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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If at first you don't succeed..., 28 Feb 2004
Welcome to the Island of Pandule, the island where every day is summer & everyone is beautiful, but lately also the setting for the wedding of the century between the islands princess & Lord Xelpherpolis (is it just me or is this guy Sephiroth's long lost twin?). You are a travelling musician (and general rogue) & are invited to play at the wedding & so the saga begins...
The narrative is mainly restricted to an ever repeating 5 day cycle- from your first day on the island to the big day itself, whereupon xelpherpolis turns back time & takes you back to the first day again. The only problem being that within these 5 days all sorts of nasty things happen to the people around you- mostly dying (what else?!). The point of the game is to awaken the islanders from the spell of time so that they actually realise time is being reversed & ultimately defeat Lord Xel.
Unfotunately this is easier said than done as everything is determined by what time of day it is- you have to be in a certain place at a certain time & have certain characters with you all to trigger an event from even occuring- wow are you as confused as me?!
The truth is, is that this is a really really really confusing game. I would recommend dowloading some hints or walkthroughs just to get you started. You shouldn't be deterred though as once you get the hang of it & remember when key events are occuring etc it becomes a whole lot easier. On the whole, once you get into it, its a fantastic game with tons of content.
I would recommend that you only buy this game if you're willing to donate 6 months of your life to it, its well worth it if you do!!!!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Convoluted but highly entertaining RPG, 12 Mar 2002
Right. This game is great. I am writing this to rectify any misconceptions. It is only boring if you aren't able to get your head around the 5-day time loop and figure out how to free others from said loop. Admittedly, this can be rather difficult to do, but it is also very satisfying when you accomplish it.You also don't need to remember when all the events happen, as you're automatically taken to most of the important ones, although it does sometimes help to keep a 'diary'. The bemani element of the game is, um, unusual. It's quite good fun, but it isn't actually vital to the plot, and contrary to the manual, I don't think it's necessary to successfully perform any of the songs in the game (I did remarkably badly on several and still progressed). Criticisms? Well, it's a little easy, if you spend just a little time level-building, which you'll probably do quite accidentally as you wander around the island looking for clues. Some dungeons are quite annoying, with their endless random encounters and confusing layouts. And Pattimo's 'scientific' reasoning behind time loops and time seizures and whatnot is clearly just thrown in by the developers to brush aside complex issues like why some people can remember things from loop to loop and some can't. All in all, though, a great game that is only 'boring' if you don't have the patience or capacity for lateral thought necessary to progress in it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not as confusing as you'd think, 6 Sep 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
The basic premise of this game is that you are a musician invited to play at the royal wedding on Padule, only to find that not everything is as it appears. So far, so pretty typical of RPGs (although a 300 year old talking intrument is a little different).
What's not typical is how the story progresses beyond the first two days - the main antagonist is quite happy to tell you what it is he's doing, despite being very friendly towards you at all other times. You then get to repeat the five days leading up to the wedding over and over and over, gaining levels and freeing more and more characters from the loop. If this sounds very confusing, don't worry, it's not once you get into it and listen to Pattimo explain it.
Another interesting feature is the guitar mini-game. At certain points in the game, you have to play a song in a beatmania style, holding down a note button and pressing the pick button to match it up. Score well and you get extra money/scenes/bragging rights to your mates. Now, some people would think that the songs can't be all that complicated, but whilst the first is pretty easy once you get used to the controls, the rest will have you pulling your hair out again and again until you get it right - the songs here make the hardest on Guitar Hero seem simple!
I won't lie to you, the graphics aren't up to Final Fantasy standard. They take some getting used to (though the game was released in 2001/2, so come on!), but the music is stunning. The characters are actually far more detailed than you'd expect from most RPGs (even some Final Fantasy games don't have the level of character development and complexity of this game), and the story is pretty unique - even if the antagonist looks like Sephiroth.
This is not a game for people who like short sharp bursts - there are a lot of things to do and a lot of story to go through. I've read that it's possible to play through in 50 game days, but that'll take you a good few months of real time to get through, and some of it will be a slog. But get through it, and you won't be disappointed.
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Suitable for 12 years and over. Not for sale to persons under age 12. By placing an order for this product, you declare that you are 12 years of age or over.
