Kartia

Kartia: "The Word Of Fate" (recognized as Rebus in Japan), crams fabulous innovation in one decent Strategy/RPG. Although Atlus has released a few worthy games on the PlayStation console, Atlus begins to grow as a company who'll soon promote their selves into a house-hold name. Like the arising empire of Enix. Despite the humiliation from their most embarrassing game, Eggs of Steel, Atlus is gaining momentum with their not-notch RPGs. Taking corresponding steps alike with Ogre Tactics and my all time precious- Final Fantasy Tactics-, Kartia packs charming innovations. Sure, Kartia may not have the excellent job systems like FFT, or any archers for the matter, yet it brings temples of innovations to bury the burden. It has Phantoms. Once the player ons his PlayStation, the player selects his decision to accept the role of Toxe or Lacryma. Each character has a totally different story process. The niddy-griddy fun in Kartia is concentrating on your arsenal of Phantoms. They are paper-rock-scissors monsters. All phantoms can be defeated by a specific one and vise versa. Phantoms play the most basic role. During the game, the player uses them to create elemental magic or specialize weapons. Assembling the player's own infantry takes a critical job for victory or instant death. The objectives in Kartia are alike with FFT's system. From claiming the lives of your adversaries to escorting a vital character, Kartia has the same fundamentals of any Strategy/RPG game. What really amazes, is the addition to disturb the environment. Players have the opportunity to cut down trees down for a bridge and order a magician to freeze a pool of water for walking. Battling enemies on the vast terrain is exciting, but the game loses some valuable points from being completely linear. Gladly, there is another innovation that covers that burden as well, the 2P Mode. Final Fantasy Tactics could have been truly flawless if Square decided to include the 2P Mode. Kartia takes Strategy/RPGs deeper. The 2P Mode allows two players to battle their armies on saved data. Players can also trade items. The ONLY downslope going for Kartia is the abrupt end. Kartia is an engrossing story. With a tale like this, why not bring an anime in the movie industry? Both characters have dissimilar story progressions. Loxe is a young boy who enjoys the elegance of swordplay a bit too much. Lacryma is an incredibly robust Shrine Knight. It's up to these two heroes to protect the land from barbaric rebels. Heroes fighting the bad rebels may sound dull and boring, but once the backstabs roll in, there's no way the player can let the controller free again. Someone, anyone, make Kartia an anime! Graphically Kartia is a 3D splendor. The vibrant colors hold an artistic environment. When a person speaks, a dialogue box is set above the screen and the character's faces appear. At the FMV department, the videos are dark, and morbid that triumphantly stimulates your daily dose of eye-candy. Music thrives to hand the player spectacular soundings. The beats can really adjure you in an edge of your seat thrill. Atlus has succeeded to create a game that goes beyond the redundant RPGs today. Don't be fooled by Kartia's age or lack of popularity. This is a solid buy. FFT fans, run- kill only if necessary- to grab a hold of this monster. 2P mode shines and awaits for your arrival. In return for your forty bucks you'll get the chance to trade items with a friend, and get sucked into a extremely addictive play!

Despite having somewhat dull graphics and being super-linear, Kartia has to be one of my favorite games for the PSX. The characters, especially in Lacryma's scenario, are interesting and contain real depth. The music is also wonderful, and fits each scene perfectly.

The actual gameplay is fun and relies on an interesting system, but in the end Kartia's more like an interactive book. If you don't like to sit back and read, steer clear.

Alot of people dislike this game, it's graphics aren't the best, and the battle system isn't the best, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the storyline. I thought it was interesting. I had alot of fun playing this game and felt that the reviewers in the gaming magazines weren't exactly fair. Every once and awhile I still read sarcastic comments about Kartia in gaming magazines, although one has to wonder about the opinions of those guys. o.O. If you want to get this game, don't get it with any expectations. Also if you don't like to read, forget it. But if you like good storylines and fun, different gameplay, it's a good choice. But... don't judge it on the first hour of gameplay. ^_^

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