• Tag Archives Fantasy
  • Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100 Nin no Ouji-sama: The Animation

    When the World of Dreams came under attack from dream-eating monsters who plunged its citizens into eternal sleep, princes from across the kingdom gathered to wage war against them… only to find their power sealed within rings. Rings which only the Princess of Traümere, an otherwise average girl summoned from modern day Earth, has the power of awakening.

    An ever-more dramatic adventure series with occasional action scenes, a moderate level of comic relief, and a few romance elements.

    More Information:
    aniDB
    HIDIVE
    Wikipedia


  • Legends of Eisenwald

    The turn-based tactical RPG Legends of Eisenwald is a lot like the King’s Bounty games, if they had more of a focus on questing than fighting (though there’s still a lot of fighting).

    The main campaign is pretty lengthy and spans multiple chapters, with early choices occasionally having a significant effect on later events and a possibility of 3 notably different endings. You can expect to get the protagonist to level 9 by the end of it, and also expect to have your army/inventory reset multiple times. Only your protagonist’s equipment and a few specific items (Black Necklace, Feline Mirror, Cursed Idol; if you’ve found them) are guaranteed to stick around, with you getting to keep your gold from the Windfeld map onward.

    If you have trouble solving some quests, thankfully there’s a complete guide available which covers everything that needs covering (albeit in broken English). As far as battle tactics go, a particularly useful one against Spear/Sword users is to combine a healer’s Gift of Medbh spell with the Witch’s Adhesion spell. In addition to the main campaign, there’s a few additional single-map scenarios:

    The Masquerade is pretty interesting, with a surprising number of choices and things to discover in it despite being on such a relatively small map (you can expect to reach level 5). Cursed Castle meanwhile is pure combat/conquest, just don’t count on holding anything other than castles for long since a seemingly endless stream of undead and bandits will be wandering around re-capturing everything else (expect to reach level 4 without grinding; 5 with). Each of these scenarios will take ~3-4 hours to complete.

    Finally we come to the Road to Iron Forest scenario, which has to be purchased separately. Length-wise it’s the same as the previous scenarios (expect level 5 again), but as far as content it’s something of a middle-ground between them. While there aren’t any choices, it has a strong narrative focus, there are a couple sidequests, and strategy plays a large role since you have to rebuild your army in hostile lands (be on the lookout for a Guard you can hire in one of the Inns).

    All in all the game is a lot of fun (if occasionally backtrack-heavy), nicely sidestepping King’s Bounty’s late game ‘stacks of doom’ issue, and I’ll probably either replay it (as a different class; Baroness is really good at 1-shotting archers/spiritualists but Mystic seems far more versatile) or try out Blood of November and possibly Bastard.


  • Ys: Memories of Celceta

    Playing Memories of Celceta, the third Ys IV iteration, after Lacrimosa was a very bad idea. Not because of the plot/character connections (which are superficial), but because of the technical quality; it’s no better than Seven. Arguably worse:

    While it’s true you eventually get the ability to warp at any time, for the first half of the game or so your fast travel is restricted by pointlessly color-coded monoliths. Worse is how ‘gamey’ it is, with bizarre obstacles constantly being placed in your path that can only be overcome by using a particular party member’s controlled ability. The new GUI is also a problem, both due to the ease of being able to accidentally click on the Inventory/Item buttons when you’re trying to simply attack (continuously attempting to move the camera via mouselook is a nasty habit) and because the ‘cancel’ keybind doesn’t work on all screens when bound to the right mouse button (you have to manually click the onscreen cancel/back button). On the positive side of things at least the combat itself hasn’t deteriorated and this does mark the first appearance of Flash Dodging… so it’s not all bad.

    Finished it in ~20.5 hours with 100% map/quest/treasure/monster completion at level 57. The storyline this time around is notable for being something of an origin story despite taking place after Felghana, and in that respect it’s decent. The ‘modern day’ part however unfortunately focuses on the winged race and Darkling descendants (both of which are terrible) in a manner similar to Origin; the whole ‘blatantly false god that everyone worships like a god’ trope really needs to go (which, if Lacrimosa is any indication of future direction, may actually come to pass).


  • Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

    This game improves upon Seven, which occurs after it (Lacrimosa is a mostly stand-alone tale chronologically placed sometime between Napishtim and an occasionally referenced Celceta), in nearly every way… with the notable exception of stability. Chances are if you try to play immediately after installing, you’ll start running into persistent and seemingly random crashes shortly after arriving at the island. The two main causes of this seem to be the ‘Map Shadows’ graphics option (I always disable shadows) and a multi-core threading issue (the fix detailed there fully solved the problem for me). The Version 8 patch may or may not have fixed those complications; based on the changelog I’m guessing it didn’t.

    That’s the only problem it has though: Graphics have been massively improved, the system options have been greatly expanded and can be modified from the title screen, jumping along with combo-attacking have both made a triumphant return, dodging has been upgraded to provide an effect similar to Flash Guard (which now lasts longer), you can warp at any time, the playtime has more than doubled, you now have full camera control, the Japanese voice acting is included, and (wonder of wonders) the storyline and character behavior are actually pretty decent. At least until near the end when the big world-ending-whatever makes its appearance (just how many Roots of All Existence are in this universe?).

    Finished the Epilogue boss at level 77 in a little under 50 hours with 100% completion in all areas (though I forgot to pick up the last map completion bonus), all skills maxed out, and all Suppression/Hunt missions cleared at A rank or higher (4 at S rank). The main thing to note about this entry is that, unlike many of the previous games in the series, combat actually is skill-based. This is thanks to the combined Flash Guard/Dodge systems’ invincibility window, which allows you to negate every single attack so long as your reflexes are up to timing it right. The bosses may have a lot of moves and use them semi-randomly à la Felghana (the dragon-wall thing in Baja Tower and Dana’s last solo boss being the most annoying), but they are all beatable with zero reliance on luck.

    As for the DLC, which has caused a bit of a furor, the only part of it that you can’t find in the game proper is the (100% cosmetic) costume. Nearly all of the accessories are Chapter 2 level, the potions/food are common, you’ll eventually be drowning in materials, and the (non-Tempest) Elixirs are easily craftable late game. I will say though that the Fish Bait is mildly useful and the aforementioned Tempest Elixirs can help you defeat the level 80 optional boss and ‘Never-Ending’ base defense missions the moment they become available (otherwise you’ll have to do 30 minutes or so of grinding to get up to level 70 if you don’t want to wait).


  • Ys SEVEN

    This particular Ys game makes a number of significant changes to the franchise. Changes which mostly serve to turn it into a conventional RPG.

    The character visuals are now full-sized rather than being sprite-based, you can now save at any time, jumping has been replaced by dodging, there’s a party system with a large selection of eventual party members along with a crafting system, a number of quests that don’t involve combat, quite a few optional plot-related scenes, and even some (superficial) dialog choices. Combat mechanics are fundamentally pretty much the same with the magic system being replaced by a skill system (skills are learned from different weapons and can be leveled-up) and boost being slightly modified to trigger a single powerful attack, while the boss difficulty is about the same as Origin‘s (the ‘Furious Bird’ and Wind Dragon being the most annoying). Oh, and a block mechanic has been added as well.

    I finished the game after ~21.5 hours at level 60 with all but one of the final weapons crafted and the only grinding that had to be done was at the very end; to get the materials for those weapons. Overall I’d say the experience was worth it once you’re able to open the menu to change the practically unusable default keyboard/mouse controls… though it must be mentioned that the storyline (note that one of Napishtim‘s characters plays a major role here), character behavior, and certain plot developments are just as terrible as you’d expect from previous entries.


  • Ys: Oath in Felghana, VI, & Origin

    People like to claim the Ys series is skill intensive, and to a degree it is. To a much larger degree however it’s luck-based; whether you win or lose a boss battle (assuming you’re not overleveled from grinding) often depends upon which moves they decide to use… which is partly random.

    Oath in Felghana is a remake of Ys III which has no notable connection to the first two games. It doesn’t do anything unexpected and only really stands out for having extremely quick combat, an awful storyline, and an inability to use items in boss battles. I finished Normal difficulty at level 51 with level 3 equipment in ~7.5 hours (not having bothered to upgrade any of the earlier equipment) and the most difficult fights were the two Dularn encounters (random homing swords are tough to dodge) and the 2nd Chester one (very few openings).

