Bearshaman
1998
TL;DR- A fascinating and freaky Noah's Ark "psycho thriller and hunting" JRPG on Sega Saturn which never made its way Westward, Linda Cube Kanzenban's wonderful art design, unique and challenging gameplay systems, top of class world-building, unforgettable characters, and dramatic, parallel-world storylines have made it a cult classic in Japan for good reason, and it's well worth playing if you get the chance.
Linda Cube is a Noah's Ark JRPG, or as its creator Shoji Masuda referred to it, a "psycho thriller and hunting RPG." Both are appropriate, valid descriptions. Linda Cube is not like other JRPGs—it has many unique systems and a unique setting which are not seen in other games of the genre. At the same time at its heart it is very much a JRPG with top notch JRPG essential elements. Despite my 5 star score I do not think Linda Cube is a perfect game—there is no such thing—however, it perfectly executes what it sets out to do.
Linda Cube takes place on Neo-Kenya, a planet doomed to death by a giant meteor in 8 years time at the start of the game. One day, a huge ark falls out of the sky, with a message from a mysterious god calling himself Anubis. It's a call for one human male and female to capture one male and female of every species of animal on the planet and upload them to the astro ark and launch it into the sky toward an unidentified target location before the meteor hits.
That call is answered by teenage protagonist Ken Challenger and his slightly crazy, blue-green haired tomboy girlfriend Linda. Having made a careless early childhood promise to get married one day, the two are already in a relationship when the game starts. Linda is brought to life by a stand out performance from Minami Takayama, the voice of Detective Conan, among many others. The relationship between the two of them forms the basis for the dramatic story elements of the different scenarios.
A defining feature of the game, Linda Cube is composed of three closely adjoined parallel worlds referred to as Scenarios A, B, and C. Different Scenarios are selected from the title screen, and a game save can only exist in that Scenario. This is the first of many unique systems the game uses to differentiate itself. Scenarios take place in different Regions of Neo-Kenya—each Region is essentially its own unique mini-world map. All Scenarios take place in the Eastern Region, with Scenario A also taking place in the icy Western Region of Neo Kenya, Scenario B also taking place in the blazing Southern Region, and Scenario C taking place in all of those Regions and one more. Each Scenario has its own unique story and main characters, as well as a unique number of animals required to be uploaded to the ark in order for Ken and Linda to launch it into space. The Scenario length and number of animals required to launch the ark increases from A to B to C.
One of the best uses of this Scenario System is how characters change between them. Characters who are villains in one Scenario may be allies in the next, and relationships between characters are usually similar but slightly different. A harmless comment or throwaway joke by a character in one Scenario will take on a sinister meaning when it appears in another. Other small details like Linda's last name will change between Scenarios. It's also impossible to catch all of the animals in the world in the first two Scenarios, which are more like tutorial Scenarios for Scenario C, where the player must upload at least 100 different species into the ark.
Capturing animals is the meat of the game. Animal sprites can be seen wandering region maps or in dungeons and bumping into them initiates combat. Some animals will run away from the player, some will run at the player. Animal behavior also changes depending on the season in game. Animals tend to run in large packs during summer and are found hungry and solo and closer to towns during the winter. Females may become more aggressive during egg laying season, and males more aggressive during the rut. Different animals will appear in different areas depending on the season, if they attacked the party while they were sleeping, if it is snowing, or if other more esoteric requirements are met.
Ken moves at a decent clip already, but the player can hold a button to make him run. Running takes a toll on Ken and requires a small amount of HP to maintain outside of towns, so running in bursts while hunting is more advantageous than just holding the run button down. This adds a nice element of strategy to hunting, and if the player attacks from the side or behind, it gives them an advantage in combat. Other elements like forcing an aquatic animal to fight on land will also give the player an advantage.
At first glance combat is your standard first person turn-based Dragon Quest or Phantasy Star style affair, but it has a unique twist. Animals can come at the party from one of four different cardinal directions. Each direction has its own mini-battlefield, and the player can freely change directions between these battlefields on their character's turn. Animals attacking from behind the party will inflict more damage, so it's good to keep an eye on where the animals are and have a party member face them during combat. Some animals will bounce between battlefields, and some of the player's moves will hit every animal in a battlefield, which helps make the combat interesting.
Another interesting combat element is hunting dog party members. Dogs can be purchased at Dog Centers or captured in the wild and tamed. Linda learns to tame dogs as her hunting skills improve, with that ability eventually allowing her to tame a few other animals into "hunting dogs." Up to two dogs can be in the party at a time. Dogs act and level independently in combat depending on their natural disposition and how strong their bond is with Ken. If the enemy is too strong or the dog has fallen in combat many times in the past, it's more likely to run away, taking damage from enemies and returning to the party only after combat is over. If a dog runs out of HP it must be taken to a Dog Center to be healed, where the vet will give the player a ridiculous list of symptoms and a bill. As Ken's hunting skills improve, he is able to give general orders to the hunting dogs and freely switch them out during combat with dogs in reserve. This is extremely valuable when trying to capture weaker enemies, as lower level dogs can be swapped in to fight weaker enemies without splatting them.
Animals are automatically captured by Ken's Trans Cargo System after their HP is reduced to 0 or a small range above or below 0. But, if an animal is hit too hard and their HP goes well below 0, they splat into tiny pieces. Splatted animals are not captured and give no XP. This adds an element of physicality and skill to hunting, as the player is encouraged to explore and engage with animals around their level, while dodging higher and lower level animal species. Animals visible onscreen can be examined for more info including what level they are as well as various data about them from the in-game hunter's manual. The natural volatility of these animals is also why modern firearms are not allowed in Neo-Kenya, as well as why the player uses simple weapons crafted from various parts of these animals to fight. A splatted animal is worthless.
But a captured animal is very valuable. Utilizing ancient technology discovered in the mysterious ruins of the planet, Ken's Trans Cargo System digitizes weakened animals which can then be uploaded from the system into the ark. Animals uploaded to the ark become a part of not only the astro ark, but a part of Ken and Linda. Depending on the sex of the animal uploaded the correspondingly sexed party member will receive permanent stat boosts, as well as unlock special skills and beast transformations which can be used in combat. Knowing which animals correspond to which special skills and transformations gives the player various options for pathing during repeat playthroughs.
Captured animals can also be turned into weapons, armor, and various treated meats. It takes 10 males of a species to make one weapon, 10 females to make a full set of armor, and 1 animal to make a treated piece of meat. Each of these items is unique depending on the animal used, and knowing which animals make great weapons, armor, and meats, is essential to becoming a full-fledged hunter. Treated meats are the main healing tool in the game, with Ken commenting on the unique flavor each time he consumes one, I.E "Tastes like earlobes," "Tastes like rust." Meats also have a danger value, which is a chance of giving the player a negative status effect. Meats can also be thrown on the overworld, in dungeons, and in battle itself, to lure animals or give them a negative status effect.
But the most defining systems in the game are the time-related ones. Spend enough time hunting and the seasons pass. Like Earth, Neo-Kenya has four seasons. And as the seasons pass, perishable items in your inventory go to rot, and different animals appear at different rates in various areas of Neo-Kenya. Different NPCs may appear or have different things to say in Neo-Kenya's towns and caves. Weather patterns change, with some regions becoming easier or more difficult to traverse. And when enough seasons pass, the years pass. And every year brings the player closer to an unstoppable meteorite in the summer of 1999. As the years pass, the cities begin to thin out. The Interstellar Federation has a planetary evacuation program in place, but they can only carry so many people at a time on their budget repurposed evacuation shuttles. Take the time to speak to every NPC you see, because they might not be there next time.
NPCs are always worth talking to, and a real highlight of the game. The NPC conversations are always entertaining, often humorous, and help build the world and deepen the feeling that Neo-Kenya is a real place full of real people. Many story elements are not explicitly explained, but clues as to what's really going on can be picked up from NPC conversations as you go along, sometimes even in different scenarios entirely.
