Part Three: The Unfortunate
Some clarification may be necessary here. When the words 'The Unfortunate' are being used, it does not mean the same thing as 'The Bad'. What 'The Unfortunate' refers to is something within a game that had great potential, but sadly did not live up to it. And though it did not live up to said potential, it did not take away from the overall quality of the game.
And "White Knight Chronicles II" certainly had a few unfortunate aspects in that respect.
In the first part of this review, the Georama system was briefly glossed over, but was regarded as something good that the game had to offer. And it still is. It's innovative, it's fun, it's complex, and it could probably be a game all its own if Level 5 chose to do so. But sadly, this Georama system has no bearing on the actual game. The player could go through the entire game, both single player and multiplayer, and never once look at their Georama. In fact, the player could probably go through the entire game and completely forget that the Georama even exists. And there isn't much reason to do anything with your own Georama anyway. True, the player can build and upgrade his or her Georama in order to gain materials to craft high level equipment. But at the same time, they could just visit GeoNet, WKCII's multiplayer community, and find another player that has already done so and get the materials there.
And that leads directly into another unfortunate aspect: the multiplayer itself. Again, the multiplayer was praised in Part One, and yes, the multiplayer does work very nicely. But unfortunately, the "White Knight Chronicles" series has a fairly limited, but very loyal, following. But since building a high level character with high level equipment takes considerable time and effort, not many people within that following play with more than one character. As a result, the vast majority of players online are maxed out characters. This makes the multiplayer much less accessible to those only partway through the game. Most of these maxed out players do not want to do the low level quests that newer players need to complete in order to progress with their own characters. So if the player wants to complete a quest, but is having trouble doing so by him/herself, it's very likely that s/he may not be able to find any help online, thus making it that much more difficult to actually join the online community. And that's truly sad, considering that if a group of players can be assembled, the multiplayer is a blast and is easily the best part of the game.
So, after all that has been said, you may be wondering just how WKCII stacks up. Well, in this case, the bad definitely outweighs the good. In truth, "White Knight Chronicles II" falls woefully short, even of the previous installment in the franchise. With the cliché story, the inclusion of the terrible Errands, nigh impossible to obtain items, a sluggish and flawed battle system, and a number of other problems, you will likely find yourself getting massively frustrated more often than actually enjoying the game.
The ending hints at another sequel that will actually star your personal avatar. We can only hope that Level 5 will fix some of these problems. If they do, we could be in for a great addition to gaming.
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