Strategy

Geeky Sweetie

Rhapsody a Musical Adventure Retro Videogame Review

Rhapsody a Musical Adventure is an anime musical strategy JRPG first appearing on PS1 and Later on the Nintendo DS. This review focuses on the PS1 version.

Preface: Okay, while researching some stuff (such as release date, etc) for this review, I discovered there was a sequel, and now I am sad AF because the sequel never left Japan….. Major Heartbreak!

WARNING THIS LINK ABOUT THE SEQUEL HAS HUGE SPOILERS ABOUT BOTH GAMES!!!! READ AT OWN RISK!!! 

The original is one of my all time favorite games. I love all the songs, the heart warming, touching story, the cute characters, adorable graphics, simple grid based turn-based Strategy JRPG gameplay, and use of the puppets in battle.

I greatly prefer the version by Atlus on the PS1, much more than the version by NIS on the DS, because Atlus dubbed all of the songs in English, while NIS only left them in Japanese. If I remember correctly, the version by Atlus let you choose to play them in the original Japanese as well. If it’s a musical, it’s more fun in English, so we can sing along, am I right? 🙂 I still can remember the words/melody to a lot of the songs even though it has been years since my first or subsequent play throughs. NIS also changed the gameplay from a grid based system to a straight forward turn-based traditional JRPG style of combat.

For the purpose of this review, since I prefer the original, and the two games are significantly different in terms of gameplay, this review only covers the PS1 game by Atlus. Now onto the review…

Title: Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

Alternate Titles (Also Known As): Marl Kingdom, Little Princess Marl, or Marl Okoku no Ningyo Hime in Japan. Also referred to as The Adventure of Puppet Princess.

Genre: Strategy RPG

Publisher: Atlus

Platform: PSOne

Release Date: 2000

Where to Buy: If you want new, factory sealed, you’re looking at $250. Luckily, many used copies exist for under $35. You can check the current price and purchase Rhapsody for the PS1 here.

You can also find the Nintendo version here. Though if at all possible, I’d really urge you to play the PS1 version, it’s just so much infinitely better.

Overall Score: 73/90 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”

Geeky: 3/5 – Dated as this game may be, its bright colorful graphics are still quite pretty. The combat is nothing spectacular and it is linear and simple. The big “geek” points go to the fact that the game is literally a musical. The characters break out into song and dance and the soundtrack very much tells us the story. There are well over a dozen or more vocal tracks and all of the characters are fully voiced. Interestingly enough, wikipedia tells me that it was almost entirely a one girl show, what a talented voice actress! She gave voice/song to all except for 3 or 4 of the characters.

Sweetie: 5/5 – the graphic style is so cute and colorful, the characters are very full of emotion and there is a ton of humor, as well as romance, and a message about the meaning of family, and morals, and just… everything. Also strong female leads, which was pretty rare “back in the day”. This game is a must play for all girls.

Overview: 10/10 – There is simply nothing else in the world like this game. It’s an anime musical JRPG. It has adorable graphics, touching, amusing, and likable characters, and is brimming with “feels and emotions”. From a technical standpoint, there’s really nothing ground breaking here. It is very typical of gameplay in most other Strategy JRPGs of its time. But the music and characters set this game apart and make it an extremely unique experience.

Gameplay: 5/10 – Gameplay isn’t bad, but it’s not the reason you play this game. This game is very easy and simple. The main character takes a back seat, supporting her army of puppets who move around a grid and use various items, attacks, and abilities to thwart their foes. It’s a linear game that takes you from point A to point B, pretty monotonously and mindlessly. This game is carried by the music, voice acting, memorable characters, and touching story. There are different costumes you can find and different puppets you can add to your team, but other than that, it’s a pretty straight forward experience if you’ve ever played any other Strategy JRPGs before.

Story: 10/10 – Cornet is a kindhearted girl who has a magical gift in that she is able to communicate with dolls and puppets. One such doll is Cornet’s faithful sidekick, Kururu. Kururu has guided the young Cornet all her life. Cornet is often lonely as her mother passed away at an early age. However, despite her loneliness, Cornet remains cheerful, kind, and helpful to all of the villagers in part thanks to her puppet friends. She is regarded as a simple and sweet girl, and many of the villagers take pity on her for not having a mother.

Although she is just a common girl, Cornet has fallen in love with the Prince. Unrealistic as her love may be, Cornet has always believed in “dreaming big” and her innocent outlook on life leads her to hope that anything is possible.

Cornet isn’t the only one with eyes for the prince however. A beautiful witch appears in the kingdom one day with her sights set on the prince. When the prince refuses her advances, the witch casts a spell on him turning him to stone.

Thus begins Cornet’s series of quests to reverse the witch’s curse. The witch has many henchmen and lackeys who try to interfere in Cornet’s plans.

As she travels, Cornet will make new friends and enemies, both human and puppet alike. Also she will learn more about herself, her mother, and her unique gifts and talents.

Characters: 10/10 Cornet is the star of our show, a simple, pure hearted girl who can talk to puppets. She lost her mother when she was very young and has mostly been raised by a strange talking puppet named Kururu.

Prince Ferdinand is the prince who early in our story is turned to stone. Cornet and Marjolly are both in love with the Prince.

Marjolly is a wicked but beautiful witch who vengefully curses the prince when he refuses her romantically. Marjolly is also not very skilled at magic, and somewhat of a “bumbling idiot”. Her spells often have very unintended consequences and/or back fire. She is often less “evil” feeling and more of a “comedic relief” despite being the main villain in the game.

Kururu is a “living doll” who has always watched out for and guided Cornet. The two are extremely close. And there is a secret that Cornet does not know about her puppet friend.

Etoile is a wealthy and beautiful, but ill tempered and spoiled girl who is close to Cornet’s age. Although she is “better than” Cornet in almost every way, she still feels jealous and inferior and threatened by Cornet. The two have an interesting love/hate relationship, frenemies if you will.

There are many other delightful and wonderful characters as well.

Graphics: 7/10 – Although dated severely, the graphics remain bright and colorful and still attractive, even 17 years after its initial US release. Also in a time when retro gaming is very popular, and pixel art is “in” – what was once old, is now hot again. An interesting thing to note, although there are many, many cutscenes, these are done with the same sprites and pixel graphics as the rest of the game, unlike other anime games of that time such as Persona and Lunar which use a more hand-drawn or anime style for their cutscenes. This in one way helps keep things cohesive and flowing well from one moment to the next, however, it does result in less detailed cutscenes. The sprites are still adorable and animated and capable of conveying a lot of emotion despite the simple sprites. I would love to see a new release with anime cutscenes (like Lunar and Persona) and/or celshading used throughout the game and cutscenes (such as with Catherine).