The story itself is extremely dramatic and entertaining. The main theme is love. More specifically, it's an exploration of how strong the emotion is, and how long-term and wide-reaching its consequences can be. Story elements are naturally activated by uploading certain numbers of animals to the ark or progressing to certain seasons in certain years. This is reminiscent of the story trigger system in Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, and is an excellent way of implementing story elements in a free-roaming JRPG of this style. It keeps the player involved in the fascinating world of Neo-Kenya.
Neo-Kenya is prized not only for its unique animals not found anywhere else in the galaxy, but also for its native people, the Beastians. These often blue-green anime hair colored natives who proudly claim to be descended from beasts were already there when the shocked Earthlings first landed on the planet. A hardy people known for their sometimes backwards ways and traditions, they also have an incredibly high birth rate, something Earthlings in the game are severely lacking in. Breeding with the natives is seen as the hope for humanity, and Beastians have their own self-governed sanctuary towns with extravagant churches which are seen as tourist attractions.
But there are many mysteries surrounding them. How are Beastians able to find and control the fierce pteranodon-like creatures which make up the world's mass aviation transport system, Birdline? Why do they seem so prone to disastrous events, like the mass slaying of a Beastian village around a decade ago? Why do their legends speak of giant arks which fall from the sky just like the recent one sent by Anubis? Are their genes really so dominant that Linda's black-skinned legendary human hunter father Hume could have a white-skinned blue-green haired daughter like Linda? Is the Federation taking the Beastians into account with their evacuation program, or will some of the natives be left to face meteor-induced destruction? And why are so many Beastian corpses mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the night from the basement mortuary of the hospital corporation town of Hospico?
Hospico is one of several major towns and cities the player can freely visit if they are available in their Scenario. A few other towns include the spaceport town of Ozport, the Eastern region's transportation hub which has a teleportation pad to the Oz-sat satellite from which the planet's evacuation shuttle is boarded. (Of which the operators insist there hasn't been an incident of dumping a traveler directly into deep space in at least a year, making it much safer than Birdline.) There's the half-built and abandoned town of Parasido, which has become a den for outlaw poachers who finish building the town as they please. There's the town of Eterna, run by a massive pharmaceutical company which makes wondercures out of the unique local animals and where every day feels like a holiday. There's the last Beastian sanctuary town of Minago, where Linda and her mother live. And there's the town of Hardia, where the planet's Ranger Corps is headquartered, and where, despite living in the shadow of the Ranger Corps headquarters, Ken is late to work as a junior hunter in the Ranger Corps every day.
While not explicitly a silent protagonist, Ken is breathed to life by the player themselves. Ken has some voice acting and personality, but it's pretty mellow overall. This helps bring out the bombastic nature of the other characters introduced in the game, with main character conversations fully voiced. In addition to Minami Takayama's outstanding performance as Linda, Takeshi Aono gives an incredible Dr. Emory, the colorful doctor who is eerily reminiscent of a certain famous failed Austrian artist, and a main player in Scenario B. There's also a performance given during a certain bossfight of Scenario A which will the give the player chills, and possibly nightmares. The performances and stories work well to bring the characters to life.
One other extraordinary element bringing Linda Cube to life is the art design. The character design is from famous Japanese artist Cannabis, and is top-notch, with some of the best concept art of the generation. In addition to this is the acid-laced nightmare fuel animals of Neo-Kenya, which share names with Earth creatures but only vaguely resemble them. Every new animal is a new nightmare, and it makes capturing them more fun. There's also a few short anime cutscenes designed by Cannabis during pivotal scenes which are gorgeous and entertaining.
And that art is the last element that makes Linda Cube come together. The game's surface is the gorgeous character and animal designs which stand out despite the game's relatively simplistic graphical prowess. The game's skeleton is the very fun, challenging gameplay loop of catching animals and uploading them into the ark or turning them into resources while exploring overworlds, towns and dungeons. Layered on top of this fast-paced, still strategic JRPG gameplay is the dramatic storyline which is naturally triggered by phone messages the player can listen to as their capturing progresses. Its glue is the number of interesting and immersive systems as well as the solid world-building which keeps the player engaged. And at its heart is the love shared between Ken and Linda, which is constantly tested but stays true and real despite everything thrown at it. (It's also perfectly described in the lyrical version of Linda's Theme song unlocked later in the game.)
The game's music itself is excellent—what there is of it. Although great, some of the loops are quite short and there are not very many tracks in total. The most interesting use of the music is how the overworld theme changes depending on the season you're in. It's always the same core theme, but sounds more peaceful in spring, and downright sinister in winter. It's a great use of the medium.
As a final note it should be noted that the version I'm reviewing, Linda Cube Kanzenban, is actually the third version of the game released. The original was the PC Engine CD title, which was remade for the PlayStation soon after the initial release as Linda Cube Again. The Saturn version, Kanzenban, is a slightly touched up version of Again with a few extra unlockables, and is widely considered the definitive version of the game. In truth, all the games are amazing, and it's a crying shame none of them made it to the West on release.
Hopefully, by the time you're reading this, some version of the game has an official or unofficial Western translation and there are no barriers keeping anyone from having the opportunity to play Linda Cube. I do have some concerns about how well a translated release will keep the spirit of the original dialogue intact, but I have high hopes regardless. A cult classic in Japan since its initial release, I firmly believe the same will happen upon its Western release. Hopefully one day soon everyone will have the opportunity to experience its unique world-building, gameplay systems, and dramatic storyline. There's really nothing else like Linda Cube.
Linda Cube is a Noah's Ark JRPG, or as its creator Shoji Masuda referred to it, a "psycho thriller and hunting RPG." Both are appropriate, valid descriptions. Linda Cube is not like other JRPGs—it has many unique systems and a unique setting which are not seen in other games of the genre. At the same time at its heart it is very much a JRPG with top notch JRPG essential elements. Despite my 5 star score I do not think Linda Cube is a perfect game—there is no such thing—however, it perfectly executes what it sets out to do.
Linda Cube takes place on Neo-Kenya, a planet doomed to death by a giant meteor in 8 years time at the start of the game. One day, a huge ark falls out of the sky, with a message from a mysterious god calling himself Anubis. It's a call for one human male and female to capture one male and female of every species of animal on the planet and upload them to the astro ark and launch it into the sky toward an unidentified target location before the meteor hits.
That call is answered by teenage protagonist Ken Challenger and his slightly crazy, blue-green haired tomboy girlfriend Linda. Having made a careless early childhood promise to get married one day, the two are already in a relationship when the game starts. Linda is brought to life by a stand out performance from Minami Takayama, the voice of Detective Conan, among many others. The relationship between the two of them forms the basis for the dramatic story elements of the different scenarios.
A defining feature of the game, Linda Cube is composed of three closely adjoined parallel worlds referred to as Scenarios A, B, and C. Different Scenarios are selected from the title screen, and a game save can only exist in that Scenario. This is the first of many unique systems the game uses to differentiate itself. Scenarios take place in different Regions of Neo-Kenya—each Region is essentially its own unique mini-world map. All Scenarios take place in the Eastern Region, with Scenario A also taking place in the icy Western Region of Neo Kenya, Scenario B also taking place in the blazing Southern Region, and Scenario C taking place in all of those Regions and one more. Each Scenario has its own unique story and main characters, as well as a unique number of animals required to be uploaded to the ark in order for Ken and Linda to launch it into space. The Scenario length and number of animals required to launch the ark increases from A to B to C.
One of the best uses of this Scenario System is how characters change between them. Characters who are villains in one Scenario may be allies in the next, and relationships between characters are usually similar but slightly different. A harmless comment or throwaway joke by a character in one Scenario will take on a sinister meaning when it appears in another. Other small details like Linda's last name will change between Scenarios. It's also impossible to catch all of the animals in the world in the first two Scenarios, which are more like tutorial Scenarios for Scenario C, where the player must upload at least 100 different species into the ark.
Capturing animals is the meat of the game. Animal sprites can be seen wandering region maps or in dungeons and bumping into them initiates combat. Some animals will run away from the player, some will run at the player. Animal behavior also changes depending on the season in game. Animals tend to run in large packs during summer and are found hungry and solo and closer to towns during the winter. Females may become more aggressive during egg laying season, and males more aggressive during the rut. Different animals will appear in different areas depending on the season, if they attacked the party while they were sleeping, if it is snowing, or if other more esoteric requirements are met.
