A JRPG trying to be different.
Game play
Majority of this game is open world with you running around hacking 'n' slashing. Also 2d plat forming sections, Top looking down screens (gauntlet), Text based adventure (zork).But the game does not do any of these very well & majority of the game is button mashing.
The game also has one of the worst maps (no details); this does change about 12 hours into the game where you can take a boat to certain locations (which finally have names)Due to this you can find yourself walking around in areas (dudgeons) for what seems like hours once you enter a room the room will close and enemies will attack but once you leave that room and normally you have to enter the room (again) which locks and you have to fight (again) this can make a short trip last.
Weapons
One Handed swords- Fast and quite powerful which I preferred to use though the two other types of weapons do more damage.
Two Handed Swords- The most powerful weapon in the game (excluding magic) but also the slowest the fast enemies can cause quite a bit of damage when you are between swings yes they are quite slow.
Spears- Also a slow weapon not quite as slow as the Two Handed Sword but have a quite a reach advantage they are not as powerful as the two handed swords but defiantly powerful than the one handed.
Magic- New type of magic can be unlocked by defeating boss battles, long distance & short offensive & defensive can be obtained you will have to find the right one to defeat some bosses which can make the battle end in a blink of a eye or drag on for quite some time, so it is to the players benefit you utilize the each magic's unique abilities.
Words-Yes words are collected by killing enemies, you use these words to give extra abilities to you weapons & magic for example adding a word to a sword may give it an extra 15 hp damage or 4 points defensive damage or add poison to your weapon etc.
Weapons can also be levelled up by purchasing upgrades from certain characters you meet throughout the game but first you have to find certain items (which are found in wooden crates & glowing white dots found throughout the game)
Characters
The Father- Your character and ugly old dude the Japanese character was much younger also dumb as a brick (insult to bricks sorry)
Grimoire Weiss- A sarcastic floating talking book from which all your magic comes from
Yonah- Your daughter who's been infected with a fatal (?) disease which sends you off on your quest to find a cure.
Kaine- A hot foul mouth side kick who wears wildly inappropriate underwear (I doubt they even can be classified as under garments). A lot in battle she will just stand there doing nothing and occasionally she will attack. She always disappears and turns up near the end of boss battles.
Emil- A young boy/teenager? Who starts off promising but quickly turns jrpg stereotype in the 90's he would have been the lead character.
Shades- The enemies they generally appear out of nowhere they vary from small to big boss battles.
Overall
Throughout the game there are some interesting things that happen but between these events there are hours of mundane game play which maybe too much for some people. I guess if you're a hardcore jrpg gamer then you may be able to over look the short comings a lot easier than others. The game lasted between 20-30hours (I think?)There is some fun to be had but it is one of them games that had a lot of potential but rarely lives up to them