Eurogamer: White Knight Chronicles II Review

Eurogamer writes "It is, without doubt, one of the most off-putting introductions to a game this year."

[rebirthofcaos]

in any case, I love WKC 1, even if for the reviewer is a bad game, will purchase it day 1.

[Trroy]

Same. WKC 1 was great, yet it got mediocre reviews.

A lot of media outlets have been hiring clueless journalists who are detached from the gaming communities they're supposed to serve, under the guise of "everyone's opinion is valid".

But that's not true at all. You have to have some interest in, and experience with, a genre to give a respectable review. Otherwise the opinion is just a random sampling, and hence, worthless -- no better than the opinion of any random person, and certainly worse than the opinion of of experienced player from that genre.

The reviewer actually claims that the JRPG genre is "disappointing" (in the general sense!) at the end of the review. "Unqualified reviewer" comes to mind... the guy freely admits he dislikes JRPGs in general (he finds the genre "disappointing"). Why should we give a ^%#* about his opinion again?

[SephirothX21]

So you're saying Eurogamer does this? Where is the evidence?

[Trroy]

@SephirothX21

Read the last line of the review. The guy admits it freely.

The only way "A disappointment, then - for fans of a genre for whom disappointment is a familiar bedfellow." can be interpreted in a different manner would be to suggest that most JRPGs of the modern generation have been disappointing to fans of the genre.

I'm pretty sure that's not true at all. There are a couple big-name standouts (that a non-fan would know about, like FF XIII), but mostly JRPGs have been pretty good this gen. Star Ocean 4, Valkyria Chronicles, Tales of Vesperia, Lost Odyssey (and yes, WKC 1), just to name a few of the better ones.

The handheld JRPGs have faired even better -- the number of phenomenal JRPGs to debut on the PSP and DS has been unbelievably high in the past couple years. (DQ9, Ys Seven, Ys Oath in Felgana, Crimson Gem Saga, Hexyz Force, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Phantasy Star Portable 1/2, FF IV collection, etc etc...)

A JRPG genre fan would know that. This guy clearly isn't one. He doesn't even seem to realize that WoW is a Western MMORPG, and that integrating those concepts with a JRPG is fairly unique. He claims its somehow commonplace, when, in fact, the only other JRPG example I can think of, which even comes close, is the .hack series from the PS2.

This review is a fine example of cookie cutter journalism. Eurogamer (and many other sites, including IGN, etc.) appears to honestly believe that "anyone" can review "any genre" and that the review is still valid. It's not. A review by someone who dislikes, or is indifferent to a genre, is meaningless, since it carries no more weight, with any crowd, than the weight of a review from a fan of that genre, and a fan's review carries more weight with other fans.

[TBM]

Ill be picking this up regardless of the reviews since I did enjoy the first game.

[FamilyGuy]

Oh yes, let's review this game and spend the majority of the review complaining about there not being a tutorial when part 1 is included. Comparing it to an offline version of WoW, and mentioning nothing about the actual game its self. Nothing about the story (did he even play it?), nothing about the difference in the battle system ("it's enhanced") and nothing about the online since the servers werent even up for it to be played online.

Yes, lets bundle the online aspect into a few sentences: "building your own towns returned", "you can play in parties of 6 now", "uhhh, yeah thats it"

http://img864.imageshack.us...
1450 gameplay hours
http://img651.imageshack.us...
20,207 geo visits

yes, reducing the online to two sentences is fair, I mean c'mon, it's only where you'd be spending the majority of your time with this game, no biggie, no need to even look at it.

The problem with the tutorial issue is the in japan wkcs2 forced you to have a completed game save from part 1, the english version does not. So, since he had the ability to skip it, thats just what he did.

I knew the reviews would be sh.itty like the first but this is more surprising than I thought. It's crazy he was able to create like 6 paragraphs of fluff an call it a review. I could literally write a better review based off of the previews alone. I have a hunch he played less than 5 hours of the storyline only of this game to be honest.

[Uncharted3Goty]

it looks like White Knight Chronicles II might get the same reviews as 1

[miyamoto]

Doesn't most Japanese games this generation get this kind of treatment from most Western nazi bloggers?