Ken moves at a decent clip already, but the player can hold a button to make him run. Running takes a toll on Ken and requires a small amount of HP to maintain outside of towns, so running in bursts while hunting is more advantageous than just holding the run button down. This adds a nice element of strategy to hunting, and if the player attacks from the side or behind, it gives them an advantage in combat. Other elements like forcing an aquatic animal to fight on land will also give the player an advantage.
At first glance combat is your standard first person turn-based Dragon Quest or Phantasy Star style affair, but it has a unique twist. Animals can come at the party from one of four different cardinal directions. Each direction has its own mini-battlefield, and the player can freely change directions between these battlefields on their character's turn. Animals attacking from behind the party will inflict more damage, so it's good to keep an eye on where the animals are and have a party member face them during combat. Some animals will bounce between battlefields, and some of the player's moves will hit every animal in a battlefield, which helps make the combat interesting.
Another interesting combat element is hunting dog party members. Dogs can be purchased at Dog Centers or captured in the wild and tamed. Linda learns to tame dogs as her hunting skills improve, with that ability eventually allowing her to tame a few other animals into "hunting dogs." Up to two dogs can be in the party at a time. Dogs act and level independently in combat depending on their natural disposition and how strong their bond is with Ken. If the enemy is too strong or the dog has fallen in combat many times in the past, it's more likely to run away, taking damage from enemies and returning to the party only after combat is over. If a dog runs out of HP it must be taken to a Dog Center to be healed, where the vet will give the player a ridiculous list of symptoms and a bill. As Ken's hunting skills improve, he is able to give general orders to the hunting dogs and freely switch them out during combat with dogs in reserve. This is extremely valuable when trying to capture weaker enemies, as lower level dogs can be swapped in to fight weaker enemies without splatting them.
Animals are automatically captured by Ken's Trans Cargo System after their HP is reduced to 0 or a small range above or below 0. But, if an animal is hit too hard and their HP goes well below 0, they splat into tiny pieces. Splatted animals are not captured and give no XP. This adds an element of physicality and skill to hunting, as the player is encouraged to explore and engage with animals around their level, while dodging higher and lower level animal species. Animals visible onscreen can be examined for more info including what level they are as well as various data about them from the in-game hunter's manual. The natural volatility of these animals is also why modern firearms are not allowed in Neo-Kenya, as well as why the player uses simple weapons crafted from various parts of these animals to fight. A splatted animal is worthless.
But a captured animal is very valuable. Utilizing ancient technology discovered in the mysterious ruins of the planet, Ken's Trans Cargo System digitizes weakened animals which can then be uploaded from the system into the ark. Animals uploaded to the ark become a part of not only the astro ark, but a part of Ken and Linda. Depending on the sex of the animal uploaded the correspondingly sexed party member will receive permanent stat boosts, as well as unlock special skills and beast transformations which can be used in combat. Knowing which animals correspond to which special skills and transformations gives the player various options for pathing during repeat playthroughs.
Captured animals can also be turned into weapons, armor, and various treated meats. It takes 10 males of a species to make one weapon, 10 females to make a full set of armor, and 1 animal to make a treated piece of meat. Each of these items is unique depending on the animal used, and knowing which animals make great weapons, armor, and meats, is essential to becoming a full-fledged hunter. Treated meats are the main healing tool in the game, with Ken commenting on the unique flavor each time he consumes one, I.E "Tastes like earlobes," "Tastes like rust." Meats also have a danger value, which is a chance of giving the player a negative status effect. Meats can also be thrown on the overworld, in dungeons, and in battle itself, to lure animals or give them a negative status effect.
But the most defining systems in the game are the time-related ones. Spend enough time hunting and the seasons pass. Like Earth, Neo-Kenya has four seasons. And as the seasons pass, perishable items in your inventory go to rot, and different animals appear at different rates in various areas of Neo-Kenya. Different NPCs may appear or have different things to say in Neo-Kenya's towns and caves. Weather patterns change, with some regions becoming easier or more difficult to traverse. And when enough seasons pass, the years pass. And every year brings the player closer to an unstoppable meteorite in the summer of 1999. As the years pass, the cities begin to thin out. The Interstellar Federation has a planetary evacuation program in place, but they can only carry so many people at a time on their budget repurposed evacuation shuttles. Take the time to speak to every NPC you see, because they might not be there next time.
NPCs are always worth talking to, and a real highlight of the game. The NPC conversations are always entertaining, often humorous, and help build the world and deepen the feeling that Neo-Kenya is a real place full of real people. Many story elements are not explicitly explained, but clues as to what's really going on can be picked up from NPC conversations as you go along, sometimes even in different scenarios entirely.
The story itself is extremely dramatic and entertaining. The main theme is love. More specifically, it's an exploration of how strong the emotion is, and how long-term and wide-reaching its consequences can be. Story elements are naturally activated by uploading certain numbers of animals to the ark or progressing to certain seasons in certain years. This is reminiscent of the story trigger system in Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, and is an excellent way of implementing story elements in a free-roaming JRPG of this style. It keeps the player involved in the fascinating world of Neo-Kenya.
Neo-Kenya is prized not only for its unique animals not found anywhere else in the galaxy, but also for its native people, the Beastians. These often blue-green anime hair colored natives who proudly claim to be descended from beasts were already there when the shocked Earthlings first landed on the planet. A hardy people known for their sometimes backwards ways and traditions, they also have an incredibly high birth rate, something Earthlings in the game are severely lacking in. Breeding with the natives is seen as the hope for humanity, and Beastians have their own self-governed sanctuary towns with extravagant churches which are seen as tourist attractions.
But there are many mysteries surrounding them. How are Beastians able to find and control the fierce pteranodon-like creatures which make up the world's mass aviation transport system, Birdline? Why do they seem so prone to disastrous events, like the mass slaying of a Beastian village around a decade ago? Why do their legends speak of giant arks which fall from the sky just like the recent one sent by Anubis? Are their genes really so dominant that Linda's black-skinned legendary human hunter father Hume could have a white-skinned blue-green haired daughter like Linda? Is the Federation taking the Beastians into account with their evacuation program, or will some of the natives be left to face meteor-induced destruction? And why are so many Beastian corpses mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the night from the basement mortuary of the hospital corporation town of Hospico?
Hospico is one of several major towns and cities the player can freely visit if they are available in their Scenario. A few other towns include the spaceport town of Ozport, the Eastern region's transportation hub which has a teleportation pad to the Oz-sat satellite from which the planet's evacuation shuttle is boarded. (Of which the operators insist there hasn't been an incident of dumping a traveler directly into deep space in at least a year, making it much safer than Birdline.) There's the half-built and abandoned town of Parasido, which has become a den for outlaw poachers who finish building the town as they please. There's the town of Eterna, run by a massive pharmaceutical company which makes wondercures out of the unique local animals and where every day feels like a holiday. There's the last Beastian sanctuary town of Minago, where Linda and her mother live. And there's the town of Hardia, where the planet's Ranger Corps is headquartered, and where, despite living in the shadow of the Ranger Corps headquarters, Ken is late to work as a junior hunter in the Ranger Corps every day.
While not explicitly a silent protagonist, Ken is breathed to life by the player themselves. Ken has some voice acting and personality, but it's pretty mellow overall. This helps bring out the bombastic nature of the other characters introduced in the game, with main character conversations fully voiced. In addition to Minami Takayama's outstanding performance as Linda, Takeshi Aono gives an incredible Dr. Emory, the colorful doctor who is eerily reminiscent of a certain famous failed Austrian artist, and a main player in Scenario B. There's also a performance given during a certain bossfight of Scenario A which will the give the player chills, and possibly nightmares. The performances and stories work well to bring the characters to life.
