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
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.
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.
Released in 2007 in Japan and 2008 in Europe and North America, First Departure is the remake of the first game in Tri-Ace's Star Ocean series and is published by Square Enix. The original game was titled Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey, and was released in 1995 on the Super Famicom (SNES). It was developed by the group Wolf Team, and they previously released another RPG on the same console called Tales of Phantasia. After several creative disputes with their publisher Namco, after the released of Tales of Phantasia much of the development team left and started Tri-Ace and ran to another publisher, Enix. this is the reason why the Star Ocean series and the Tales series both share many similarities, and even the early games shared some of the same spells. They decided to stay way from some aspects of the typical high fantasy setting of many RPG games and focused on a heavily Star Trek influenced story and follows it up with science fiction elements.
The original version of Star Ocean was considered ahead of its time, and completely pushed the limits of the SNES. Sadly this game never saw the light of day outside of Japan, largely due to Enix closing it's North American market, and also due to it being a late SNES release, and Nintendo of America pushing the then new Nintendo 64. There is a fan translation available of this game.
In 2007 the game was finally remade for the Playstation Portable and released in the West. This version uses an updated version of the engine for Star Ocean: Second Story, and was developed alongside the enhanced port of that game, now called Star Ocean: Second Evolution. With this remake, they had help with the animation company Production IG, famous for Ghost in the Shell, and more recently Attack on Titan. There are many updates compared to the SNES version, as they added a few bonus characters, new soundtrack, and updated character designs and cutscenes. Despite all these changes, the story and gameplay is pretty unchanged.
Now for the actual review:
Story:
You play as a young warrior named Roddick Farrence who lives in the small town of Kratus. He runs a Defense Force team with his friends Dorne Murtough and Millie Chilette, and together they defend the village from robbers and thieves. They're young Fellpools who are a race of humanoid beings who have tails and pointy ears and live on the planet Roak.
After a day's work, they receive a letter that a nearby village has been plagued with a contagious disease causing everyone to turn to stone, and Dorne has the disease. They hear of an herb that is claimed to heal the stone sickness, and head off to Mount Metorx. Once they reach mount Metorx, they see a flash of light and two beings appear in front of them. They introduce themselves as Ronyx J Kenny and Illia Silvestri, and are part of a Galactic Federation, and are from the planet Earth. They have to bring the sad news that the herbs they seek won't cure the disease and bring the trio aboard their spaceship.
After Dorne is placed in medical care, the federation discovers that a rival group are supposedly creating a bio weapon by using the people on Roak. They realize that the only way to stop the disease is to find the host, but the host has been dead for 300 years. So Ronyx and Illia take Roddick and Millie to a planet that carries a time gate, and they travel 300 years to the past to find the demon Asmodeus to receive the cure for the disease. Thus the adventure begins.
Gameplay:
Largely a fairly traditional RPG with random encounters, the battle system is what sets the game apart from other RPG's. The battle system takes place in real time, and is similar to an action RPG where you can mash the action button to attack the enemy. You can assign special skills to the shoulder buttons What separates this from a real action RPG, the battles take place in another screen, and there are still menus to cast other spells, or use items. It's like a pseudo-action RPG with menus. The rest of your party runs on AI and you can't really control them outside of setting tactics. So if you're tired of that character for always wasting their SP, you can set their tactic and tell them to save that shit up.
There's also a skill system where you can customize characters with various skills. While some of these help in battle, like increasing speed or recovery time, these skills are mostly for other aspects like item creation, via cooking meals, or creating items you can't find in stores.
There is also a feature called Private Actions, where when you enter a town, you can have the party explore the city on their own, and you can talk to them individually. This is an optional feature, and helps a bit with character development. This can also alter what happens in the various endings.
Visuals:
Since it uses the engine from Star Ocean: Second Story, with its 2D sprites on a pre-rendered backgrounds, the game looks like a game from the original Playstation. While not as graphically impressive as other PSP titles, it at least gets the job done like many other PSP ports of PS1 games. The game does feature a portrait of a main character's face in the dialog, and their face changes to depict their emotions.
Unlike the original version of the game, it does have a traditional overworld, and if you've played the original version, this gives the world a much larger feeling.
Music:
Like everything on this remake, the soundtrack was updated. It does sound a lot better than the SNES version, so while the original had a really good soundtrack, an updated version is much nicer. It does have a typical JRPG style soundtrack, but there are a few memorable tracks. The opening of the game even features the anime tradition of having a J-Pop theme song and it's a fairly likable track.
Verdict:
Star Ocean: First Departure is a pretty solid JRPG, and is a very recommendable title for those who are fond of the older RPG's from the SNES and PS1 days. The voice acting is decent, while not the best acting, and is patchy at times, it's definitely not something to cringe over. This game does show some of its age, so it may not appeal to those who want a more modern approach to their RPG's, but for those who either like RPG's in general, or want to play a lost classic, this is a very solid game to add to your collection.
