Justice Chronicles (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Justice Chronicles really wears it's inspiration on its sleeve. From the pixel graphics that dominate the top screen on the 3DS, to the cheery background music, one thing is clear from the get go: this is a turn-based, JRPG, and, unfortunately, with this having mixed results.

This is the story of Kline, a young man on sort of a life mission, ruled by the death of his mother when he was a boy. Along his path, the player joins him, along with a cast of characters that could have been ripped out of any RPG from the early 90's. Some of these characters, like Vil, and, luckily, Kline himself, are likable enough that it's easy to stick by them. Sadly, his fellow cast members are so clichéd, it's hard to believe they were part of the same writing.

Characters like the, wise cracking, but rarely funny Rooselevy, and the constant brat that is Alia, are painful to have to interact with. Most of the secondary character dialogue, either lacks any depth, or serves to just push the plot forward. In fact, Kline himself at one point says it best: "Are all the lines around here the same?"

Buckle up for plenty more of these, because the cut-scenes are long to the point of being a major turn off. In fact, an early one (within the first hour) clocks in at 35 minutes, which severely drags down the story. It's hard to convey a deep and meaningful story, when one has to keep on tapping 'A' to get to the end.

All is not lost though, as the gameplay is the star of the show. This easily has the best combat system to hit turn-based RPGs in a while. A big problem with older Final Fantasy games was trying to determine how well the player was progressing. Justice Chronicles doesn't leave this to the imagination. Every fight ends with a clearly telegraphed display of the characters slowly building their stats.

Speaking of clearly telegraphed, the crafting system is so easy to understand, that it approaches the sublime. While it's initially very basic and limited, finding items that allow making stronger weapons and armour eventually becomes a separate game of its own. The user interface is very simple, as are the in-combat menus, which allow for a myriad of different attacks.

Attacks are pleasantly enjoyable, and rarely feel repetitive. Some of them even incorporate the entire party into one, quite overpowered attack. The battles, especially early on, are pretty easy, but this can almost give the feeling of being like a juggernaut; It's kind of fun, although that means that the thrill of slaying one enemy after another with extremely strong combo attacks and single character onslaughts tends to wane quickly in each area - fortunately, with each one rarely a long endeavour.

Most regions can be blown through in a matter of 10 to 15 minutes, and it's kind of refreshing. While the average JRPG fan will probably be put off by the brevity of each area, they can be rested assured that it's easy to revisit all of them by using a handy world map. While the in-level map looks like a rejected level from the dreaded Atari 2600 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the world one looks like a refined version of something from the likes Super Mario World, and the ease of access to each location is refreshing, with the player only needing to remember the respective name.