One other extraordinary element bringing Linda Cube to life is the art design. The character design is from famous Japanese artist Cannabis, and is top-notch, with some of the best concept art of the generation. In addition to this is the acid-laced nightmare fuel animals of Neo-Kenya, which share names with Earth creatures but only vaguely resemble them. Every new animal is a new nightmare, and it makes capturing them more fun. There's also a few short anime cutscenes designed by Cannabis during pivotal scenes which are gorgeous and entertaining.
And that art is the last element that makes Linda Cube come together. The game's surface is the gorgeous character and animal designs which stand out despite the game's relatively simplistic graphical prowess. The game's skeleton is the very fun, challenging gameplay loop of catching animals and uploading them into the ark or turning them into resources while exploring overworlds, towns and dungeons. Layered on top of this fast-paced, still strategic JRPG gameplay is the dramatic storyline which is naturally triggered by phone messages the player can listen to as their capturing progresses. Its glue is the number of interesting and immersive systems as well as the solid world-building which keeps the player engaged. And at its heart is the love shared between Ken and Linda, which is constantly tested but stays true and real despite everything thrown at it. (It's also perfectly described in the lyrical version of Linda's Theme song unlocked later in the game.)
The game's music itself is excellent—what there is of it. Although great, some of the loops are quite short and there are not very many tracks in total. The most interesting use of the music is how the overworld theme changes depending on the season you're in. It's always the same core theme, but sounds more peaceful in spring, and downright sinister in winter. It's a great use of the medium.
As a final note it should be noted that the version I'm reviewing, Linda Cube Kanzenban, is actually the third version of the game released. The original was the PC Engine CD title, which was remade for the PlayStation soon after the initial release as Linda Cube Again. The Saturn version, Kanzenban, is a slightly touched up version of Again with a few extra unlockables, and is widely considered the definitive version of the game. In truth, all the games are amazing, and it's a crying shame none of them made it to the West on release.
Hopefully, by the time you're reading this, some version of the game has an official or unofficial Western translation and there are no barriers keeping anyone from having the opportunity to play Linda Cube. I do have some concerns about how well a translated release will keep the spirit of the original dialogue intact, but I have high hopes regardless. A cult classic in Japan since its initial release, I firmly believe the same will happen upon its Western release. Hopefully one day soon everyone will have the opportunity to experience its unique world-building, gameplay systems, and dramatic storyline. There's really nothing else like Linda Cube.
The problem with Wolkenkratzer is not that it's a bad game, but that it's not a great one. A janky 3D fighting game roguelite RPG with incredibly atmospheric stair climbing between battles that was only released on PS1 in Japan practically sells itself. The fact that this didn't get a sequel or two or even become a niche genre is really sad because, jank aside, there's something incredibly compelling about this game that always makes you want to head out on just one more run.
Despite what the game's cover says, to call this game an RPG is a bit of a stretch. There's a post-apocalyptic tower that needs to be climbed and you can talk to a handful of people living in some ruins before heading into the tower. (Think Baroque, but with NPCs that are more traditional 90s anime JRPG than nightmare fuel.) They give you clues and help flesh out the lore but they're not exactly essential. The focus on stats and equipment then might be the main qualifier for the genre. And you'll need to focus on those elements if you plan on making to to the fiftieth floor.
The meat of the game is climbing the tower. Each level has an enemy waiting to fight you which is selected from a random pool depending on what level of the tower you're in. After defeating the enemy, you have the opportunity to heal up or search the floor for treasure. Each time you search you have a chance of encountering the same enemy you fought earlier, likely because it is already loaded up in the PS1 memory, or finding a few pieces of loot. This loot includes better equipment, moves, spells, and various power-up items. If you encounter a foe, you find nothing, but have the chance to search again. Generally it's always worth it to search a floor unless the enemy on that floor is incredibly difficult or you're running out of time.
And if you run out of time, your run is over. The game assigns a time value to various actions, including how long it takes to fight an enemy, or if you rest to restore health. If the time gets too high, you can always leave the tower with your new goodies and make another run. Getting better attacks and equipment, as well as powders to permanently buff your equipment or buff your character's stats for one run, is the main benefit. If you die, you lose everything since your last save. And although you lose your levels when you restart or die during a run, you retain that good old fashioned player knowledge of enemies.
This player knowledge is applied in a unique way as well. As you progress to the next level of the tower, there's a first-person animation of going up a set of stairs. While this animation plays, the sound of the next monster the player will fight can be heard. Additionally, once you reach the door at the top of the stairs you can choose to read a quick description detailing what the character can hear, smell, or see at that moment. Each enemy corresponds to a unique description. Combining this description and the monster's unique cry, the game has a unique and immersive approach to clue the player into what they're about to fight when they decide to open that floor door.
The menu in front of the door also has an option for the player to use items or change equipment. Powders which have been saved can be used to permanently buff equipment or buff the player for the run instead of holding onto them. The player can change out what items are on the quick use menu while fighting. Shields with elemental enchantments can also be swapped out, as some enemies are very difficult to fight without them.
The actual fights are fun, even if the combat is nothing exceptional. It's essentially a primitive 3D fighting game where you can unlock new moves and equip different swords, shields, and spells. A good jump-in or poke is going to be the main move to unlock and spam, spam, spam. The enemy design is enjoyable if you like the 90s lo-poly pseudo-fantasy post-apocalypse aesthetic.
In its own unique way, Wolkenkratzer is a good game. The novelty of the game alone is worth checking out, as it is essentially its own genre. There is limited music, limited NPC interaction, some slightly annoying load times, a combat system that encourages cheap repetition, and some frustrating enemies that can seem impossible to overcome on first meeting. But despite all that, just like the greatest of the Rogue-influenced games out there, it's an incredibly compelling experience where you can easily find yourself hoping to make it to just one more level. Indie game devs looking for a fun underused idea look no further, the world could use a little more Wolkenkratzer.
Despite what the game's cover says, to call this game an RPG is a bit of a stretch. There's a post-apocalyptic tower that needs to be climbed and you can talk to a handful of people living in some ruins before heading into the tower. (Think Baroque, but with NPCs that are more traditional 90s anime JRPG than nightmare fuel.) They give you clues and help flesh out the lore but they're not exactly essential. The focus on stats and equipment then might be the main qualifier for the genre. And you'll need to focus on those elements if you plan on making to to the fiftieth floor.
The meat of the game is climbing the tower. Each level has an enemy waiting to fight you which is selected from a random pool depending on what level of the tower you're in. After defeating the enemy, you have the opportunity to heal up or search the floor for treasure. Each time you search you have a chance of encountering the same enemy you fought earlier, likely because it is already loaded up in the PS1 memory, or finding a few pieces of loot. This loot includes better equipment, moves, spells, and various power-up items. If you encounter a foe, you find nothing, but have the chance to search again. Generally it's always worth it to search a floor unless the enemy on that floor is incredibly difficult or you're running out of time.
And if you run out of time, your run is over. The game assigns a time value to various actions, including how long it takes to fight an enemy, or if you rest to restore health. If the time gets too high, you can always leave the tower with your new goodies and make another run. Getting better attacks and equipment, as well as powders to permanently buff your equipment or buff your character's stats for one run, is the main benefit. If you die, you lose everything since your last save. And although you lose your levels when you restart or die during a run, you retain that good old fashioned player knowledge of enemies.
This player knowledge is applied in a unique way as well. As you progress to the next level of the tower, there's a first-person animation of going up a set of stairs. While this animation plays, the sound of the next monster the player will fight can be heard. Additionally, once you reach the door at the top of the stairs you can choose to read a quick description detailing what the character can hear, smell, or see at that moment. Each enemy corresponds to a unique description. Combining this description and the monster's unique cry, the game has a unique and immersive approach to clue the player into what they're about to fight when they decide to open that floor door.
The menu in front of the door also has an option for the player to use items or change equipment. Powders which have been saved can be used to permanently buff equipment or buff the player for the run instead of holding onto them. The player can change out what items are on the quick use menu while fighting. Shields with elemental enchantments can also be swapped out, as some enemies are very difficult to fight without them.
The actual fights are fun, even if the combat is nothing exceptional. It's essentially a primitive 3D fighting game where you can unlock new moves and equip different swords, shields, and spells. A good jump-in or poke is going to be the main move to unlock and spam, spam, spam. The enemy design is enjoyable if you like the 90s lo-poly pseudo-fantasy post-apocalypse aesthetic.
