Spectral Souls: Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires

While its choice of platform is question, if you were dying to have play a strategy RPG on the road, you don’t have to wait any longer.

The game features some really good concepts, but much of these could be easily overlooked because of the load times and slow-down.

It’s like the song says, “Load times killed the video star.” In this case a well-planned, well-executed RPG caught in a cluster of technical idiosyncrasies.

To summarize, this is not a game for everyone; it has its load times and a learning curve that can throw the average user at first.

If you can get past the snail pace caused by loading, there is a truly great game here just waiting to be tapped.

I'd like to recommend Spectral Souls for such an occasion, but unless you're a hardcore SRPG junkie, it might be more frustration than relaxation. [Oct. 2006, p.65]

Strategy titles are already known for their deliberate pace, which may mean that strategy gamers, with their large reserves of patience, will be better equipped to deal with the load-time interruptions, but the effect is very disruptive to gameplay.

It's almost like a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. On one hand, you've got the worst load times found in the entire PSP library, yet you've got a decent game underneath this mess that, while not reinventing the genre in any way, seeks to provide the game with an entertaining experience and it's a struggle I don't believe many people will be able to deal with.

Even the most patient of strategy nerds will be hard-pressed to maintain interest in Spectral Souls. [Nov. 2006, p.146]

Spectral Souls is going to appeal to the fan who likes to take their time with an RPG and learn the intrictacies of the game. Spectral Souls expects you to invest a lot of time and if that's something you don't have you can safely put this one aside.

A decent plot and gameplay elements (albeit somewhat repetitive) are consistently dragged down by constant load times, and only the most dogged or hardcore dedicated fans will disregard how plodding the game is.

If you are a hardcore SRPG gamer with the patience of a saint, you might be able to get through Spectral Souls: Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires. There is a deep game somewhere in there.

It falls short of even being mediocre. Even though it presents some truly superb ideas, the game is destroyed by the incessant load times, which should have been addressed long before its release date.

A landmark in programming incompetence. Exclusive or not, it's a bigger embarrassment than any retro port could have been.

A game only for the most hardcore RPG gamer with an endless supply of patience. The gameplay itself is pretty solid and the game's unique elements make for a lot of fun, but this technical issue can prove to be a deal breaker for many players.

One of the worst RPG experiences on the PSP, and one of the worst RPGs of the past few years. The terrible story, bland battle system, and the atrocious load times and slow down makes this Strategy RPG unbearable. And because of this, Spectral Souls is like eating your grandmother's fruitcake. It looks appetizing on the outside, but as you put it into your mouth, it's stale and hard to swallow.

Spectral Souls is a true sob story. There's a perfectly serviceable game here, buried underneath one crucial problem.

You don't want this game, your friends don't want this game. In fact I don't think anyone wants this game.

You will develop a new hatred for the words “disc access” five minutes into this game. Stay far away if you value your time or your sanity.

A game of chess could take forever, but when you pick up a piece, it doesn't take an hour to move it. But that's what Souls' slowdown-laden mess is like. Souls is one of the worst-optimized PS2-to-PSP ports I've played.

Outside studio Idea Factory developed Spectral Souls and it shows; NIS would be much better off sticking with its internal developers next time. [Nov. 2006, p.120]

A system this young doesn't need any more titles like this potentially damaging its rep. The only thing keeping the game from absolute worthlessness is the fact that a competent SRPG can still be found within.

So while the original SSII definitely has some merit, this PSP port of the same said title shares so little of the same experience and fun that it’s almost farcical that it even shares the same name. [JPN Import]

Pointless loading EVERYWHERE means the game just comes off as coded by monkeys rather than being something different. Stay away.

I like the Final Fantasy Tactics games and was initially impressed with the presentation of Spectral Souls, but after the very first battle I was convinced that this game was going to be long and agonizing, and it was.