Archief - White Knight Chronicles

When you see an enemy, you press X to engage in combat. Combat then starts right there on the current field of play, without any sort of transition to a battle screen. Some enemies, notably the cute little critters that run around peacefully through the fields before you move in for slashy-slashy, require that you initiate the attack. Other enemies, such as the occasional group of hostile soldiers lingering around a bridge, will notice you when you enter the vicinity, and will initiate the attack themselves.

No matter how you actually get into battle, we think you'll agree that the White Knight Story battle system is pretty unique. It combines real time and menu based mechanics, with the potential for lots of pre-battle strategy.

When in battle, the game feels somewhat like a real-time action game, in that you can freely move your character around, and have to press an attack button to execute your attacks. The actual attacks that emerge are determined by an attack chain (actually referred to as a 'palette' in the Japanese version of the game) that you create prior to battle. You can fill up up to six slots in this chain with various attacks and spells. The demo lets you make three chains; switching between them during battle requires just a quick press of up and down on the d-pad.

Your character executes moves on a given chain in succession. Let's say you set up your chain to have the following attacks: standard sword attack, upward thrust, mid-air slash, and flame spell. The first time you press the attack button, your character executes a standard sword attack. This is followed by a short period where your character can't perform an action; each attack seems to be followed immediately be a recharge period. The next time you press attack, your character does an upward thrust, launching the enemy into the air. The next press of the attack button delivers a mid-air slash, ending with a flame spell.

The success of your attacks is dependent on how you assemble the chain. Some attacks are better suited to following others. For instance, it makes sense to have an upward thrust followed by a mid-air slash. It also makes sense to have a shield bash follow a standard sword attack, since that seems to be a natural motion during combat (I think I've seen that in a movie somewhere).

As you assemble your attack chain, the game makes it pretty clear what can follow what. Each attack is listed with its type, and with the types that can follow it. Some attacks, including the general sword slash mentioned above, can be followed by a variety of attacks. Others, like the upward thrust, can be followed by just one attack type, presumably any attack that has your character leap into the air. Flame and ice spells can't be followed by anything, presumably because your character has to recover for a bit longer (this is just supposition on my part).

Put two compatible attacks together, and the game indicates that they're linked as a "combo." When executing a string of such combo attacks, you really do feel like your character is building up one powerful string of moves. In the demo, it was particularly rewarding to string together five attacks and finish up with a flame or ice spell executed while your character was high in the air.

Just as we were getting the hang of using this combo system against groups of soldiers, the demo cut to an event scene. Your character detected something amiss. Suddenly, the ground rumbled ala Jurassic Park, and a giant enemy ten times your size appeared in the distance. It had apparently been drawn to the smell of the creature pulling your caravan.

You're free to fight giant creatures like this as your standard human-sized self, but you probably won't win. The best approach is to select a "transform" command for your character. You'll then call a transformation spell and change into the giant White Knight of the title.

Controlling the White Knight is a lot like controlling your standard-sized self. You're free to move around and execute attacks from an attack chain. Your ally characters fight beside you as standard-sized combatants. Previously, we've seen screenshots showing tiny enemies fighitng along side the enemy giant in a similar fashion. [...]

Fighting as a giant made us appreciate the solidity of the game world. Although we were ten times our original size, the world didn't break apart. The giant didn't end up clipping through giant pieces of ground or even large trees.

IGN: White Knight Chronicles Preview