In its own unique way, Wolkenkratzer is a good game. The novelty of the game alone is worth checking out, as it is essentially its own genre. There is limited music, limited NPC interaction, some slightly annoying load times, a combat system that encourages cheap repetition, and some frustrating enemies that can seem impossible to overcome on first meeting. But despite all that, just like the greatest of the Rogue-influenced games out there, it's an incredibly compelling experience where you can easily find yourself hoping to make it to just one more level. Indie game devs looking for a fun underused idea look no further, the world could use a little more Wolkenkratzer.
TL;DR- While a slightly more balanced game than Might and Magic 6, it's also a downgrade in more ways than not.
Having recently finished part 6 of the Might and Magic series, I found myself craving more of the same. And in many ways, this does feel like more of 6, albeit with a lot of tweaks here and there. Some of these tweaks improve the game, and some do not. Whether or not you enjoy the game is going to come down to how much you like part 6, and how you feel about these changes. (Check my review of 6 if you want more info on that game.) For me, more of these changes missed the mark than hit, resulting in a textbook example of one step forward, two steps back.
Many of the tweaks from 6 are for the better. The once weak healing receives a massive numbers buff. So do potions, with reagents now having power levels and the newly introduced alchemy skill keeping brewing relevant past the early game. Overpowered bows have been massively nerfed by not allowing most classes to get Master rank or higher, making archery less dominating for the first half of the game. Melee combat is buffed, to the point where the Knight no longer feels like a wasted slot. Newly returning from the older entries and missing in 6 are the Rogue and Monk classes, as well as alternate race choices. Alignments also return, cleverly incorporated into a very important choice halfway through the game. Magic is also less overpowered, with spells becoming tiered and only becoming castable if party members have the appropriate levels of training. Town Portal now allows you to pick your target the moment you get it. Towns themselves are generally less labyrinthine, and there are no moments of ultimate BS equal to 6's Castle Darkmoor in the much tamer dungeons.
But many of the changes are for the worse. For some reason the devs decided one low-tier archery class wasn't good enough, and as a result there is now an Archer and a Ranger class. The skill levels necessary for training are now uniform across the board, with Master available at 7 for all skills, and an additional Grandmaster level available at 10. This Grandmaster level is gated off for the first in-game year, sealing away several abilities and spells for about half the game, including the extremely useful Lloyd's Beacon spell. And without Lloyd's Beacon, there are 3 commonly visited areas which are only accessible by hoofing it or by visiting the appropriate stables or ship on the appropriate day. This gets old very fast. Wandering NPCs no longer have flavor text or any useful dialogue, making them pointless aside from those who can be hired. Sound effects are often changed for no reason. (What the hell is that new Enchant Item sound??) The music doesn't hit as hard, although a few tracks stand out. The world feels smaller, with fewer dungeons, less secrets, and much less complexity. And perhaps worst of all, they scrapped the expressive and uncanny, just-off photo-realistic faces of 6! In their place are low-poly abominations with none of the charm.
One change which isn't entirely good or bad is capping skill training depending on class. For example, only promoted Sorcerers can learn Grandmaster Elemental magic, and only promoted Archers can learn Grandmaster Bow. While this does make classes more unique and balanced, it's also a huge hassle. This is especially true if you don't consult the game manual's skill chart before playing to see which classes can hit Grandmaster with various skills. Class-gating a skill like Learning is just silly, resulting in party levels all over the place. And gating Merchant Grandmaster to the Cleric class, and Alchemist to Sorcerer, means the two classes with the heaviest skill point investment are now forced to invest in even more skills. One step forward, two steps back.
That's not to say the game doesn't have its highlights. Players start on a tutorial island, flattening out the learning curve for newcomers. Acquiring a headquarters early on is an interesting change, and brings some political intrigue, even if it ends up a bit underused. There are cities above and below the earth which really shine. The animated clips which play when a player first enters certain buildings or dungeon are top notch, and more entertaining than ever. A seemingly innocuous choice at the beginning of the game bears some interesting fruit at a point in the game where the player probably forgot that choice even existed. The game definitely has its moments.
But Might and Magic 7 never has an Abandoned Temple moment. One of the first dungeons a player encounters in part 6, the Abandoned Temple is dark, sprawling, and filled with deadly, status-afflicting monsters. It's a wake-up call to the player. You're going to have to drink from fountains, buff, heal, explore, level, and acquire a ranged arsenal. In short, you're going to need a plan if you want to survive. Might and Magic 7, with its abundant buff pedestals, significantly less complex dungeons, and far less threatening enemies, does not ask this. The most difficult part of the game is figuring out where a switch is hidden in a dungeon or which house a skill trainer is in. (Do the harpies even cast Curse anymore?) It is true that halfway through 7 there is a sharp rise in the difficulty, but this is only temporary. Overall, the changes in art direction, sound design, dungeon complexity, questing, and world-building, as well as the gating off of so much content in an open world game, made the game far less enjoyable. While not a terrible game, Might and Magic 7 fails to break out of the shadow of its superior older brother.
Having recently finished part 6 of the Might and Magic series, I found myself craving more of the same. And in many ways, this does feel like more of 6, albeit with a lot of tweaks here and there. Some of these tweaks improve the game, and some do not. Whether or not you enjoy the game is going to come down to how much you like part 6, and how you feel about these changes. (Check my review of 6 if you want more info on that game.) For me, more of these changes missed the mark than hit, resulting in a textbook example of one step forward, two steps back.
Many of the tweaks from 6 are for the better. The once weak healing receives a massive numbers buff. So do potions, with reagents now having power levels and the newly introduced alchemy skill keeping brewing relevant past the early game. Overpowered bows have been massively nerfed by not allowing most classes to get Master rank or higher, making archery less dominating for the first half of the game. Melee combat is buffed, to the point where the Knight no longer feels like a wasted slot. Newly returning from the older entries and missing in 6 are the Rogue and Monk classes, as well as alternate race choices. Alignments also return, cleverly incorporated into a very important choice halfway through the game. Magic is also less overpowered, with spells becoming tiered and only becoming castable if party members have the appropriate levels of training. Town Portal now allows you to pick your target the moment you get it. Towns themselves are generally less labyrinthine, and there are no moments of ultimate BS equal to 6's Castle Darkmoor in the much tamer dungeons.
But many of the changes are for the worse. For some reason the devs decided one low-tier archery class wasn't good enough, and as a result there is now an Archer and a Ranger class. The skill levels necessary for training are now uniform across the board, with Master available at 7 for all skills, and an additional Grandmaster level available at 10. This Grandmaster level is gated off for the first in-game year, sealing away several abilities and spells for about half the game, including the extremely useful Lloyd's Beacon spell. And without Lloyd's Beacon, there are 3 commonly visited areas which are only accessible by hoofing it or by visiting the appropriate stables or ship on the appropriate day. This gets old very fast. Wandering NPCs no longer have flavor text or any useful dialogue, making them pointless aside from those who can be hired. Sound effects are often changed for no reason. (What the hell is that new Enchant Item sound??) The music doesn't hit as hard, although a few tracks stand out. The world feels smaller, with fewer dungeons, less secrets, and much less complexity. And perhaps worst of all, they scrapped the expressive and uncanny, just-off photo-realistic faces of 6! In their place are low-poly abominations with none of the charm.
One change which isn't entirely good or bad is capping skill training depending on class. For example, only promoted Sorcerers can learn Grandmaster Elemental magic, and only promoted Archers can learn Grandmaster Bow. While this does make classes more unique and balanced, it's also a huge hassle. This is especially true if you don't consult the game manual's skill chart before playing to see which classes can hit Grandmaster with various skills. Class-gating a skill like Learning is just silly, resulting in party levels all over the place. And gating Merchant Grandmaster to the Cleric class, and Alchemist to Sorcerer, means the two classes with the heaviest skill point investment are now forced to invest in even more skills. One step forward, two steps back.
