Arc Rise Fantasia

While the game doesn't break any new ground in the JRPG genre, it does help to the fill the JRPG void that the Wii suffers from.

Looking for a solid JRPG this summer? This isn't a bad choice at all. For Wii owners, or JRPG fans, this makes a fine addition to your library.

Despite its flaws, though, I ultimately enjoyed my time with Arc Rise Fantasia. [July 2010, p.84]

Minor technical issues, wasted opportunities and dreadful voice acting bring Arc Rise Fantasia down, but there's still plenty of enjoyment to be found as long as you know what to expect.

Arc Rise Fantasia is the perfect RPG to play "between" RPGs. Something to pick up before the next big AAA experience hits and scratch an itch that one gets during the genre's common dry periods.

There is no doubt about it, Arc Rise Fantasia wants to be a hardcore JRPG. In many aspects it achieves this, but before fans go rushing to buy it they have to ask themselves: just how much grind is too much grind? If killing the same weak enemies over and over for innumerable hours before any story progression is made doesn't deter you, then by all means buy Arc Rise Fantasia.

Arc Rise Fantasia does pretty much everything you'd expect a Japanese RPG to do - problem is, it doesn't do much beyond that.

Its gameplay can be a lot of fun and its world is an interesting one, making it a good rental for those looking for their RPG fix.

Although it plods along at a steady pace with a passable story and solid combat, nothing about it feels particularly original, while visually it resembles a cancelled Tales game. [Issue#101, p.107]

Even with those drawbacks, though, Imageepoch gets serious props for doing what no developer has yet seen fit to do; namely, give Wii owners a party-based RPG free of gimmicks.

As a whole, Arc Rise Fantasia is a very average game. There is not much that really stands out. The story is fairly interesting, and the battle system can be fun when you are not in a boss battle, but there are many parts of this game that needed to be improved.

I actually kind of enjoyed my time with it despite the terrible story and boring stretches.

Although there is a decent amount of story material to cover as well as some potential for grinding/leveling up, nothing here warrants a second play through.

The intricate combat mechanics and exciting battle system can't make up for the poor production values, not to mention the sheer amount of repetitive grinding the game demands.

Arc Rise Fantasia is as typical as you can find, generic to the point of being too generic.

If the only system you have is a Wii and you need an RPG, this certainly isn't a bad title to settle for. For gamers with more console options, however, the enjoyment you'll derive from Arc Rise Fantasia will likely be tied to how much you like combat, since the story certainly isn't anything worthwhile.

It's also not like there are many JPRG options on Wii right now, so if you're really eager to play a traditional, if uninspired, RPG on Wii, Arc Rise definitely offers a respectable 40-ish hour experience – just don't expect it to throw you any curve balls.

Overall, I think if you're a Wii only owner and you enjoy JRPG's, you'll probably find Arc Rise Fantasia to be a breath of fresh air. There's not a great deal that can compete with this particular style of game on the system right now, and it certainly has some highlights to it.

If you're one of those players who simply can't make do without a Tales-like RPG experience every few months, Arc Rise Fantasia might have enough of what you're looking for. But for most players, the game will simply be a flashback to the bad ol' days of the mid-'90s, when shoestring localization budgets botched many an epic RPG adventure.

Arc Rise Fantasia isn't a bad game, but it's an unfortunate victim of the "two steps forward, one step back" rule. As a result, the good moments do manage to outweigh the not so good, which is a lot more than can be said for many games that hit the market at this time of the year.

Stop pilfering from the classics, Japan, because that's not how you top them. Start doing something different, and leave those classics in the paradise of childhood memories where they belong.

The most disappointing aspect of all for Arc Rise is the fact that this was supposed to be THE RPG to get the Wii out of its RPG-slump. If this is all developers have to offer the Wii, RPG-fans are better off sticking with the other two consoles to get their fixes until the next potential RPG-savior for the Wii comes along.

Like a starving man at a buffet, Arc Rise Fantasia has a little of everything on its plate, but few of the portions ever complement the other.

If you only own a Wii and desperately need a JRPG to play in a pinch, then this game will do, but that doesn't mean that you're going to feel good about it later.