And the same with Japanese consoles?

This is Level 5 we are talking about.

I wonder what their score would be if this game was made by Europeans?

[Hands Up For Games]

What a loadf of nonsense.

You dont agree with a review? Fine.

Dont call others integrity into it though, based purely on specualtion and guess work.

[Heartnet]

Hmm yeh hes not being racist haha Its probz just a game where you have to play the first one through to get it :)

[Redempteur]

this review is nonsense ..

the similarities between wkc and wow are slim to none ..

And it doesn't even understand that the avatar is meant for Multiplayer .
Phantasy star universe did something similar ...

"blabla , it's not what i want it to be , so i'm not gonna look at the game but at what i want it to be : 5/10"

for example :
"the awkwardness of switching between targets during a battle leads to frequent frustration"
it's one button press.. how akward is that ??

[WildArmed]

I'm w/ axel on this one.

While I don't believe it's the race of the devs that they are discriminating against. it's the genre of JRPGs.
They want JRPGs to be like WRPGs.. which is retarded.
They both are their own genres and reviewing a JRPG like a WRPG / FPS / H&S game is doing injustice to the genre.
Honestly, I've found the media here sooo critical of JRPGs.. While much more mediocre games get passed w/ a higher score, we have JRPGs getting by w/ 4-5s..
It doesn't take a genius to see that people are expecting something else of the game.

You can't play a H&S game looking for a FPS experience.

Reviews of JRPGs have been disappointing. It's come down to "buy every JRPG and test it yourself"
The media has sure let me down here. It may do a decent job w/ other genres, but it has failed me miserably in JRPGs.

You can't review a JRPG for FPS fans.. it just doesn't work that way.
Just like you can't review a FPS game for H&S fans.

'Reviews are above genres' is a short-sighted way of seeing things.
"All games most have over the top experiences to be good"
Jrpgs aren't built on a moment where you are hanging on a train or driving a snowmobile down a mountain.

Apples and Oranges.
Reviews seem to be blind to this.

[flyingmunky]

Its really sad. I was hoping for more acclaim so that new people would hop online. Oh well I'm still buying it regardless of how much everyone else hates it.

[WildArmed]

haha, same.
It was funny, I started seeing alot of the same people again and again as weeks pasted in WKC1.
Got to know some of those crazy peeps well ^^

[FamilyGuy]

Same, I was thinking there's no way it could get lower reviews, not with the first one bundled and old complaints resolved. I don't believe I've ever been more wrong lol.

Reading this was like having someone piss your face and claim it's raining.

[movements]

That's a slam.

[chidori666]

i heard the first game was awfull,now they make a crap sequel?All I can say is lame,it just seams like every rpg game the japanese makes fails,and yes i consider white knight a failure.

[fluffydelusions]

It's funny because the only bad things I heard about this game were in reviews but everyone I talked to who had it really enjoyed it.

[RedPawn]

DID YOU SEE what Edge mag gave the Witcher, and that's supposed to be a critically acclaimed game so far. They may not be the same publication, but damn man this let's you know how fools stand when comes to RPG's.

BTW, WKC is an awesome series, not the BEST, but it gets the job done in the departments that surely being missed in RPG's nowadays.

INSTABUY!

[miyamoto]

Wow, making assumptions on a game you haven't played.

Because that is what these Western bloggers wants you & everyone to think.

That Western RPGs or Western made games are 'superior' to Japanese made games.

Are you one of those easy to brainwash types or were you born yesterday?

Sorry, but these JRPG, tho made for the Japanese gamers, are not localized to the Western market if there is no demand, on a business standpoint.
And Level 5 also won't make a PSP version if the Japanese did not like it.

And the reviewer obviously ain't these kind of gamer the game was made for. He might be into WRPGs or FP Shooters.

These kind of reviews are just like "Telling Japanese to get off western shores & stay back in Japan." This is just the media backlashing on the Playstation brand after the success of the PS1 & PS2.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

If the game was so awful, why would they have made a sequel? Did you even bother thinking about it?

[sarshelyam]

I won't believe this...loved the first game, so it's obvious this reviewer wasn't the target demographic for the series.

[Ares84]

5 out of 10. That's not a good score to say the least.

