Faussete Amour might be a game to try out on emulator first and foremost... not that I'd be able to afford it. I kinda wish I could find a cheap Cotton Fantastic Night Dreams; maybe one day.
Quote:
If the heroine would saunter any slower she'd probably move backwards in time. It's not so much walking as it is miraculously travelling whilst standing still.
Ha, well said.
Down Load is a pretty fun game, though the sequel, despite its "kill cyber Hitler in cyberspace" plot seems to get mixed reviews. Apparently there's some quality there?
Bloodreign wrote:
Valis IV, IMO the best of the series, and 3 playable characters to choose fro, an extra stage at the end, great music, great cutscenes. Long game too, I like it's level designs as well. Just shame Yuko is no longer one of the selectable characters, but is instead a goddess.
I don't know why in a game series with as bare-bones a plot and mythos as Valis I would care that I can no longer play as Yuko. It must be something with the design, I don't know.
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As promised, something no one asked for:
Exile / XZR: Toki no Hazama


Exile in its setup and aesthetics reminds me a lot of those weird one-off anime OVAs that used to proliferate the market in the home-video market boom. Take an ostensibly historical setting, populate it with all sorts of weird demons and monsters, and throw in a ham-handed moral about religious persecution, and you've got a story! However as Exile goes on, it compounds its own misunderstanding of its source material (ie real life) to by the end no one knows what the hell is going on anymore. In that sense it's entertaining but probably not in the way its original creators intended.
The game's mechanics are far more straightforward. Simple overhead exploration puzzles with light RPG managing (items, weapons, etc.), and side-scrolling action stages. The former are a nice change of pace, while the latter offer up some competent fun. There is something satisfying about Sadler's huge swing arc. Unfortunately the action scenes are hampered by labyrinthine stages filled with maybe 2 enemies endlessly spawning over and over again, and dull repeating backgrounds. The bosses shake things up, but are often quickly dispatched with little effort.
I think the biggest thing holding Exile back is that it is very short and easy, to the point where it feels like the ending was rushed and missing content. The final areas of the game are very bare-bones visually, puzzle-wise and story-wise. Magic obliterates most enemies and is very plentiful. Aside from the first dungeon, the game rarely poses a threat. And despite the fun visuals, monster design, music, and story, the game feels like it's missing that little extra push into greatness. It's fun for a first playthrough and worth experiencing at least once to see a slightly weirder side of RPGs.
Quality Ranking:
High
Middling
Low