Pros: Unique world setting - a cross between Buffy and X-Files with a dash of Lovecraft thrown in. Single player storyline is well written if excessively cut-scened.

Cons: The "end-game" is literally nothing more than the standard instance/ raid gear grind. The whole "no levels, no classes, non-linear progression" tagline is utter bs. There are levels, but they are tied to gear. There are classes, as every instance devolves into LF "tank", "healer", "DPS" and there are skills that are directly tied to the aforementioned roles. On the subject of grouping, there is NO group finder currently in the game, so get ready to do a lot of shouting to get the required instances done. The non-linear progression is also utter tripe, as you need certain gear to stay competetive in both PVE and PVP.

PVP for that matter, is a joke. Perhaps the worst and most anaemic, unbalanced mess I've seen a modern MMO launch with. 2 battlezones and a 3rd which is a PVE zergfest where PVEers run around to get their starter raid gear. Do note that PVP gear is ultimately outclassed by PVE gear in PVP scenarios, so in order to stay competitive in PVP you MUST do the PVE grind. There is only ONE path to progression and that is doing dungeons. So, nothing in the game is non-linear.

All in all, good till you clear the main story (could take two months if you're slow), but get ready for a raid or die commitment and grind not seen outside of Korean MMOs. Oh, and they recycle all the dungeons, some have up to three tiers of difficulty. So you're doing the same content ad nauseum.

As the title implies, there's nothing here that breaks the mold. That said, it doesn't have to. The game has a functional, fun, fast-paced combat system - letting you swap characters and chain attacks on the fly. Unlike many professional reviewers, I find the graphics lovely. They have a non-cell shaded Valkyria Chronicles style watercolour look to them. Character models are detailed, spell effects are suitably gaudy and explosive.

The sound in this game is decent, the musical score however, is wonderful. A mix of classical, and neo-classical orchestral tunes ranging from upbeat to haunting. It sets the epic mood of the story and not once have I found myself wishing that Trinity had a custom soundtrack option (and I never even bother to check).

The story is told through a mix of familiar static/ moving portraits, dialog boxes and full in-game cut-scenes (these are generally quite good, not FF level, but well done regardless).

You can customize your character with weapons, outfits, spell and skill upgrades. There is a Monster Hunterish (offline though) quest hub> world map exploration point system for questing. The game is quite long and has possibly an unlimited amount of side-quests (at least 70 are required for one of the trophies), so the value vs. content argument is strong here. I'm about 20 hours in and have yet to clear chapter one (admittedly, I dawdle and micromange in all my RPGs).

You'll hear a lot of unwarranted, uneducated comparisons to Dynasty Warriors (which, no offence, but I LOATHE as a series), which are entirely unfounded in reality. The only thing Zill O'll shares with DW is it's developer Omega Force, and they really managed to make something different this time (except for possibly the number of enemies onscreen, the AI however, is sufficiently better and can kill you if you're not adept).

In this age of AAA FPSes and the Japanese market feeling the need to constantly Westernize their games in order to survive, it is rare and refreshing to find something that is unrepentantly Eastern without being inaccessible (see: some of NISA's games - which I love, but I'm weaboo). Old school with enough new tricks to keep things fresh. Only a few other JRPGs this gen - Lost Odyssey, Demon's Souls, WKC - have impressed me in this regard.

Definitely worth a purchase if you're a fan of PSX/ PS2 rpgs.

It plays like an offline Korean MMO. The production values vary - sometimes the voice-work is great, at other times laughable (same for the graphics). There are no extras or unlockable secrets/ dungeons/ new game + once you beat the game, so once the credits roll, that's it.

I can't fathom why RPGamer gave this game a 5/5 when it's clearly far from perfect.

If you're a JRPG enthusiast - like myself - there is some fun to be had with this title, but it's certainly not the best in the genre.

Personal rating: 6/10

This game is fantastic if you're an Otaku or JRPG fan and you know what you're getting into.

Visually, the game is spectacular. With large, detailed, clean environments and nice texture-work. The game features full-paperdolling too (everything you put on a character APPEARS on the character). The battle-system is fun and strategic and once you power up your characters a bit, you can pull off some crazy combos (that you structure yourself).

I think that because of it's release window, this game has been unfairly weighed against Mass Effect 2 and is looked at as mostly a filler till FFXIII arrives.

I've played the Japanese version of FFXIII and while it's brilliant, WKC blows it away in terms of customization (game-play, characters) and simple freedom. Mass Effect is an entirely different animal altogether, it's a thoroughbred Western RPG and is completely dissimilar form WKC.

Personally, I'm having a blast with WKC. I haven't played around on Geonnet (the online component of WKC), but I'm looking forward to this weekend.

If you fundamentally like JRPGs, you will like this. If Oblivion is your cup of tea, or you've never played a console RPG without "final" or "fantasy" in the title, you may be disappointed with this purchase.

Prefer this model over my launch 60 gig. Backwards compatibility is outdated in the face of the stellar PS3 titles being released over the past year or so. And the model is quiet, oh so quiet. I'd hazard to say it's as quiet as a Wii if no moreso. It's also more aesthetically pleasing, smaller and form-friendly than the old beastly models. It looks very at home in an entertainment center instead of dominating one's living room.

Fantastic design, built in blu-ray, hard-drive and Wi-fi (I don't know if this one is just newer or they upgraded the standard, but it seems much smoother with media playback via streaming than my old model - not a hitch to be found).

And of course the games, which are incredible. 5/5 stars.