Others wrote that each battle takes "a fair amount of time" and "things drag a little when there are lots of participants in battle," although neither issues were seen as a big deal once you got used to them.

Final Score: 10/10/9/9, for a total of 38 points and a Platinum award.