No.15

Wild arms series(1-5)

I did not play altercode f(the remake for 1), but I finished the remaining.

1: Decent but the story is...overused, and no I don't think boomerang's theme is nice. 6.5/10

2: Like it, fun characters, but the latter parts of the game scared me due to personal reasons... 7.5/10

3: Argh...5/10 (I hope you realize that the lowest score I will give any game is 5 due to reasons as posted in entry No.14)

4: ...how long are they gonna continue this mess?Okay, the hex idea first appeared here, but...as for the rest... 5.5/10 But I like the quote:"I'm pretty confident and everything from the neck up." =D

5: 8/10 Finally! There is hope for the series.


Fav: 2
Fav characters: Kanon, Jet, Greg
Hated characters: Lambda, Avril

No.14

Suikoden/Gensou Suikoden series(1-5, tactics) 7/10

Besides the 2 suikogaiden, I've finished the others. 

1: 8/10 This is good, to be frank the gameplay is not very satisfactory simply it is just your old-school rpgs with no attractive features. But the story and the attempt to do a game with 108 characters(and lots more including your villians etc) is commendable. The story and characters are really the only strong points here.

2: 8/10 2 was my fav rpg for nearly 3 to 4 years until I came upon the Langrisser and ultimately Growlanser series. This is also the game that scored under my record of the most no. of replays through the entire game, with at least 10 times. As with the first, the story and characters are still the only attractive features that made this game a 'masterpiece' to some people. Overrated? yeah I guess. But you can't deny the plot is one of the best rpg war plots mixed with tactical thinking.

3: 5/10 I never gave any game a below 5 score because every game have got its good points which one have to consider(not just because "I hate it so I give it a 1/10", that's fine only for your own opinion, but not in a review). 3 is a very unbalanced game especially in terms of the battle system. I don't think I need to elaborate since many other detailed reviews will explain them, but in all truth, whoever is the one who came up with that buddy system should just bang his head against a wall. The story is not acceptable, though they made things a bit more interesting by having multi-roles but really, this is the start of the decline in in-depth war plots for the entire series. Let's just say despite wanting to give up halfway infinite times, I still forced myself to complete this, but that did not reap any changes in my opinion of how this game is not good.

4: 7/10 Hey, I wrote a review for this on gamefaqs, so check it out there. But to answer why I think 4 is better than 3, even though the story is even worse, and characters are as boring. At least the way battles workimproved. Travelling on world maps, dungeons and fields is more tedious than 3 for definite(the sailing...why oh why? why didn't anyone notice such a nightmare when they were testing the game?). But the overall pace is pretty even, and probably thanks to someone who realized that since the story is already not so good, they decided to keep the game short, therefore at least at the end, the good > flaws

5:7.5/10 5 is a loooong game. I don't like that because it became really boring by the 30th hour since we are just running around in circles with trying to rescue the princess. Obviously, the connection between the runes are ripped off from 2, including sialeeds betrayal = jowy's betrayal. I wouldn't say they are COMPLETELY similiar, but anyone with eyes can see the close resemblances. Characters are more interesting, and at least we get more strategical elements in both story and gameplay battles.

Tactics: 7.5/10 I did a review at gfaqs as well witha  round-up score of 8. Okay, it is true that this game is not that impressive of a srpg game, but most of the characters(okay probably only kika, sigurd and hervey), story and gameplay is really decent imo. I can't quite say why that despite annoyances(those endless waves of disgusting fishes and a main character who misses as if I'm shooting the moon with bow+arrows), I still gave a 7.5.


Fav game(of what I've played): 1. Yes I used to like 2 more than 1, but I'm sorry the presence of jowy and jilia in 2 is such an abomination not even luca cannot salvage that.

Fav characters: ...Pesmerga, Miklotov, Lazlo, Ryhalt/Richard(from 5)
Hated characters:  The 2 abovementioned  "Js", actually I also hated that couple in 5...what was their names I forgot...mariano? mariana? whatever it's that girl who worked at the inn and the guy's name is belcoot right? yeah.

