Ably emulates the experience of watching a mid-budget action blockbuster, which is mostly a compliment short of the nagging feeling that this had very little reason to be a video game. Shuffling between your characters for brief snippets of conversation is fun, especially as you start to get a bead on their personalities, but the extreme linearity and simple puzzles keep this from feeling like an effective example of the medium. A small portion plated very handsomely.
An extra half-star for the inexplicable placement of a pixelated Sliding Doors poster in the middle of a South American military base (original to prove I'm not insane), which surprised and delighted this gay weeb cinephile of a certain age. Eat yer heart out, Kojima.
An extra half-star for the inexplicable placement of a pixelated Sliding Doors poster in the middle of a South American military base (original to prove I'm not insane), which surprised and delighted this gay weeb cinephile of a certain age. Eat yer heart out, Kojima.
Finally got translated! It was really different experience than what I was expecting it to be. Contained a few nuisances but overall was a great experience. Maybe the controls were a bit outdated tho, nothing against point n clicks, but I'm sure it was its weak spot.
Cinematic PS1 quest. Great graphic, puzzles are easy. Story is pretty simplistic by the end
A sort of point-'n-click adventure that in practice plays more like a strategy game where you're moving characters with different skillsets around, and having them interact. Cool premise and setting.
This review contains spoilers
Pos dejando unas cosas estúpidas (Como el hecho de que nunca tomaran las armas de los soldados muertos), el juego esta OK. Igual me sigue dando risa la elección del nombre PACHAMAMA, si bien se entiende por su significado, pero es gracioso por el significado sexual que se le da en su uso coloquial XD
Interesting curio. I can see why it wasn't localised in the end, since on the surface it looks like a survival horror akin to Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but it's actually a point 'n' click adventure with simplistic puzzles and godawful writing/acting. Still, it has a certain charm to it.
Surprisingly solid cozy little adventure of which you didn't expect it'd deliver, but it did. Very pretty, too, almost PS2 level of graphics.
Perfectly playable via an emulator, but you only should use 4:3 and turn off the emulator's clock speed overclocking (as it won't load).
Perfectly playable via an emulator, but you only should use 4:3 and turn off the emulator's clock speed overclocking (as it won't load).
It's a solid adventure game with some pros and cons.
The graphics are maybe slightly above average for the PS1. Full voice acting, action packed. 5 characters, all with pretty specific strengths and weaknesses.
The problem with the "action" part is that this is controlled like a point and click but plays more like an action game at times. I do wish it just had regular movement, but considering the time it was made, it probably would have been tank controls instead lol. Anyway, the problem with pointing where your character should go is that they rarely ever go exactly where you want them, especially with the camera constantly switching up to throw you off even more, so it's a constant annoyance to get your character in the exact spot you want them.
The story isn't particularly amazing, even a bit flat. The characters serve their purpose but aren't that interesting. There is a sense of urgency clear through out the game so it rarely feels like there's a time to relax and do a bunch of character exploration like other games might.
The puzzles are mostly straight forward but can get a bit tedious. The most tedious being having to acquire info from one character and communicate it to another character. They're not just absorbing all the info around them like you are, so it makes sense but it can be pretty tedious to figure out which character needs to do what and what other character needs that info so it's a whole lot of guess and check like many many adventure games.
Fully orchestrated soundtrack gives a cinematic feel which you really don't see often in a PS1 game (or many games tbh).
Overall, it's a solid adventure game with some problems that you may or may not enjoy yourself. I wouldn't whole heartedly recommend it, but it might be your thing.
The graphics are maybe slightly above average for the PS1. Full voice acting, action packed. 5 characters, all with pretty specific strengths and weaknesses.
The problem with the "action" part is that this is controlled like a point and click but plays more like an action game at times. I do wish it just had regular movement, but considering the time it was made, it probably would have been tank controls instead lol. Anyway, the problem with pointing where your character should go is that they rarely ever go exactly where you want them, especially with the camera constantly switching up to throw you off even more, so it's a constant annoyance to get your character in the exact spot you want them.
The story isn't particularly amazing, even a bit flat. The characters serve their purpose but aren't that interesting. There is a sense of urgency clear through out the game so it rarely feels like there's a time to relax and do a bunch of character exploration like other games might.
The puzzles are mostly straight forward but can get a bit tedious. The most tedious being having to acquire info from one character and communicate it to another character. They're not just absorbing all the info around them like you are, so it makes sense but it can be pretty tedious to figure out which character needs to do what and what other character needs that info so it's a whole lot of guess and check like many many adventure games.
Fully orchestrated soundtrack gives a cinematic feel which you really don't see often in a PS1 game (or many games tbh).
Overall, it's a solid adventure game with some problems that you may or may not enjoy yourself. I wouldn't whole heartedly recommend it, but it might be your thing.
This review contains spoilers
Clunky but interesting little curio and the cutscenes are ambitiously cinematic for the time and hardware, although maybe a little less impressive in a post-MGS1 world. I absolutely did not expect this game to have one of my party members reveal they're actually a CIA agent sent to this South American country specifically to ensure a US business-friendly leadership candidate is safeguarded, as the current government has put a number of industries and resources under state control, which Uncle Sam cannot allow. Not something you'd see in a lot of games at the time! However it's also really funny, because this CIA agent does not speak a single word of Spanish (which no-one in the game comments on at any point). Classic Langley fuckup!
A fine short point & click adventure with a very cinematic-esque direction "people from very different backgrounds need to band together to defeat evil dictator", but I'd say it works fairly well as long as you don't think too much about it. The dub is... okay for ps1 I guess. The biggest problem of the game is the janky movement and poor use of fixed camera angles, that make everything more confusing than it is. Also not sure why they didn't go for better looking pre-rendered backgrounds instead of ps1 geometry if the camera angles are fixed.
"Look, evil imperialists!" say the american and japanese characters in unison
"Jajajaj soy malo y imperialista!" says theperuvian character from a fictional south american country
"Jajajaj soy malo y imperialista!" says the
This is incredibly ambitious for a PS1 game and has some pretty impressive cutscenes for the platform itself, however it suffers from really awkward controls and a few too many obtuse puzzle solutions found in old point and click games.
However I still recommend playing it because it's fairly short and interesting. Really glad forgotten Japanese PS1 games like this can get fan translations
However I still recommend playing it because it's fairly short and interesting. Really glad forgotten Japanese PS1 games like this can get fan translations