Panzer Dragoon Saga

With its compelling story and cinematic battles, Panzer Dragoon Saga is one of the most unique RPG's ever made.

Known in Japan as Azel, Panzer Dragoon RPG, it was released in 1998 on the Sega Saturn by Project Andromeda, it was the latest entry in the popular rail shooter series on the commercially unsuccessful console. Though this time, Andromeda decided to create a very different game, but with a few similarities to its predecessors for some familiarity. Despite being a critical darling, and being considered one of the best RPGS and video games of all time, and earned a spot at #22 on G4's 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time, this game failed to sell because it was released very late in the Sega Saturn's lifetime. The game was released in April, and the console was discontinued in August, only 30,000 copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga were sold in the US, and any English copy of the game is rare and can run you at least $300 USD on sites like Ebay, making this a collector's item.

Story:

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, you play as Edge, a young solder who is in a group charged with protecting an excavation site. All seems well until an evil monster attacks you. While escaping this creature, you then stumble upon what appears to be a girl sticking out of the wall. Before you know what this is, some imperial troops come and attack your group. These troops are led by the evil Craymen and they ruthlessly kill everyone and take the wall containing the girl. In a fit of rage, you try to attack the soldiers and you are then shot off the cliff down into a ravine.

Apparently unharmed, you wander around confused and run into a mysterious dragon who seems that he wants to help you. You have some strange spiritual connection with the dragon and you place your trust in him, and the dragon whisks you out of the ravine and takes you to your captain. As you watch your beloved captain die, you vow to go on a revenge to kill Craymen and you and the dragon go off on your search for Craymen and try to solve the mystery behind that girl.

The game is largely voice acted, but it seems like Team Andromeda cut some corners on the localization by keeping the Japanese voices, instead of dubbing it over. Luckily they have subtitles.

Gameplay

While the previous Panzer Dragoon games are rail shooters, Saga is an RPG with mostly free-roaming exploration. There are two modes of exploration: flight, and on foot. On foot exploration is where you control Edge, and mostly takes place in towns. Towns serve the typical RPG purpose of collecting information on where to go, and can sometimes buy items. The game carries over some of its rail-shooting roots by having you call up a targeting cursor to select items or people. All of the dialog in the game is voice acted. The opening movie is in a made up language that's unique for the series, but the rest of the in-game voices are spoken in Japanese with English subtitles, which is sort of confusing with why they're different.

Flight exploration is basically this game's version of dungeons. You control the dragon and you fly around full 3D environments and can fly in any direction. Similar to foot exploration, you have the targeting cursor to select item chests, suspicious places, and target the save machines. Many of these dungeons also have some kind of puzzle that allows you to progress further into the dungeon. These dungeons feature the typical random encounters that everyone either hates or tolerates. This is where the game gets even more unique.

The game features a strange, and very unique and very cinematic battle system. The game is sort of in real time, and you have 3 bars that fill up over time, and sort of like the ATB system in Final Fantasy games, when a bar is filled, you are able to perform an action in battle. Having all 3 bars filled means you can perform 3 consecutive actions. While you wait for your bar(s) to fill up, you are able to maneuver around the enemies to avoid attacks and target their weak zones. There is a radar on the bottom that indicates: neutral, hazardous, and safe zones. These are subject to change, either from the monsters also able to rotate their position, or from the monsters changing these zones. Safe zones mean you're safe from attack, neutral means you either have a chance of attack, or the monsters use their weaker attacks on you. The hazardous zones mean that you're prone to being heavily attacked by the monster's special move.

With the action gauges, you have three choices: you can either use a basic attack, use a berserk move, or use an item. With the basic attack, you either have a choice between using the dragon's attack to target on a single target, or use Edge's laser to attack several targets. If you have one target, then these lasers will attack the same target multiple times. It's more wise to use Edge's laser to attack since it either does more damage, or attacks multiple enemies, making the battles less time consuming. Berserk moves don't need that much of an explanation, basically it just like your typical RPG magic/special attacks. At the cost of berserk points, you can cast either a really strong attack, or heal yourself. After a battle, it ranks you based on how well you fought and better scores give you more EXP.

Another aspect is dragon transformation and dragon morphing. Transformations only happen at key story points, and your dragon changes shape and becomes stronger. With morphing, you have a giant circular gauge with 4 points: attack, spirit, defense, and speed. You move your cursor around to get your dragon's stats to focus on these various stats, or just have it dead center for balanced stats. These various points also alter how your dragon looks.

