Publisher: Aksys Games
Developer: Compile Heart
Genre: Strategy RPG
Release date: Available now

When I was first told that I’d be reviewing the dating-sim/strategy RPG Record of Agarest War, I thought, oh great, now I can get rejected by a girl in a video game. But let me tell you that it is definitely more strategy RPG than dating-sim, and my ego is still somewhat intact. RAW is a game that appeals to all of the men out there whose ideal date is stomping mud holes in orcs, while she casts her level nine heal spell on you with her magic broom. Then, if all goes well and you play your eight-sided die right, there might be another kind of healing going on.

RAW is deep. Over the course of the game you’re going to have to keep track of and work on your AP, EP, TP, PP – all the way to your ZP (well not really your ZP). What most of these acronyms stand for is anyone’s guess, but the basic jist is, the more you have of all of the above, the more mud holes you can stomp. It’s also a safe assumption in this game that if you can equip it, you can upgrade it. You can enhance current weapons and armor, as well as upgrade and create new weapons and armor. You also learn new moves and arts, which are just fancy words for attacks. And to get the max out of everything, you’re going to have to grind harder than you did at your last high school dance. This game is a strategy RPG fan’s dream. You know, that special kind of dream where you have to wake up in the middle of the night and change your shorts.

In RAW, you assume the role of a highly regarded general in the Gridamas army. After having a sudden attack of conscience, you disobey orders and are labeled a traitor by your home country, sending you into a conflict against an ancient evil that spans five generations. At the end of each generation you have to choose your wife among several lovely ladies and then have them bear your offspring. This offspring of yours will continue the good fight until he also gets to choose his wife and she shoots out another little hero. All told the game boasts over 100 hours of gameplay. But that said, will you want to spend more than 10 hours on it?

Despite the quirky relationship aspects of the game, which often times don’t make much sense, there is a good story in RAW. While I’m not a fan of vignettes that progress the story, the dialogue and music are finely crafted. It was nice to play a Japanese RPG where the main character didn’t dress better and wear more hair gel than the leading ladies. Golden Leo, your first generation hero, is actually kind of a badass. The game is also incredibly difficult, so not only are strategy enthusiasts going to be pleased with the abundance of options, their skills are going to receive quite the test.

RAW throws everything at you, but after you break it all down, it’s missing one important element: Fun. Truthfully, it’s kind of boring and repetitive. At first you’re going to be having a decently good time, and stringing together that first crazy combo is very rewarding, but the honeymoon is over well before the first marriage. Even the easy battles are long-winded because of the mandatory “move phase,” which occurs after every turn. You will have to truly love this game to want to grind through the levels and get everything to your max. There also isn’t much to look at, as the sprite-based characters aren’t terribly appealing, the world map is hideous, animations are dodgy and battle arenas are not pretty.

Record of Agarest War is an easy choice to make, depending on what side of the fence you’re on. If you’re a casual fan of RPGs, you won’t get anything here that you wouldn’t get playing a better, more modern RPG. If you’re a huge fan of strategy RPGs, you love depth and grinding up your characters, you’ll find a lot to love here. Just be prepared to auto battle through many, many boring fights. Also note, because you’re getting a lot of game, you’re also sacrificing a lot of storage on your PS3, 9GB to be exact. Be prepared to let the download and install cook overnight.

Our Score:

Our Recommendation: