Before you can really play, you must chose a guardian type to use as an avatar. There are four choices; an Alchemist, a Druid, a Knight and a Berserker. Each character type has unique special skills and abilities. After choosing the character to be played, you are given your first task, helping the overseer. The story then continues to the end, which I still have not reached.

The Alchemist uses “Eldritch science.” Eldritch science is the art of controlling the elements that make up the world. This character can harness powers to create acid, fire bombs and lightning in addition to melee skills. A golem can be created to help fight alongside the Alchemist at mid-levels in rank. The alchemic skills can be used to transmute items to gold, so as to not burden their pack load and also may be used to create potions for Health and Power. This makes a very good partner for team play with a Knight or, best of all, a Berserker. Other abilities include a stun and a spell to convert enemies to fight on your side for a time.

The Druid harvests the unseen powers of nature. Along with the melee skill, the druid harnesses the powers of nature to help in battles. The druid has a very good battle heal. The abilities to create lightning storms, hailing boulders and freezing winds are useful to control battles. The druid also has root ability. This character can summon a tempest at level twenty to fight alongside him.

The Knight (in all his glory) practices the ancient arts of combat to make his way through the ever-present challenges that are encountered. The Knight has the ability to use most all weapons. This character can specialize in multiple weapon type usage; the bow, sword with shield, and dual weapon handling. There are special abilities that can be enhanced with rank for whichever type of weapon handling is preferred. I chose dual weapons with battle healing abilities as my preference. I also used the bow to lure and take care of the perching adversaries encountered. The Knight is the only character with bow ability.

The Berserker is the embodiment of unbridled fury, force and vengeance (blood thirsty fighters). The Berserker abilities center around the savage nature of this character in that they enhance damage dealt to opponents during battles. This character also has dual wield and the use of special claws for this purpose alone. This is the only character that has throwing weapon ability. The Berserker uses more of a martial arts type animation, which is very entertaining to watch.

All character types have abilities that affect a group’s fighting abilities. Each one is unique to the specific character type. Each character type has a special armor suited just for them and their use. The game is filled with unique items, and money is not scarce if you search and open the chests and collect the loot dropped by the adversaries that are defeated. There is a portal system set up in the realm to get around from place to place and back to the city. You must earn the key to the city first, and also secure the area around the portal to activate it for use. The monsters respawn every time an area is left, so if you leave an area and come back expect to fight your way through the area again. Some of the most fun I had with this game was linking up wireless and playing with a partner taking on the troubles of this City in the Clouds. The monsters that are encountered become tougher as the character’s rank increases and when there is more than one person playing in the game.

Abilities are obtained and further enhanced by spending credits that are received upon rank advancement. Traits are increased by the same methods as the abilities, but the obtained point system is different. Abilities are unique to each character class. Traits are the same for all classes, but the traits enhance abilities differently, so spending trait points depends on the character class chosen to play the game. Traits are Strength (physical power), Intelligence (mental power), Dexterity (agility) and Stamina (life force). Each character type uses these traits in different ways to accentuate their combat forms. As the points are available to spend, the game has valuable information on ways to spend the points wisely. Read carefully the information given. Once the points are spent and confirmed they are written in stone for the life of the character and cannot be changed.

Rank advancement, as in most RPGs, comes from surviving battles and completing given tasks. The greater the battle and more complicated the task, the more advancement points are accrued. One accumulates points till a level of advancement is gained. At that time the points for the level obtained can be put into skills and abilities. Points are earned in both the traits and the abilities categories. I have played all the character types to the top of their ability ladder, and have found the Knight most fits my style of play. I do like to have a Druid or an Alchemist as a partner to augment the Knight’s fighting style. I have a level 40 Knight as my highest character, and over one hundred hours of play time invested in this game, and still have plenty to do rescuing lost souls and keeping the city from falling into ruins from the evil nemesis’s that lie in the surrounding areas and back on the planet’s surface that the City in the Clouds floats above.

This being the first role playing game designed for the PSP made it quite unique. The challenge of the small screen and controls used by the PSP were very well met by the gameplay. This game is very user friendly. The graphics and third person projection are handled very well. I was able to maneuver and handle my weapons in battles without getting lost in the surrounding obstacles. In fact, the graphics are very good and highly detailed. The wireless connectivity was very fun and easy to set up, so a friend can join in on the excitement. I found attacking and using the special skills easier the more I played the game. Two of the special skills can be hotkeyed for instant use. The hot keys can be changed at any time during the game (I do this just before battles). The hard part was choosing which skill I wanted to use and the appropriate time to use them. Learning the character’s abilities and their uses is very important.

I found this game very addicting, and ended up whiling the time away without noticing that hours not minutes had passed since I began playing. There is always another task to do, another damsel in distress or even a wandering soldier or resident of the city that gets lost or captured in their meanderings outside the city’s protected walls.