Record of agarest war review game informer

Record of Agarest War Zero is a prequel that tells the story of what happened in the age before Record of Agarest War, detailing the rise of some to glory, and the fall of others, into darkness.

Release Date. What did you think? More Reviews by Peter Eykemans. Dungeon Village iPhone Review. Rayman 3 HD Review. What to Expect From Marvel in IGN Logo Recommends. Hitman 3 Jared Moore Record of Agarest War, you say? What is it? According to the ESRB's website, it is a creepy game for creeps. I may be paraphrasing a little bit, but that's the takeaway message here. All you need to know at this point is that the game features combat where small characters stand in place and female characters' breasts are partially obscured by towels, hot-spring mist, bed sheets, and revealing costumes.

It also has a super-classy limited edition, which I will show you here in breathtaking detail. Here is some more of that subtlety at work. The girl in the top image is eating some kind of strange sausage. OK, it's probably some other kind of foodstuff. Regardless of what it is, I don't think that it's really important. Here's the other side of the box. A girl is eating a banana, and another girl's face is dripping with custard. Subtle eroticism. And here it is from another angle.

I think at this point I stopped paying attention and started pressing the shutter button at random. We're going inside the box! What's this? It's some kind of mousepad in a protective bubble-wrap layer.

Scratch that. Character and monster sprites are nicely detailed, though they look fuzzy and seem better suited for a handheld game than a full-blown console release. Also, the battlefield maps are completely flat and drab in design. There's no 3D terrain to work with tactically and no visual elements to break up the emptiness of the landscape.

Scenery settings do change up eventually, but you'll slog through numerous battles repeatedly fighting many of the same monsters on the exact same handful of bland backdrops for long stretches at a time. Add this to an already sluggish pacing and you wind up with a game that's far more taxing on your patience than it is thrilling. A lengthy game packed with exciting moments to keep you glued to the controller is one thing, but there are numerous times in this adventure where progress moves exceedingly slow--to the point where it feels arbitrarily lengthened without any extra payoff for the hard labor.

The battlefields leave a lot to be desired. Record of Agarest War's relationship building and courtship element is enjoyable and a surprisingly good addition to the formula. However, the occasionally suggestive and sexually charged side of this component is awkwardly implemented and often seems out of place from the larger story unfolding.

For example, at one point in the midst of war a gaggle of female party members all saunter off to the local hot springs to lather each other up, chatter about boy toys, and compare breast sizes. Meanwhile, a few of the male characters practice their pervy peeping toms skills. Other static scenes show an abundance of overflowing cleavage, skimpy outfits, and even a female character struggling to scarf down massive hunks of sausage in a suggestive manner. Considering the seriousness of the plot, these moments of naughtiness come across as nothing more than tacked-on depravity.

The adventure could have been a lot more thrilling if the level of attention given to honing the combat had also been afforded to the presentation and map design. The mix of fantasy turn-based strategy and RPG dating simulation is an intriguing combination, though a little less sexiness in favor of more substance to expand on the relationship system would be a welcome improvement. Still, you'll get many hours of gameplay for your money here. Just be prepared to spend a portion of your time fighting off boredom in between the more exciting stretches.

In the world of Agarest, a hero enters into a contract to save his life, and must adventure across five continents to fulfill it.