    The sixth main game in the series, Ark of Napishtim, changes things up a bit. The boost and magic functions have been merged, healing items have been added (which can be used in boss battles), combat is a bit slower due to the lesser combo ability, bosses are far easier (even the hidden optional boss is only difficult due to its high stats), and it’s not quite as linear. I finished it in ~8.5 hours, skipping that one optional super-boss, at level 50 with the red sword at 11 and the other two at 10 with practically no grinding required. The storyline is a bit better, but this time around does make some pretty notable references to previous games: The first Ys and Ys V (which currently does not have an official English translation).

    Remember that terrible final dungeon in the first Ys? Well Origin certainly does and wants you to run through it again not once, but three times with three different characters. Joy. The environs in this iteration are more varied though, which is nice, and mechanically it’s identical to Oath in Felghana with boss difficulty that lands somewhere between that game and Ark of Napishtim: They have the attack variety of Felghana‘s with the predictability of Napishtim‘s.

    The first character is Yunica, an extremely talkative Adol clone with very similar magic ability. I finished her story at level 50 with maxed equipment after ~6.5 hours. The second available character (Hugo) plays much differently, being a ranged fighter his attacks evoke Gradius‘ gameplay (and so combat is insanely quick). Finished his story after ~6 hours at level 50 with only the final equipment upgraded (SP went into raising magic & boost recovery). Toal is kind of a combination between the two gameplay-wise (insanely quick but next-to-no range) and his version of the story was completed after ~5 hours also at level 50 with only the final armor upgraded (you should max out Boost recovery). The general plotline is pretty bad, each of the individual stories features something incredibly dumb, and if you were to only play through the game once I’d suggest going with Yunica (her version is almost entirely stand-alone while Hugo and Toal’s are linked, Toal’s being the True End which leads into Ys I & II).


  • Hand of Fate 2 & Shadowrun: Dragonfall

    The second Hand of Fate game is essentially a slightly refined/expanded version of its predecessor. If you’ve already played that then you’ll know whether or not you’ll like this, and if you haven’t then you may as well just start here.

    As for its recently released DLC… well, you might as well grab that too. While the new cards aren’t really anything to write home about, the new companion is remarkably useful.

    Similar to the above, Shadowrun: Dragonfall is mechanically just a refined Shadowrun Returns and you’re basically paying for the base campaign. Which, granted, certainly does feature more roleplaying opportunities and choices than the earlier game. What’s a bit odd though is how most of the various NPCs in your central hub have evolving storylines which don’t actually go anywhere; they’re pure flavor text.

    A few quick things about it:
    – Your PC has to be a Decker to access everything.
    – Decking and Charisma don’t need to be higher than 6 for dialog checks.
    – The Security and Corporate etiquettes are both useful for avoiding annoying fights.
    – Bonuses (such as those from cyberware) can’t raise your stats above 11.


  • Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu

    The restoration of Liones is proceeding apace and all seems well within the kingdom. The Demon Clan’s threat is far from extinguished however, and Meliodas and the others soon find themselves under attack from the clan’s 10 strongest warriors.

    Continues from where Seisen no Shirushi left off with the same genre composition as the first series.

    More Information:
    aniDB
    Wikipedia


  • Reikenzan: Eichi e no Shikaku

    It’s been two years since Ouriku began his training, and now he and a number of other disciples return to the mortal realm for the next phase of their enlightenment. There they are meant to learn to live among the common people… but what Ouriku finds in his hometown forces him to take on a more active role.

    A continuation of Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage which primarily focuses on community building. It has to be watched after that in order to understand the character behavior.

    More Information:
    aniDB
    Wikipedia


  • Hakyuu: Houshin Engi

    In a land infested with demons and ruled by a kitsune-possessed emperor, an order of immortal sages sits in isolated contemplation. They have been spending the recent years forming a plan to seal away the demons and replace the emperor, and the time has finally come to set that plan in motion.

    An action comedy with periodic bursts of heavy drama. Besides being based on the same work it has little connection to Senkaiden Houshin Engi.

    More Information:
    aniDB
    Crunchyroll
    Wikipedia

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