I didn't play WKC 1 but from what I have heard from people who have, the game is much better than reviews say. Also, knowing Eurogamer they still are on their "Crusade" to talk down and trash every PS exclusive to tarnish Sony's image for some reason.

I would not take any review about any PS3 exclusive from Eurogamer seriously.

[kharma45]

It's really not lol one of the most infuriating and tedious titles I ever played.

Level 5 can do so, so much better. You'd just be better off buying Dragon Age VIII and seeing what their truly capable of.

[Ares84]

I don't really know since I never played the game. I'm just sticking with Demon's Souls until Dark Souls is released. Only RPG I need really :D (other than Skyrim obviously) :D

@Below,

Never played any Dragon Quest game.

[sarshelyam]

Dragon Quest?

@Ares...I was hoping to correct kharma as he/she obviously meant Dragon Quest, not Dragon Age, in their poor attempt to be negative.

[kharma45]

Yeah my mistake, Dragon Quest not Dragon Age, my mistake :)

Anyway, wasn't a poor attempt to be negative, WKC was deeply flawed and didn't deserve a sequel.

[sarshelyam]

I loved the first game, played through it well within a week (as did my wife). I'm not one who usually devotes enough time to finishing most games, but something about Level 5's old-school sensibilities really pleased me in WKC1.

[Ares84]

See? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Most people who played the game, loved it.

[RandomGamer]

I expected this game to blow honestly the first one was below average as well.Just too bad JRPG genre has been crapped all over this gen compared to the last couple of gens.

Thank god Tales of Graces F is coming to North America next year.

[ChronoJoe]

lol so they didn't understand the game

You're supposed to play WKC1 first, y'know? that's why they didn't understand what was going on, that's why they didn't understand how to play.

[flyingmunky]

Yeah I caught that as well.

He complains about how complicated the skill and options for the battle system are and then complains that its shallow.

He cries about how he doesn't understand what the characters are talking about, so its clear he didn't bother playing the first game.

Then there the 2 paragraph rant on the downfall of jrpgs.

Doesn't even review the online portion, just mentions in a single sentence it exists. That single sentence will be the part of the game I may well spend 200 hrs on.

THIS REVIEW WAS MADE BY A TOTAL HATER!

[ChronoJoe]

lol the game has a fucking perquisite that you HAVE to have a game save of the completed first game, on your HDD. So it's incomprehensible that he wouldn't have been able to understand the cutscenes, or gameplay.

The game plays as it does EXPECTING you to have played the first game, so much so that it actually forces you to do so beforehand, if you haven't.

Yet somehow this guy ignored that completely? I'd guess the PS3 they played on already had a WKC1 save on it or something, otherwise it's hard to understand, why he didn't understand what he was doing in the second.

He was also asking for tutorials, like battle basics, which were in the first game I believe. Honestly though the game is terribly easy to understand anyway.

Also as you say, didn't do much reviewing, especially of the online component. Just felt really unprofessional.

[flyingmunky]

Did they review the Japanese version? Doesn't come out till like August.

[Lavalamp]

It comes out in Europe in like a week. North America gets it in August.

[flyingmunky]

Ah I see. *instantly jealous*

[mac_sparrow]

As expected, much the same gripes from people as the first one. My only problem with the first one was that my friends moved on to CoD before I was max GR.

[Tdmd]

The weird thing is that Eurogamer's review scores for White Knight Chronicles and White Knight Chronicles International Edition were, respectively 8 and 7 as you can see here:

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

and here:

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Now comes part 2, improved upon player feedback with the first game included for free, and it gets a 5? Wth is up with that?!

[Kamikaze135]

Lol that's what I'm saying. If anything, it should have scored higher than the first, but I guess they're reviewing this game SOLELY based on WKC2...which seems to suck harder than the first.

[Redempteur]

the reviewer didn't gave it a chance that's all .
If anything he should have at least played part1 before complaining that the things didn't make any sense .

it's included in the package for a reason ... because it's a direct sequel .