Visuals

While they're pretty good for Sega Saturn standards, they look sort of clunky today. Especially since the Sega Saturn's graphics uses quadrilaterals for their polygon rendering instead of triangles like the PS1 and N64. The battle scenes are still very nice, and are sort of like the charm point of the game. The battles are very flashy and the attack sequences are pretty well animated, especially the boss scenes. While flight mode is nice, the lack of the use of fog and the short draw distance sometimes makes distant objects sort of pop up out of nowhere instead of fading in so keep that in mind. The on foot scenes are where the game also shows its age with the characters. So if you can deal with blocky characters, you'll be okay. There are also a few full CGI cutscenes that look very nice compared to the rest of the game.

The environments themselves focus largely on the typical post-apocalyptic scenery, much of the game has a depressing desolate feeling. You venture through hazardous cliffs, vast deserts, and even several ruins that are in the previous environments, and even scattered over a sea. Typical post-apocalyptic signs that a past war has ravaged the entire world.

On foot:

Flight exploration:

Music

The music for it is sort of strange. Unlike other RPG's where the soundtrack is almost entirely of a symphonic nature, Panzer Dragoon Saga seems to range between the standard symphonic music with other songs that are almost tribal sounding. This makes Panzer Dragoon Saga's soundtrack one of the most interesting, adding more to the overall unique feel of the game.

Wings

Atolm Battle Theme

Premonition of War

Verdict:

Panzer Dragoon Saga is definitely one of the most ambitious RPG's ever created, and definitely one of the best swan songs for a video game console, it's a definite must have for anyone who's a fan of RPG's. On a whopping 4 discs with its very unique and innovated gameplay, and amazing cinematic battle system, even several years later, this game still has no counterparts and sits in a RPG world where it is the only game that mixes aspects of a rail-shooter into its battle system. Though since this game had a limited print, you're stuck with three choices: coughing up a few hundred bucks for the game, illegally playing it on a Sega Saturn Emulator (or modding your Saturn to play pirated games), or patiently wait until someone either ports the game and/or remake it, seeing that Team Andromeda is a now defunct company. We all pray that this game will someday see the light of day and get more recognition that it certainly deserves. This isn't a game that's hyped up based on its rarity, it's praised because there is simply no other game like Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Music: 6/10.

Visuals (Or Graphics): 8/10.

Story: 9/10.

Content: 9/10.

Conclusion: 8/10

Dark Souls Review

Dark Souls is infamously known as one of the most difficult games for players, especially in the RPG community of gaming. The game will throw challenges that seem monumental and will also show you no mercy. So how is the game overall and what does it provide to you besides a very good challenge? Well lets check this game out to see just how good this seemingly, as described by many people, impossible game really is and if it worth your money and time in the end.

Story

In the kingdom of Lordran the first flame is dying out, and if not replenished darkness will cover the kingdom. As the chosen undead it is your duty to replenish this flame and escape the Asylum to get to Lordran. You must past through vast lands and defeat many strong enemies along the way and collect the lord souls of the people whom slayed the Dragons ending their age. These people are Gwyn Lord of Cinder, Seath the Scaless, The Witch of Izalith, and The Four Kings. By uniting these souls you hope to stop the first flame from burning as it is your destiny, or is it the one thats truly right as you risk your life dying countless times, not even knowing completely what your sacrifices will do. Only by uniting these souls can you possibly be brought an answer.

Gameplay

Dark Souls plays like what you would expect a adventure RPG to play out as, you roam new areas, defeat big bosses and the enemies before them. However these bosses, even the enemies don't go down easy. Though it is overrated to call this game impossible not knowing what to do will cause you to die more then you thought possible. The game itself requires you to actually think before acting, not charging in like a senseless madman. This is where messages come in to play which can be seen left randomly on the ground when in online mode. This can really be of help giving you an idea of what a boss could be weak against, what moves you should look to be using and just what in general is behind the fog gate.

The interesting aspect of Dark Souls is its "soul" system as I call it. In other RPG's I am sure you are used to getting XP and money after a battle, but thats different in Dark Souls. Your only means of buying equipment and leveling up is how many souls you have. So at times you have to prioritize, do I want new weapons and armor or even titanites to upgrade my weapon or do I want to level up? This is a interesting implication in the game and can get you to really prioritize at times. Not to mention if you die you drop all of your souls were you die, you can recover them but if you die again without doing so they will be gone. This also brings a challenge to the player as losing your souls can really mess you up in the game, especially if you have a lot of souls. It is possible to get souls though from dead bodies and killing bosses. However boss souls require you to prioritize as well. Either you want the rare boss weapon or you want the many souls from the boss soul. Overall the soul system as I call it can really make you think for a while whats best in your current situation, and what you may need to put off until you get more souls later.

