Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time Review (PS4)

good
key review info
  • Game: Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time
  • Platform: Playstation 4
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  • Gamepad support: Yes  
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Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time header

If you've never heard of the Little Witch Academia anime franchise, chances are you've never heard about the game with the same name either. Dubbed Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time, the result of the collaboration between Bandai Namco and Studio Trigger, this RPG wants to be more than it should and fails miserably.

Although the game is 100% true to the Little Witch Academia anime series, the developers thought it would give it a tint of uniqueness by mixing RPG and side-scrolling beat-em-up elements. This formula where you take two distinct game genres and combine them to get a better result and further improve the gameplay experience may seem like a good idea, but in this case it's mediocre at best.

Despite the fact that Chamber of Time manages to provide almost the same lighthearted atmosphere from the anime series, there are many moments when nothing really meaningful happens in the game to the point that it becomes frustratingly boring.

The elements of a great JRPG title are all there, such as the music, characters, voiceovers, and story, but they're all dragged down by the pace to which the entire plot unfolds and the strange idea to implement a side-scrolling dungeon-crawling system in a RPG.

Being a student at the Little Witch Academia can be ... boring
Being a student at the Little Witch Academia can be ... boring

It all starts with the first day of the Summer vacation

Perhaps it's a bit of a cliché, but Little Witch Academia feels like the Japanese version of Harry Potter, and that's not just because it's about a youngster aspiring to the title of witch. The anime series and, fortunately, the game benefit from strong-developed characters and a decent story. As a matter fact, I had the feeling that I'm binging a full season of Little Witch Academia many times while playing the game, and that's a good thing.

In Chamber of Time, you play as Akko, a young aspiring witch who had the privilege of being accepted at the Little Witch Academia where she must learn the basics of magic. Unfortunately, learning how to be a witch isn't as exciting as Akko thought in the first place, so, instead of attending those boring classes or doing homework she soon becomes the jester of the school.

The game starts the moment Akko is punished for one of her many stunts by one of the school's teachers. Well, punished is too harsh in this case, but Akko must clean the library and sort all the books, and that wouldn't be such a chore if the punishment wouldn't coincide with the first day of the Summer vacation.

The library is Akko's main Sisyphus labor
The library is Akko's main Sisyphus labor

Luckily, Akko's roommates, Sucy and Lotte, offer to help when later during the day. It all goes wild when a mysterious woman leaves an strange book in the library while Akko's asleep, so when she finds it and puts it in the correct spot, a secret door to the Horologium Room is revealed.

At the start of the game it's unclear whether Akko is the one that force a time-loop when touching the magic clock in the Horologium Room, or the time-loop triggers the moment she and her friends break the sigil protecting the door.

Suffice to say, Akko and the gang are forced to relive the first day of the Summer vacation over and over again, but unlike many of the students at the Academia, they are perfectly aware of what happened the day before and try to correct any of the mistakes they've done. Akko's main objective is to break the time-loop and discover the mystery behind the Horologium Room.

It's an interesting premise for a Harry Potter-type of game, but that's not enough to support the faulty gameplay mechanics and the whole side-quest system that feels more like a filler rather than being part of the Little Witch Academia's charming lore.

More adventuring, less dungeon-crawling please

The Chamber of Time is one of those games that offer a decent story, lovingly crafted characters and a great soundtrack, but a flawed gameplay experience. Developer Trigger has decided that Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time must be RPG and a side-scroller at the same time, but these experiences are delivered to the player separately.

Dungeon-crawling isn't the best aspect of the game
Dungeon-crawling isn't the best aspect of the game

The adventuring-part plays just like every other JRPG with the mention that Chamber of Time can become plain boring at times whenever you decide that you must take on some of the sub-quests. Not many of these quests are interesting enough to justify the effort, but those worthy enough require players to cross the entire academia and with no fast-travel option this can quickly become a chore.

The dungeon-crawling aspect is even worse, as the AI is pretty bad and the level design mediocre at best. Aside from the two-three types of traps that are badly designed, the rest are just a series of connected rooms with a boss at the end that must defeated.

Enemies are easy to beat and don't present any challenge and, as I've mentioned earlier, the party AI is pretty bad. Whenever you start a new dungeon, you can take up to 2 other witches with you, which you won't be able to control. The good news is you can choose whichever you want to lead the party.

The leader of the party is the only character you can control, so the other will basically follow you can reign fire (water, ice and poison) on your enemies. What they are unable to do is avoid the traps. Even if you choose a patch that avoids going through the occasional traps, your party members will always take the direct approach, even if that means walking right into a trap.

As a fierce witch, you'll be “wanding” your way through waves of enemies. Well, “waves” it's a bit too much, but let's just say that fight tend to become chaotic most of the time, even if the animations and spell effects are nicely done. There's loot too, so you'll be able to equip your party with better gear whenever you find better equipment after finishing a dungeon. Leveling up means that your witch will get more HP and your mana pool will increase. Also, you'll receive skill points that you can spend to improve the power of your spells.

Shoot-em-all-up: Magic Knight Grand Charion (pre-order bonus)

Magic Knight Grand Charion is a small game that you receive for free if you pre-order Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time for PS4 via PlayStation Store. It's a shoot-em-up based on the magical giant robot that fans of the anime series already know about.

Since it's part of the same franchise, you'll once again meet Akko and the gang, who are now controlling the Magic Knight. Although it plays like a pure side-scrolling shoot-em-up, at the end of each level there's a boss fight where you actually get to control the magic robot from a first-person perspective. You get a series of moves where you have to punch the boss until you're magically charged to be able to deliver the ultimate blow.

If you're a fan of the shoot-em-up genre, Magic Knight Grand Charion is quite decent gameplay-wise, so I see no reason to avoid it, “au contrair.”


The Good

  • Adorable characters
  • Excellent soundtrack
  • Accurate representation of the anime series
  • Charming world
  • Some decent RPG elements

The Bad

  • Clunky controls
  • Frustrating side-scrolling “wand-em-up” concept
  • Uninteresting level design
  • Bland story for newcomers to the series
  • Sub-quests can make the game boring at times

Conclusion

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time is not necessarily a bad game, but it's obvious that developers have made some unfortunate choices that leads to some frustrating moments. The game has some satisfying moments and if you've seen the anime series, you'll absolutely love Chamber of Time thanks these moments. However, if you're a newcomer to the series the game, it's probably best to avoid it for now.

Being the first game in a series has its benefits and downsides. Chamber of Time's main benefit is that it can't be compared with another title since it's the first, but its drawback is that it doesn't have too much to offer gameplay-wise.

While the story may be enticing for diehard fans, those who aren't familiar with the Little Witch Academia franchise will find it a little bit stiff and probably uninteresting.

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time may be a first decent title in the beloved anime series, but Bandai Namco takes into consideration a second game, the formula must be completely reworked.

story 7
gameplay 6
concept 5
graphics 8
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 
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Little Witch Academia screenshots (34 Images)

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