Games for Lunch: Spectral Force 3

In a nutshell: Take that, bad guy!
8/8/2008 7:18 PM | 0 Comments | Page 3 of 3

0:44 At the Headquarters menu screen, I decide to talk to Diaz, the healer. "They don't really think I'm reliable.... It's pretty common among mercenaries." He's very understanding for a mercenary leader. Diaz thinks he's dead weight, but Begina gives him a pep talk.

0:46 I only have enough money for a new sword for Begina. I can't figure out how to equip it. I guess it gets added automatically?

0:47 Playing around in the menus, I find I can add accumulated experience points to any character. I level up Begina and move on to the "Monster Hunter 1" mission. A Logeon resident will pay us 3,000 gold to destroy some monsters. Let's do it!

0:48 You'd think things would be harder with only two characters, but as far as I can tell there's only one weak enemy on the field. I like these odds.

0:50 After my turn is done, a couple of killer bees warp in on the side of the field. Still not too worried.

0:52 A third bee appears, but all three of them seem content to just sit there as I work my way over to the chests.

0:53 Quote of the moment: "I'll heal you." Diaz says this as he's healing Begina. Sigh.

0:55 So instead of busting the enemies, I decide to bust some crates that are sitting on the battlefield (because I can). When I bust them all open, the battle ends. "We managed to do it," cries Begina. So I wasn't trying to kill the enemies? Color me surprised.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? No.

Why? Some decent voice acting and art direction can't save the extremely slow-paced, generic fantasy tactical RPG gameplay.

This column is based on a gold master of the game provided by the publisher.

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