Music: 10/10 – Easily 10/10 – one of the most memorable soundtracks of all time because of the huge number of vocal tracks and how they tie in so closely to the story – in fact, they ARE the story. Many of them are insanely, like seriously insanely catchy!!! I love the songs in this game!!

Voice Acting – 10/10 – They sing and act, and as I mentioned, one girl gives voice to about 6 of the main characters – very talented!  If you hate dubs (which trust me, I usually do too!) you can also play with the Japanese audio. 🙂 But then you can’t sing along, or as easily get the song stuck in your head the next day lol.

Replay Value: 3/10 – It’s linear, and simple, and the only reason you will want to replay is to re-read the heartwarming story, and hear that awesome soundtrack again. I’ve replayed this at least 3 or 4 times now and love it every single time – but objectively, yeah there’s really nothing here story or gameplay wise for increased replay value.

Overall Score: 73/90 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”

Rhapsody a Musical Adventure Retro Videogame Review was originally published on

Geeky Sweetie

Will You Miss The Skinship Feature in Fire Emblem Fates?

By now you’ve already heard that Fire Emblem Fates is getting censored for it’s American release due to suggestive themes such as Gay Conversion, Rape, and Heavy Petting. The Petting feature is the latest in a long list of features and scenes to be removed for a Western release later next month. Nintendo of America stands by their decision to cut such items, stating that it was necessary to do so for localization.

Regardless on where you stand on this issue, my question is, will this significantly impact your decision to purchase this game? The fan translation begun nearly a year ago and from what I understand, the translation is complete and available (with a little effort and searching and digging) for those who seek to play the game as the creators intended, without censorship. How you go about getting said fan translation – I will leave that to your imagination. You could for example, support the game creators by buying the original Japanese language Nintendo cartridge for your 3DS and patching it with the translation — or you could use less ethical means which I won’t discuss here, and never indicated that I support. – It’s not just as simple as buying the English version and applying the patch to that version to restore the lost content, as the patch will only work on the Japanese version. However, if you choose to import the Japanese version you may be locked out of DLC content available only in the Eshop.

So you’re missing out either way. In the end, if you really like the franchise and wish to support Nintendo you could even buy both versions of the game. But ultimately, for most western gamers, the changes are small enough that they likely won’t be missed. Still for a small but vocal group of core fans, or Otaku (anime obsessed fans – such as myself) these changes are enough to be upset over. Many Otaku buy Fire Emblem solely because of the relationship aspects which differentiate the series from the slew of other strategy games available. By censoring and “Westernizing” the series, Nintendo runs the risk of deterring the fans who would want to buy such a game in the first place. Perhaps they are not satisfied with such a small market share and strategically removing the content to make it “less” Japanese and more appealing to “mainstream” gamers.

While I will miss the Skinship, I will probably still buy the western release. I don’t feel it’s enough of a significant change to boycott the series or Nintendo over. I am disappointed by Nintendo’s decision and wonder if anything will be added in replace of the Petting minigame, such as perhaps talking to, or giving gifts to your comrades, etc, as the Petting game offered bonuses and made a significant difference in the upcoming battles. It will be a shame to lose those stat bonuses just because of some controversial undertones within the minigame.

Skinship (or Petting as all of the media outlets are calling it) is not a new concept, not if you’re familiar with dating sim games – and Fire Emblem definitely has a strong Dating Sim component tied into each game. Skinship exists in other games in this genre – While the mainstream media outlets are loving to compare it to Pokemon Amie (possibly because it’s one of the only examples of Skinship in a Western Release) – and saying that it would be “creepy” or “odd” to pet a “human” character – this is nothing new for these types of games despite how “weird” or “sexualized” the media is portraying this mini game to be. For example, Tokimeki Memorial also has a Skinship feature, as does Ensemble Stars both are Otome Dating Sim games. Princess Maker 4 also comes to mind as having Skinship. The problem is, none of these games ever got “localized” – perhaps the Skinship feature is partly to blame as America is so up tight about anything with even a hint of sexuality – Meanwhile it’s fine for their kids to play games with blood, gore, violence, or foul language, but if anything is even slightly perverse, it riles up a frenzy in the media.

As other media outlets have pointed out, Nintendo’s entire marketing strategy has been on providing family entertainment for small children. While Fire Emblem is likely to be rated T for Teen, that won’t stop parents from buying it for their young kids anyways. So I do understand just why Nintendo has made so many changes. I may not like it, but I get it, it’s all about business at the end of the day and Nintendo’s business is all about very small children.

I am pretty concerned for what the future will held for SMT X FE #, another Nintendo release in the Fire Emblem franchise. While Atlus is focusing on the localization of that title, it’s even more “Japanese” than Fire Emblem Fates since SMT X FE # deals with the Idol Singing Subculture that proliferates Japanese pop culture. I worry that Nintendo of America may “Strong-arm” Atlus into making changes which will dumb down all the “Otaku Pandering” elements from the final release.

In case you haven’t heard news of these recent changes check out some of the major media outlets covering the story below for more info.

‘Fire Emblem Fates‘ Changes: The Censorship Is America’s Fault … iDigitalTimes.com–Jan 31, 2016

Trusting EA, Nintendo Censorship and the DeVito-chu The Escapist–Feb 1, 2016
Fire Emblem Fates wasn’t ‘censored‘, it was localised for good reason TechRadar–Jan 25, 2016
Nintendo Speaks on Fire Emblem Fates Censorship Nintendo Enthusiast–Jan 22, 2016
Fire Emblem Fates ‘Petting’ Removed for Western Release Game Rant–Jan 27, 2016
The Other Ways Nintendo Is Changing The English Version of Fire … Highly Cited–Kotaku–Jan 26, 2016

And then weigh in with a comment below and let us know which version you’ll be buying, or maybe you won’t be buying any of them. Do you feel Nintendo is making a smart business move to capture more audiences, or hurting themselves by isolating current fans of the Fire Emblem franchise?

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Geeky Sweetie

Growlanser Generations: Growlanser II and Growlanser III Review

Hang tight; things are going to get confusing if you’ve never heard of this series before. Growlanser Generations is the name of an American version of Growlanser II and III (that’s the one I’m reviewing below). BUT Growlanser Generations is the name of a Japanese game in the same game series, which is Growlanser V (and this game was also released in America as Growlanser Heritage of War, but I hate (or at least strongly dislike) that one, so I’m not reviewing it (at least not right now).

