PLATFORMS: PS3 (REVIEWED)

Imagine you're a 17-year-old kid called Leonard, working as a general dogsbody in a wine shop. Then, imagine that you're in love with a kidnapped princess and, somewhat akin to classic children's TV character Bananaman, you can transform into a gigantic overblown superhero at the drop of a hat. That's the basic premise of White Knight Chronicles.

Distantly related to the famed Final Fantasy series through its developer Level-5, WKC sees you travelling around in a party of four or five adventurers, battling random beasts to hone your skills – a process seasoned gamers call 'grinding', while you follow the main storyline.

After an intro sequence/tutorial, which runs to about two hours, you finally get the ability to transform into the White Knight of the game's title.

This seven-metre tall behemoth is virtually indestructible, but using this form eats up Leonard's magic points. And the more spectacular moves you pull using the Knight, the quicker you run through your points.

The creatures you fight along the way range in size from large wasps to vast creatures, even bigger than the White Knight.

The game's graphics are good and do their job well without ever being stunning, but sometimes the gameplay can consist of hauling yourself from one tedious large wasp battle to the next as you slowly improve your character's level.

White Knight Chronicles would be enjoyable for role-playing fans but it's not to everyone's taste.

MARKS: 6/10