Recente recensies door Mesarthim

Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen.

Don't play it in English is not a line I thought I would be dropping in this game, at least for this expansion. The Wuk Lamat English VA is emotionally tone deaf and did a tremendously poor job. The story was also poorly advertised as most key points weren't quite as important as was led to believe.

The sooner we move on from this region's story the better. For an expansion that has bits from my favorite Final Fantasy it was very underwhelming.

For drinking game people: Binge the main story and take a shot every time the objective has to do with Wuk Lamat.

Edit: Most of the technical issues I listed (and the faces) have been fixed and upgraded,

I know Aquaplus isn't particularly known for 3D games, but there is likely a few technical details that need to be brought up what I have experienced.

1. I have a laptop and an external monitor set to the primary screen. Game looked like it was going to launch on my external monitor then glued itself to my laptop screen. I worked around this with Windows Key + Shift + Arrow Key. It seems to launch on the proper screen now.

2. After moving the game over I started experiencing screen tearing. I circumvented this by forcing it via the nvidia control panel. It worked for me but I read someone else may have had something happen by doing this. What works for one may not work for another.

Aside from these technical issues it seems to be performing as expected, seeing as I was not expecting AAA studio quality going into this game. Graphic options are severely limited. There are only 3 options so I just have it set to "high". It does not explain what it is that high sets things to.

Subnote: NPCs that are not important do not have faces. Just uh... don't stare too closely? I'll give this a yes, albeit a somewhat hesitant yes.

It's like a fancier Spelunky but the developers decided they were no longer human. Also I hate moles.

It isn't the Microsoft Store Version.

Most of the issues that plagued the game at launch were fixed so I am flipping the review, albeit late.

This is going to be a perpetually updated review based on game progress as there are likely many details I'm going to log as I play and would rather not forget. You will either like the new version or you will hate it. Or you might be of mixed opinion but slightly positive like myself but steam only has yes or no.

Game difficulty seems much easier than the original, especially as far as bosses are concerned. I have yet to use a single healing item on bosses thus far because they end in under a minute, sometimes less than half a minute. Money also seems significantly faster to acquire than in the original as I have thousands of GP. Fairy Walnuts used to be irritating to acquire at the start of the SNES version but in this one you could probably buy several and have funds to spare for weapon upgrades.

Music is hit or miss. You'll either like the new tracks or at least some of them, or just outright dislike it over the original. On the plus side the original SNES OST is included so if you dislike the new tracks you could always have the SNES versions play instead (and they're still just as good as they always were).

Gameplay is a mixed bag. Enemies stay on the ground for a solid three seconds after being hit which basically makes most encounters, at least early ones that don't evade constantly. trivial. Some noted that due to the 3D based combat that Chobins have more angles to fire from and thus are more difficult but I didn't suffer from the problems they did. If you choose to recruit the girl over the sprite first you'll require going through the haunted forest. However if you buy the girl her King Fu Dress and equipment from the nearby west village first she takes very little damage. You'll have to make your own opinion on the slight mechanical changes from the original. Companion AI also seems extremely limited in this one as you have a few basic choices instead of an action grid. One improvement is running at least. You start from 100% and slowly go down which refills if you stop running (you can also change direction unlike the original). Oh and before I forget there is this awkward four second pause before your hp gets restored after beating bosses. It's noticeable compared to the snes version's near instant restoration.

Visual quality is going to be a mixed bag depending on what your standards were for the remake. It certainly lacks any AAA looks to it and passes for a much earlier generation title. Characters do not have mouth movement and typically have a fixed expression on their face as they speak. Elliot is always going to be angry.

One of the more awkward things to keep (in my opinion) with the remake is the movement for shops, Watts, cannon travel (animation not included), and similar cutscenes like the pit before the first boss. Characters replicate these movements exactly as they did in the SNES version which make them look kind of weird.

And now the more critical part of the review, bugs. As of this review I've encounted some silly bugs that really shouldn't have been in the game in the first place had there been more quality control.

Bug 1: Sliding. While almost exiting Pandora Castle after recruiting the girl temporarily I was stuck in a sliding animation. This resolves on a screen transition so the impact seems trivial.

Bug 2: Playtime. Chances are your file is going to suffer from a playtime bug as despite having only been playing for about four hours the game says I've been playing for well over one thousand. I am unsure to the cause and it likely cannot be fixed unless you know how to modify game data.

Bug 3: "Here let's get you patched up. Would you like to save? Take care". Yes I titled this one based on his dialogue but Sprite Grandpa has a chance to keep you permanently stuck in a menu loop as right as you end dialogue there is the possibility of him auto starting the dialogue which restores your hp and mp. He unfortunately initiates dialogue on contact and not through pressing a button. Only fix is either to (maybe) be careful not to run into him a certain way or to save in the endless menu looping and force close/restart the game.

Bug 4: Extremelty sudden crashes upon loading a new area. For me this first triggered using the Flammie Drum after completing the Palace of Darkness.

By no means is the game unplayable and all bugs experienced (save for play time) seem to have a workaround. However the game doesn't seem to have the quality some would expect for $40. It's a playable game but do not buy it for $40 unless you're either really desperate or just want to support Square Enix consequences aside for quality control.

Also I'm not a fan of the costumes. Primm looks much nicer in her original dress than the tiger two piece but to each their own. Moogle outfits are about what you'd expect.

When is too faithful good and when is it bad?

11 coughs out of 10.

This game trolled me. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

For a relatively nice price you can get a Touhou ARPG with some pretty nice music, fairly smooth gameplay, and some pretty decent visual quality to boot.

Should be noted however that the game boots up in Chinese. However this can easily be changed in the options menu and once you find it your game will now be in English. It also did not remove the window when I picked my screen's resolution but BorderlessGaming fixed that as well.

It supports both traditional Mouse/Keyboard controls as well as as gamepads.

One of the most fluid platformers I've ever played, aptly demonstrating why I greatly enjoy the indie scene more than AAA games these days.

The music is also really good. Never thought I'd be more interested in listening to clocktowers beneath the sea than finishing those mini levels.