I hate this linkshell with a fiery passion.

As I sat down to write this preview, I reflected on the influence a major critical entity can have. In the case of White Knight Chronicles, my preconceived notions were strongly colored -- stained, really -- by a damning 29/40 review from Famitsu. The score seemed shockingly low, especially for a game coming from a major advertiser like Sony. Even the generally horrible Infinite Undiscovery did better (32/40), while the unfairly maligned The Last Remnant did much better (38/40). More alarmingly, Level-5's own disappointing Rogue Galaxy was considered the superior game (36/40). In short, I was expecting a disaster.

White Knight Chronicles is anything but. I don't get the feeling the game is a vibrant masterpiece -- not yet, anyway -- but it is certainly superior to Infinite Undiscovery, and corrects most of the problems with the deeply flawed Rogue Galaxy. Although WKC will turn out to be enjoyable comfort food for JRPG fans in whatever state it arrives on Western shores, a few simple tweaks here and there could improve it dramatically. I hope this preview will serve to highlight some of the niggling interface problems I encountered in WKC -- those little issues that all too often find their way creeping into otherwise highly polished Level-5 games.
Despite how Sony has promoted WKC since its announcement at Tokyo Game Show 2006, it is an MMORPG at heart. Indeed, online adventuring is ostensibly half the game: The giant robot fantasy you've been seeing images of for two years, or "Story Part," is but a one-player experience built on a foundation clearly erected to serve the "Live Part," a Final Fantasy XI-lite four-player online RPG. (I say "ostensibly," as it has been impossible to play WKC online since its release two days ago; more below.) To serve the Live Part, the game presents you with an incredibly elaborate character creation mode as soon as you complete the five-minute, 2GB install necessary to play the game. Level-5 president/evangelist Akihiro Hino has said he expects gamers to spend two hours crafting their avatar before the game even begins, and in my case that turned out to be accurate: After an evening spent coaxing nine pages of sliders ranging from ear curvature to nasal-labial trough ratio, I ended up with an unnervingly accurate 3D representation of myself -- faithful down to slightly asymmetrical eyes. When all is said and done, WKC may be best remembered for this feature; I'd be fully comfortable calling WKC's avatar editor the most advanced in gaming history. Indeed, it makes the character creation modes of titles like Oblivion and PlayStation Home look laughable in comparison.

Once you're satisfied with your in-game persona, the one-player Story Part begins (you aren't able to access any online functions until you've advanced a few hours into the campaign, which serves to act as a tutorial for the various game systems). Your avatar turns out to be a mute employee at the hero Leonard's liquor shop, where you are both tasked with retrieving a shipment of wine for the Princess Shizuna's coming of age festival. By nightfall, the low-born Leonard has finagled his way into the royal palace, an event which -- wouldn't you just know it -- happens to coincide with an enemy invasion led by a menacing Black Knight. Soon the Princess is kidnapped, and her father the King of Valandor killed...but not before Leonard makes a pact with a suit of ancient, sentient armor lying beneath the palace, granting him the ability to transform into a 30-foot-tall robo-knight. All this before the opening credits!

The story may not be remarkable (being penned as it is by Hino, who "wrote" the wildly incoherent Rogue Galaxy), but the experience it sets up is an enjoyable one. I mentioned that WKC was an MMORPG at heart; that might be too kind. WKC is Final Fantasy XI. The near-identical controls, battles, camera angles, on-screen log, emote commands, macro shortcuts, and design -- extending even to legal action-worthy analogues of FFXI's Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Mithra and Galka races -- nearly convinced me I was living a cruel flashback. FFXI held my life in a death grip for half a decade, but to return to its familiar control schemes was strangely enjoyable. For those who never tried Square Enix's soul-stealing online RPG, its game engine was a brilliant one; you've already experienced a great deal of its influence in FFXII, but it is even more profound here.
That influence is first noticeable in WKC's vast, wide-open areas, which can take a good 15 minutes to traverse the length of. Cities are completely seamless -- opening the door to a shop or home simply lets you inside, with nary a screen transition to be seen. Environments have a true lived-in quality; there is a sense that the world continues beyond the boundaries your characters can move within, and that it would continue to function whether you inhabited it or not. WKC may not be a technical marvel, but its superb world design can make for the occasionally breathtaking moment, as you crest a rise to see glittering lakes far below, or stop to admire the intricate way a bridge loops back over an area you had been through hours before.

Control is also lifted from FFXI, with movement on the left stick and the targeting of enemies, NPCs, and objects accomplished with the digital d-pad. Targeting your own character brings up a list of commands. In battle, you can freely assign individual attacks, weapon skills, and magic commands to a palette of shortcuts -- a concept identical to FFXI's macros, though with somewhat less freedom. Enemies roam on the field, some aggressive, some not, and will link together on sight just as in...yeah, I don't even have to say it anymore.

