I think that this is by far one of the best RPGs to come out that takes directly from Final Fantasy's style. The background graphics are excellent and the THX sound is superior. You start out as a young Gondorrian in search of Borimir who has departed for Rivendell. As the game progresses you will be joined by an she-elf warrior, a ranger and eventually his dwarf companion as you follow in the footsteps of the Fellowship, with guidance from Gandalf himself.
The game uses the FF movement, you see the principal character when moving in the world, then the three active characters in the turned based combat mode. Just like FF you have the option between armed and magic assisted armed attacks, item use, or straight magical attacks. You also build up points to use perfect mode, much like the summoning points in FF. You use experience points to strengthen the different aspects of your character strength, speed, spirit, constitution, etc..
The game has many cut scenes using live video from the movies with voiceover provided by Ian McKellen. It also has many of the same downers as FF, the combat mode is repetitive, and the world itself is limited, but seing Mister Bolbo's trolls or the broken bridge in Morria make up for it.
I think the best part of the game is the co-operative mode. If you have young children they can play along easily with you, as opposed to the previous Rings games. They can even take the lead with a little help from you. Overall I would say this would rate 4.50 out of 5 stars.
