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Spectral Force 3 Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Spectral Force 3 Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Nuts-and-Bolts RPG

While there is something to be said about consistency within a genre and sticking to the format, in today’s game-saturated marketplace, this has become the exception rather than the rule. Games are not judged by how well they stick to established norms, but rather how they break away from these norms and become unique experiences.

Spectral Force 3 screenshot

So, when a title like Spectral Force 3 comes along, there’s basically only two ways it can go. It can either be a mind-blowing, cutting-edge title that pushes the boundaries of the genre or just another RPG. Unfortunately, Spectral Force 3 is of the latter group and can best be described as a nuts-and-bolts RPG that has no real unique or individual characteristics. However, having a generic gameplay style doesn’t automatically qualify an RPG as mediocre or not worth your time. In fact, I rather enjoy a classic-style RPG every once in a while. Games like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon made up for their old-school gameplay with sprawling stories and amazing graphics. And titles like Final Fantasy Tactics A2 give the classic gameplay a boost by adding new dimensions and parameters to the core gameplay. So, believe me when I say that I am perfectly content with classic-style RPGs. However, the trouble with Spectral Force 3 is that it relies too heavily on classic gameplay and doesn’t have much else to make this game a worthwhile experience.

The story here is fairly generic and takes place during a political upheaval. The daughter of a well-known and despised evil overlord has taken power, and chaos has ensued. The streets have become battlegrounds, and the world is divided between several factions. You begin the game playing as a band of mercenaries who quickly disband after they lose their leader. Your main goal is to create a new band of mercenaries and become a new force to be reckoned with in the chaos of the current world. In addition to fighting a very large share of enemies, you’ll also have to recruit new people to join your band. And you can create an impressive roster with more than 40 characters to choose from to make up your ultimate dream party.

Spectral Force 3 screenshot

As I said before, the gameplay is very standard tactical RPG fare, and it is almost a carbon copy of the core gameplay of titles like Final Fantasy Tactics’ grid-based play. You are able to move around the board and execute proximity-based attacks that depend on job and skill level. Characters have standard attacks and special attacks that generally take an elemental form. You are able to level up your characters in the standard way, and you can distribute skill points in any way that you see fit.

Spectral Force 3 screenshot

Control in this title is very straightforward and continues the typical trend of this title. In a singular interesting facet, there are no menus used to give commands. Instead, each character will have different actions mapped to the 360 face buttons. The system works very well, but using a different button scheme for each character does take a little getting used to.

Spectral Force 3 screenshot

But if the gameplay can best be described as standard and consistent, then the graphics are best described as inconsistent. When you begin the game, you are treated to a very high-quality, anime, cinema-style scene with obviously high production values. But then you start the game and the graphics look straight out of last-gen. The battle sequences look almost identical to very early PlayStation 2 titles, and they do not utilize the Xbox 360’s technical capabilities at all, which is a shame since this title is an Xbox 360 exclusive. The discrepancy between the cinema scenes and the in-game graphics are extremely wide, and it makes the transition periods feel more than a little awkward.

Sound in this title may be its only redeeming quality, as the voiceovers are excellently done. Honestly, the voice acting in this title is better then some Square Enix titles with much higher production values. Another thing I appreciated about the voiceovers is that they are very consistent. Many times in RPGs you’ll get dialogue in some scenes and scrolling text in others, and you’ll never know when you’ll get either. But luckily, this title has very consistent high quality voice work and it really shows. However, this title misses the audio perfection mark for having some seriously annoying and repetitive background music as well as some truly bizarre sound effects. For instance, walking sound effects sound like high heels (despite most of your characters being male), and attacking people with a sword sounds like dropping flour on a wrestling mat. Yeah, it’s that weird.

I enjoyed Spectral Force 3 when I first started it up. I liked the old school tactical gameplay, and I was excited to see where it went. However, I was sorely disappointed when this game ended up going nowhere. There are just not enough new features in this title to warrant a purchase, and I find that my RPG time was better spent tackling more rule-based quests in Final Fantasy A2 or breaking out some of the more vintage turn-based RPGs. I suppose this title really proves that the old adage “what is old is new again” is really false. What is old in this case really just feels, well, old. Hopefully, the Spectral Force saga will be able to reinvent itself before its next iteration; otherwise it looks like this series may find itself on the outer fringes of modern and relevant gameplay.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.7 Graphics
Anime-style, cinema scenes are very high quality, but the gameplay graphics are far below par and look like a PS2 title. 4.0 Control
Very easy point-and-click style controls work well. 3.9 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Voiceover is surprisingly good and is higher quality than most localized JRPGs. However, sound effects and music are a little too out there to be really good. 3.4 Play Value
As with most JRPGs, this is a single-player affair. The story really isn’t that memorable, and there’s not much motivation to stick with this one, unless you’re really itching for some nuts-and-bolts RPG gameplay. 3.4 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • The long-running strategy RPG series enters the modern generation of gaming!
  • Over 50 hours of gameplay spanning more than 150 challenging missions!
  • Up to 40 different characters to recruit into your party, each with their own unique individual attacks!
  • Craft Your Items: Collect and assemble different components to form new accessories!

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