I really wanted to like this game, but it's got a handful of critical issues for me.
Let's start off with the things I liked about this game:
The story and setting were pretty cool! I think both Tosa and all the different parts of Kyo look nice! The way they use iconic characters is fun, if a bit on the nose to how they are in the actual games. It feels almost like a play that everybody put together, which I find pretty enjoyable.
The music is also pretty nice! Well, at least the songs that are unique to this game are pretty nice. There are a handful of songs that come from other games without any remixes or anything to help them feel at home with the rest of the OST. Not the end of the world, but it does kinda take me out of it a bit.
This takes me onto the big things I didn't like about this game:
The combat is... pretty weirdly balanced. Brawler is so weak and stiff that it's borderline useless. The only reasons you'd use it are for the busted parry you can unlock or the handful of times where you're basically forced to use it. Gunman is just kind of boring. Outside of the handful of times where they force you to use it, i only really used gunman for ONE really annoying ultimate challenge. Swordsman feels pretty smooth but it's pretty slow. It's pretty difficult to use especially in boss fights, but it can be satisfying. And that just leaves Wild Dancer... which is the most BROKEN fighting style in the whole game. You get insane agility with basically infinite dashes and some really easy slash combos. Not to mention you get to use a gun at long range, which just kinda makes Gunman borderline obsolete.
Not only that, but I also had this strange issue where the game would mysteriously start dropping inputs for me. No amount of research or messing around on my end caused this issue to go away for me. I also never really found anybody else with the same issue, so it could just be the game not liking the hardware I had at the time.
It's also worth noting this game is SUPER grind-heavy. It is easily the one of grindiest RGG game I've played, which is absurd when you consider there are two main-line JRPG games. The sheer amount of money you're expected to get in order to get some decent gear could easily take you an eternity. What makes it worse is that a lot of the upgrades you do get feel like they make very minimal difference in the grand scheme of things. I always felt weak no matter what I did. Heck, the only reason I got super high level gear was cause of a bug with the chicken racing minigame that basically let you get money for free.
Finally, there was the forced inclusion of trooper cards in the main combat. To my understanding, the original Japanese-exclusive version of this game had trooper cards as a mechanic exclusive to the dungeons. BUUUUUT this remake just kinda shoved it into the main combat. One minute you'd be in a tense sword fight. The next you (or the boss) would randomly start shooting out massive lightning bolts as if you both were wizards. It really ruins the vibe they were going for. Sure you could just... not use the cards. BUT this game is also on the harder side for an RGG game. You get very little health and bosses can do a lot of damage. The solution: get some trooper cards that give you a lot of HP. So you're heavily encouraged to at least have those cards equipped.
Again, I really wanted to like this game. I was hyped when I saw they were remaking Ishin. It was a game I always wanted to play but couldn't cause of the lack of a proper localization. The combat looked super fluid and the locations looked super interesting. Maybe I'll replay this game some day and feel a bit more fond of it. But right now, I just can't help but feel left down.
Let's start off with the things I liked about this game:
The story and setting were pretty cool! I think both Tosa and all the different parts of Kyo look nice! The way they use iconic characters is fun, if a bit on the nose to how they are in the actual games. It feels almost like a play that everybody put together, which I find pretty enjoyable.
The music is also pretty nice! Well, at least the songs that are unique to this game are pretty nice. There are a handful of songs that come from other games without any remixes or anything to help them feel at home with the rest of the OST. Not the end of the world, but it does kinda take me out of it a bit.
This takes me onto the big things I didn't like about this game:
The combat is... pretty weirdly balanced. Brawler is so weak and stiff that it's borderline useless. The only reasons you'd use it are for the busted parry you can unlock or the handful of times where you're basically forced to use it. Gunman is just kind of boring. Outside of the handful of times where they force you to use it, i only really used gunman for ONE really annoying ultimate challenge. Swordsman feels pretty smooth but it's pretty slow. It's pretty difficult to use especially in boss fights, but it can be satisfying. And that just leaves Wild Dancer... which is the most BROKEN fighting style in the whole game. You get insane agility with basically infinite dashes and some really easy slash combos. Not to mention you get to use a gun at long range, which just kinda makes Gunman borderline obsolete.
Not only that, but I also had this strange issue where the game would mysteriously start dropping inputs for me. No amount of research or messing around on my end caused this issue to go away for me. I also never really found anybody else with the same issue, so it could just be the game not liking the hardware I had at the time.
It's also worth noting this game is SUPER grind-heavy. It is easily the one of grindiest RGG game I've played, which is absurd when you consider there are two main-line JRPG games. The sheer amount of money you're expected to get in order to get some decent gear could easily take you an eternity. What makes it worse is that a lot of the upgrades you do get feel like they make very minimal difference in the grand scheme of things. I always felt weak no matter what I did. Heck, the only reason I got super high level gear was cause of a bug with the chicken racing minigame that basically let you get money for free.
Finally, there was the forced inclusion of trooper cards in the main combat. To my understanding, the original Japanese-exclusive version of this game had trooper cards as a mechanic exclusive to the dungeons. BUUUUUT this remake just kinda shoved it into the main combat. One minute you'd be in a tense sword fight. The next you (or the boss) would randomly start shooting out massive lightning bolts as if you both were wizards. It really ruins the vibe they were going for. Sure you could just... not use the cards. BUT this game is also on the harder side for an RGG game. You get very little health and bosses can do a lot of damage. The solution: get some trooper cards that give you a lot of HP. So you're heavily encouraged to at least have those cards equipped.
Again, I really wanted to like this game. I was hyped when I saw they were remaking Ishin. It was a game I always wanted to play but couldn't cause of the lack of a proper localization. The combat looked super fluid and the locations looked super interesting. Maybe I'll replay this game some day and feel a bit more fond of it. But right now, I just can't help but feel left down.