For the most part gameplay is nothing complex, you block, roll, attack, jump etc and that's really it. You can also get poisoned, inflicted with toxic and much more life killing status effects that at times can fill up quite quick and devastate you if you are not careful. Now on to the blocking aspects blocking more useful then you thought in most games. Rolling also helps a lot as well and knowing when to attack and parry will be a big factor to helping you succeed in the game. So for the most part it is best to work on your timing and attacking skills throughout the game as in pure honesty it will make your life throughout the game much more easier. Parrying and backstabbing, or frontstabbing especially as they do massive damage and can really help your cause in a battle. It is indeed good to have a game were things such as blocking, rolling etc are actually important and useful to your survival, not just there for occasional use. 

Bonfires are something interesting added as they are a mean for leveling up, attuning magic, reverse your hollowing, and act as checkpoints for when you die, though some are hidden and take some searching to find. Though overall they do a lot for you and can even be upgraded by sacrificing some of your humanity. This is so that they can replenish your estus flasks, such as a bonfire may be only to replenish five of your ten flasks, but by upgrading it the bonfire can now upgrade ten. Each bonfire also has a firekeeper and killing them is not recommended, if one dies you can still teleport to a bonfire, but you will never be able to use it again.

The blacksmiths play a important role as well, and so do the titanite shards too. The way blacksmiths work is that they can repair, reinforce and modify your equipment. Overtime your weapon, shield, or armor will wear down and break, repairing it prevents that. By reinforcing your equipment you increase stuff like for a sword increase its attack power, for armor increase its defense and much more. Then you have a modify equipment option were you can reinforce your weapons in a special way if you have already reinforced them five times. You can either continue to do this and reinforce to +10, +15 etc or do things such as create magic weapons, divine weapons or boss weapons created from a boss soul if you haven't consumed it yet. In short there is a lot in creating and crafting new weapons and items as well as many other unique weapons just waiting to be found within the game.

Lastly, summoning is also a key feature as well in the game, you can choose to summon a NPC or player through online. You must be human mind you to do this. Summoning can greatly help your cause in general during the boss fights, especially ones like the Bell Gargoyles were there are two of them at once attacking you. One other evidence of this is against Ornstein and Smough in which alone they can be considered the hardest boss in the entire game. Even summoning Solaire, the phantom in the boss area to help the boss fight can still prove challenging. You are also mind you able to summon up to three other people to your aid. Just be careful as you can be invaded in the game as well. You can be invaded by a NPC or a actual player whom plays the game as well, either way both are looking out to kill you.

Music

The game has some pretty nice tracks actually for the monumental bosses you fight. These can range from tranquil tracks that put you in a calm mood or very dangerous ones that make you feel like you are going to die. Either way the game itself provides you with good music you are sure to enjoy. Even the ending boss has a very sorrowful theme, nothing like some monumental epic sounding instrumental just a sorrowful theme that has a sad tone to it as you fight the fallen king Gwyn. Either way you will really get a great deal of enjoyment from the music within the game that can really bring out the feelings and emotions of whats happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs59egXnb3c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6sOhQan9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsps0I58yUM

Graphics

The graphics in this game are pretty good and the visuals in some areas are really nice. One key support for this is the appearance of "Anor Londo" the used to be main city where people like Gwyn himself ruled. Some other areas show some nice things as well while others it seems there could have been more for. Lost Izalith is sort of a lackluster area and does not show much do it and there is also repetitive enemies as opposed to the Demon Ruins that borders it were there is a bit more to fight. Not to mention Bed of Chaos is more of a frustrating boss rather then one thats going to challenge you so the overall area can be a disappointment. It just feels like the area could have been expanded more and could have had more to it. Now an area that had good to it but suffered from problems is Blighttown. The area is quite large and quite interesting as you traverse through the makeshift town, down into the poison swamps that leads to Queelags domain. Though framerate issues can be a bother for this area which are also evident in Lost Izalith. Overall a lot of the areas can give you a lot to look at, some of them though feel short lived and you wish there was more.

Character and enemy designs are quite nice, there are many enemies and friendly NPC's to behold. Some bosses look ferocious and will make you jump out of your skin like the Gaping Dragon and Ceaseless Discharge, some will have a creepy feeling to them and look very dark and evil like the Four Kings and Nito. There are also some that more so give off a tranquil feeling and have a majestic feeling to them, such an example can come from looking at the Moonlight Butterfly. The DLC added some fun new things and bosses, as well as the corrupted Artorias the Abysswalker.

