The console style PC game, Septerra Core, is finally here and it's quite an experience. Developed by Valkyrie Studios and published by Monolith, the game is another attempt by American developers to capture the unique style of a Japanese console RPG. After numerous duds (Shadow Madness and Secret of Evermore come to mind) it's finally been done right! Septerra Core has plenty of what those other games lacked, namely well-developed characters and a good story, with a fun gameplay system to boot.  The only irony is it's on the PC.

Septerra Core is a world consisting of 7 land shells rotating around a central organic computer core.  Created by a mysterious Creator, the Core becomes accessible every 100 years and gives the gift of Heaven to whoever is worthy enough to obtain it.  Set against an epic story of a divine war, the history of this world has deep religious overtones. Many years after the war, the corrupt descendents of the winning side, known as the Chosen, begin a quest to unlock the Core and acquire its power for their own means. 

The player steps into the role of Maya, a junk scavenger from Shell 2, who gets drawn into a struggle, along with her various companions, to stop the Chosen. Why this game succeeds as a console RPG is its emphasis on character development. All the characters are unique with their own personalities and prejudices which interact to give a realistic portrayal of their situations. The voice acting is also quite good, which helps bring them to life even further.   Each character has his or her own weapon types and attack styles such as swords, guns, staffs, missiles, and even a giant wrench.  The different abilities of the characters give the player a reason to try each one out in different areas.

Another big plus is the game's flow. It could have followed the standard structure of going from shell to shell finishing all of a shell's dungeons before moving on, which would have been boring and predictable. Luckily, the game's flow follows the story. You may finish only one or two dungeons in any one shell, go on to another shell, and back track as needed. These unexpected turns take the player through a story of political turmoil, civil war, exploration, and betrayal. Finally, an RPG where bad guys become good and you never know who your enemies or allies are!

Graphically, Septerra Core has to be one of the richest PC RPGs out there. This game is full of color and ambiance giving vastly different 2D worlds.  Ranging from deserts and cities to lush jungles and snowy mountains, each shell is its own unique world. The settings are divided between city or dungeon areas and the overworld map, which keeps your characters safe from attack as well as providing an automatic save feature. The character portraits look like Claymation as they talk, which fits in with the game's world. 

This is a game where having a good sound system really helps.  Zombies squish and giant crabs crackle as you hit them.  There are sounds of birds chirping and snow blowing resulting in very detailed environments which really bring the world to life. The battle music is also pretty good; being intense without being annoying as well.

The gameplay has many different levels. Importantly, like any RPG, the player has to talk to people and explore environments to collect items and solve puzzles. This is where the PC aspect comes into play as you need to collect certain key items and use them in correct places to solve a puzzle.  This can be annoying because often times if you don't click your mouse in the exactly correct place you may miss an item or area of investigation and become stuck. Luckily this PC-style gameplay doesn't rear its ugly head too often, as most of the game is good old-fashioned console style, turn-based battles. 

The battle interface is very simple. Simply click on the character portrait when it's his or her turn and then click on the enemy to attack and watch the battle go. Combat is continuous in that all your characters have time gauges of three settings, which gives you different level of attacks depending on how long you allow them to charge up. Enemies will keep attacking even if you don't attack. Many weapons also require special Core engines which increase their attack powers. As you progress through the game, more powerful engines become available in the many shops scattered around the world.

Player characters can also buy special weapon attachments which can be used once the proper charge-power level is reached. These also vary by character. The coolest part of the battle is the magic system. Magic is handled through the collection of Fate Cards, which represent various elemental magics, summons, heals, or defensive spells. Once the proper power is built-up, the player can select to use a card. Another character can use another card to combine magic for more powerful spells. For instance a Summon card with a Fire card will summon a Fire monster to attack your enemies. Use the same Summon card with a Water card and you get a completely different summon spell. Similarly, you can mix and match any card you want for a wide variety of spells. The only drawback is each spell uses almost half of your available spell points which results in scarce usage for most of the beginning portion of the game. Enemies are also seen on screen and can be avoided if the player so chooses. Battles don't last very long and never become tedious due to the wide variety of enemies and settings. Battle control is very simple, only requiring the player to pay attention to what's going on and clicking at the right time. 

Guiding your characters through the many areas is usually easy since all you have to do is hold down the mouse button to have them run in any given direction. This mix of great characters, intriguing story, and easy battle interface makes Septerra Core a console player's PC delight.

It's nice to see that a domestically developed RPG has finally succeeded in unlocking the secret of the Japanese-style RPG. It doesn't seem that it was so hard to make it right. Now if only other domestic companies follow Valkyrie's example then maybe players will be spared the agony of playing a failed Japanese RPG clone and instead experience an RPG as it is meant to be.