Technology news and Jobs arrow Radioactive IT arrow Review: Rogue Galaxy - A whole galaxy to explore
Review: Rogue Galaxy - A whole galaxy to explore E-mail
by Mike Bantick   
Sunday, 28 October 2007

Where in Blue Dragon , the game revolved around character development, with the inventory providing only secondary consideration, the reverse is true in Rogue Galaxy.

Once you get the hang of the awkward interface, you will find that the inventory screen is the main driver behind character development in Rogue Galaxy.  Certain characters can only equip each weapon or armour, and at the end of each battle (see below) not only characters, but also their respective equipped devices gain experience.

Early in the game, a small creature joins the troupe, providing a method to combine like equipment to form an even more powerful single device.  This will only work if the character has gained experience in said equipment.  A mini game on its own, this weapon and armour alchemy provides a solid portion of the enjoyment to Rogue Galaxy.

Contained in the inventory is another Pokemon style mini-game centred on trapping and training pets.

Finally, the inventory provides the character skill system in a nod to Final Fantasy XII .  Called Revelation, character abilities are unlocked by placing mundane to rare items into correct slots on an ability board.  Once again, each character has a distinctive range of abilities that can be employed during combat.roguegal3.jpg

Oh yeah, combat.  The basis of any JRPG worth its salt.  This time around turn based is eschewed in favour of frenetic random real time encounters, liberally seasoned with a smattering of Boss battles.

Each encounter generally taxes the friendly AI, but at anytime you can take control of a character, dispensing sharp justice or healing potions as the need arrises.  There are some camera issues and awkward control mechanisms.  On the whole however combat is an enjoyable experience that can become somewhat samey during the later stages of particularly large environments. 

There is still more to explore in Rogue Galaxy, such as Hunter ratings, trap disarming and more.  Now if only you had more control over which members joined your party for each outing and a little more depth to the puzzles, this would be a JRPG to rival not only the classics already available on the PS2, but those emerging for next-gen platforms.

Powered By Joomla Tags

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment!



 
< Next story in category   Previous story in the category >
iTWire user statistics Visitors last 30 days
694,279
Subscribers 15,210
#1 independent technology news advertise here
  •   *  
  • Search
  • AdvSeach
  • Login
  • Events
  • FreeStuff

- Advertisement -

Featured Whitepapers

Radioactive IT - Exposure to Hazardous Interactive Entertainment
Wriggle into your Hazmat suit, pick up your Geiger counter and journey into the dangerous world of gaming and interactive entertainment. Mike Bantick will be your guide.
Follow iTWire on Twitter

About iTWire

iTWire is all about technology news, information, jobs and community for the IT and telecommunications industry professional. Subscribe to our free ICT daily newsletter