Conclusion

Dark Souls is indeed a difficult game, quite possibly one of the most difficult you may play especially when doing New Game+ and onwards. Though some of the areas were short and not as enjoyful as others, and even some of the bosses towards the end really fell off of the difficult peak. Though other great areas and groundbreaking difficult bosses make up for it. If you also don't know were to look for the story you may find it lacking out of the game and feel like theres really not much of a story. That is until you find out that minor dialogue exchanges between NPC's and items actually give you more then a hint about it, and the story becomes much more elaborate and engaging then what you originally thought of. The music will not leave you disappointed either providing you with many great soundtracks during the boss battles and it overall brings out the feel of the game quite well. Finally the games many interesting mechanics such as using souls for experience and money is very interesting and makes you really think about things, and the use of bonfires and upgrading and crafting your weapons are also a key factor in the game that bring out even more of its enjoyment. You can even join your friends in some jolly cooperation or battle them to the death adding more fun to the mix that everyone can enjoy together. Overall the game will challenge and give you a lot to experience, its not perfect and indeed has faults, but the game is well enough to get you to want to play more, so why not give it a shot, just be careful out there, we wouldn't want to see you go hollow.

Story:8.25

Graphics:8.5

Music:8.5

Final:8.5

Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light

If you felt that the later Final Fantasies are straying too far from its roots, then this game is for you. It brings back many story and gameplay mechanics from the olden days of RPG's. The premise of the game is not unheard of for the franchise: four young heroes go out on an adventure to rescue the world from the evils that plague it.

Story:

You begin as the boy Brandt and it is his 14th birthday and you have just been summoned to appear before the King. He mentions how Princess Aire was kidnapped by the Wicked Witch of the North and he wants you to rescue her. You are then joined by your friend Jusqua to go save the princess. Then you meet up with the castle guard Yunita and together, the three of you save Princess Aire by defeating the witch, only to return to your hometown to discover it has turned to stone!

The four of you must search for a way to save the kingdom.

/spoiling the first hour of the game

If you're expecting an in-depth, or very story driven game, then look far away. This game harbors back to the NES and SNES days where the story is a bit "episodic". You visit a village, discover there's a problem, someone in the town tells you where to find the dungeon, slay the boss, save the village, and then be off to the next town. There's very little connecting the various mini-stories together outside of the main mission of figuring out how to save your hometown.

Characters:

While there is a cast of characters, and have a bit of personality, they're not really that interesting individually, and don't display much character growth. They're mostly just vessels to play through, and it's kind of struggling to remember a damn thing about any of them.

Brandt: He's the first character you play as, and is the typical adventurous hero character. He has a bright personality and is loyal to his friends, yadda yadda.

Jusqua: He's primarily the opposite of Brandt. The king sent Jusqua to check up on Brandt, but his job in the castle is never really explained. 

Yunita: she's a knight of Horne. She's Aire's bodyguard and is a great fighter, but she lacks confidence in difficult situations.

Aire: The youngest princess of Horne. She's the typical spoiled princess, and has little knowledge of the outside world. 

Gameplay:
The game largely follows a basic template for JRPG's, from the overworld, and random encounters, but it does add a bit of a twist for the battle system. While the battle system is largely a traditional turn based system, it has a system of action points. There are no magic points in this game, and any action uses these points. Everybody in your party has 5 action points, you never gain any more. Each action takes up one or more AP, and you regain a single point each time it is the character's turn. So if you use a move that takes up several AP, then you must plot out how to conduct your next moves, or risk getting in trouble. A faster way to regain your AP is to use the Boost option, as you can regain two points, but at the cost of not doing anything on your turn.

One aspect of the battle system that many would find a bit cumbersome, is that there is no targeting system. You are unable to target any of your opponents or your party members. This is a bit annoying at first, but if you have a party member low on HP, the cure spell will automatically target the member with the lowest HP, so luckily it won't just randomly select any character.

Next is the return of the popular job system (called crowns) from classic Final Fantasy games. With this there are a few familiar faces, like the white and black mages, monk, and paladin. There are a few that are fairly pointless, like the party host, and musician crowns... Some crowns are more helpful than others, especially when it comes to magic, as casting fire 1 as any other class takes two AP, but casting fire as a black mage now only costs 1 AP. So if you want to be a magic user, then it's highly advised to equip a mage crown.

