While the elder scrolls iv: oblivion is without doubt this years most ambitious console quest, many RPG purists still yearn for the deliberate pace and cerebral battles typified by Final Fantasy. But although Enchanted Arms is a return to old-school swashbuckling, only the hardiest adventurer will forgive its flaws.
The slow, turn-based battles are well-designed and allow for deeply strategic play, but random scraps crop up at almost every step, meaning the epic skirmishes soon become tiresome. This is the first Japanese RPG to be released on the 360, and follows that most traditional of gaming plots: hero with no memory arrives and discovers he has a world-saving/destroying power lying dormant. In this variation youll be needing that power to fight devil golems creatures created by the magic of man thousands of years ago.
The adventure is kooky, but steers players down a narrow, linear path, without the opportunity to freely explore the games beautifully-realised fantasy world, and the clichéd plot and characters will be overly-familiar to fans of this genre.