So Keep in mind, this is a review of Growlanser II and Growlanser III (Generations NA). And it is NOT a review of Growlanser V (Generations JP) Got it? Good 🙂

Title: Growlanser Generations

Publisher: Working Designs

Release Date: 2004

Platform: PS2

Genre: Strategy RPG with Dating Sim Elements

Where to buy: Amazon has a few available ranging in price from $65 to $95 depending on quality and deluxe or standard editions. You can browse whats available on this page here: http://www.amazon.com/Growlanser…

Geeky: 3/5 

Sweetie: 5/5 

Overall: 71/90 79% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

Concept: 7/10 Though packaged in America as a single game, this is originally two separate games (though from the same series) in Japan. Growlanser I was never released in America, which puts us at a disadvantage because Growlanser II’s story takes place at the same time as, and has the same characters as, Growlanser I. It is basically letting you play as the opponent’s army  from the first game, to draw sympathy and give you another look at the war from a different view point. But since we never got Growlanser I in America (I’m sure Working Designs would have if they could, but this game actually was one of their last games and probably partly responsible for the ultimate demise of the company – selling two games, for the price of one, at the expense of double the staff hours, wages, localization fees, etc.) — Anyways, since we never got the first game, Growlanser II is mostly a stand alone story for English speaking players – and I felt its story, while good, was weaker than III – which is intended to be a new stand alone story – because Growlanser II is supposed to be enjoyed with Growlanser I.

Anyways, beyond that, they are both real-time strategy rpgs with a high amount of freedom and player choice and consequence. Choices matter, and there’s a branching plot, mostly focused around who you date in the game. There’s multiple endings and of course the data from one game to the next can be carried over from game to game.

Gameplay: 8/10 The gameplay in these two games features real-time (as opposed to turn-based) strategy rpg battles which sometimes have you trying to reach the edge of the map to “escape” or sometimes destroy all enemies on the map, or sometimes must protect an NPC from being killed. Growlanser III expands on the gameplay of II by allowing you to freely move around the overworld instead of just choosing points on a map. However, Growlanser III cuts the active party members in half from 8 in Growlanser II to just 4 in Growlanser III. Growlanser III also raises the encounter rate significantly from that of II and introduces proceduraly generated dungeons which are sometimes rather hit or miss in their design.

Upon gaining a level you can spend attribute points to customize your party members to your liking, which is just another testament to the freedom of choice these games provide. Also as you level up your equipment, you can unlock new spells and abilities that are tied to the equipment, making the equipment a key focus of your battle strategy. You can team up with party members to unleash joint spells and abilities and you are also free to move around the map, not stuck using a grid based system in other Japanese strategy games such as tactics ogre and final fantasy tactics.

Because the game has a branching plot and multiple endings, there are some things which may happen in battle which would typically be a gameover in most games, but in this case, the game goes on (not always, haha sometimes it REALLY IS a gameover lol.) – Sometimes though this can throw you off the route you want in the game so save often and make use of multiple save files.

Outside of battle there is not much to do in this game (aside from talking to your comrades which can influence the storyline which is a big draw to this series) — That is changed years later with Growlanser Wayfayer of Time on PSP which introduces city building and “pet” raising elements to the game series. (But that’s a review for another day (maybe soon).)

That’s not to say that all you do is hack and slash your way through Growlanser Generations either. Both games feature a huge branching storyline with several secret hidden side quests and dialog scenes which unless you take time to back track to previous locations and explore the map fully, are very easy to overlook. If you enjoy exploring  every nook and cranny of every location, you’ll really enjoy the huge worlds and the fact that this game does not hold your hand or force you down any “correct” path as it’s very non-linear. However, there are some gamers, who may find all this back tracking and side questing to be tedious.

Storyline: 10/10 Both games have a very emotional and action packed story which is fueled by the theme of war and focuses strongly on character backstory and development. They take place in a fantasy setting, however; it is draped around a very modern and realistic atmosphere that makes the characters and story feel quite engaging and believable. Mostly, what I enjoyed about these stories is the overarching theme of betrayal, trust, sadness, and pain that are told through the events and actions that happen in each game. As mentioned above, Growlanser II definitely has the weaker story, because in America, we only experience “one half” of the “game” (although it is in fact 2 games in Japan too, Growlanser II is a “direct sequel” – and not only takes place “after” but also concurrently during the first game. So I can’t deduct points here, because it’s no fault of the game that we only have “half” the story here.) Overall, the story becomes very emotional and the sheer volume of the game world itself and lore added into every nook and cranny and dialog options and extra scenes really help bring these games to life.

Characters: 8/10 Growlanser II is packed full of dozens and dozens of interesting characters. Like most branching plot games, some character routes are more well developed than others. Growlanser III significantly cuts back on the number of characters, BUT in exchange, they devote the time to writing a very interesting and well developed story around those characters. As I’ve said a few times, III is definitely the more story-focused of the two games in this collection, and that also shows through character development and interaction – not that it was terrible in II either, but III just really digs into it more. 12 years later I still deeply remember the story and characters of Growlanser III – while I only sorta vaguely recall some of the characters of Growlanser II.

Graphics: 7/10 While the character portraits themselves are LOVELY and very appealing, especially I think to females, as they’re rather “Shoujo” in nature, the battle effects, background environments, and other artistic elements are very underwhelming, even for a PS2 game.

Music: 5/10 – It’s been awhile since I’ve played, but I can’t recall having a strong opinion of either like, or dislike, for the music in these games. I’ll update this the next time I play 🙂

Voice Acting: 8/10 Working Designs is always pretty good with their localizations – of course they westernize things and take some pretty big liberties with their translations (which some fans criticize them for) but for me, I’ve always enjoyed their sense of humor and found it often times make a dry script more engaging – not that I think Growlanser is dry by any means, but it’s always fun to see Working Design’s little touches. That said, the cast is very good, reusing many actors from previous Working Designs titles (such as Lunar and Vay). So if you enjoy the voice acting in those games, you’ll enjoy it in Growlanser as well. Each game has probably about 2 or 3 hours of voice over content – which isn’t much when each game probably spans hundreds of hours through multiple story lines and endings. But hey, there are games from early 2k that don’t have any voice overs at all, so can’t complain much. I would’ve liked the option left in for Japanese voices as well but I understand those are expensive with licensing fees and Working designs was such a small little studio. I appreciate all the love and care they always put into their games and I feel out of all the 90s Dubs out there, Working Designs were some of the best!

