Nah - I'll pass. Find out in our full review, and vote in our poll. The first part of Capcom's great experiment in RPG design has arrived to Japan after a shakey life that's taken it from one ill-fated system to a system that's unfortunately starting death right in the eye. Volume 1 of El Dorado Gate brings together three different, albeit connected, stories in one package, and asks that you come back two months down the road for more. It's console gaming's first serial RPG, and although initial impressions can be a bit sketchy, in the end the game works surprisingly well.
Japan is used to the whole serial thing - it's a part of the culture.
These are immensely popular, and a close parallel to what Capcom seems to be trying to do with El Dorado Gate . The three chapters in this first volume tell the tale of three individual heroes, but take place over the same map and in the same towns. Throughout the volume, you'll encounter various town residents and different areas of the world, all the while becoming familiar with the gameplay system and story that will serve as the shell throughout all future El Dorado Gate releases. In the end, the game manages to leave one with the understanding of how subsequent chapters will likely play out at a high level. One would expect the story to be the primary means of drawing a player in for a serial anything, and in some cases that's the case with El Dorado Gate .