Story of Integra

In the beginning I believed that Story of Integra was a game about Integra Hellsing, from the Hellsing manga and anime!
It is not!
But it was still worth of my time, anyway who is exactly Integra?

Integra White is the protagonist of the game (duh!), a Sevallon Elven Archer that after so much training desires to explore the world. The war has ended and this is a period of peace, but evil seems to resurface, and this happens when Integra is finishing her training as a Renger. Guess what? Her village will be destroyed and she'll be left all alone to travel the world. Uhm not exactly alone, since as many other jrpg games taught us, the protagonist will make friends and foes during the journey (that have different goals and stories)... and this game is no exception!


Uhmmm I'm not sure that the horse will understand and answer, but ok!

Anyway, despite this not very original start, I had fun because there are many different characters and the dialogues are well written. I don't want to spoil the story but it was ok!

Now, the gameplay! The game used the classic 1st person view battle system, with a four members party against enemies. Classic, but even if most battles are against just one or two opponents, be aware that this is a hard game, for what concerns combat! Yes, enemies have lots of hitpoints and sometimes seems to have infinite SP, loot isn't particulary generous either. Bosses are especially brutal since they like using nasty status effects! So good luck, you will need it!

On the good side there are tons of quests, that include will let Integra to own a ship, and even a tavern (that may be very costly, but the payoff for getting it is noteworthy!)! And luckily the side quests are a good way to earn some resources since the best rewards are obtained in this way, another option is exploring and check every rock, I know that it may be boring, but treasures are hidden everywhere, and you will need every help you can find if you desire to survive!
Oh and since there are *over 10* playable party members, it's suggested to take care (and outfit with the best gear) only those you plan to use, because it's impossible to give the best weapons and armors to all of them, without resorting to extreme grinding! And another advice is to always have a healer in your party, of course!


Those two guys are really strong, and they also look somehow familiar to me...

An excellent feature of the game, since I mentioned the sidequests, is the journal: it gives lots of useful informations regarding the quests, the characters linked to them, and also indicates whose quests are very difficult! It's an extremely helpful instrument for the player, and not many games have something like this! Good thing!

Graphically, Story of Integra uses lots of RTPs and edits here and there (I remember seeing a demon from Doom too!), but nothing much, look is rather standard even if maps aren't too bad despite their generic look, and some oversized and empty areas. Dungeons aren't too long, and that's a pretty good choice. In the end maps and other visuals aren't spectacular, but not too bad either.
I like that the custom charsets are all on the same style so there is no clash for visual dissonance, even if some portraits do not seem to match perfectly the appearance of the character, but it's ok.

Music is for the most part RTPs too, but there are some custom musics of high quality, like the ones you can listen to on the main menu and during the ending. In any case music felt always appropriate to the scenes, so there's nothing else to report.


That poor thing that is flying is... well WAS a person, once!

The Final Verdict
Story of Integra is another game of the past (2012), and another solid and polished classical fantasy rpg adventure that will take at least 15-20 hours to complete, and this case also a pretty challenging one, so be ready for this!
It's a game with lot of content and things to do (just a little bit of work and a difficulty re-balancing would have made this game really one of the best, anyway it's still good and will surely appeal some experienced players that are looking for challenging games), if you can survive the hard combat encounters without rage quitting! Then it may be the game for you!