Dissection: White Knight Chronicles

The first RPGs to grace new consoles are usually one of two things: generic or groundbreaking. White Knight Chronicles for PS3 is both and neither of those, depending on what aspect of the game you’re looking at. Mixing a typical fantasy story line, with town building and an envelope pushing online multiplayer mode, this isn’t your standard console RPG. In this dissection, we look at a title that is okay with the fact that it’s not Final Fantasy, instead trying something new on the online front.
I’ve already subscribed to the fact that this game isn’t going to be winning any awards this year. This game features an RPG storyline full of rehashed character archetypes, shark-jumping plot turns and an ending that comes all too soon, only to hint at a continuation in a future title. To be honest, I was expecting more from White Knight Chronicles in this regard. However, don’t let these flaws repel you from this game’s charm; the story is so poorly conceived that it becomes a humorous romp to the end. Some of the plot twists will leave you gagging with laughter.


The script follows the misadventures of Leonard, an orphan working under a wine seller in one of the world’s largest kingdoms. After being introduced to your emotionally devoid and insignificant avatar, your small posse is sent off to fetch a shipment of wine for a plot progressing event. Not long after these events, the kingdom’s princess is stolen by a generic curly mustached antagonist (seemingly like Soul Calibur’s rookie Dampierre) and Leonard gains the ability to pilot the White Knight “Ark” (see also; Evangelion). I won’t spoil too much; you really need to see for yourself.

Graphically, White Knight doesn't pull any punches, but it does well with what it's got. Grassy plains actually look grassy, deserts are gusting with sand swirls, and the list goes on. It's only in caves and temples where it starts to look a bit generic. Once you unlock the White Knight, you will start to encounter large monsters, such as Trolls and Treants in the over world fields. These large enemies combined with a group of smaller ones can half the frame rate very easily; however this doesn't occur very often.


White Knight’s combat system borrows heavily from Final Fantasy XI and XII. Your character has the ability to move freely during a battle, while selecting commands when his timer is full. Aside from selecting different commands, there really isn’t much more to the battle system besides attack skills and magic. Character progression is split into weapon and spell proficiencies; for example, pumping stats into white magic will give your avatar the ability to cast holy spells, buffs and debuffs, along with stats related to casting white magic. The system works, without trying to be too complex.

In fact, the most complexity the system has lies within the AC or Action Chip system. Every few actions, your character will gain an action chip. These chips will enable your character to use weapon skills; the more you have, the larger the combo you can pull off. This leads me to explain the combo system. Your characters have three action bars and a number of action or skill slots, where skills and spells can be affixed to. These action slots are able to house singular actions and full blown combos. The more actions within a combo, the more action chips are required to utilize it. Chip management is crucial when playing as the main protagonist, as summoning the White Knight will require a large amount of chips.


Not long after you gain access to the White Knight, you are able to buy a plot of land to build a small town on. This system is called Georama, which is an update of the Georama systems in Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle. By upgrading the plot of land, you are able to purchase unique housing and objects that will affect items found and sold within your town. Town folk from world towns can be recruited or hired to set up residence within your houses and villas. These Georama towns also serve as online lobbies, much like Phantasy Star Universe’s room system. Players are able to log into your town to shop, socialize and organize quests with other players.

Along side the Georama system; White Knight Chronicles also houses the GeoNet system. GeoNet is basically a graphical browser, where players can host their own personal page, detailing their progress for trophies, guild rankings, levels and georama stats. One nice feature of this system is the personal blog built into your page; players are able to post about their adventures, along with a slot for a photograph taken in game. Other players can comment on these entries, as well as visit a more primary message board system that functions roughly the same way.


As mentioned earlier in this article, you get your very own avatar; this feature is very broad in comparison to most online games’ character creation systems. Once you have waded through the 40+ hour single player campaign, players can head online with their avatar to take up missions with friends and other players. There are roughly 53 online quests ranging from enemy mop ups through to puzzle driven experiences. My only gripe with the online missions is really something that every online RPG or MMORPG suffers from; Players will hammer the most profitable quest. I’m interested to see how it handles with a group of friends once this game hits the shelves; though, I can say that there is next to no lag when playing internationally.

It’s no Final Fantasy, but White Knight Chronicles will fulfill your most basic RPG desires. The online portion, however, will see you questing and grinding into the early hours. Don’t go in expecting a blockbuster and you’ll come out with a reasonable experience.

What they got right -
Face off: Online avatar customization is very broad; you won’t see two characters with the same face.
Geonline: Social networking for the middle ages – your very own personal page and forums.
Errand online: 50 online quests for you to complete with players around the world.
Sim City: Build your own town and reap the benefits.
What’re ya buying: A large number of equipment items to be purchased and crafted.

What they got wrong -
Third wheel: Your player avatar is out of place in the story campaign.
The legend of the jumping shark: Get ready for a generic and unoriginal story.
No where to run, no where to explore: Limited number of towns and locations.
Episode I: Nowhere on the box, manual or websites does the game mention that it’s the first in a series. Don’t expect to get the full story this time round.