Replay Value: 10/10 Both games feature Multiple endings, though the differences to these endings are definitely more distinctive in Growlanser II as opposed to III. There’s also tons of hidden side quests and dialog options which will require multiple playthroughs to experience everything these games have to offer. Between both games, you’ll probably spend hundreds of hours to get 100%. I’d wager it’s about 35-40 hours per single play through.

Overall: 71/90 79% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

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Geeky Sweetie

Disgaea comes to PC for the First Time with Disgaea PC – an HD Remake of the first game, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Disgaea is a cult classic Strategy RPG by Nipponichi and now, for the first time ever, PC Master Race players (those who refuse to play on a console) are about to experience this epic game series.

Technobuffalo recently reported that this is the “definitive” edition of the first Disgaea game, “Hour of Darkness” because of not only the new HD graphics, but also the bonus content that was previously only available in the PSP version “Afternoon of Darkness”

Steam already has a store page set up; and an expected release date in February 2016.

According to the Steam store page, the game will include Japanese and English audio, as well as Japanese, English, Chinese, or Korean text, making it a world-wide edition.

Also in the announcements on the steam page, users will be able to choose from the old “pixelated” graphics, or the new HD graphics, OR mix and match between the two – such as choosing the old character sprites, but using the new HD environments. The interface has also been enhanced for PC play.

For those who have never played Disgaea, or even long-time fans who want to have a copy in their steam library, this is very exciting news.

Here is some info taken from the Steam Store Page to help explain what this game is all about to new players, and to show long-time fans the new features in the PC port.

About This Game

Download the Darkness, Level Up Evil!

Two years after the death of his father, Overlord Krichevskoy, the demon prince Laharl awakens to discover that the Netherworld is in turmoil. With unlikely allies, his devious vassal Etna and the angel trainee Flonne, he must battle his way to supremacy to retake the throne and become the next Overlord. Experience the SRPG classic, now on PC!

Key Features:

  • An SRPG from the most prolific SRPG creators in the world, Nippon Ichi Software

  • Choose from over 40 unique character types

  • Even with a max level of 9999, use Transmigration to start all over again, but your characters will be even stronger per level!

  • Delve into the Item World, a randomly generated dungeon world, to level up your items!

  • With max level characters and leveled-up items, dish out millions of points of damage!

  • Over-the-top battle animations

  • Geo Panels – A puzzle game within a Strategy RPG

  • Lift & Throw – Throw your allies up ledges to reach enemies in hard-to-reach spots, or toss your enemies around instead!

  • A zany story set in the Netherworld, where the notions of good and evil are reversed New to Disgaea PC (It’s not just a port!):

    • Updated UI and textures
    • Keyboard/Mouse and controller support
    • Includes all content from Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
    • New Steam features, such as Achievements, Cloud Saves, Badges, and trading cards

    Learn about the long and prestigious history of the Disgaea series @ http://disgaea.us/

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Disgaea comes to PC for the First Time with Disgaea PC – an HD Remake of the first game, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was originally published on

Geeky Sweetie

God Wars, New JRPG Strategy RPG Game, Heads West for PS4 and PS Vita in 2016

Kotaku covered a news scoop regarding Kodokawa’s latest upcoming JRPG, God Wars: Toki wo Koete (translation: God Wars: Beyond Time). You play as a girl, which makes this game highly relevant to my audience here at Geeky Sweetie. She’s a priestess named Kaguya, who has been chosen as a sacrifice to the gods, by her own Mother (the Queen).

People who are quick to criticize weak willed characters, especially females in gaming, will appreciate this lead role, who manages to escape her ill fate, and has a spunky and opinionated personality, enough so that she rebels against her mother, and her kingdom.

She does not just accept authority, from her mother, the queen, or even the teachings of the gods. Instead she sets out on a Journey to find her own answers and make her own decisions.

Japanese history, folklore, and mythology are at the heart of the story. Sawaki Takeyasu (famous for his creature work in Devil May Cry and Okami) will be in charge of monster design once again for God Wars Beyond Time.

Gameplay consists of turn based and grid based mechanics similar to those in other JRPG strategy games such as Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Tactics Ogre. Check out the official trailer below.

According to Gematsu, God Wars will feature over 30 job classes, 200 weapons, and 600 skills. Gematsu also provided some more storyline details, stating that the game is intended to blend Japanese fairytales with historical events to reimagine the coming of age of some of Japan’s greatest historical figures.

Gematsu also notes that the characters are designed by Mino Taro (famous for character design in Love Plus) and a narration by Japanese actor Shiro Sano.

 

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Geeky Sweetie

Rogue State Indie PC Game Review

In the interest of transparency and full disclosure, I received this game for free along with another game, “Dungeon Souls”, in order to do a review (of Dungeon Souls) which I still need to do (Dungeon Souls is pretty difficult, I’d like to not be a complete newb when I record a video for it. – Look for some gameplay footage of Dungeon Souls next weekend along with a write up of the game.) I was not asked to review Rogue State, but I spent much of today and lastnight playing it, and I really enjoy the game, so I thought I’d tell my readers about it since it seems like the type of game they would enjoy too :) All opinions expressed within this review are my own.

Title: Rogue State

Publisher: Little Red Dog Games

Genre: Political Simulation

Platform: PC

Where to Buy: Steam

Geeky: 

Sweetie: 

Overall: 63/80 79% C+ “Good Game for Girls”

Concept 10/10: You have been put in charge of leading a newly independent nation. You must balance the interests of different party members, your cabinet, foreign and internal government officials, and the general population. Unfortunately, your brother seeks to undermine your success and take power for himself; however he is too popular with the people to be denied a position in your government. You must decide which sacrifices to make in order to minimize the damage that your brother creates.

Gameplay 10/10: Time passes as you build infrastructure, train your troops, create new policies, or call upon your neighbors and allies. You can raise taxes to get income but this will lower the support of your people. You can use a series of sliders to adjust your stance on many different policies trying to strike a balance between preserving your culture and heritage, but also progressing and building a profitable and sustainable future for your nation.

One of the interesting things is that your cabinet members, allies and neighbors are all randomly generated; so sometimes you’ll have a wide mix of conflicting political beliefs, and other times you’ll find less diversity.

