I've now completed all the Quintet SNES titles (besides ActRaiser 2, but does that even count (yeah i guess it does))....

Anyway, the Japanese game was marketed as a comedy RPG, but what does comedy need? Timing. The English translation is balls so timing is out the window. Doesn't really manage to be funny in its bad translation either, just very detached. Marketing it as a sci fi RPG in the west was probably the best move all things considered. I always thought the space thing was just trying to tie in with Star Trek, but you really do go to space (eventually).

Customizing robots, synthesizing items, reading books to gain knowledge, using particular items to overcome obstacles... all things pretty forward thinking for the time. Even the battle system has some pretty unique elements; albeit I would probably say the bonus counter is the most interesting, essentially rewarding you for killing enemies quickly. Otherwise, it's not very fun and most battles play out the same, give or take the odd enemy. Just level up your bomb (missiles) and wipe everyone out, end of story. The bosses can be challenging however if you don't give your robots the right equipment. Ultimately, I really dislike only using one robot at a time. Would have been nice to have all three on the field. Although there is a noticeable FPS drop when there are a ton of enemies on screen so I think I know why they went with solo fighting.

I wouldn't play this for the story or battle system, play it for the patent Quintet quirkiness. Or give it a pass, it's definitely my least favorite of the Quintet SNES titles (besides ActRaiser 2)

i appreciate when devs try to do something different, i really do. making the "world turn with you" to give a sense of a 3D space in a 2D game was cool enough to get a sequel i guess. if definitely a bit confusing. yeah, they give you an onscreen map which kinda helps but corridors get packed upon corridors and any turn can instantly be a "where the f%^$ am i now" moment. also why make the character able to walk backward but no strafe. am i missing the button combo for that idk.

edit: okay there is a strafe. you hold one of the shoulder buttons then move. definitely one of those games where it helps to have the manual.

anyway, i fell into a trap-hole and it was an instant game over. ok

Playing this for the billionth time because of the recent "The Last Hope" fan hack and I've finally realized what puts this game/series above the sum of its parts... the character interactions. Murayama just knew how to write engaging characters and dialogue. RIP.

Edit: Can't actually recommend the hack as the added scenes/dialogue make very little to no sense, in broken English, and once first arriving at Toran Castle, the game freezes. If anything it drives home how easy Murayama made it seem, but it's not. Luckily this isn't a long game and I'm glad I could revisit this world again, however so briefly this time before the remasters come out.

Sokoban is one of the simpler puzzle genres that feels like something that could be approached in a very serious manner, instead of the more casual feel it typically exudes. There's a lot you can do with it, as long as pushy blocky is going on, you can add other rules and abilities. The Adventures of Lolo, Tricky Kick, even this new Void Stranger game I haven't played yet. Does Chip's Challenge count? (I think it expands on the rules A LOT, but there are definitely a few Sokoban-esque levels in it.)

Isles of Sea and Sky has yet to be released but the demo is phenomenal, and I think I just now found its biggest influence. Even the hero looks kinda similar. The first world/level to this game feels extremely easy but I'm looking forward to it getting harder.

Maybe the biggest draw to Sokoban is that it's extremely simple, even coding one takes little effort, the real genius is in the design. Creating a truly intricate puzzle out of these simple rules can give players moments where they feel like geniuses for beating particular levels.

The genre is certainly so simple it seems a bit archaic, but I would love to see a modern high-budget Sokoban title, albeit I'm not an avid fan of the genre, much more casual, and one may already exist.

If you want a solid Sokoban experience, this one has a lot of charm and only adds a few more abilities to the typical rules. Worth checking out.

Azure Dreams pseudo-sequel? Wish I could find some development notes on this, but it's super obscure, even moreso than Azure Dreams. As it stands, it feels like somebody in Konami Shanghai (China) liked Azure Dreams a lot and wanted to make a sequel or spiritual successor. It has none of the staff from AD however and likely zero connection development-wise, besides also being a Konami game. It ends up being more like an Azure Dreams-lite however, there's no town to build or girls to date. The tower traversing is a lot simpler as well. The only thing it really "adds" is drawing magic spells with the stylus which just seems gimmicky now. I guess Lost Magic was best known for it, but it even got a bit boring in that game.

Imagine if they actually retained the world-building simulation sections tho, this had the potential to be one of the best SNES games if it did. Alas, the first game was maybe a bit too forward thinking for most people so they made a safer game, albeit they tightened up the action gameplay and made it look very pretty instead.

It's pretty solid otherwise. I think they put most of their resources into the graphics. The controls are decent, but all SNES controls are just a bit wonky. Not a fan of double jumping right into a glide, it's certainly something you have to get over, get used to and embrace as traversing a lot of the levels requires mastering it. Most of the levels have a boss and midboss and while I can't say every boss fight is super intuitive, they do usually look pretty cool.