White Knight Chronicles first impressions

Step into the armour of a giant knight and lose yourself in a glorious fantasy world.

Starting White Knight Chronicles for the first time, the player is tasked with creating their character; the tools on offer are incredibly flexible, allowing you to tinker with all manner of physiques, voices, facial expressions and hairstyles. You can sink hours into creating a character, ensuring he or she looks exactly how you want, or you can throw something together and dive straight into the game - neither type of player is advantaged or disadvantaged.

This flexibility runs throughout the game; it marries complexity and accessibility perfectly, allowing players to enjoy the experience however they like, whether they're role-playing game veterans or newcomers.

Take the combat system, for example. Each character in your party, which grows as the story progresses, can learn any of hundreds of attacks and magic spells using skill points earned in battle, and the ability to move your character freely during fights immerses you in the action. Some skills are general, while others require possession of a certain weapon, and even though there are more than enough unique attacks to allow each player to approach combat differently, the excellent combo system explodes the possibilities exponentially.

You can design your own combination of moves from the ones you have learnt, give it a name and add it to the list of attacks for that character. There's almost infinite scope for tweaking combos depending on your preferred style of play or the weaknesses of a particular enemy, and while hardcore players will discover the benefits to taking this aspect of combat into consideration - especially when playing online - casual players can stick with basic attacks and manage just fine. Again, it's a flexible system that allows everyone to enjoy this beautiful, absorbing game on their own terms.

White Knight Chronicles begins in the kingdom of Balandor, where the main character Leonard, assisted by your created character, is tasked with retrieving wine for Princess Cisna's 18th birthday celebrations. Just as Leonard arrives, the Princess is kidnapped by evil forces that arrive in a carnival float used like a Trojan horse, led by a dark knight. In trying to rescue her, Leonard discovers that he is able to communicate with a giant, sentient suit of armour; an ultimate weapon and the White Knight from which the game takes its name.

After this discovery, you're able to transform into this giant warrior at any point, providing you have enough Action Coins, and savvy players may want to save them for the giant bosses that you'll encounter on your journey.

The enemies are exquisitely designed, and the environments are staggeringly beautiful, utilising a stylised art style that is cartoon-like and rich with detail. Overall, the game looks and sounds amazing and shows what can be achieved when you combine a talented art team with the power of PlayStation 3.

The online portion of the game promises an interesting take on the single-player mode, allowing you to transfer your created character along with their items, equipment and abilities, and team up with up to three others for quests that can be found in Guild Halls or by exploring the vast map. What makes it work so well is that it offers a multiplayer element that continues the development of your character without disturbing the single player story.

White Knight Chronicles not only looks incredible, immersing the player in a bright world bursting with imagination, it offers something for everyone, whether you're seeking an absorbing single player campaign or the thrill of teaming up with others online. The combat system is complex and rewarding for those who want to explore all of its intricacies, and accessible for newcomers or those more accustomed to action-focused role-playing games.