It is my game of the year, and should be at the very least nominated as game of the year by major publications.
It's amazing through and through. Screw MGS4, GTAIV, Brawl, Gears 2, and Fallout 3 (the obvious choices, though not all my personal ones). Not literally, because those are all fantastic games as well, but this one is just it for me. It's far more unique than any of the above.
The gameplay is genius and different from every other strategy RPG or RPG or action RPG or however you want to classify it's incredibly unique gameplay. Where as the above titles sought to perfect what they had already started, Sega went on and reinvented it's genre (whatever genre you want to call it). The gameplay is fluid, engaging, smart, and both simple and deep at the same time. That sort of effort and subsequent accomplishment must be recognized.
Graphically it's astoundingly beautiful and a fantastic use of the PS3s power that uses more than a brown and grey color pallette. It is simply a gorgeous game, artistically I find it far better than any of the previously mentioned titles by ten miles.
The soundtrack is fantastic. You unlock the soundtrack after you beat it and I'm listening to it for the second time now and it's just beautiful. The orchestral pieces are beautiful, and they hit every mood just right. From the tense beats of the war drums leading up to battles, to the beautiful symphonic pieces everything manages to convey exactly what it wants to and penetrates right to the heart.
The story is great, it's not shakespear but it's engaging and surprisingly mature. How many games have openly homosexual or racist characters without making a big deal about it? And then actually goes on to use their personalities as actual gameplay mechanics (lesbianism has great perks)? It changes from the sucrose fun of anime buddy shows where everybody is great friends on a dangerous but fun and memorable adventure to the horrors and realities of war without missing a beat or ever feeling awkward. The voice acting is great, or at least as good as videogames and anime get. It has many recognizable voices for anybody that watches anime, and they deliver their lines well.
I beat it clocking in at around...36 hours which is an assload for modern games. And It's got plenty of replay value for those that are obsessed with perfection and DLC on the way for new missions.
The thing is I can't think of any weaknesses of this game. It is a fantastic and absolutely solid effort from Sega (Which is a shock, I guess they still have at least a couple of good teams over there), that actually does something different, vastly different. If you don't have this game then go get it. I don't care if you don't like JRPGS or SRPGS or whatever, this isn't one of them, this is something entirely different. And if nothing else, it has shooting ok? If you are a gamer you have no excuse to play all of the previously mentioned games and ignore this one (unless you just don't have the money for a PS3). It is the cream of the crop, and I'm calling it as my game of the year.
You can find me on facebook as Markus Van Rijn, if you friend me just mention you're from VGchartz and who you are here.