Two areas in which WKC differs significantly from FFXI are its character growth and Combo systems. You have complete freedom to acquire whatever weapon skill, magic, or stat bonus you choose through the use of Skill Points obtained when you level up, and only through the learning of them are subsequent skills unlocked. It's like FFXII's License Board system, though with a less visual implementation. You can also create custom Combos by linking together several attacks via a sub-menu, which are unleashed in battle through a Quick Time Event-like button tapping scheme. Contrary to how they may sound, Combos may be the most enjoyable aspect of WKC's battle system, offering great freedom and accompanied by spectacular camerawork.

A mechanic which has no FFXI parallel at all is Leonard's ability to transform into the titular White Knight (complete with a hokey tokusatsu cry of "Henshin!") -- but only in wide-open areas, because the thing is freaking ginormous. As in fellow mecha-RPG Xenogears, the robot form is so powerful that it decimates regular enemies, but is virtually required to stand up to bosses. The cost for unleashing the Knight's power is almost negligible -- it will deplete Leonard's Action Chips (normally used for weapon skills) and MP, but both are refilled by simply walking on the field. Thus far, WKC has not been a challenging game, due in no small part to the transformation scheme.

As much as I'd like to tell you all about the Live Part, I can't. The WKC servers have been mercilessly hammered since launch, brought to their knees by "higher than expected traffic." Perhaps this should come as no surprise: Nearly every MMO from Japan experiences dreadful connection issues during launch week... a "tradition" that goes back to PSO. If I could connect, I'd be experiencing a four-player FFXI-in-miniature, with each person taking control of their personal avatar -- Leonard's co-worker and constant companion from the Story Part. After creating a lobby, you join instanced rooms for randomly generated quests that culminate in a boss battle. You avatar retains the levels, money, and items gained, and bring them back to Leonard's one-player Story Part. According to the manual, there are even social networking-style functions, like a personal home page on which you can link to friends, post in-game photos, and blog about your adventures. It all sounds fascinating, and I look forward to trying it...whenever Sony fixes its servers.

As I noted in my introduction, a DOA network isn't the only problem WKC suffers from. A few troubling, elementary interface issues that demand mentioning:

* There is no pause function. You're completely out of luck should you need to put the game down for a few minutes during one of the lengthy cut-scenes.
* There is no camera recentering function, which can occasionally cause awkward control issues.
* There is no auto-run. For a game so clearly inspired by FFXI, this is an egregious omission. Auto-run was designed so that targeting could be accomplished simultaneously with movement -- something that is virtually impossible in WKC.
* There is no quick access to area maps. Although a minimap is always present, the vast areas require frequent calling up of maps buried in the Select button sub-menu.
* Most unfortunately, there is no voice chat -- a complaint voiced by Famitsu and confirmed by the game's manual. In this day and age, there is simply no excuse. I realize Japanese gamers are frequently nervous about speaking online -- during my FFXI days, half my LinkShell members used voice changing software -- but Westerners have no such qualms. Despite these issues, my two days with White Knight Chronicles illustrated that highly valid, age-old point: Don't believe everything you read. The game is no disaster, and all its issues could conceivably be addressed with a patch, or eliminated entirely from the forthcoming English version. It is immediately the best RPG on PlayStation 3, a platform that is desperate for a good one. Depending on how much the online mode has to offer, it may even have the potential to be great.

In general, I'm fairly impressed. The game is really well put together.

The graphics and sound are sharp for the most part. There's a bit of pop-up from time to time but it's not too bad. The environments are huge and fantastic looking. They're also designed pretty well and lots of stuff in and around the places. The character models aren't as good as the initial trailer but they're not too shabby after you take a close look at them and have been for awhile. Monsters look great. I LOVE that all the equipment displays on the character even during cutscenes.

Gameplay is pretty solid. MMO-style combat that goes pretty quickly but is very manageable since the pacing is good and the AI is fairly smart. The skill system is not shabby, it could be a little deeper but it's actually pretty solid.

Story isn't shabby. It's entertaining although a little shallow so far. That's not a bad thing though, it moves quickly and doesn't have some of the more annoying bits of stories with more exposition. It's provided a few amusing moments too (see Gamarone scene and Lenard's reaction).

Downsides, I think the game could be a little tougher at times but the enemies are starting to get a bit more powerful so we'll see. Action Chip gain and loss is a bit funky and I'm not quite sure how exactly it works. A more synergetic system in combat could be a bit better like team combos or something.

At any rate, definitely enjoying it so far.