[callahan09]

What I don't understand is that the guy who reviewed WKC1: International Edition is the same guy who reviewed this one. So if he played the original already, I assume he skipped right into WKC2 here and didn't replay the original story. So the question is: why didn't he have a clue how to play WKC2? Did he just not remember how to play the game from last year when he played the original? Or is this one so different that knowledge of the original doesn't carry over to this new one? He gives no indication either way, but I doubt it's the latter.

Perhaps he should have played the first one's tutorial again before skipping to Part 2 if he couldn't remember how to play the darn game once he realized Part 2 doesn't include a SECOND tutorial!

You must recall that this package contains BOTH games, and is intended for players to be able to start the game from the beginning of Part 1 and play all the way through to the end of Part 2, why would they include ANOTHER tutorial at the halfway point of 2-part experience?

[femshep]

i didnt even realize this game had come out already....loved teh first need to get this one

[jneul]

WKC1 was underrated by every reviewer, because you know what I actually enjoyed it alot more than ffxiii, people just seem to hate on wkc no matter what, so my advice to anyone is ignore all reviews if you love traditional JRPG's try it out, I gurantee you wont be dissapointed, of all my friends none of us was dissapointed, we are the real JRPG lovers and we all thought it deserved at least 7-8/10

[Trroy]

Last line of the review:
"A disappointment, then - for fans of a genre for whom disappointment is a familiar bedfellow."

So, to this guy, the entire JRPG genre is disappointing.

So.. why does his opinion matter? Also, why is he writing for a serious mag? My grandma's opinion on JRPGs matters just as much as this guy's, and she'd probably give it a 7, because JRPGs are sometimes quirky and wierd and she likes that, even though she's never played the game or its predecessor.

Grandma says its a 7. Maybe its an 8 if she can figure out the PS3 controller again. All this guy has on her is some practice with the controller, really.

[Tdmd]

Your grandma has a fine taste -- she must be a sweet lady! ;)

[EVO-OM3GA]

I dont understand this, why is it everytime I PS3 game is reviewed and the score isnt what alot of users what/expect they all seem to think its reviewers hate on PS3 games..

I own White Knight 1 the game is OK at best, lets not try to pretend the game is an EPIC in any shape or form..

I will still be getting the second, regardless of reviews because I like RPGs.

[Trroy]

A 5/10 is a "bad game", which even fans of the genre are supposed to "avoid". WKC1 wasn't a bad game, so I don't see how WKC2 will be, since its basically the 1st game, plus 200% more content, and an enhanced engine/graphics.

The issue is really more with the quality of the review than anything. It looks like it was farmed off to someone who doesn't even play JRPGs (or who thinks JRPGs are "disappointing" in general), by his own admission at the end of the review.

This seems like a common practice this gen. The fact that the PS3 exclusive reviews seem to get most of the N4G anger going, has nothing to do with the PS3, and more to do with N4G, which is largely populated by hardcore gamers (who tend to appreciate their PS3s).

[Pintheshadows]

I couldn't agree with you more. This is beginning to bother me across the board. It seems more like a rant against what he dislikes about JRPGs than an actual review and he is very misinformed. I personally thought WKC was one of the better JRPGs this gen because it recognised what it was. A JRPG.

[EVO-OM3GA]

WKC1 wasn't a bad game, so I don't see how WKC2 will be, since its basically the 1st game, plus 200% more content, and an enhanced engine/graphics.

Ok maybe thats it right there, it is basically WKC1 with Add ons and updated graphics. They didnt IMPROVE alot to the game.

[WildArmed]

"Ok maybe thats it right there, it is basically WKC1 with Add ons and updated graphics. They didnt IMPROVE alot to the game."

....except the changed the combat engine alot since WKC1.

It's funny when people post stuff w/o bothering learning about the game.
When games like CoD get good scores for churning out the same thing, apparently it's a bad thing when JRPGs do it. And get 4-5s for it, instead of a 7-8.

Ofc, it's just an opinion.
But the fact that it's quite delusional doesn't help it's credibility.

You don't give a FPS fan to review a H&S.
similarly, I don't see why people review JRPGs for FPS-players.

It'd be good to be able to differentiate a good JRPG title from a crappy one.. but nope...
the more 'action' oriented the JRPG the better (See: FFXIII scores, hardly one of the best JRPG released this gen yet it was scored more generously than JRPGs that are better than it)