White Knight Chronicles

White Knight Chronicles is a JRPG exclusive to PlayStation 3 from Level-5, combining traditional Japanese storytelling with a combat system inspired by MMOs. The player takes on the role of young Leonard, who, during an attack on his home town, accidentally bonds with legendary armor called the White Knight, gaining the ability to transform into a giant warrior. The story revolves around intrigue between kingdoms, lost magic, and the hero's journey from ordinary townsperson to protector of an entire region, accompanied along the way by Princess Cisna and other companions with their own motivations and secrets, whose fates gradually intertwine with the main plot about a struggle for power between neighboring kingdoms.

Battles take place in real time on a tactical, active-pause basis, where the player selects skills from a prepared list and also directs the behavior of party members. On PS3, the game offered an extensive world to explore as well as an online co-op mode that let players complete quests together outside the main storyline — a fairly unusual feature at the time for a singleplayer-leaning JRPG, and one that foreshadowed the later trend of blending classic JRPGs with online features. Visually, the game leaned on typical Level-5 style with colorful graphics and expressive characters, complemented by orchestral music that underscores both the fairy-tale and adventurous tone of the story.

While White Knight Chronicles did not reach the popularity of other major Level-5 franchises like Ni no Kuni or Dark Cloud, it became one of the titles that helped define Japanese RPGs on PlayStation 3 in the console's early years. The combination of classic storytelling, online co-op, and an active-pause combat system makes it an interesting and still-playable piece for genre fans who appreciate its ambition to connect singleplayer with multiplayer elements at a time when this was more the exception than the rule for major Japanese RPGs.

Why play it: For JRPG fans who'll appreciate the combination of classic storytelling with online co-op and an active-pause combat system, at a time when that was more the exception than the rule among major Japanese RPGs.