As you make new policies, new opportunities for bigger and better policies will unfold. You can also visit the situation room and work on improving your military, invade your bordering nations, or undergo massive research projects which require a lot of capital and time but produce big benefits and earn you more support if successful.

Almost always at some point, your brother will try to overthrow you; depending on how happy the different political factions are, and also depending on how much you’ve researched and advanced, you will be able to successfully defend his onslaught.

Other things like the recession of the economy of the united states, or various natural disasters, or environmental conditions may also occur at random which will greatly impact your reign and your treasury.

At the end of each turn you’ll face a political or moral dilemma which will force you to make a decision which will shift your support and political alignment.

If you can survive 5 years in office, you will get to choose whether to give up your political office to allow the country to elect their own leader, or cling to that power indefinitely for yourself.

At the end of each term in office you must give a speech where you’re presented different dialog options to choose from. You must put together a cohesive speech using strong sentiments that tie into the overall message you want to send. You should align this message with your gameplan for the next term. If you want to focus on bolstering your military for example, give a speech to increase patriotism. Or if you want to focus on helping the poor; give a speech about healthcare reform and education; or if you want to increase profits, give a speech targeted towards capitalism and deregulation.

You need to keep everyone happy while also keeping your treasury profitable. Several military, policy, and research options will require an ongoing upkeep fee which will be deducted at the beginning of each new turn.

You can import and export goods across your borders too to help maximize your profits. Think carefully, you can only sell exports to one country at a time, and you will be locked into a contract for several turns after agreeing to trade to them. The price they are willing to pay depends both on the demand for the item as well as your political relations with the nation in which you wish to trade.

Story 5/10: There’s honestly, not much story, beyond that which I explained in the concept of running a newly independent country and the challenges that entails which will crop up randomly and change each play through.

Graphics 8/10: The graphics, and the user interface, have a very retro feeling to them. There is a bar across the top of the screen which can be accessed via hotkey or mouse press which is where most of the gameplay is carried out. You can also mouse over parts of the screen and if white text pops up it means that you can interact with that object. Your character will walk, sit, stand, and interact with things as you command them to. You can also choose between a male or female ruler; and the government seal is a basenji dog which is pretty cute. Some of the menus are confusing, such as I didn’t realize on my first playthrough how to activate political favors by clicking on parliament and then clicking on the cabinet member you’ve earned favors with, and then clicking on the square which indicates said favor. I think if they would’ve had a tab that listed “available favors” or something it would have been less ambiguous.

Music: 6/10 Ethnic retro chiptune style music, with a bit of comedic value, thanks to recent pop culture references such as Borat. The opening theme to this game reminded me of the national anthem in Borat.

Voice Acting: 8/10 The game is fully voiced and the ethnic accents help create immersion. The only flaw is most of the lines are word for word the same regardless of the different actors used. The delivery changes somewhat, but the dialog itself does not.

Replay Value: 10/10 The replay value is really high thanks to all the random events, and randomly generated characters thrown into the game. As your game comes to an end, for better, or for worse, you are awarded a score and based on that score, you will earn XP which can be used to unlock new campaigns, gameplay modes, or traits that can give you an advantage for your next playthrough, open new dialog options, or more. Each playthrough is fairly short, lasting 60 turns or less which makes it possible to play multiple times in a relatively short time.

Overall: 63/80 79% C+ “Good Game for Girls”

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Rogue State Indie PC Game Review was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

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Dragon Force | Retro | SRPG | Review | Sega Saturn | Working Designs | Strategy | Strategy RPG | Strategy Game | Retro Game | Retro Gamers | Retro Game Review

Title: Dragon Force

Platform: Sega Saturn (or if you’re able to read Japanese, the original game has also been ported to PS2 and PS3. No word if it’ll ever get ported over to the USA; chances are slim now that Working Designs, the original publisher in the USA, is defunct.)

Release Date: November 1996

Publisher: Working Designs

Where to Buy: This game goes for $100-$200 on sites like Amazon. (and yes, it’s worth it; it’s an amazing game) You can find it on this page here: http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Force-Sega-Saturn/dp/B00004SW0Z

Geeky Factor: 

Sweetie Factor: 

Overall: 76/90 84% B “Very Good Game For Girls”

Concept: 10/10 Dragon Force is a Real-Time Strategy RPG with large-scale warfare (hundreds of units in combat) which allows you to play as one of 6 different kingdoms initially, with 2 more to unlock through multiple gameplays. Each kingdom has it’s own unique story within the game, making for excellent replay value. There are a ton of hidden characters to recruit too, which also may add to replay value if you fail to recruit them on your first attempt.

Gameplay: 10/10 There are a few different elements to the gameplay. The primary focus is on managing your kingdom by hiring new generals (you can spend a turn searching for generals as well), you have to keep your generals happy or risk losing them also. To do this, you can award merits obtained in battle to certain generals that you want to boost. You can also raid castles to find treasure.

As the game progresses, you capture more castles (the goal is to control all the castles on the map); but you can also lose castles too if you do not assign enough generals and soldiers to defend the area. Hence why recruiting generals becomes one of the primary focuses of gameplay.

Dragon Force has incredibly unique combat in that each of your generals can lead hundreds of soldiers into battle and there are many different types of soldiers for you to add to your party which fill different class roles such as knights, archers, mages, vampires, beastmen, etc. Having the right balance of soldiers and generals is very important to the gameplay, some fights will become very difficult if you don’t put time and thought into your army.

Story: 7/10 Since the game has several different stories woven into one game, and forces you to play as all of the characters to unlock additional story-driven characters, it can take a lot of effort to see the whole story. There are some elements within each playthrough that will follow the same lore/backstory that ties all of the stories together. The lore goes like this…

The world of Legendra was a peaceful world, governed by the Godess Astea, until the arrival of an evil force known as Madruk. A warrior known as Harsgalt sealed away Madruk’s evil powers but was unable to defeat him completely. Madruk remained sealed away for 300 years, however, now his Minions seek to revive their dark lord. Madruk’s minions have tricked the 8 nations into warring with one another so that they’d be too busy to stop them from their plans. The rulers of each nation must be convinced to set aside their differences and join forces to stop this greater evil.

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Although there is a story here and there are anime cutscenes and voice acting, it feels like the story still takes a backseat to the action/combat and kingdom management features of the game. Also, as with any game with branching plots, some characters’ routes feel more fleshed out than others.

Characters: 8/10 I don’t want to get into spoiling all of the different story lines as the fun in the game comes from experiencing each monarch’s perspective for yourself. I will just give a brief overview of the characters here, but there is much more to learn by playing the game for yourself.

