Firstly, I would just like to say, why, when reading people's reviews for rpgs, do they, 9 times out of 10, compare them to Final Fantasy games?! Say no more!!!

This is a good rpg. I am an AVID rpg fan, and have played every rpg that has come out on the Playstation, 360 and Saturn (plus more), US and UK. I have looked at Enchanted Arms for some time now (umming and arrring whether to give it a go) but decided to start playing it recently. I am only about 10 hours into the game, and I have to say that I wish I had played it sooner. It starts off a bit slow, but soon get better. It's a great game. The battle system reminds me of games such as Persona and Ogre Battle. While the gameplay has distict similarities to Xenosaga.

Rpgs so far, run thin on the PS3 and 360, so there isn't much choice anyway. But, if you are looking for an rpg you can quickly get stuck into, and is easily playable (I haven't even looked at the instruction manual yet!), then pick this up, and give it a try. It's cheap too!

If you are not into rpgs, then I wouldn't think this would be a game for you (uber geeks only! hehe).

Well I quite literally just finished this game (and by finish I mean all the sidequests as well)and in complete contradiction to the games cover it did not take me 50 hours. It took around 40 and that INCLUDES pausing to go to the toilet and have dinner (mind you I am notorious for rushing through RPGs and not levelling up my character a lot - as I prefer to have the last boss become an almost insurmountable challenge to be overcome through clever tactics rather than the brute force of my level 185476964 main character). That said the game was fairly enjoyable with the battle system being particularly refreshing (in so far as turn based can be) it was much better than the most recent Final Fantasy attempts of spicing up turn based combat. The story was pretty throwaway but then again it served its purpose well enough.

While hardly genre defining it does have some nice ideas and the FMV sequences are up there with the equivalent offerings from Final Fantasy. If like me you are quite into JRPGs but are sick of Square-Enix constantly rehashing the Final Fantasy games in newer more graphically impressive iterations (I mean come on FFXII might have been alright but let's face it the series hasn't moved on since FFX - AT THE LATEST!) then I suggest you check it out - though you'll need some perserverance to stick through the games opening section (dull) thankfully it picks up quickly after this. If you've played a lot of JRPGs then you wont find a lot new here, but you're unlikely to find a lot to complain about either and as such the game is worth a play. If you haven't then this game is a solid example of the genre and a good one to start with.

Final score: 6.9

Score breakdown:

Graphics: 7 - While some sections are beautiful, dull textures ruin others.

Sound: 6 - While there IS an option to have Japanese audio but this is little better than the
English dub (which is functional although rather hit and miss). Music is fairly
generic.

Gameplay: 7 - A nice battle system and golems help to spice things up, niggles over inability to use items on other characters and ether 'collection' quests pull down the game down though. Character development is highly intuitive andallows for some customisation.

Story: 6 - Typical but ultimately well thought out JRPG storyline. Stand out sections are the development of Atsuma as a character and the Toya side story. (The game also satirises a number of JRPG cliches which is nice to see. Example: A character subtitled 'Giggling Man' keeps trying to say his real name but the main characters repeatedly interrupt him. Unfortunately the story, while one of it's endings is rather thought provoking, the main ending is ultimately extremely forgettable and the average voice acting throughout lowers the sense of wonder.

Lifespan: 7 - There are technically two different endings to the game dependant on one choice near the end, this may seem slightly half arsed but in correlation to the story both endings have rather nice ramifications when you think about them. unfortunately these endings can both be aquired simply by reloading the game just before the choice is made. The game took me 20 hours to
complete compared to the 50 hours cited on the case, mind you 40 hours is
still a relatively long time for a game these days - albeit short for the genre. This 40 hours does manage to pack a lot in though.

Enchanted Arms is a superb game filled with tons of unique and cunning characters. (notice my use of alliteration with the words 'cunning' and 'characters') Enchanted Arms contains a mixture of very mind blowing graphics, with a intense and gripping storyline. A true masterpiece of a game and a definate must have for the xbox 360. When it comes to actually purchasing this legend of a game i would recommend buying it from a leonkelman. The reason for this is not because leonkelman is actaully me, because he isn't but because he is the best seller ever. Upon purchasing this game from him i was greeted instantly by a knock upon the door and to my suprise there was my game. WHAT A BRILIANT GUY

This feels (and plays) like a final fantasy patch work quilt, various peices sown together into something new. If you've played any of the FF games you know what to expect. It will however tide you over untill more rpg's are released on 360.

I really like Final fantasy and the recent Blue Dragon, this however isn't as good as either. It does try to do something a little different with the combat, which is OK but it doesn't add that much to the game, which to be honest, completely failed to grip me, or even get my attention. The weird japenese characters just annoying, the julian clary alike is the worst offender but he does come out with some slightly risque commnents. Try it, just be prepared to be let down.