The combat in the game boils down to holding X and pressing B. It is a very easy game (at least on NG), so the plethora of random encounters just results in tedium. However, given that the game only takes around nine hours to beat, even if you're not in a rush (if you collect a whole bunch of extra stuff), as well as the fact that the game frequently introduces new enemies with different attack patterns, and hence, different B press timings, the tedium doesn't really get to you until you get stuck in the same place because of a puzzle, or just confusing level design. Now, I'm no pro at dungeon crawlers (except King's Field) but floors 3 and 4 were quite painful to get through in terms of puzzles, especially the third floor.
Speaking of which, the dungeon crawling kind of kills the pacing of the game. Nothing of note really happens between the start of floor two and the end of floor four, and the game takes quite a dramatic tonal shift on the last floor, making it seem like the whole point was in the extended ending sequence. Taking this into consideration, you can't help but feel like the really puzzle-heavy floors just bring the game down and lessen the overall impression some of the more interesting elements of the game might have left on the player.
The puzzles are not, however, the biggest problem I have with the dungeon crawling aspect of the game -- that would be the lack of exploration or incentive for it. In King's Field, there are secrets around every corner, with things like new weapons, healing items, and other useful and interesting things. This game gives you infinite potions at the hub, limited only by your inventory space, and instead of useful weapons, you find special moves, none of which really seem particularly worth getting (The Star-Eyed Special, what I assume is a nod to the name Joestar as well as Fist of the North Star, is the special you start with, and I found it to be the most useful for the entire duration of the game). All the 'secrets' in the form of breakable walls are marked out on your map, and you'll generally never struggle to find anything assuming you explore the map as you go along. Granted, the non-linear nature of some of the puzzles means that you might struggle to find an unobstructed way forward sometimes, but as you make your way through the dungeons, you're pretty much guaranteed to cover all the ground and find all the items in said dungeon.
All in all, this is a pretty short game with some interesting plot points at the end, some likeable characters, and a reasonably fun combat system which quickly becomes stale. It's not my favourite game of 2021, but considering that I've only played three of those, I can confidently say that this one would just about crack top 3.
Oh yeah, and a lot of the music was actually quite good. The floor 1 music and the floor 4 fire music were particular highlights. I didn't really like any of the battle music, though.
Speaking of which, the dungeon crawling kind of kills the pacing of the game. Nothing of note really happens between the start of floor two and the end of floor four, and the game takes quite a dramatic tonal shift on the last floor, making it seem like the whole point was in the extended ending sequence. Taking this into consideration, you can't help but feel like the really puzzle-heavy floors just bring the game down and lessen the overall impression some of the more interesting elements of the game might have left on the player.
The puzzles are not, however, the biggest problem I have with the dungeon crawling aspect of the game -- that would be the lack of exploration or incentive for it. In King's Field, there are secrets around every corner, with things like new weapons, healing items, and other useful and interesting things. This game gives you infinite potions at the hub, limited only by your inventory space, and instead of useful weapons, you find special moves, none of which really seem particularly worth getting (The Star-Eyed Special, what I assume is a nod to the name Joestar as well as Fist of the North Star, is the special you start with, and I found it to be the most useful for the entire duration of the game). All the 'secrets' in the form of breakable walls are marked out on your map, and you'll generally never struggle to find anything assuming you explore the map as you go along. Granted, the non-linear nature of some of the puzzles means that you might struggle to find an unobstructed way forward sometimes, but as you make your way through the dungeons, you're pretty much guaranteed to cover all the ground and find all the items in said dungeon.
All in all, this is a pretty short game with some interesting plot points at the end, some likeable characters, and a reasonably fun combat system which quickly becomes stale. It's not my favourite game of 2021, but considering that I've only played three of those, I can confidently say that this one would just about crack top 3.
Oh yeah, and a lot of the music was actually quite good. The floor 1 music and the floor 4 fire music were particular highlights. I didn't really like any of the battle music, though.
2 Comments
nine hours is way too long for a game with such poor gameplay tbh
AstrinSchmidt
2 years ago