Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light may look like just another generic RPG, but it is an extremely solid game and very fun experience. Sadly, not too many people will be able to enjoy this because 1) it looks like just another generic RPG, 2) it came out the same week as Valkyrie Profile, and 3) most people look down on original PSP games even though they are the same people who complain that the PSP doesn't have enough original games.
Blade Dancer was made by the unknown developer HitMaker. Good thing the guys at NIS America had faith in them and decided to bring this title Stateside. Of course, NIS also brought us the likes of Disgaea, Atelier Iris, and their first PSP attempt the awesome albeit unbelievably glitchy Generation of Chaos. Now, Blade Dancer is out, and its fate will be very similar it other NIS titles (that it isn't Disgaea). But those who actually play games before they complain are in for a real treat.
In reality, the only thing generic about Blade Dancer is the story. You play as Lance, a young sword user with spiky hair and a rodent for a sidekick. You are just traveling along until you meet a mysterious girl who you kinda know but don't. Then you get attacked by the evil Dread Knight. Now you must save the world. While we have heard this many times, Blade Dance does do a decent job of carrying the story through and the seemingly bland characters have quite a bit of life. There is some (well, very little) voice acting which is done very well. Actual cut scenes are few and far between, which is both good and bad.
Something pretty common throughout this game are things that seem weird at first but can be accustomed to pretty quickly. The first thing everyone should notice is the targeting system: every person, chest, monster, etc. must be targeted before interaction. This seems very awkward at first, but after about thirty or so seconds it becomes natural. It is actually convenient to talk to people from a distance or analyze monsters before going into battle. Monsters are represented as skulls wandering around on the field. This means you can avoid fights, and monsters will run from you if you are strong enough. Changing you character formation can change how monsters react. For example, having Gozen lead the group will make the beasties more aggressive, but it will also give your party more punch. Nice if you ask me.
The fights themselves are normally simple, but can have a interesting complexity to them. It is a real time battle system identical to Final Fantasy. You can attack, run, use items, and use Lunabilities, and that's where battles can get interesting. Whenever damage is dealt, a Lunar gauge builds up allowing you to use skills and magic at a certain point. The catch is, the gauge is shared by you, your teammates, and the enemies. Now you can try an wait till the gauge is high enough for a big attack, but risk the enemy using your own tactic against you. Once again, this may sound pretty stupid, but it can be pretty fun gambling with death like this.
Probably the biggest standout feature of this game is the crafting system. I absolutely hate games where weapons break. However, Blade Dancer makes it less annoying. Not only are you given plenty of warning, but you can rebuild the weapons or make even better ones. While this isn't nearly as deep or complicated as say Atelier Iris, it still keeps things pretty fresh. And to make sure you don't make super powerful weapons right from the start, there are level minimums on the items.
Thrown in for fun is Ad-Hoc wireless play. They did a good job and considering it takes nothing away from the game, there is no reason to be down on it. You and your friends go co-op through dungeons and can win special items. Pretty good extra feature.
My only real complaint about this game is the music. There is way too much silence. The 3D graphics are nowhere near PS2 quality, but they more than get the job done for this game. Load times are somewhat enigmatic. Going between buildings in town loads painfully slow, but the wait between battles and stuff is nearly instant. Sure, Blade Dancer is nowhere near perfect quality, but it is pretty close to being perfectly fun. It has old stuff, it has new stuff, it has good stuff. This is easily the best new RPG to hit a handheld in awhile.
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