That's not to say the game doesn't have its highlights. Players start on a tutorial island, flattening out the learning curve for newcomers. Acquiring a headquarters early on is an interesting change, and brings some political intrigue, even if it ends up a bit underused. There are cities above and below the earth which really shine. The animated clips which play when a player first enters certain buildings or dungeon are top notch, and more entertaining than ever. A seemingly innocuous choice at the beginning of the game bears some interesting fruit at a point in the game where the player probably forgot that choice even existed. The game definitely has its moments.
But Might and Magic 7 never has an Abandoned Temple moment. One of the first dungeons a player encounters in part 6, the Abandoned Temple is dark, sprawling, and filled with deadly, status-afflicting monsters. It's a wake-up call to the player. You're going to have to drink from fountains, buff, heal, explore, level, and acquire a ranged arsenal. In short, you're going to need a plan if you want to survive. Might and Magic 7, with its abundant buff pedestals, significantly less complex dungeons, and far less threatening enemies, does not ask this. The most difficult part of the game is figuring out where a switch is hidden in a dungeon or which house a skill trainer is in. (Do the harpies even cast Curse anymore?) It is true that halfway through 7 there is a sharp rise in the difficulty, but this is only temporary. Overall, the changes in art direction, sound design, dungeon complexity, questing, and world-building, as well as the gating off of so much content in an open world game, made the game far less enjoyable. While not a terrible game, Might and Magic 7 fails to break out of the shadow of its superior older brother.
2015
Tl;DR- It's a budget hack 'n slash lesbian big anime tiddies romance with symphonic power metal at night kind of game. If that sounds appealing to you, you'll probably like it. If it doesn't, don't bother.
The concept is strong enough. You play as a buxom anime half-demon female knight (Arnice) fated to one day guide her absolutely pneumatic lover/ward saint friend (Lilysse) to a mysterious altar in order to stop the Night Lord from making the night eternal. There's a shadowy organization running everything behind the scenes, but the final outcome rests in Arnice's hands. Stuck in a hub world hotel with a magic elevator, a butler, a thief, and a research scientist, Arnice has to repeatedly go out to various locales in the area at night and hack and slash her way through the demons there, collecting their demonic blue blood, money, and items – unlocking new weapons, abilities, and levels in the process.
The big element that separates this game from similar JARPG budget hack 'n slashes is the fiend allies you can bring into battle. You can summon up to four at a time, and they'll fight and heal and support Arnice as you play. You can also manually order them to use their special move if they have enough special points. They have their own personalities and you can often talk to them in the hotel in-between-battle stages. And as the game continues, you can summon new, more powerful, fiends – if you don't mind having to level them up from level one.
Since the demons Arnice slays only come out at night, all the levels you visit are always at night. (Eat your heart out FF7R.) It's a nice theme to carry through the game, but visually it can be a little muddled, with some areas not standing out. And if you try to do any of the sidequests, you're going to have to deal with interpreting the awful naming schemes to figure out where you're supposed to go, as many of these names barely suit the area you're looking for. You also have to factor in the completely unnecessary 15 minute time limit per outing while doing these sidequests.
And there are plenty of sidequests, if you're into that. The various characters in the hotel always seem to have some crap they need you to run around and look for, and you also have the option to complete randomly generated side quests for more blue blood or money as you're out and about town. You also unlock day sidequests which are performed offscreen after a night out, which will give Arnice various points in attributes she can spend on skills and abilities.
Combat is the heart of any hack 'n slash, and the combat in this game is pretty good for the most part. It's simple, but very responsive. You can switch between four unlockable weapons, each of which has its own light, heavy, and super attacks. Add to that the summonable fiend allies which you can pick yourself and choose when to use their special moves and it's a more than serviceable combat system.
The big issue then, is the enemies. The basic enemies you'll spend most nights grinding through are so easy and basic that they rarely present a challenge, a matter compounded by the fact you can have four summonable allies out at all times. This mind-numbing lack of challenge contrasts with the boss fights, which require positioning and paying attention to tells, and are fun and challenging. A few of the bosses will probably require a few attempts, and the final boss is on another level of difficulty altogether.
Meanwhile, the story has its own weakness: aside from the basic premise, very little of import actually happens. On the way to this sinister altar experience hanging over the whole game is a bunch of fluff that occasionally deepens the characters or the world, but for the most part is just there to pad the game out. A lot of the same story beats happen over and over, with slightly different coats of paint. And keep in mind, this is already a short game with very few characters.
The characters are fine, though, if you don't mind your anime tropes and Japanese-only voices. Stealing the show is the VA for the research scientist, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who delivers an incredible over-the-top performance.
As far as the yuri content goes, despite the ridiculous outfits, it's mostly limited to intense handholding on a bed with several bibles' worth of space between the characters. There's a lot of will-they-won't-they going on, and who-is-protecting-who throughout. Lilysse's maid outfit and Arnice's leveling outfit are the raciest things you're going to see in this relatively chaste, but dramatic, love story.
Likely the strongest element of the storytelling is the mystery woven throughout. Just who is this butler and why does he run a hotel? Why is there a mysterious black cat talking to my fiend friends? Who is this “guide” who keeps pushing around Arnice behind the scenes? What is the nature of sealing the Nightlord? Who is the Nightlord? What's the shadowy organization Curia really up to? Which of the two men who suddenly appeared is the Curia agent, and which is the fake? Can the lovers survive their date with the altar? Sadly, these mysteries are more compelling than the basic gameplay or the filler story elements. But this is a small budget yuri JARPG from Gust, so it's not exactly shocking.
Another strong element is the soundtrack. The melodic symphonic power metal accentuated with its occasional no-lyrics belted chanting that plays during the stages is very catchy, and well suited for the night time demon extermination theme. There are also some jazzy tunes for the hotel, and when you hear the yuri piano play it's your cue that plot is happening. The soundtrack punches above its budget weight for sure.
Overall, it's probably a 2.5 out of 5. When it comes to low budget JARPG hack 'n slashes, you could do better. Drakengard 3 is the kind of wild ride that makes its painfully average gameplay well worth engaging with. Ys 8 has incredible gameplay, difficulty options, exploration, music, and storytelling, even if it looks like an early PS3 title. What does Nights of Azure have? A little mystery, a little yuri, a nice soundtrack, and a few good ideas. I guess if you include the handful of challenging bosses and the excellent final bossfight, it rounds up to a 3. If you're looking for a 3D JARPG and you've played most of the bigger ones or you want to try something different, give it a shot. Just be aware the PC version is supposed to be a mess, so get it on PS4 if you can.
The concept is strong enough. You play as a buxom anime half-demon female knight (Arnice) fated to one day guide her absolutely pneumatic lover/ward saint friend (Lilysse) to a mysterious altar in order to stop the Night Lord from making the night eternal. There's a shadowy organization running everything behind the scenes, but the final outcome rests in Arnice's hands. Stuck in a hub world hotel with a magic elevator, a butler, a thief, and a research scientist, Arnice has to repeatedly go out to various locales in the area at night and hack and slash her way through the demons there, collecting their demonic blue blood, money, and items – unlocking new weapons, abilities, and levels in the process.
The big element that separates this game from similar JARPG budget hack 'n slashes is the fiend allies you can bring into battle. You can summon up to four at a time, and they'll fight and heal and support Arnice as you play. You can also manually order them to use their special move if they have enough special points. They have their own personalities and you can often talk to them in the hotel in-between-battle stages. And as the game continues, you can summon new, more powerful, fiends – if you don't mind having to level them up from level one.
Since the demons Arnice slays only come out at night, all the levels you visit are always at night. (Eat your heart out FF7R.) It's a nice theme to carry through the game, but visually it can be a little muddled, with some areas not standing out. And if you try to do any of the sidequests, you're going to have to deal with interpreting the awful naming schemes to figure out where you're supposed to go, as many of these names barely suit the area you're looking for. You also have to factor in the completely unnecessary 15 minute time limit per outing while doing these sidequests.
And there are plenty of sidequests, if you're into that. The various characters in the hotel always seem to have some crap they need you to run around and look for, and you also have the option to complete randomly generated side quests for more blue blood or money as you're out and about town. You also unlock day sidequests which are performed offscreen after a night out, which will give Arnice various points in attributes she can spend on skills and abilities.