Junon: Cold Hearted, brutal knight, known as the “Masked Death”, rules the cold icy kingdoms of the north.

Mikhail: A samurai seeking to avenge his father’s death. He has most of the qualities we imagine a samurai to have, a calm, honorable disposition and air of mystique.

Leon: Large muscle-bound “hulk” like character, with a hot temper and stubborn streak.

Gongos: Leader of the beastmen. He is a kind and courageous king who is well loved by his people, because he lives in the forest however, he is not always the brightest when it comes to wits or common sense when dealing with humans

Teiris: Typical “female protagonist” here. The game makes up for this overused stereotype elsewhere though as you will see for yourself if you play the game. She is depicted as the good-natured, “friend to the world”, kind-hearted, soft spoken, and physically weak, but makes up for it with her excellent magic skills and abilities.

Wein: Wein is kinda the default “hero” or knight type of character, he is strong, noble, and proud. He accepts his duty gladly, and does everything in his power to serve the orders of the Goddess Astea.

Voice Acting: 8/10 Like many of Working Design’s RPGs, the voice actor talent is top notch. There are not as many voiced scenes and anime cutscenes as say, Lunar or Vay (two other Working Designs anime RPGs) but there’s still a decent amount. And like all Working Design games if you sit at the credits screen after completing the game, you get to hear the gag reel and outtakes. The voice actors clearly had fun in their roles, and it shows through in their performances as well.

Music: 5/10 Music is just kinda “there”; not particularly bad, nor good.

Graphics: 8/10 It is exciting to see all of your units in combat. They did an amazing job designing the combat system which is very unique to this game. There are also ample anime cutscenes, and while the anime scenes have that “90s retro vibe” they’re still nice and colorful. The overworld map and other elements are rather basic in design, and the kingdom management screen while easy to use, is also not the most elegant of systems.

Replay Value: 10/10 – to see the whole story, and to unlock other playable nations you must play the game multiple times. This encourages the user to explore the game as other kingdoms and experience new stories and different play styles.

Overall: 76/90 84% B “Very Good Game For Girls”

Dragon Force | Retro | SRPG | Review | Sega Saturn | Working Designs | Strategy | Strategy RPG | Strategy Game | Retro Game | Retro Gamers | Retro Game Review was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Geeky Sweetie

Zookeeper Battle VS Free Ipad Game Like Tetris But With Cute Animals

First a “State-of-the-geek” message (Skip this message by scrolling past the top 3 paragraphs).

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

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Been a lonnnng time since I’ve posted anything for you guys. So here is a review of one of my favorite Ipad Games (plus hey it’s free, so you should really check it out!)

First, I’m still alive, and still geeky and passionate about all things geeky, kawaii, or otherwise known as awesome. I work a full 40+ hour work week, as a web developer / graphic artist / catchall for web/graphic/print/advertising/marketing lol. So I often don’t feel too inspired to work on my many “personal” (fun / hobby) websites. This one here ( http://geekysweetie.com ), http://partymotif.com , and my newest one http://otakujam.com I do not profit on anything that I write. I do have ad revenue, but not even enough to cover the costs of running and maintaining the servers and domain names of all the sites, let alone the time and energy and effort into maintaining them. So I apologize if updates are slow. If you’re actually reading this, thank you 🙂 If you’d like to chat sometime about games or anime or technology or anything else, please feel free to drop me a line. I love making new geeky friends. 🙂 Also I hope to go to Colosocon in Sandusky OH this spring. Anyone else going? ^^ I am super shy, and need friends :).

Just sharing cute images from one of my favorite iPad games, zookeeper vs

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Ok So here comes the Review of Zookeeper Battle (I think when I first downloaded the app, it was called Zookeeper VS)

Zookeeper Battle VS Review by GeekySweetie

Title: Zookeeper Battle (VS)

Platform: Ipad/Iphone (possibly android too?)

Publisher: Kiteretsu

Cost: FREE (optional in game purchases are available but not required)

Get it in the gamestore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zookeeper-battle/id548270497?mt=8

Geeky: 1/5

Sweetie: 5/5

Total Score:  45 / 70 possible points

64.3% D Overall: Average Game For Girls

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

OVERVIEW: It’s a very cute tetris-like game. you arrange blocks and match shapes and colors to make room for new blocks. However, the blocks are all super cute animal heads.

The other, and more fun (in my opinion), aspect of this app is the “Gacha” system which allows you to win neat decorative items to decorate your zoo. You start with just one “exhibit” open to decorate, and as you progress, you (very slowly) unlock more exhibits. You can place one animal in each exhibit. You get to choose your first starter animal from a lineup including a bunny, alligator, elephant, lion, girraffe, and more. You get to win new animals, in new colors, and styles by playing the gacha.

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You can purchase (with real money) platinum gacha tokens, but you don’t HAVE to purchase these, because you can also win them quite easily by participating in in-game events.

The animals and decorations that you add have an effect on your gameplay too! they’re not JUST for looks. They have a “Cute” and a “Cool” score (hmm kinda like our review system actually lol). These points help you in battles and in game events. You want to get as many Cute and Cool points as possible to attract zoo supporters (npcs) who will help you in the events, and the cute and cool points are what determines win/lose against various event bosses and battles. You want to win these battles because you get more super rare items and animals this way, most are limited time only items.

So you have a power / energy bar with 6 “slots”. Energy can be regained by using a power bottle (which can be purchased or won), or by just turning the app off and waiting about 30 minutes.

Each “VS” battle (that’s against a real player, just like yourself) costs 1 energy point.

Event “boss” battles cost 2 energy points. While other event battles “vandals” cost 1 energy point.

The game is seriously hard. I’ll be the first to admit, I kinda suck at this game lol. Your mileage may vary. You’re racing against the clock and other players in the “VS” mode, by eliminating certain animal blocks you get defense points, and by eliminating other blocks you earn attack points. If your attack is higher than your opponents’ defense, you score damage equal to the difference. Example, if your attack is 130, and your opponent’s defense is 80, you will shave off 50 hit points from your opponent’s life pool.

The first person to lose all of their life points loses the battle. OR if both opponents still have partial life points, the winner will be determined at the end of round 5, by selecting the player with the highest life points as the winner.

