Blade Dancer – PSP – Review

Stop me if you
heard this one before. A serious young man looking for adventure in a far-off
land finds much more than just a series of adventures but instead finds himself
on a quest to save the world from a dark force that threatens the land and the
lives of thousands of innocents. If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because
most old-school Japanese role-playing games – as well as some new ones – still
follow the familiar theme. Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light for the PSP
isn’t any different and while it plays using the same old formula, there are
some interesting ideas that make this an RPG fans of the genre will want to
check out.

Blade Dancer
tells the tale
of Lance, a young man from Galecia who left home in search of grand adventure.
He boarded a ship headed for the island of Foo where legends tell this was where
the famed Dark Lord was born and this was where he was defeated so many
centuries ago. You see, the world of Lunadia saw a war against the Dark Lord and
his forces of evil against the good kingdoms. The Guardian of Light, a Blade
Dancer named Gerard, fought against the Dark Lord and won despite the presence
of the Dread Knight. Now several years later the shadow of the Dark Lord has
returned and now Lance finds himself on a quest to save the world. What happened
to Gerard and why does Lance have the same Blade Dancer tattoo on his forehead?
These questions are answered as you progress on your quest but don’t expect the
storytelling to be particularly engrossing.

And there is the
problem right there, the story won’t hook you with interesting plot twists nor
will it make you feel like you’re partaking in a unique tale of love, heroism
and great bravery. The game’s story makes revelations late in the game and the
story does not flow as quickly and thus drags on longer than it should. The game
even doesn’t get into the main story until well after you explore all of the
island of Foo and its surrounding wilderness. This is too bad really since the
story, while familiar, isn’t bad at all. For one thing, while Lance starts off
as a loner, he soon gains some friends who join his party like Tess (the girl in
his dreams), Felis and Gozen. Still, even with a colorful-looking cast of
characters, they seem to come off as cardboard cutouts without much emotion.
Trust me when I say you won’t come to love these people.

One of Blade
Dancer’s most interesting features is the fact that the game uses a
third-dimensional perspective much like the Suikoden or recent Final
Fantasy games. You can explore the 3-D backgrounds a lot better than the
top-down perspective of other role-playing games on the PSP. The best part is
that the D-pad can even be used to look at people and items in a first-person
view. You can interact with people but, unfortunately, you have to target them
first before you talk to them. Of course, there are towns in the game with shops
and houses so you can just wander inside at any time.

Aside from the
game’s main story quest, there is a large variety of mini missions to complete
(thankfully, you can review them in the Missions section of your options menu).
Certain people you’ll encounter will offer side quests you can complete for
money or items. You’ll be completing easy tasks such as delivering food to
people in town for the local restaurateur or collecting crystals for a scientist
in another quest much later in the game. There are the typical rescue side
missions and those that have you seeking out a certain herb to use to make a
healing potion for somebody.

Combat in the
game is handled fluidly and gracefully. There’s nothing really complex about
combat since the Attack and Lunability (special or magical attacks each
character possess) is easily accessible and can be used easily. Instead of
random battles simply igniting out of thin air, certain environments have
floating color-coded skulls that represent enemies. When you come into the line
of sight of one of these skulls, you will be chased around until the snapping
jaws catch a hold of you and then battles start. You’ll know how powerful the
enemy is by the color of the skull. Blue skulls mean easy enemies, white means
fair, red means tough and gray means you should just run away as fast as you
can. Even the easiest enemies can become deadly, though, because they could
power up or they can combine forces to make for a powerful attack. The real-time
battles revolve around a Lunar Clock that pressures you into making quick
decisions in battle of suffer an enemy’s attack. The good news is that each
character has his or her own Lunabilities. For example, Lance has Thermal Blast
(the ability to hit multiple enemies with a single swipe of his blade) while
Felis has Aqua I (the ability to cure all her teammates at once).

Crafting is one
of the game’s most interesting concepts that allows you to make new weapons and
items out of materials and other key ingredients you happen to come across while
exploring and you can even purchase materials from a Crafting Broker shop.
Crafting basically allows you to combine certain working ingredients to make one
item. For example, you can make a healing potion by combining a vial of water
with a Spring Herb and you can craft a long sword by combining a Moonbeam Hilt
and an iron blade. It’s not only a great way of getting necessary items without
having to travel back into a town to buy them but it’s also a great way to save
you money.

Unfortunately,
the good battle system and the excellent crafting feature do not heal the many
things that ail a game that cannot even allow you to pause. Still, you can’t
hate a game that offers an up to four-player wireless multiplayer dungeon mode
that lets you and your friends collects unique items you can then use in the
single-player game.  Top that off with the fact that your allies aren’t
weaklings that can’t handle themselves in battle and you have an RPG that’s not
quite perfect but still worth a play if you’re a devoted RPG fan.

Visually,
Blade Dancer is not a bad-looking game and even more so thanks to the fact
that it’s 3D characters and environments really stand out. The character models
can be a bit too tiny on the screen but at least they look good. Even the visual
effects are nicely flashy when you or an enemy casts a spell. As for the game’s
sound, the soundtrack isn’t particularly moving but it’s not bad. Even the voice
acting is good, although sometimes the delivery can be a bit dull.

Blade Dancer:
Lineage of Light
for the PSP won’t wow you with a unique role-playing game
experience and its characters will not win your heart but when it comes to the
combat and the unique crafting bits, the game might give RPG fans another reason
to want to save the world. Sure the game feels like a rehash of old-school
Japanese role-playing games but if you’re in the mood for something traditional
for your PSP, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Gameplay: 7.0
There is much
of Lunadia to explore and there are many side quests to give you a rest from the
slow-paced main story missions. The cast of characters are actually quite dull
but they certainly know how to spice up the great combat mechanics. Oh and the
fact that the game is played in a 3D perspective is just plain awesome.

Graphics: 7.2
The character
models aren’t bad at all up close but you’ll start wishing the characters were a
bit bigger. The nicely rendered 3D backgrounds are nice but it’s the visual
effects (especially in the spell-casting department) that give the game its
decent looks.

Sound: 7.0
Both the
English and Japanese voice-over work is handled pretty well and the game’s
running soundtrack isn’t anything particularly special but at least it’s nice to
hear. The sound effects sound like everything you’ve heard before in a RPG.

Difficulty:
Medium
The chasing
color-coded skulls are great indicators of what you will go up against if they
catch you. There are some easy enemies to dispatch but then again there are some
deadly bad guys and dangerous monsters that can put you and your party through
serious problems. The puzzle elements in the game aren’t challenging at all.

Concept: 7.0
The story and
characters all follow the familiar classic RPG elements without really doing
anything really original. Poor story structure and weak characters aside, the
real-time combat system is good and making use of each party member is
essential. Crafting is a good game element I’d love to see in more new RPGs.
There’s even wireless multiplayer.

Multiplayer:
6.5
Up to four
players can play wirelessly using the PSP’s Ad-Hoc mode to play a co-op game
against the Dungeon Master in a dungeon of your choosing. You can win loot in
any of the available dungeons that your character can use in the single player
mode. It’s not bad at all.

Overall: 6.9
Blade
Dancer doesn’t
stray from the tired formula of classic Japanese role-playing games when it
comes to the storytelling and cast of characters. This doesn’t necessarily make
it a bad game but for those who are looking for a new type of RPG experience
will be greatly disappointed. Still, if you’re a fan of the genre, the
more-than-decent battles and the crafting elements make this a game worth
playing.