Combat is the heart of any hack 'n slash, and the combat in this game is pretty good for the most part. It's simple, but very responsive. You can switch between four unlockable weapons, each of which has its own light, heavy, and super attacks. Add to that the summonable fiend allies which you can pick yourself and choose when to use their special moves and it's a more than serviceable combat system.
The big issue then, is the enemies. The basic enemies you'll spend most nights grinding through are so easy and basic that they rarely present a challenge, a matter compounded by the fact you can have four summonable allies out at all times. This mind-numbing lack of challenge contrasts with the boss fights, which require positioning and paying attention to tells, and are fun and challenging. A few of the bosses will probably require a few attempts, and the final boss is on another level of difficulty altogether.
Meanwhile, the story has its own weakness: aside from the basic premise, very little of import actually happens. On the way to this sinister altar experience hanging over the whole game is a bunch of fluff that occasionally deepens the characters or the world, but for the most part is just there to pad the game out. A lot of the same story beats happen over and over, with slightly different coats of paint. And keep in mind, this is already a short game with very few characters.
The characters are fine, though, if you don't mind your anime tropes and Japanese-only voices. Stealing the show is the VA for the research scientist, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who delivers an incredible over-the-top performance.
As far as the yuri content goes, despite the ridiculous outfits, it's mostly limited to intense handholding on a bed with several bibles' worth of space between the characters. There's a lot of will-they-won't-they going on, and who-is-protecting-who throughout. Lilysse's maid outfit and Arnice's leveling outfit are the raciest things you're going to see in this relatively chaste, but dramatic, love story.
Likely the strongest element of the storytelling is the mystery woven throughout. Just who is this butler and why does he run a hotel? Why is there a mysterious black cat talking to my fiend friends? Who is this “guide” who keeps pushing around Arnice behind the scenes? What is the nature of sealing the Nightlord? Who is the Nightlord? What's the shadowy organization Curia really up to? Which of the two men who suddenly appeared is the Curia agent, and which is the fake? Can the lovers survive their date with the altar? Sadly, these mysteries are more compelling than the basic gameplay or the filler story elements. But this is a small budget yuri JARPG from Gust, so it's not exactly shocking.
Another strong element is the soundtrack. The melodic symphonic power metal accentuated with its occasional no-lyrics belted chanting that plays during the stages is very catchy, and well suited for the night time demon extermination theme. There are also some jazzy tunes for the hotel, and when you hear the yuri piano play it's your cue that plot is happening. The soundtrack punches above its budget weight for sure.
Overall, it's probably a 2.5 out of 5. When it comes to low budget JARPG hack 'n slashes, you could do better. Drakengard 3 is the kind of wild ride that makes its painfully average gameplay well worth engaging with. Ys 8 has incredible gameplay, difficulty options, exploration, music, and storytelling, even if it looks like an early PS3 title. What does Nights of Azure have? A little mystery, a little yuri, a nice soundtrack, and a few good ideas. I guess if you include the handful of challenging bosses and the excellent final bossfight, it rounds up to a 3. If you're looking for a 3D JARPG and you've played most of the bigger ones or you want to try something different, give it a shot. Just be aware the PC version is supposed to be a mess, so get it on PS4 if you can.
There's a school of thought that mixing in some synthesized instruments in music can push the feelings inspired by that music into a realm of unreal fantasy which normal instruments cannot reach. This philosophy is exemplified by fantasy-oriented metal bands like Summoning, as well as the older works of Rhapsody. Might and Magic VI's digitized pre-rendered models mixed with real human faces and low-poly 3D do something similar in the visual realm, inspiring fantastical feelings which graphics only seeking to ape realism will never achieve. Or maybe I just like the way it looks, probably because it reminds me of 1998, which was a pretty good year for me.
Regardless, Might and Magic VI is a very neat game. I don't play a lot of CRPGs, but I've been sick and not feeling up to something overly actiony or untranslated, and Might and Magic VI is a game I dabbled with lightly at release and always wanted to go back to and play for real. I grew up with Might and Magic 2: Gates to another World on Sega Genesis, and finally got around to beating that a few years back, so it's been fun to finally get around to seeing how the series evolved into its first 3D release. (Full disclosure: I played on a Windows 10 PC with the Grayface mod with mouselook enabled.)
While the game is more accessible in some ways than its early predecessors – the map, and auto-mapper are enabled by default, instead of hidden behind spells and skills learned from NPCs – there were some elements lost along the way. In particular, the loss of choosing a party character's race is very unfortunate, although I understand that came back in later releases. And the game can still be downright obtuse when it wants to be. Navigating labyrinthian dungeons is expected in the genre, but in this game navigating town maps is perhaps even more challenging. The in-game map will not show you where important stores or NPC skill trainers are, and some towns – like Free Haven – are so sprawling that even using one of the handy town maps online which was designed by fans in the late 90s, you might still have difficulty finding where it is you're going.
The game is challenging, but not so bad once you realize it just wants you to play by its rules. Early game is dominated by bows, mid to late game by spells, and the very endgame dominated by a new type of weapon you get in the final hours. Fountains and spell buffs are almost a necessity, and once you obtain the Lloyd's Beacon and Town Portal spells, you can easily maintain those buffs and mark your spot in a tough dungeon and get a quick HP/MP refill before coming back. And at higher levels you'll be doing this a lot, because you'll be blowing through a lot of MP, and healing spells are pretty terrible.
That's not to say that a Cleric is useless. I used a Knight/Cleric/Sorcerer/Sorcerer party, but honestly, it was the Knight that felt like a wasted slot for most of the game. In the very early game melee classes like Knight are useful because they don't die after two hits and magic is kind of weak and/or costly at first. But by mid-game, classes like Knight can't keep up with the damage output of spellcasters, and by the time you unlock Dark and Light magic – giving access to the most powerful spells in the game – the only classes that matter are Cleric and Sorcerer, since they are the only two classes with access to these schools of magic. And all the HP in the world isn't going to save you if you can't take out a screen full of enemies in a timely fashion.
But how does this game play? Very well, for the most part. The game is real time, although you can enter a turn-based mode at any point. You can target enemies with spells or weapons manually, or press a button to auto-attack. A good strategy for the beginning of the game is to put some space between your characters and the enemies, then activate turn-based mode. Shoot arrows at the enemies until they get closer, insert additional space, and repeat. Dungeons are huge and full of deadly enemies and very easy-to-miss switches necessary to advance in addition to the occasional Star Trek reference. Late game when you have powerful buffs it does get a bit exhausting when you enter a room full of dozens of enemies that can instantly debuff your characters by looking at them, while your array of debuffs are almost entirely worthless. But overcoming those challenges and heading back to towns and leveling up feels very good.
Towns are full of wandering NPCs, who can be chatted up for lore or valuable game info or recruited as hirelings. NPCs in houses can also be recruited, or help you unlock new levels of skills through Expert and Master training, although keeping track of where those skill trainers live can be a bit of a headache.
And skills are a huge part of the game. Every level you gain HP and MP, as well as skill points which you can then put into a variety of skills you can learn. How effective you are with different weapons, armor, various schools of magic, and other abilities, is directly impacted by your level in these skills. This leads to a tremendous level of customization, and can mean the difference between smooth dungeon crawling and a tough time, and lends more replayability to the game.
Other customization involves portraits. You have the choice of several presets to choose from for your 4 party members, and each portrait has its own expressions, voices, and general attitude. Eyes and mouths shift as you play, and different status effects will cause them to make different ridiculous faces, which is always fun to see. These portrait options also add to replayability, although I can't imagine not choosing Johnny Depp, Xena, and “I'm the one you want!” every time.
As for the game's weaknesses, the biggest has to be the story elements. They suffice, but that's about it. You're not going to get attached to characters and be shocked by their actions – although that's not to say there aren't a few twists in there – in fact, you'll probably struggle to remember most people's names. Going into this game expecting a masterpiece of storytelling is a mistake.
