This part 1 of a two part story. Part 2 is called White Knight Chronicles II
From the back cover:
Experience the power of the White Knight.
Create your own unique character and uncover the mystery and tragic story of the White Knight in this RPG from acclaimed developer Level 5, featuring visually stunning backdrops, a customizable battle system, and a rewarding 4-player co-op online mode.
White Knight Chronicles begins in the kingdom of Balandor, where Princess Cisna is having a coming-of-age banquet. Leonard, the main protagonist; his childhood friend, Yulie; and the Avatar (a new employee at Rapacci Wines, where the three work), are tasked with delivering wine for the party. Once the delivery is completed, they decide to stay for the party, which is soon raided by an evil organization called the Magi. In the ensuing commotion, King Valtos, Cisna's father, is killed by a man in dark armor, causing a shocked Cisna to regain her voice (which was "lost" when her mother, Queen Floraine, was assassinated). Leonard grabs the distraught Cisna's hand and leads her to safety in the castle's lower levels. There, they find a giant suit of armor, an "Incorruptus"; and a strange gauntlet called the "Ark". Using the Ark to merge with the armor, Leonard becomes the White Knight, which can the combat the Magi. After eliminating a large monster from the castle, Cisna is kidnapped by the Magi. Sarvain, the royal advisor, tasks Leonard to rescue the Princess with the White Knight; Yulie, the Avatar, and a "humble traveler" named Eldore join him.
The player can freely choose which character to control. The characters gain experience points and level up, becoming stronger over the course of the game. The player can select locations on a world map that the player has already visited to go to instantly, along with a preview of that area including a list of quests the player has yet to complete. The player can choose a quest to embark upon before going to the desired area. The battle system used in White Knight Chronicles is a real-time system where the battle mode can be initiated when enemies are present. Before a battle the player optionally goes into the "Battle Preparation" menu (accessible at any time) and chooses up to three sets of seven commands for each character in the party. This set of twenty one commands is called a "Command Setup" and several of these setups can be saved for switching between classes. Commands can also be linked in order to create combos to use in battle. The player controls one of the characters while the others are controlled by the AI. Players can freely change the character they are controlling. The main character can transform into the White Knight using action chips which are acquired by defeating enemies. Boss battles also take place in a similar fashion except that they may include cutscenes for in-battle events.