Having not played the first installment (but read enough reviews, thanks to the Points of View section), I was curious to see whether the next installment being released on the PlayStation 2 would become the favored outlet of amateur game makers. Immediately after viewing a small demo of play, I noticed right away the similarities to Dragon Warrior VII - not surprising, it turns out, as they use the same engine. Graphics are done in a mix of styles: all the playable characters are SD, and quite cute. Enemies, on the hand, are the more scary variety.

While absolutely nothing can be created from scratch, this is not a downpoint by any means. Pre-existing models can be changed so radically, it's nearly impossible to tell its simpler origins. Literally anything can be changed about every object in the game: size, color, stats, useage; the creator is only limited by the number of graphics inside the game. Even then, the skills system does not rely on any kind of graphical representation, and therefore are infinite.

In addition, especially useful to new users like myself, is a complete in-game help system. By pressing start at any time, help for the specific function will come up, walking the most confused RPGamer through the process. Though the game would take a considerable amount of time to get accustomed to doing a game without any aid, this isn't too much of a deterrence for picking up the game and making your own epic adventure to save the world.