<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>This game always manages to impress me even though it's 2 generations removed from the current genre. The gorgeous 2D is still not easily surpassed with today's technology (it's one thing to pump out more polygons, but to make something look nice, that's another). The music is on par with the best RPG out there, and the plot always pulls me in even though I already know what's going to happen.
And after playing a fourth time I realized how little we actually know about the story. Who is Royd's 'closest friend' that he speaks of? What is it that Princess Elle must do to protect this world? What is the meaning of Astarica in the grand scheme of things? Does it foreshadow that the Light alone is not enough to protect this world? Whatever happened to Royd and Fyda after the last battle? What about Meilin and Perel? Ark? Whatever happened to Dark Elle? Of course, some of it seems to stem from the fact that the developer wasn't able to actually figure anything out, but I find this game to have a lot of subtle points and a lot of interesting little things you can do. I remember when I finally found Chika in the Gobi desert it feels like a real accomplishment, even though the reward is one lousy Magirock. I think this has to do with the game's design. It is really not combat oriented. Dragoon Castle, perhaps one of the most action filled pack of the game (and I'm not talking about dodging the stupid guards!), does not even let you use your weapon in the whole time! The dialogue is simple and perhaps even a little goofy, but I think it captures Meilin's bratty and yet kind heart, or Fyda's loyalty, or Perel being, well, Perel, and of course, Royd, who I think is one of the best supporting characters even though he rarely speaks.
I'd really like to see Enix make a sequel of this, but then again, I've a feeling they'd just screw up. It's one of the few RPG that manages to surprise me, and yet everything make sense at the end. Sure, a lot of RPG can surprise me with their plot, but we're talking about stuff like "It turns out Yuna is actually Tida's sister!" kind of surprise (which, by the way, isn't true) which you really have no way of knowing ahead of time. I really love the presentation of the plot twists. The clues are there, and you know something is wrong, but you don't really know what's going on until you've awaken Beruga, and it's not until the last chapter when you finally figured out Ark's true mission...</div>
And after playing a fourth time I realized how little we actually know about the story. Who is Royd's 'closest friend' that he speaks of? What is it that Princess Elle must do to protect this world? What is the meaning of Astarica in the grand scheme of things? Does it foreshadow that the Light alone is not enough to protect this world? Whatever happened to Royd and Fyda after the last battle? What about Meilin and Perel? Ark? Whatever happened to Dark Elle? Of course, some of it seems to stem from the fact that the developer wasn't able to actually figure anything out, but I find this game to have a lot of subtle points and a lot of interesting little things you can do. I remember when I finally found Chika in the Gobi desert it feels like a real accomplishment, even though the reward is one lousy Magirock. I think this has to do with the game's design. It is really not combat oriented. Dragoon Castle, perhaps one of the most action filled pack of the game (and I'm not talking about dodging the stupid guards!), does not even let you use your weapon in the whole time! The dialogue is simple and perhaps even a little goofy, but I think it captures Meilin's bratty and yet kind heart, or Fyda's loyalty, or Perel being, well, Perel, and of course, Royd, who I think is one of the best supporting characters even though he rarely speaks.
I'd really like to see Enix make a sequel of this, but then again, I've a feeling they'd just screw up. It's one of the few RPG that manages to surprise me, and yet everything make sense at the end. Sure, a lot of RPG can surprise me with their plot, but we're talking about stuff like "It turns out Yuna is actually Tida's sister!" kind of surprise (which, by the way, isn't true) which you really have no way of knowing ahead of time. I really love the presentation of the plot twists. The clues are there, and you know something is wrong, but you don't really know what's going on until you've awaken Beruga, and it's not until the last chapter when you finally figured out Ark's true mission...</div>