But this isn't a game you play for the story, it's a game you play for the dungeon crawling. It's a game about exploring a beautiful low-res fantasy world and killing anything that stands in your way. Get a mission from an NPC, hit a dungeon looking for something to retrieve for that NPC, hit a few switches or enter a code along the way, collect the loot, and murder anything that moves while you're at it. It's a number-go-up game. Bigger stats, more powerful spells, more powerful attacks, more loot, more coins, more XP, more corpses. What more could you want in a dungeon crawler? Good music? Although somewhat limited, it has that too. Very good, atmospheric stuff.
In short, if you're looking for a good time with some bad enemies in some big dungeons, and are partial to the digitized low-res late 90s low poly aesthetic, check it out.
Regardless, Might and Magic VI is a very neat game. I don't play a lot of CRPGs, but I've been sick and not feeling up to something overly actiony or untranslated, and Might and Magic VI is a game I dabbled with lightly at release and always wanted to go back to and play for real. I grew up with Might and Magic 2: Gates to another World on Sega Genesis, and finally got around to beating that a few years back, so it's been fun to finally get around to seeing how the series evolved into its first 3D release. (Full disclosure: I played on a Windows 10 PC with the Grayface mod with mouselook enabled.)
While the game is more accessible in some ways than its early predecessors – the map, and auto-mapper are enabled by default, instead of hidden behind spells and skills learned from NPCs – there were some elements lost along the way. In particular, the loss of choosing a party character's race is very unfortunate, although I understand that came back in later releases. And the game can still be downright obtuse when it wants to be. Navigating labyrinthian dungeons is expected in the genre, but in this game navigating town maps is perhaps even more challenging. The in-game map will not show you where important stores or NPC skill trainers are, and some towns – like Free Haven – are so sprawling that even using one of the handy town maps online which was designed by fans in the late 90s, you might still have difficulty finding where it is you're going.
The game is challenging, but not so bad once you realize it just wants you to play by its rules. Early game is dominated by bows, mid to late game by spells, and the very endgame dominated by a new type of weapon you get in the final hours. Fountains and spell buffs are almost a necessity, and once you obtain the Lloyd's Beacon and Town Portal spells, you can easily maintain those buffs and mark your spot in a tough dungeon and get a quick HP/MP refill before coming back. And at higher levels you'll be doing this a lot, because you'll be blowing through a lot of MP, and healing spells are pretty terrible.
That's not to say that a Cleric is useless. I used a Knight/Cleric/Sorcerer/Sorcerer party, but honestly, it was the Knight that felt like a wasted slot for most of the game. In the very early game melee classes like Knight are useful because they don't die after two hits and magic is kind of weak and/or costly at first. But by mid-game, classes like Knight can't keep up with the damage output of spellcasters, and by the time you unlock Dark and Light magic – giving access to the most powerful spells in the game – the only classes that matter are Cleric and Sorcerer, since they are the only two classes with access to these schools of magic. And all the HP in the world isn't going to save you if you can't take out a screen full of enemies in a timely fashion.
But how does this game play? Very well, for the most part. The game is real time, although you can enter a turn-based mode at any point. You can target enemies with spells or weapons manually, or press a button to auto-attack. A good strategy for the beginning of the game is to put some space between your characters and the enemies, then activate turn-based mode. Shoot arrows at the enemies until they get closer, insert additional space, and repeat. Dungeons are huge and full of deadly enemies and very easy-to-miss switches necessary to advance in addition to the occasional Star Trek reference. Late game when you have powerful buffs it does get a bit exhausting when you enter a room full of dozens of enemies that can instantly debuff your characters by looking at them, while your array of debuffs are almost entirely worthless. But overcoming those challenges and heading back to towns and leveling up feels very good.
Towns are full of wandering NPCs, who can be chatted up for lore or valuable game info or recruited as hirelings. NPCs in houses can also be recruited, or help you unlock new levels of skills through Expert and Master training, although keeping track of where those skill trainers live can be a bit of a headache.
And skills are a huge part of the game. Every level you gain HP and MP, as well as skill points which you can then put into a variety of skills you can learn. How effective you are with different weapons, armor, various schools of magic, and other abilities, is directly impacted by your level in these skills. This leads to a tremendous level of customization, and can mean the difference between smooth dungeon crawling and a tough time, and lends more replayability to the game.
Other customization involves portraits. You have the choice of several presets to choose from for your 4 party members, and each portrait has its own expressions, voices, and general attitude. Eyes and mouths shift as you play, and different status effects will cause them to make different ridiculous faces, which is always fun to see. These portrait options also add to replayability, although I can't imagine not choosing Johnny Depp, Xena, and “I'm the one you want!” every time.
As for the game's weaknesses, the biggest has to be the story elements. They suffice, but that's about it. You're not going to get attached to characters and be shocked by their actions – although that's not to say there aren't a few twists in there – in fact, you'll probably struggle to remember most people's names. Going into this game expecting a masterpiece of storytelling is a mistake.
But this isn't a game you play for the story, it's a game you play for the dungeon crawling. It's a game about exploring a beautiful low-res fantasy world and killing anything that stands in your way. Get a mission from an NPC, hit a dungeon looking for something to retrieve for that NPC, hit a few switches or enter a code along the way, collect the loot, and murder anything that moves while you're at it. It's a number-go-up game. Bigger stats, more powerful spells, more powerful attacks, more loot, more coins, more XP, more corpses. What more could you want in a dungeon crawler? Good music? Although somewhat limited, it has that too. Very good, atmospheric stuff.
In short, if you're looking for a good time with some bad enemies in some big dungeons, and are partial to the digitized low-res late 90s low poly aesthetic, check it out.
1997
Looks good, sounds good, plays...interestingly. It's not that the controls are extremely terrible, but they're certainly not great. But in a way I suppose it helps you get the feeling that you're really piloting a monstrous humanoid tank packing crazy ordnance when it takes you 5+ seconds to turn around. Some of the levels felt very impressively sized considering the time of release. The story is kind of in the background, so you can pay as much or little attention to it as you want, and which missions you accept change the way that story progresses. Very neat idea for replays. Speaking of neat ideas, the emblem editor is pretty full-featured for a free sprite art editor in a PS1 mech game. I don't know if playing on an arcade stick hurt or helped with this one. I think it's going to take some patience to get used to the controls regardless. But if you can adapt to them, it's absolutely a game worth checking out.
Plays extremely well on arcade stick. Graphics and aesthetic and and gameplay are all pretty great... and then the jetpack shows up. Whoever signed off on those awful controls should be fired immediately. It's interesting that the night level gimmick, which is far more compelling, shows up around the same time in the final world, but they decided that the awful jetpack that gets caught on invisible corners and controls the way someone who had only heard of video games through oral history would program it should get top billing in the last area. Meanwhile, the slide and slide jump are great additions to the formula, although crawling instead of sliding if you don't input a direction while pressing seems like a mistake. The wrasslin' leap slam move is fun but nearly pointless. Still, a pretty solid and colorful PS1 platformer worth checking out.
1995
This review contains spoilers
It's a very good game held back by some glaring flaws. Combat is way too easy and would have been much better if you could manually position your party. Some attacks come out too slow and as a result you just won't use them (like Frog's Bubble). Still, the young gamers who are allergic to random battles can play this one since you can choose when to get in a fight outside of the many scripted encounters. The first few hours have some of the best pacing in any JRPG although that pacing goes all over the place once you hit Zeal. The second half has some really strong moments but it also has a ton of reused assets and crappy side dungeons and Robo's awful girlfriend.
Why did they give Robo a girlfriend? Why is she just him but pink with a bow? Could they make little robot babies? Would they come out pink if they were a girl but Robo-colored if they were a boy? You get introduced to her and then she just dramatically dies in his arms. Whoever signed off on this should be immediately fired from Squaresoft.
Why did they give Robo a girlfriend? Why is she just him but pink with a bow? Could they make little robot babies? Would they come out pink if they were a girl but Robo-colored if they were a boy? You get introduced to her and then she just dramatically dies in his arms. Whoever signed off on this should be immediately fired from Squaresoft.