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Graphics: 9/10

The main reason to play this game is to collect the cute animals and decor items. They are adorable, and there are hundreds of things to collect. I did take one point off because it does not have a landscape format while playing on Ipad which forces me to hold my Ipad in an awkard and uncomfortable fashion while playing the game. (IE: the images do not detect landscape mode: turning/tilting the ipad horizontally.)

Story:

N/A (There is no story) I was originally going to give this a score of zero out of ten, but that lowered the overall score so severely that it no longer accurately reflected how much I would recommend this game. So I just chose to ommit this category for this review. Just bear in mind there is no story, at all, period.

Concept: 7/10

A fun twist on traditional tetris like games, made more cute with decorating the zoo exhibits and cute animals. The gacha keeps the game fresh and keeps you playing to win new decor items. But overall, it is a simple game, and not overly original, just very cute and addicting.

Gameplay 8/10

This game is very challenging (sometimes frustrating). It gets high marks for gameplay due to the level of skill and speed required. The fact that you can play against real people from all over the world is also fun. There’s always lots of people online playing this game, with over 8 million players worldwide. Therefore there is no downtime or waiting required. It does eventually come to an “end” when you reach level 150, you will unlock your last “exhibit” and not be able to expand beyond that point. I’m only level 33 and have played it for almost 2 years (off/on) so I think that for most people there is plenty to strive for. The gacha system keeps things fresh and keeps you wanting to play again and again. It loses a point or two for me with lack of any real “social” elements. You can add friends and visit their zoos, but you don’t actually have to visit them, you can hit a button that says “visit all” and just collect your rewards and be on your way, so very rarely will anyone other than yourself see all of your cute zoo exhibits. People don’t chat or do much, you can’t trade gacha items for example, or anything else which would increase the need for playing with friends.

Characters: 4/10

There are lots of CUTE characters, but no story or any real value in them beyond the stat boost they give and them being cute.

Music 2/10

Really repetitive music, gets old fast. Also music seems louder in this app than many other games I play.  Grates on your nerves very quickly due to the repetitiveness and volume of the music.

Voiceacting: N/A (no voice acting)

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Customization: 10/10

I added this category of customization because I needed to balance out the “negative” aspects of my review to get to a total score that more closely represented how I felt about this game.

Customization is HUGE in this game and is one of the main (only?) reasons to play this game. You get to select your animal, background, and accessory for each of your zoo exhibits. So many cute options here! I love this aspect of the game, and am basing my recommendation for you to check out this game largely on this feature alone.

Total Score:  45 / 70 possible points

64.3% D Overall: Average Game For Girls

Zookeeper Battle VS Free Ipad Game Like Tetris But With Cute Animals was originally published on

Geeky Sweetie

Zookeeper Battle VS Free Ipad Game Like Tetris But With Cute Animals

First a “State-of-the-geek” message (Skip this message by scrolling past the top 3 paragraphs).

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Feb 1, 2015 at 7:38am PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Been a lonnnng time since I’ve posted anything for you guys. So here is a review of one of my favorite Ipad Games (plus hey it’s free, so you should really check it out!)

First, I’m still alive, and still geeky and passionate about all things geeky, kawaii, or otherwise known as awesome. I work a full 40+ hour work week, as a web developer / graphic artist / catchall for web/graphic/print/advertising/marketing lol. So I often don’t feel too inspired to work on my many “personal” (fun / hobby) websites. This one here ( http://geekysweetie.com ), http://partymotif.com , and my newest one http://otakujam.com I do not profit on anything that I write. I do have ad revenue, but not even enough to cover the costs of running and maintaining the servers and domain names of all the sites, let alone the time and energy and effort into maintaining them. So I apologize if updates are slow. If you’re actually reading this, thank you :) If you’d like to chat sometime about games or anime or technology or anything else, please feel free to drop me a line. I love making new geeky friends. :) Also I hope to go to Colosocon in Sandusky OH this spring. Anyone else going? ^^ I am super shy, and need friends :).

Just sharing cute images from one of my favorite iPad games, zookeeper vs

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Feb 1, 2015 at 7:35am PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Ok So here comes the Review of Zookeeper Battle (I think when I first downloaded the app, it was called Zookeeper VS)

Zookeeper Battle VS Review by GeekySweetie

Title: Zookeeper Battle (VS)

Platform: Ipad/Iphone (possibly android too?)

Publisher: Kiteretsu

Cost: FREE (optional in game purchases are available but not required)

Get it in the gamestore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zookeeper-battle/id548270497?mt=8

Geeky: 1/5

Sweetie: 5/5

Total Score:  45 / 70 possible points

64.3% D Overall: Average Game For Girls

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Feb 1, 2015 at 7:38am PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

OVERVIEW: It’s a very cute tetris-like game. you arrange blocks and match shapes and colors to make room for new blocks. However, the blocks are all super cute animal heads.

The other, and more fun (in my opinion), aspect of this app is the “Gacha” system which allows you to win neat decorative items to decorate your zoo. You start with just one “exhibit” open to decorate, and as you progress, you (very slowly) unlock more exhibits. You can place one animal in each exhibit. You get to choose your first starter animal from a lineup including a bunny, alligator, elephant, lion, girraffe, and more. You get to win new animals, in new colors, and styles by playing the gacha.

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(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

You can purchase (with real money) platinum gacha tokens, but you don’t HAVE to purchase these, because you can also win them quite easily by participating in in-game events.

The animals and decorations that you add have an effect on your gameplay too! they’re not JUST for looks. They have a “Cute” and a “Cool” score (hmm kinda like our review system actually lol). These points help you in battles and in game events. You want to get as many Cute and Cool points as possible to attract zoo supporters (npcs) who will help you in the events, and the cute and cool points are what determines win/lose against various event bosses and battles. You want to win these battles because you get more super rare items and animals this way, most are limited time only items.

So you have a power / energy bar with 6 “slots”. Energy can be regained by using a power bottle (which can be purchased or won), or by just turning the app off and waiting about 30 minutes.

Each “VS” battle (that’s against a real player, just like yourself) costs 1 energy point.

Event “boss” battles cost 2 energy points. While other event battles “vandals” cost 1 energy point.

The game is seriously hard. I’ll be the first to admit, I kinda suck at this game lol. Your mileage may vary. You’re racing against the clock and other players in the “VS” mode, by eliminating certain animal blocks you get defense points, and by eliminating other blocks you earn attack points. If your attack is higher than your opponents’ defense, you score damage equal to the difference. Example, if your attack is 130, and your opponent’s defense is 80, you will shave off 50 hit points from your opponent’s life pool.

