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Whether it's a sign of things to come or just a causal reminder, Idea Factory has been making strategy RPGs for longer than you may think. Since their very first Spectral Force in 1996, they've been relentless in releasing strategy game after strategy game, sometimes losing sight of quality or originality. We here in the West have only caught a short glimpse of their huge catalog of strategic mind games (PSP duds Spectral Souls and Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos, to name a few), but Spectral Force 3 is the first direct follow-up in the series in well over 10 years. But is it any good?
It's hard to say, really. On one end it does things to try and mix up the stale formula most SRPGs suffer from, but on the other hand its strong points have potential, but never meet up to the player's expectations, resulting in some cool features that feel like they're thrown out the window.
Many games have pulled the no story card before, but, especially in S-RPGs, weak storyline was outweighed by great gameplay. Both sink in Spectral Force 3.
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On paper, Spectral Force 3's gameplay looks like fun. It tries to cut back on the fluff of most S-RPGs by completely cutting out the forced movement and attacking via menu commands and replaces them with real-time controls. Want to cross that chasm? Tilt the control stick six panels up. Attacking a fleet of demons? Pretend it's Devil May Cry and unleash a flurry of real-time combos (if your Action Point bar allows it). Okay, so it isn't as fluid as the a real action game, but it is entertaining and a very welcome change of pace from most S-RPGs. Every attack burns away AP, which depletes either very little or tremendously depending on the strength of the attack. It creates a meta-game in itself, trying to decide what kind of combo each encounter is reserved for. There are also over 40 characters to choose, including some that might even take a second play through to find.
And from this massive roster stem all of Spectral Force's problems. With so many characters, the game refuses to properly level everyone to give them a fighting chance in not only the advanced missions, but just regular storyline missions. Instead, each character is under-leveled or too levels far apart from each other. It's a pain because, with such a thriving list of fighters, you'd want to try them all without feeling penalized. Because of this, the time it takes to complete this game is never the same for each player.
Characters entering your party may say a few lines and retire from the story, never be heard from again, save their occasional grunts during several attacks. And there really isn't much of a plot, since you are all mere mercenaries, with no allegiances, no substantial ideologies, caught in the middle of a war, fighting for whoever pays the highest. Many games have pulled the no story card before, but, especially in S-RPGs, weak storyline was outweighed by great gameplay. Both sink in Spectral Force 3.
So the heart is there, but the execution is more than just disappointing. The gameplay on paper is very interesting, but in practice, it's unbalanced and tiresome. The art style and voice acting leave a little bit more to be desired and visually, it hovers between what would be expected out of a high end PSX title or a low-end PS2 game in high resolution. It's underwhelming across the board with generic written all over it, leaving Spectral Force 3 at the end of the day to indeed be a specter in the vast sea of current S-RPGs.
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