Unlike Final Fantasy III, where you had to have a certain number of points to change jobs, this one allows you to change them on the fly with largely no penalties. This is quite helpful, as you spend the first half of the game with your party split up. So you don't have to relegate one character to be the healer, and one to be the magic user. Also unlike the other Final Fantasies, the jobs don't level up from battle like your character does, you level them up by filling their slots with the respectively shaped gems, and the max level for a job is level 3.

Speaking of gems, they are very valuable items, and you need them for basically EVERYTHING. At the beginning of the game they seem pointless. You grind your characters and you collect these gems, and they don't do anything, but you can sell them at the stores for money, as they're basically the only way to earn money, as you don't earn gil in battle like normal FF games.

As the game progresses, and you gain more crowns, you discover that you can use these gems to not only level up your crowns, you will also gain access to a shop that allows you to use gems to upgrade your weapons and armor. So now these gems are more valuable than ever. You now must figure out which is more important, buying new equipment, or leveling up your equipment. Luckily the game makes you change your equipment to something that is strong against the upcoming area boss, so you at least are forced to buy equipment instead. Only near the end of the game is leveling up your armor important.

One minor gameplay issue, is limited inventory space. In this day and age, it seems a bit silly that there isn't a party inventory, and your inventory is limited to a certain number of slots the characters hold, and that includes your equipment. This isn't too huge of an issue, and is only a problem when your party is relegated to a single person, but of all the modern conveniences, did they have to revert the inventory down? Luckily your key item inventory is separate from your characters' individual inventory, so at least that issue is taken care of.

Visuals:
The visuals are pretty fantastic for a DS game. Instead of using Final Fantasy III and IV's engine, they use a different engine, and a drastically different artstyle. It has a nice chibi storybook aspect of it, and gives you a nice nostalgic feeling of reading a children's storybook.

For a game on the DS, it does an okay job utilizing both screens. Most of the gameplay is on the touch screen, and you can use the stylus to control your character, but the D-Pad works just fine, and in battle, the menus are also on the touch screen. Outside of battle, the top screen really only shows your party's HP and AP, and is really only useful when you go to the world map, and the map is viewable on the top screen. It would have been nice to have a dungeon and town map on the top screen, but it's not a necessity, it does use both screens better than Final Fantasy III.

Music:

For the soundtrack, it's fantastic. It's like your typical old school RPG soundtrack except they mix between the bleeps and bloops of the NES days and with the modern midi sounds of the DS. The end result is a unique experience.

So if you're looking for a game that caters to your nostalgia needs, but with a new twist, Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light is the game for you. Just don't let its cute exterior fool you into thinking this is a stroll through the park

Music: 9/10.

Visuals: 9/10.

Story: 7/10.

Content 8/10.

Overall score: 8/10

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory Review

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is your average anime themed RPG. It was also the third game released for the Neptunia series, it also takes place after the events of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk.2 which was released February 28th 2012. So is this game worth a look and can it interest you? Well there certainly is promising aspects but also its fair share of knacks as well. See if this anime RPG is the right kinda game for you to buy.

Story
The story takes place after the events of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk.2 and not much of recent has gone on in the nation of Gamindustri. Besides the nations of Lowee, Leanbox, Planeptune, and Lastation competing for dominance though, and a odd girl trying to promote the uselessness of CPU's. One day though when Neptune and Nepgear get in a argument and Neptune leaves Planeptune she encounters the odd girl and is later sucked into a void. This throws her into a alternate dimension where she doesn't exist as Planeptunes CPU goddess but another girl named Plutia instead. How will Neptune get return to her dimension which is also experiencing issues of its own while she is gone.

Gameplay
The gameplay is like your average RPG where you level up, buy equipment that can make your character stronger, and explore dungeons and such where you can battle enemies. Other features were included too but that will be looked over later in this review. Starting with the battle system it is the same as what was incorporated in mk.2 when you entered a battle. Basically there is a set area on the map and that area is the size of the battlefield space, you move your characters freely around in this space to get close and attack enemies. If you push against the border of the battle space it will allow you to retreat and leave the battle.

Up next is the button combination moves where you can mix and match different moves to unleash stronger attacks against your foes. Its a interesting way of doing things being able to string together different combos which unleash all sorts of attacks you can unlock down the road as you progress in level. There are indeed special attacks for each of the CPU's that can as well be learned and utilized through the game. It certainly overall adds a different feeling then the normal means for attacking you see in RPG games, and can be fun creating lots of combos that you feel gives you the best chance to win. The game itself also has adequate difficulty, but not too difficult.

