There can be few companies out there that have had as good a 2008 as Square Enix. Every one of their products that have been released on any console has been of excellent quality and a joy to play. So when this latest title for the PSP arrived I was quite looking forward to actually playing it. (And the news that next year the franchise is going to make an appearance on the 360 only made me want to play it even more so)

What most people will not realise is this is actually not a new game at all. It was first released a decade ago on the Super Famicom machine, however , Square have added one or two elements to this new PSP version. This includes an adjusted battle system and new backgrounds to the action which help to bring this up to date.

Essentially this is a Sci-fi game which heavy fantasy elements weaved into it. It tells the story of three youngsters, Roddick, Millie and Dorne who are employed as sentries for a small village. However, events and situations change when a mysterious plague comes to the area, turning people into stone. In order to try and find a cure for this, the three friends must venture to a nearby mountain in order to gather the herbs that they hope will form the basis for the cure.

However, it is discovered that the plague is actually a biological weapon from off the planet. This is discovered when two members of the Terran Alliance, beam down to the planet’s surface on a reconnaissance mission. This is a complete surprise to the three heroes of the game and the rest of the inhabitants as they are very undeveloped, technology wise. (Think of it as one of the STNG episodes when the Enterprise visits a pre-warp planet)

I will leave it for you to discover how they find a cure, however I will say that the resolution is quite ingenious when you remember how old the game actually is.

Gameplay wise this is quite a traditional RPG as you move around the map on your journey, visiting various towns and even dungeons, moving the story along with every location that you come across. The battle system found within the game is very action packed however and far from traditional. You control one character at a time while the PSP controls the other three. You execute normal attacks with the X button, hitting either the L or the R trigger; however, will make your character perform a special attack that you will have assigned before the battle took place. You can, thankfully at times, change which of the characters you control with a quick press of the circle button.

Graphically this is a very charming game with nice characters found within it. The various areas you find yourself in are well presented, if a little too similar at times, and the visual effects are well done. It is a shame that there isn’t the usual high number of quality cut scenes that you normally associate with a Square Enix title but this is a small grumble.

The vocal acting is varied in quality. The two members of the Terran Alliance for some reason coming off the best. The musical soundtrack is also not up to the normal quality you would expect.

Overall this is a very good game considering it is based on a game over ten years old. As such it perhaps lacks some of the finer points more modern games have but this is replaced with some old-school cuteness and satisfaction. There are slight flaws to the battle system which results in quite a bit of button bashing but nothing that spoils the overall enjoyment of the game. It is a shame that the characters within the game, for the most part, are not as interesting as the story that is presented however.

I think this would make a very good title for newcomers to the RPG genre to play. At around 25-28 hours gameplay it is not the longest game in the world and because of the lack of complexity it would make a very good introduction. For anyone who loves retro games as well however, this would make a good game to play.

Certainly after playing this, I am looking forward to StarOcean The Last Hope on the 360 next year.