The first person to lose all of their life points loses the battle. OR if both opponents still have partial life points, the winner will be determined at the end of round 5, by selecting the player with the highest life points as the winner.

Zookeeper vs iPad game

A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on Feb 1, 2015 at 7:39am PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Graphics: 9/10

The main reason to play this game is to collect the cute animals and decor items. They are adorable, and there are hundreds of things to collect. I did take one point off because it does not have a landscape format while playing on Ipad which forces me to hold my Ipad in an awkard and uncomfortable fashion while playing the game. (IE: the images do not detect landscape mode: turning/tilting the ipad horizontally.)

Story:

N/A (There is no story) I was originally going to give this a score of zero out of ten, but that lowered the overall score so severely that it no longer accurately reflected how much I would recommend this game. So I just chose to ommit this category for this review. Just bear in mind there is no story, at all, period.

Concept: 7/10

A fun twist on traditional tetris like games, made more cute with decorating the zoo exhibits and cute animals. The gacha keeps the game fresh and keeps you playing to win new decor items. But overall, it is a simple game, and not overly original, just very cute and addicting.

Gameplay 8/10

This game is very challenging (sometimes frustrating). It gets high marks for gameplay due to the level of skill and speed required. The fact that you can play against real people from all over the world is also fun. There’s always lots of people online playing this game, with over 8 million players worldwide. Therefore there is no downtime or waiting required. It does eventually come to an “end” when you reach level 150, you will unlock your last “exhibit” and not be able to expand beyond that point. I’m only level 33 and have played it for almost 2 years (off/on) so I think that for most people there is plenty to strive for. The gacha system keeps things fresh and keeps you wanting to play again and again. It loses a point or two for me with lack of any real “social” elements. You can add friends and visit their zoos, but you don’t actually have to visit them, you can hit a button that says “visit all” and just collect your rewards and be on your way, so very rarely will anyone other than yourself see all of your cute zoo exhibits. People don’t chat or do much, you can’t trade gacha items for example, or anything else which would increase the need for playing with friends.

Characters: 4/10

There are lots of CUTE characters, but no story or any real value in them beyond the stat boost they give and them being cute.

Music 2/10

Really repetitive music, gets old fast. Also music seems louder in this app than many other games I play.  Grates on your nerves very quickly due to the repetitiveness and volume of the music.

Voiceacting: N/A (no voice acting)

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Customization: 10/10

I added this category of customization because I needed to balance out the “negative” aspects of my review to get to a total score that more closely represented how I felt about this game.

Customization is HUGE in this game and is one of the main (only?) reasons to play this game. You get to select your animal, background, and accessory for each of your zoo exhibits. So many cute options here! I love this aspect of the game, and am basing my recommendation for you to check out this game largely on this feature alone.

Total Score:  45 / 70 possible points

64.3% D Overall: Average Game For Girls

Zookeeper Battle VS Free Ipad Game Like Tetris But With Cute Animals was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Geeky Sweetie

Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together Review

image

Title: Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together

Platform: SNES, Psx/Ps1, PSP

Genre: Strategy RPG (SRPG)

Publisher: The game was originally developed by Quest Corporation who are now defunct. The english localizations of this series have been handled by numerous third party companies including Atlus and Square-Enix. This review is specifically for the PSP enhanced edition released in 2011 by Square-Enix.

Overall Score: 83% B. Very Good Game for Girls

Where to buy: Amazon

Geeky Factor: geekygeekygeekygeekygeeky

Sweetie Factor: sweetiesweetiesweetie

Story: 10/10 – The story of tactics ogre is far more complex and mature than square’s own “final fantasy tactics” series. It resembles a lot of what made the original final fantasy tactics great, while the sequels of that series have been dumbed down to be child friendly. At it’s core, it’s a story of choice and consequence, in a war-torn continent full of political intrigue. At every turn, you will shape and mold the story and the fate of the people living (or dieing) across the continent. Will you be consumed with vengeance, seduced by greed, or sacrifice even those closest to you for the greater good? The story is also full of emotions, and does an excellent job drawing players into the world. They’ve even gone as far as to use old english in much of the dialogue to create total immersion.

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Concept: 10/10 – The concept is also similar to most SRPG, grid based combat, lots of different classes for your units, recruiting new units, leveling up and equipping your troops, etc. – The difference with Tactics Ogre once again is that the choices YOU make, effect which parts of the story you live out. Instead of just being told the history of these people, you are the one writing their history and deciding their fate.

Gameplay: 10/10 – While it does little to innovate, there are certain unique twists on the traditional tactical rpg combat. You do not level up a single character, instead you level up a job class, and this job class can then be “equiped” to any character who will start from the max level you have obtained for their role. Any units who survive combat gain experience points for the class that they played as for that map. Since the choice and consequence system could also be considered a gameplay mechanic just as much as a story mechanic, I’m also awarding points to gameplay for this factor, because no other SRPG, and perhaps, no other game, period, puts to use such an elaborate and meaningful choice and consequence system.

Characters: 5/10 – While the story is moving and emotionally engaging, I still feel that character development was a bit flat. I have played a ton of rpgs, and just find these characters to be less memorable than others in other games. They don’t stick with me or make a lasting impression. Sure I care about them at different points throughout the game, some have made me laugh, others have made me cry, some have filled me with hate, but at the end of the day, when I’m done playing, I don’t think back about the characters, they look similar, talk similar, can have similar classes, skills, abilities, and don’t have as much heart or personality as more fleshed out characters in other games. I truly believe this is due to the game’s best feature, the choice and consequences system, when you have a more open ended, or multi-pathed game, the writer gives up control of these characters, to the player, while in a very linear game, the writing is very precise and true to the author’s original intentions for the cast. It’s a sacrifice or trade off. It’s rare to find a game that can do both well. I feel that it was a worthy sacrifice in this case, the gameplay is amazing and I would not want to sacrifice that at all.

Graphics: 5/10 – This is an old game, originally for the super nintendo, 16 bit system. It’s graphics are about akin to what any novice can produce in programs like RPG Maker today. But for it’s time, I think it had really strong graphics. They are definitely outdated by today’s standards though.

Music: 10/10 – This game has beautiful music which adds to the emotional impact of the story. The music itself feels very majestic.

Final Scores:

Story: 10/10

Concept: 10/10

Gameplay 10/10

Characters 5/10

Graphics: 5/10

Music: 10/10

Voice Acting: Not Voiced N/A

Overall: 83% B. Very Good Game for Girls

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Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together Review was originally published on