Like most RPGs you will traverse many dungeons and you do so in this game as well traversing through the 3D environments provided. Of course enemies roam the areas and if you hit them first you can get the jump on them in the battle, of course it goes vice versa as well if you get hit first.There are also lots of areas to unlock for each continent and some are even references to certain game titles released, depending if you are in Lowee, Leanbox, Lastation and such. When you also go into a CPU's city like Lastation you can also talk with the random NPC's whom always have something to say and also are references to other games.

Quests are also a thing and do help you with the goodies they reward you with. Though some make it so you need a second playthrough so you can take on their challenge in defeating some of the strongest foes in the game. Completing the quests is important though especially if you want to get the maximum grade for each chapter of the game. Though quests can be halted though not only by lack of level but also lack of areas unlocked.

Unlocking new areas however in this game goes hand in hand with the new scout system. You are allowed to send scouts out and while you are fighting enemies in dungeons they search for things. Sometimes they are unsuccessful and bring you nothing, sometimes they bring you money, new scouts, unlock new areas or adding bonuses like more money aquired after battles or stronger enemies in dungeons. You also can give them more money for hopes of greater success, and if this scouts are successful in doing their duties they level up. Overall it is a very interesting system added into the game that you will indeed use a lot for quests and such.

Music
The music in the game is enjoyable and has some good tracks to offer. You have some of the more calmer tracks and places like the desert and forest dungeons for some tranquility followed by more upbeat tracks when you reach the retro cyber themed stages. Of course many more exist down the list and provide for a good listen. Below are some tracks from the game series you can take a listen to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VDd7-_OzchY#t=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7uvbUy5mfFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rHh_-xvmcOg

Visual
The game itself has good in it with its visuals, the characters designs and portraits are nice and the areas are something to look at as well. There are also CG's that get provided throughout the game at certain points which adds as a plus as well. Graphically the game will not wow you but hits the bullseye as a solid looking game. Unfortunately in terms of dungeon layout and design thats where things get rocky. As an example in the game there will be a forest dungeon you can enter, lets say one in Lastation's continent another in Leanbox's continent, the issue arises when the layout for the dungeon is not different and there is really not much variety to the stage. Many more forest dungeons exist in different continents but the result is still the same with the layout being a rehash with barely any changes. The same goes for dungeons with desert themed areas having almost a photocopy layout of eachother. So overall you will really start feeling like you've been to the same place multiple times without change.

Conclusion

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory can certainly offer enjoyment to your average anime or PRG gamer providing a fair experience. While some things could have been done better such as the environment layouts in dungeons which is a major negative do to it being what you spend a good sum of time in there are things the game does fair in. It may not be the game you will take for a second playthrough unless you are barking for a different ending and completing all quests but is something that will last you a good amount of time. Overall it can give you a fairly good experience and with funny humor, and a adequate challenge making for a solid game.

Story:8/10
Graphics:7.5/10
Music:8/10
Final:8/10

Terranigma

Released in 1995 and published by Enix and developed by Quintet, Terranigma is an Action RPG that's very reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda series. Sadly it was never released in North America, but it was released in PAL regions, so there is an official English translation available. Quintet is known for other games like Soul Blazer and The Illusion of Gaia and shares similar gameplay with the two.

Story:

You play as the protagonist, the troublemaking Ark who lives in the village of Crysta, the only known village and nobody enters or leaves. There is a forbidden door that is closely guarded by the Village Elder, Ark finds the opportunity and opens the door and discovers a strange box. The box then casts a curse on the entire village freezing everybody but Ark and the Elder. The Elder informs Ark that to lift the curse, he must be the first to leave the and defeat the masters of the various towers strewn across the world. Defeating each tower breaks the seals on one of the various continents of the world (they're the same as our continents) and makes them reappear in the world.

Gameplay:

The game is your typical top-down SNES game like the other RPGs and The Legend of Zelda. Like the Legend of Zelda, the various dungeons and caves have various obstacles and puzzles that hinder your progression. Combat is also very similar to Zelda, but you have a few extra moves and you can perform magic. Like RPGs, killing the monsters give you experience and you can gain money.

The various dungeons strewn across the world either have tricky puzzles to figure out, or you go through a lengthy terrain and there are tricky obstacles and tough monsters to get through. Much of the game is difficult enough to make it not an easy stroll, but you can end up getting confused on what to do or where to go. While a walkthrough isn't required, it's very helpful.

