Hayate no Gotoku! Dream Apocalypse

This is my second time writing a review. I hope I did this right. My first one fail because the fact it was mostly a strategy guide..

~Based on the 3.91 version of the game..

Story: 9/10
Nagi is on a quest to make a cliche-less JRPG with the help of her butler and friends. With this set up..Hilarity is ensured. The funny story telling, random adventures, and unique character interactions will keep you constantly laughing throughout the game. If you are an HnG fan that read/seen the series, then this game would probably be 5 times more enjoyable. If not, you will still be laughing at all the JRPG jokes.

Characters: 10/10
A colorful cast of characters and their personality kept true to the HnG series. No one seems plain and everyone is unique, even the NPCs. I can't help but fall in love with each character as they bicker and interact with each other.

Graphics: 6/10
Your basic RPG Maker graphics with some added snapshots from the anime... I thought some of the battle move effects look really cool. Like Hayate's lvl 3 skill and some of the monsters using an aqua type attack? Nothing over the top..

Now for some of the consistency with the sprites to character avatar look kinda bug me. I'm probably just nit-picky. An example some of the character hairstyles like the sensai with the bun ponytail doesn't match at all or some of the clothes color of other characters. I don't need fine detail. I just want to be able to identify things and tell the difference even if they are apart.. Such as a dog and a white tiger..

Music: 8/10
Its used very fittingly for the atmosphere in each setting and I find it noway repetitive. This makes a good feel as you continue playing into the game. A variety of NnG bgm and the likes to listen to..

Gameplay: 7/10
ok..the combat system was frustrating at first, but you will get use to the mechanics of it with experience.
I thought of the combat system like an advance form of real-time chess.. Like chess, each character can only attack on certain amount of spaces.

I bet most people rely only on tutorial and think it would suffice in getting through battles in this game. It said "to experiment" to figure out how the rest of the characters move .. but chances are you would die a many times before you fully grasp the requirements to attack with certain characters like Isumi. Basically I found the instruction booklet a lot more helpful than the in-game tutorial.

I think a more thorough in-game explanation of how each character attacks, will prevent some people from prematurely quitting the game. Also some kind of indicator of my parties health in battle would be nice. I don't like a member dieing off and I won't realize it til I try to switch to them and can't.

Overall: 40/50
I might be a bit bias because I'm a HnG fan. But this game should definitely be played to the end...