No.13

Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of the time 8/10

A short review. 

Great story. Those games which failed terribly at putting the icon of angels usage in rpgs should learn from this. Those which failed terribly at coming up with war plots should learn from this. Those who failed terribly at making gamers feel something for the death of characters should learn from this. Those games which failed terribly at making villains who are brillant(you know which ones I'm pointing the finger at) should learn from this. Those games which failed at creating engrossing storylines to reach the target play time and ended up having to drag for at least 10 hours chasing after someone or something in one round around the world should learn from this. 

Decent gameplay. No matter how many times I play the older Growlansers, I still can't bring myself to like the ring system. To each his own. But battles are pure fun. Some are quite challenging though. Controls are good.

Graphics are okay, 2D. Voice-acting is nice. As usual, this game is not perfect, but it's definitely great. I just don't like how by the end of the game, half of your significant characters(those with portraits drawn for them) are dead. When Alphonce died, I spent hours crying...alright nevermind.

Fav characters: Alphonce
Most hated character: Crestfer

No.12

Growlanser VI: Precarious World 8.5/10

I knew I had to do this, but not on gamefaqs where you can't give a 2nd digit score(otherwise it would end up being 9, and I'm gonna get bashed) and where spoilers are a no-no ^^
That aside, this is really my favorite Growlanser.

Story: 9/10
Takes place after Growlanser V, separated into 2 main continents(one that which G5 took place in). Very interesting from start to end, especially events having to do with those in 5, the nostalgic value is overwhelming, goosebumps(I adore the characters in V). You play as a man named Merklich(best Growlanser main character design as yet imo) who worked for a company named Monopolis. The pace the plot goes is very even, the entire story is really full of depth. I know some people who like thinking very very deep -e.g being those who made the Chrono or Star Ocean series timeline- who will be able to come up with a few points on certain loopholes. But overall, the storyline is really great and it really surprised me that they can come up with such an excellent plot sequel link to Growlanser V in just a year or so.

P/S + trivia: I'm not 100% sure on that, but now I understand why is there a difference between the first mission of the JPN GV and the US one. I replayed the JPN for the 3rd time and realized that Rush's speech is different from the US(instead of saying he will hold off the screepers, he said something like  "c...can we really fight these things...?" and he indeed tried to run off to the bottom screen). So that led me to believe that they changed it in the US version to fit the plot of GVI(because that mutant screeper who is protecting Zeonsilt when we went to rescue him in GVI is Rush)


Gameplay: 8/10
They improved a lot from GV. Battles are faster, characters are faster, making everything more intense and engaging. Instead of accessories, we equip gems instead. Gems can be stacked to increase levels of various bonuses(such as increasing mgc defense), and one can try out different combinations. It's not that wonderful, but it provides more customization for a character along with the skill plate system. No more of half levels when the flow is not flowing through the plates. This time round, there are 2 active flows(one from the weapon and one from the armor, if the armor and weapon belongs to the same "color", common sense: the flow is combined into 1). Max level of skills are still LV 9, but you can only get 1 plate of each skill. In other words, e.g: you can only get 1 Fire Arrow plate in the entire game, and once the max level for the plate is reached(the usual LV 5), the level is fixed even if no flow is passing through it. However, if a flow is passing through a LV 5 Fire Arrow, the level increases by 1 = LV 6, meaning if both active flows are passing through that, it will become LV 7. The only way to get a skill to LV 9 is to get a rare special item to replicate a desired plate. Nevertheless, the plate system is more balanced as compared to GV's and probably easier to understand for some.