Visuals:

Terranigma's graphics are pretty good for a SNES game. As it's a later release, the game takes advantage of what the SNES is capable of and the graphics are pretty comparable to Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. While some of the dungeons at the beginning of the game are pretty sameish, after the world is unlocked, a lot of the game's various regions are very well detailed.

Music:

As typical SNES RPGs from Enix and Square, the soundtrack is symphonic MIDI and there's some pretty good tracks on there. The initial gameplay feels a bit repetitive, but after the world opens up, the soundtrack also diversifies to give you a more diverse experience with the various regions you now have to explore

Crysta Theme

Overworld Theme

Verdict:

Terranigma is a great addition to anyone's collection who is fond of Zelda type games and looking into healthy alternatives. If you like challenging puzzles, fun boss fights, and a great story, then Terranigma is a great addition to anyone's SNES collection.

Music: 7/10.

Visuals (Or Graphics): 7/10.

Story: 8/10.

Content: 7/10.

Conclusion: 7/10

Persona 3 FES Review

Persona 3 FES for the PS2 later PS3 is a upgraded version of the original Persona 3 game for the PS2 released in 2006. The game combines your average highschool life and also your average RPG styled elements all in one in a very fulfilling experience. So what does Persona 3 bring to the table and is it a game worth looking at? Though more so if you have played the original Persona 3 FES is playing this upgraded version worth your time?

Story

In Persona 3 FES you fill the shoes of a nameless protagonist in the scenario called "The Journey" whom is set to live at the dorms of the city of Iwatodai to attend Gekkoukan High. What our protagonist does not know is the city is a victim to an incident 10 years ago that unleashed the beings called "Shadows", it is not until he first encounters one that he unlocks the power called "Persona". The power of the Persona's is the main means of destroying the creatures called shadows, and due to having the potential our protagonist is then joined with the group called "S.E.E.S" with their leader Mitsuru Kirijo. From there on out he, along with other group members such as Yukari Takeba, Junpei Iori, and Akihito Sanada plus more are tasked with venturing the tall tower of Tartarus, to not only discover its purpose but to destroy it, and eliminate the Dark Hour.

The added story then follows after "The Journey" and moves on to "The Answer" which is one of the bonuses in Persona 3 FES in which takes place very shortly after the first stories events. The group S.E.E.S is going to be disbanded, and most people go their separate ways. Though a girl named "Metis" stirs up trouble before loose ends get tied in a mission to protect her sister Aigis, as she says. Not only that but a area called "The Abyss of Time" exists beneath the dorm which is the main cause of a apparent time freeze. Now the member of S.E.E.S must band back together to solve this final incident with the peculiar new robot girl Metis as their guide, and also find out the answer to the tragedy of their leader. Its now Aigi's turn to step in the shoes as the leader and bring everything to a close.

Gameplay

In terms of gameplay for the battle aspects you take your average four persona party into a dungeon and battle monsters. You can however command your party certain things such as focusing on a single enemy, supporting or healing, or even fully assaulting, disregarding support. This adds some control to your party members and allows you to have some power over them. One other thing to be noted is the use of "Analysis" where you scan enemies to reveal their weaknesses and strengths against your attacks in battle. These remain the same in both "The Journey" and "The Answer".

The next thing that should be discusses is the encounters. The game has a 3D environment and you waltz around Tartarus where you can find treasure boxes and a quick getaway out from the dungeon. Enemies patrol certain areas and sometimes might be guarded rare treasure boxes. Depending if you sneak up and hit an enemy before it notices you or hits you first will depend if you get a player advantage in the battle. This allows you and your party members to attack the enemies disregarding their turn order for one turn cycle. Though if you get hit first the enemies get the edge and can attack you. If you also manage to hit all enemies with their weakness and knock them down you can preform a all out attack in which all your party members attack at once against the enemy. Though you can choose to relent and not do so.

Next is the after battle rewards as sometimes after a battle you don't have to settle with just XP and items. You also have a shuffle event where tarot cards appear before your screen. These can have Persona's you can get, bonus XP cards, healing cards, and money cards. There are also cards though that are possessed with Death and if chosen can summon him. Blanks are also another type of card which gives you nothing. To chose a card you simple press any button and watch them as they shuffle away in different patterns. Once they are done you select the card you want, sometimes you get a "second chance" event where if you choose a particular card you can get another. You also have a extra chance even that will pop up every now and then which will let you try the shuffle again if you chose a blank or death card.

