Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light is the latest attempt at bringing the RPG genre to the PSP. I say attempt because, while there have been several on the system, none have really managed to do much of anything. As with other attempts, Blade Dancer is an okay RPG that tries to bring a console RPG experience to a handheld system rather than building a game that works for portable gaming.

Visually, Blade Dancer is a technically sound game with spotty artistic merit. The game is 3D and looks like a mid-level PS2 game. There are a few noticeable graphical flaws, though these are easy to forgive. Consistency is where Blade Dancer stumbles. Environments and characters look great, yet nothing seems to blend well. Although everything takes place on one island, areas don’t feel like they belong together. Some areas are really detailed, while others are barren.

Sound is a mix of good and bad. The game’s score doesn’t feature much in the way of variety, but what is presented sounds good. Voice acting, on the other hand, doesn’t sound as good, due in part to bad acting and a poorly translated script.

Blade Dance is your typical “young boy saves the world” story. The game takes place in the world of Lunadia, which at one time was threatened by an evil force known as the Dark Lord. During the Dark Lord’s reign, a hero known as the Blade Dancer appeared and defeated the Dark Lord, only to give rise to a new evil, the Dread Knight. However, the Dread Knight soon vanished as well, leaving the story to be passed down through the generations as a legend. You play as Lance, a brash swordsman whose only real motivation is to find adventure and test out his sword skills. But, as these things usually go, Lance meets up with a motley crew of characters and soon finds himself in the middle of a much deeper plot.

From a pure story standpoint, Blade Dancer isn’t anything special. There are a few neat moments, but nothing that is unexpected. There’s the amnesiac mystery girl, the loyal monk, the brash fighter… On top of that, the translation isn’t the best, which is surprising because NIS tends to do a great job. However, this isn’t a case of a mangled script, as was the case with Astonishia Story. Rather, it feels like the localization team tried too hard to fuse humor into the story, causing it to feel forced. References are thrown in that really don’t fit well within the game’s context.

Gameplay is opened-ended. Quests can be taken in any order you like, similar to an MMO. Most are optional so it is possible to just stick to story-based ones if you choose, though sticking primarily to these missions could make the game harder than it needs to be. Sadly, there isn’t much variety in quest types, so expect to spend most of your time playing errand boy or exterminator. The obvious bonus to completing quests is more money, experience and items – but you can also increase your Lunar Gauge, which helps during combat.

It is the little things that make Blade Dancer difficult. Quests are a chore because it is hard to know when or where certain quests may show up. Crafting is a cool addition, though some ingredients are tough to get, and the whole process can become tiring and long. Weapons also tend to break at inconvenient times, so you either have to have replacement weapons at hand or at least the ingredients to make them. Either way, you’re losing valuable storage space.

On the plus side, there are no random encounters. Instead, enemies are represented by skulls on the field. The catch is that enemies aren’t stationary, and will usually find their way to you. In addition, some enemies will join up with others, creating larger enemy encounters. Save points are scarce, which doesn’t make the game friendly to portable gamers.

Similar to quests, combat is based on a real-time clock, with actions given in a turn-based method. Each character has a battle gauge, called a Lunar Clock, that dictates when they can attack next. Since everything takes place in real-time, the action never stops – so you’ll find yourself quickly jumping between characters during battles. Characters also have access to a Lunar Gauge that builds up with successful attacks. Filling up the bar allows them to use special abilities. Since multiple characters use the Lunar Gauge, there is strategy to figuring out when to use certain abilities. Enemies also use the gauge for their special attacks, causing battles to become tense tug-of-war matches for ability points. The gauge is in constant flux as characters score hits, use their special abilities and cancel out the abilities of others.

Obtaining new weapons and armor is handled through a crafting system. While it is possible to simply buy them, prices tend to be on the high side and, since items break, you could find yourself in a hole quickly. Instead, it is usually easier to buy one item, analyze it and make it yourself. You can also experiment with the crafting system and try to make your own recipes which can then be registered with the local blacksmith, allowing you to quickly make the item if you need to. Of course, not all items can be crafted – so you’ll have to be careful when using certain weapons; once they break, they are gone forever. In addition, some ingredients are hard to come by.

Blade Dancer is not a bad RPG – it is just a bad portable RPG. Most of the gameplay elements would work on a home console where players have time to fool with crafting and searching towns for quests. But, time is a luxury that most portable gamers don’t have, which can makes Blade Dancer hard to recommend unless you do most of your PSP gaming at home or on long car rides.