Book I: fantastic little adventure game for the PC Engine CD, the progression can sometimes become grindy but generally is paced well, and the dungeons are all huge and spooky.
Minor drawbacks were the sometimes obtuse puzzling (I am not sure if there was any clue to use the hammer on that specific pillar) and the slightly obnoxious backtracking (having to trek back down to the 11th floor of Darm Tower when I was on the 21st was quite the blow to my patience).
However, these were only small hitches in an otherwise extremely fun adventure with simple intuitive combat and a mysterious story unfolding in a beautiful fantasy world. Great RPG adventure.
Book II: I have an MP bar now! This was extremely fun, the puzzles were good and I barely had to look up a guide at all. The one thing I did look at guides for was some of the bosses. The last boss on the PC Engine CD version of the game is a total nightmare.
But the story, the cutscenes, the exploration, the art, the music, were all awesome. Everything was lovingly crafted and it's an extremely impressive game for the time it was released.
I found myself taking notes and writing them in character for this game, too. Roleplaying like this was really fun and helped me keep track of clues to puzzles and things like that which I highly recommend.
The way the story concluded arcs that began in Book I is also impressive. A great game.
Minor drawbacks were the sometimes obtuse puzzling (I am not sure if there was any clue to use the hammer on that specific pillar) and the slightly obnoxious backtracking (having to trek back down to the 11th floor of Darm Tower when I was on the 21st was quite the blow to my patience).
However, these were only small hitches in an otherwise extremely fun adventure with simple intuitive combat and a mysterious story unfolding in a beautiful fantasy world. Great RPG adventure.
Book II: I have an MP bar now! This was extremely fun, the puzzles were good and I barely had to look up a guide at all. The one thing I did look at guides for was some of the bosses. The last boss on the PC Engine CD version of the game is a total nightmare.
But the story, the cutscenes, the exploration, the art, the music, were all awesome. Everything was lovingly crafted and it's an extremely impressive game for the time it was released.
I found myself taking notes and writing them in character for this game, too. Roleplaying like this was really fun and helped me keep track of clues to puzzles and things like that which I highly recommend.
The way the story concluded arcs that began in Book I is also impressive. A great game.