Graphics: 7/10
Nothing much has been changed, still the 3D as in GV. Perhaps things have been polished up a lil bit, but don't expect much difference. Still I was never bothered with it as when I was with GV. Urushihara's artwork is so pretty(he's a genius, up till now I have seen a few anime drawings on par as his, but none that is better, whoever complained about his artwork is either 1: don't know what is anime or 2:don't know what is good anime illustration). The cutscenes are very beautifully done, most parts of which I believe Satoshi himself personally supervised since it is easy to recognize whether did he or not(e.g: the scene showing from the side view during Zeonsilt's ending anime scene is obviously not done by Urushihara).


Music/sounds: 8/10
Just as the story took place on 2 different continents, so is the music. Half of the tunes should be familiar to those who have played GV. The music for this game falls under the category of "I'll have to give it some time before I like it". As for voice-acting, great as usual. Returning voice-actors for GV as well since returning characters are there.

Characters: 9/10
Character designs are marvelous, and each one has their own distinct personality. As with almost all Growlanser games, part of the main focus is on interaction and character development.

Replay: 8/10
I have only replayed the full game once, but perhaps over 10 times of reload because I need the information for doing a faq. Other than that though, because it's not necessary to replay the entire game to get the character endings, one will probably only replay it for missables or if he/she needs to go through the plot again to clear up doubts in terms of the connection to GV. There are optional stuff, but all can be done in 1 play through. The replay value do exist for those who love this game a lot(like me), but for others, most likely once is sufficient. The new game+ though lets you bring over ALL equipment(apart from the strongest ones) as well as ALL gems and ALL skills learnt, in other words, skills like Inferno that can only be gotten via late game equipment are brought over immediately to the new game. Due to that though, replay is ever more possible and faster.

Overall: Very good game, not perfect, but it's more than enough for me.
Cons: No improvement to graphics, not enough air time for Gyaricke.

No.11-extra

Disney related games(gen) 6/10

Despite probably despising glares, I'm gonna say 6/10 is really suitable. Quackshot, ultimate challenge and magical adventure 2. Ultimate challenge is very very short, having short puzzles made for kids, easy to finish but not engaging. Well basically these few titles are catered for the young ones, pretty obvious there. Quackshot allows you to use donald duck in an adventure to search for the ancient treasure with a piece of unidentified map, using various colored toilet tool to attack enemies as well as climb up walls and lots more. Ranging from a forest to a viking ship to the southpole, stages are designed artfully with your usual cartoon look, bright cheerful and whatnot. Magical adventure is probably the most enjoyable of the 3, using interesting gadgets like hooks and riding horses etc, passing libraries, haunted houses and even a circus. What is shocking is not how fun the game was, but why did I exchange it with a rotten game within the trial test period.

知っている言語は？

はい、返事としよぉ...そう、具体的に三つしかない。もちろん、日本語はその一つ。普通の会話ならなんとかする。しかし、それでも完璧と思わない（きっと...どこが間違えたと気がする...笑わないでね　>.>）。いつも雑誌、小説などを読んでいる。そのおかけで、書くより、読むの方が楽になった。そんなやり方が万全ではないと承知して。まぁ、それはただ「やれるものは全部やってやる」てことね？　日本語をはじめて勉強したから、いままで二年くらい。たしかにまだ上手じゃないけど、これからも頑張るつもり。

他の二つは問題ないでしょう？　自信が満々よ。 ^_^

No.11

Harvest Moon (ps: BtN + ps2: StH, AWL)

Harvest Moon being sort of like a farming simulating series.

btn: The graphics are not really satisfactory, but they did what they are supposed to do, so can't complain much. The text scrolling is annoying because you can't skip the slow messages. Other than that though, I can't find much flaws, the festivals, competitions and interaction with villagers are enjoyable. 

sth: very short game, cell-shading looks pretty. Nothing much of farming to do actually.

awl: slow load times, slow paced, looong game. It's rather similar to btn in terms of how the gameplay works, but only at a much slower rate. Whoever has the patience to complete till 5 chapters, good for ya. I can't.