The unique aspects of the battles for Persona however are targeted at the Persona's themselves. Your party members are stuck with what they have but you are a special exception and can use vast amounts of Personas and switch between them in battle. Each Persona has their own abilities and of course strengths and weaknesses. Mind you if your Persona is weak against Agi then you will be knocked down by the attack due to it being your weakness. So when choosing a Persona be mindful of its strengths or weaknesses. Keep in mind that Personas also have "heart items" which are rare items attached to a Persona. You may also level up your Persona but over time it won't bring the same impact to battle even if you level up, making it so you need to fuse certain Personas and obtain stronger and stronger ones which can be done in the "Velvet Room". Keep in mind that Personas also have "heart items" which are rare items attached to a Persona. When you level up a Persona a certain amount you get the heart item for that Persona. Back regarding the Velevet Room it is a place where you can also accept Elizabeth's side quests which gives you new items, quite useful as a matter of fact upon completion. She also bears holding to the Compendium where you register your Persona and can re draw them out at anytime if they are needed, of course at a fee mind you. Unfortunately this was taken out of "The Answer" making you have to search extensively around and re visit dungeons for past Persona you may need for a certain fusion.

Next is the social link system in the game. This allows you to build closer bonds with your school friends, and fellow S.E.E.S group members, though only the girls from S.E.E.S can be bonded closer with. This gives you more perspective on the characters life, and a chance to better know them. You can rank a social link to level 10 which completes the link for the particular character, each character also have a designated arcana such as the death, chariot, and hanged man. Leveling links important because it also impacts your Personas. If you want to make a Persona of the death arcana and have a lvl 7 link it will receive lots of bonus XP leveling it up, but making a Persona of the Emperor with no social link level will give it nothing. Plus maxing out a link will give you the strongest Persona of that link, such as Asura being the maximum of the Sun arcana social link and Surt the maximum of the magician. Though overtime if you abandon a social link or if you decline to hangout with a friend in place of another that can cause a reversal or decrease in the level. If you are also aiming for a peculiar girl and have her at the point where she develops feelings for you things will go bad if she sees you are also paying attention to other girls as well. This can also cause a reversal so it is wise to max out one girl characters link, then do the next. Though there are no links in "The Answer" so now all Personas must be leveled up manually.

Finally other things you can do is visit places like the arcade and increase your character stats like academics or charm. Or do some karaoke to increase your courage. This pays off as some social links can become locked if you don't have a high enough character trait, this can also impede Elizabeth's quests. Outside of that there are your average shops that get updated after every full moon incident and stuff like interacting with random NPC's too or finding a new person that is possible to develop a link with. Though for "The Answer" for the whole story you are mainly confined in the dorms and the Abyss of Time and its dungeons so not much other environment gets introduced.

Music

The music that plays in the game when visiting certain areas around the city is nice as well. Mainly jazz styled or rap based in a sense. There are of course some rock tones and instrumentals as well. There are tracks that give off the dark feeling something is amiss and other tracks which feel vibrant. The soundtracks for the school and Tartarus change those which add a bit of a refreshing tone, when killing shadows or roaming around the school halls. Below you can see some examples of the music you can expect in the game, starting off with "Mass Destruction" which is a theme you will hear a lot of, "Battle for Everyone's Souls" a more rock feeling song, and "Memories of You" the games ending song.

Graphics

Graphically wise the game isn't bad, the Personas look pretty nice and each and every one of them have a nice design to them. Enemies also have a nice outlook to them as well as the character portraits that appear when a character is speaking. The visuals though for Tartarus aren't necessarily bad but through most of the floors in a single block/section of the tower are repetitive. Plus it is the only real place you consecutively visit, though due to its importance it is obviously understandable why. Stuff like the design of the city is also nice too, from the backstreets of Port Island to the livelihood of Gekkoukan, there is certainly a broad scale of stuff to see in the game. There are also animated cutscenes that appear from time to time, and though they may not be the best looking of things they are not bad by any means.

Conclusion

Persona 3 FES can be a very fulfilling experience for a first timer into the Persona series, or a persona whom has played the original but wants to experience the bonuses. The Journey scenario will definitley give you lots of gameplay fulfillment that will leave you putting many hours into it. The added scenario "The Answer" is quite fulfilling itself. Though it requires more backtracking to get certain things, you shouldn't miss the compendium if you aren't looking to create a Lucifer to fight alongside you. Overall both stories make for a pretty good experience, to the average RPG gamer and fans of the Persona series. It also will give you a good challenge and a game that will require lots of hours of time into it before completing the dark yet wonderful story.

Story:8.5/10
Graphics:8/10
Music:9/10
Final:8.5/10