Full Review

Let's start by saying I now use this game as a benchmark for any other games for the ps2 as far as graphics are concerned. WHY OH WHY would any game designer settle for anything less than this? They managed to achieve high-end moving and interactive backgrounds which seem to have a life on their own. The characters are solid and pretty bug-less, animation's smooth, edges are smooth and lines are crisp... they paid attention to every detail which I notice first thing to judge quality. The character menu could've been more animated and edgier, but overall I think they kept every part of the interface true to its roots, including change of outfits, pretty perfect damage score, etc. The only thing I sort of disliked was that button combos are a little on the hard side and that the difficulty goes from 2-8 after a couple of fights... which I know, it's mostly personal preference, but a smoother transition would've been nice. Sound was great like I expected, lip-synching was pretty good, and overall it is a great package. If this is an example of how much they can improve in its series, I can't wait 'till the next. Definitely a must have in every ps2 collection.