Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone box art

System: PSP	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Sting	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Atlus	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Sept. 15, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

It’s all in the cards. They will indicate how many tiles you can move in a particular grid section and what kind of attacks and other specialties you can use during your turn at battle. The cards will allow you to increase your stamina, deliver more devastating attacks, increase your units’ skills, and even dish out some magic spells. Winning a battle will erode some of the enemy’s morale, at the same time increasing the power of the cards you used. Losing a battle will decrease your morale.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone screenshot

Strategies have the potential to grow more complex as you win, lose, and level-up. It’s imperative to link your units together in specific formations. That way you expend less powerful units at the outset so that more powerful units are available to deal with more powerful attacks during your enemy’s turn. With so many variables to keep track of, the game avoids becoming entirely predictable or boring despite the continuous battling.

Cutscenes and the in-game dialogue are fully voiced, so you won’t be eye-weary from reading text, of which there would be plenty. You also have the option of skipping over these exchanges and cutscenes. The voice acting is surprisingly good, and it even includes the original Japanese voice acting if you’re into that. The tunes are catchy and diverse, as are the sound effects. Visually, it’s far superior to the GBA version, but it’s still filled with static tiles, icons, and character portraits. All the graphics have been upgraded with the addition of new images, but it does get repetitive-looking, as even the new locations are all too similar. Overall, the game has a certain storybook anime-style to it that is colorful, clear, and contemporary. There is nary a technical glitch to be experienced.

Let it be said that the PSP version of Yggdra Union is the definitive version. It’s a great game, but once you’re done with it, you won’t likely be back for a visit. The focus is on battling, and, frankly, you’ll have had enough of it by the time you reach the end.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.8

Graphics
Very simple graphics that don’t complement the PSP. Lots of repetition.

2.9

Control
Interface is not user-friendly. Card system is great once you learn it.

4.6

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Good music, sound effects, and voice acting.

4.5

Play Value
Solid gameplay. Lots of fun and strategy. May seem redundant after a few hours.

4.1

Overall Rating - Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Break-the-mold strategy system: Turn-based strategy meets real-time action in this innovative battle mechanic!

Build your strongest deck of cards to rain down special attacks, monitor the aggression meter to adjust the power of each hit, and create troop unions that will overwhelm the enemy’s numbers.

Rebuilt for the PSP: Yggdra Union is brand new again on the PSP system, boasting remastered audio and visuals, new playable characters, additional missions, difficulty options, widescreen support, and dual English and Japanese voiceover tracks.

Unlock even greater rewards: There is more to Yggdra Union than can be revealed in a single game. With three different endings plus a hidden ending and secret characters, there’s tons of treasure for a true gamer to uncover.