User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 215 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 25 out of 215
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  1. Sep 25, 2011
    5
    im going to be honest here and say that this game was not very good in my opinion with a flawed battle system, poorly-told story and a number of technical issues. when i put this game in my system i was a little peeved to find out that the charachter that you labor over and make it look good isnt even the main charachter but i eventually got used to this and accepted it. the story i foundim going to be honest here and say that this game was not very good in my opinion with a flawed battle system, poorly-told story and a number of technical issues. when i put this game in my system i was a little peeved to find out that the charachter that you labor over and make it look good isnt even the main charachter but i eventually got used to this and accepted it. the story i found was very lack luster and didnt feel like there was much effort put into it and i never found myself actually caring what happens to the main characters i found myself thinking more of "comon i want to hear the fat villan talk" because i found he was the most enjoyable to watch although the story was bland the voice acting was pretty good so i will give them a plus for that. i also found the fighting system attrocious i didnt have a problem with having my attacks recharge but what i did have a problem with was the fact that i have to go right in close to attack but no matter how far away the ennemy is he always can hit you which means you have to play by the rules but the ennemies dont If your characters are forced to play by the rules but your enemies are not, this is called a "gameplay imbalance." and should not be a part of a game many people were expecting to be amazing. as if this wasnt bad enough there is also the awful pop-in that occurs not only in the game world but on the mini-map itself. The environments are usually free of this issue but there have been countless occasions where my characters will be running through a valley and suddenly a horde of monsters will pop into existence around my party. there is also the issue with the big suit of armor that leonard gets i love the fact that he can transform into that thing and it really helps when fighting certain enemies but Leonard is forced to revert back to human form once all the enemies in the immediate area have been defeated -- even if he has more than enough magic points to sustain the transformation. This can be aggravating when there are monsters visibly strolling around in the distance, but nothing can be done to prevent the reversion. this game also freezes everyonce and a while which is never a good thing. i dont understand how so many people have fallen in love with this game seeing as it has so many flaws in my opinion it would be best to just skip this one Expand
  2. Aug 30, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. White Knight Chronicles is a fun little title as far as the battle and character building goes. It's fun to create combos, watch them work (or fail), and mess around with your customized character to your hearts content. I wanted really hard to give this game a higher score but there were so many things that lagged down the fun gameplay that just couldn't be saved. I'll save the worst for last.

    The gameplay itself I find to be rather fun. I enjoy the combat mechanics for the character you do control and like to pick all sorts of weapons eventually getting to master a good bit of the many weapons available. I also enjoy shoving a cape on my back and running around and pretending to be Batman...with a greatsword...and E sized breasts. Of course while you're over there chopping enemies to pieces the companion AI has very little merits. They just stand there and hash out their weakest attacks. Pretty much they're there to heal you since they seem to stink really bad at combat. The gameplay and combat however are what dragged this game to a six.

    The story is unoriginal, bland, boring, and overall horribly cliche. I can't think of a more overused story then...princess gets kidnapped who has special powers go save her. That is the gist of almost every lame fantasy game ever made. The story is so lazily written, so lousy that I found myself grunting in physical agony as they dished out lame sub-plot after lame sub-plot. The story is bad...really bad, not to mention just some of the words for those ancient civilizations made me laugh because they were such dumb sounding words. I will not give it's story any merits. It sucks...plain and simple.

    Now the graphics and surroundings are alright as far as the PS3 is concerned. Not great, but not terrible, but with my favorite RPG of all time being Wild Arms...I don't think graphics count. What does count is the fact that they looks semi-human mixed with anime which just kind of weirds me out. Leonard's eyeballs are the size of tennis balls yet his head is normal sized. It just looks awkward.

    As for music...I forgot it had any.

    Now on to the absolute worst part of the game. The thing that drug it down so far on the score meter. I could have given it an 8 even past all of the terrible writing and generic and boring storyline if it weren't for the characters. We start with the master dork himself, Leonard.

    Leonard is about as absolutely lame, cookie-cutter, and retarded as it gets. He has a single track mind to save a girl he met all of ten minutes ago because he briefly met her for all of thirty seconds in his past. This is as cliche as it gets. He is a walking, talking, mouth-breathing, useless idiot. His dialogue makes you want to kill him every time he opens his stupid mouth since all it consists of is him whining over the princess who he's known for all of ten minutes. And if the creep isn't obsessing over the princess he's just being all around dumb. His supreme overconfidence makes Cloud look a go-getter and Link a conversationalist. Now we move onto dork number two, Caesar.

    Caesar is that guy who thinks he's cool. The guy who thinks he's so cool that when he wakes up his stupid dreadlocks actually look cool, and not only to him but to everyone around him. With his mind-numbing dialogue, his stupid face, and his cocky attitude he almost makes me want to barf. Not to mention a few other dumb things about him...like dragonsight. Because dragons can totally see into the hearts of men. Moron. I can't stand him or Leonard, and when you put them together it's a ticket to disaster.

    Then we've got Yulie...who tags along. That's all on her.

    Kara, and Eldore were about the only people I liked. Eldore was the wise, and strong magician who could still best you in a swordfight or at a match of wits, and Kara was just a badass who took little crap from anyone. They alone could not help my brain recover from the overload from Leonard and Caesar...also the princess is the super generic good girl with zero personality.

    In the end the game was ruined not by terrible storyline, but by it's god awful characters. The characters were so bad that I found myself straining just to finish the game. The giant knight was kind of cool...if not useless, and the gameplay was fun. However nothing could ever save it from Leonard or Caesar.

    On a side note...who names their main character Leonard? That's like naming them Gunther, or Melvin, or Norman, or...Leonard.
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  3. Apr 4, 2012
    6
    This could've been a lot better, especially since it's created by Level 5, who made some of the best JRPG's on the PS2. The story is very basic, the graphics are just okay and combat can become tedious and boring. But the character creation and the online quests are fun. Buy this for the multiplayer, some people still play it a lot. But don't expect much from the single-player mode.
  4. May 10, 2018
    7
    + The story starts off good but quickly looses it's momentum but remains ok.
    + The graphics are alright.
    - The story starts to pick up later when the game ends unfinished. - The game play is poorly thought out and very easy. - Switching to the knight isn't fun. - The online aspect of the game only subtract from the main single player game. - Having to create and empty shell of a
    + The story starts off good but quickly looses it's momentum but remains ok.
    + The graphics are alright.
    - The story starts to pick up later when the game ends unfinished.
    - The game play is poorly thought out and very easy.
    - Switching to the knight isn't fun.
    - The online aspect of the game only subtract from the main single player game.
    - Having to create and empty shell of a character at the start sucks.
    - The music just about does it's job, but it's forgettable.
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Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 77 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 77
  2. Negative: 3 out of 77
  1. White Knight Chronicles has several faulty elements, but the game is long (the original released in Japan a couple of years back was estimated at 100 hours – but it can be done in between 65 and 80) and the story is decently layered making for a nice bit of J-RPG gaming.
  2. White Knight Chronicles was a disappointment for me, especially coming from a quality developer like Level-5. Some of the studio’s trademark customization helps to give the game some legs, as does its hefty multiplayer component. However, for interesting combat, deep characters, and an engaging fantasy, I’d look elsewhere.
  3. The monsters may look interesting, but slaying beasts is way too easy in this forgettable role-playing game.