Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (1)

Arc_the_Lad;_Twilight_of_the_Spirits_English_cover10 hours in. I didn’t know what to expect from an Arc the Lad game, but this seems like a normal SRPG so far. I’m really liking half of the story, and the battles are slow but highly playable. I don’t know how long this is or whether there’ll be a difficulty spike later on, but at this rate I should be able to finish it without too much trouble.

The story: Twilight of the Spirits tells the tale of half-human, half-Deimos twin brothers separated at birth, and the game switches from one perspective to another. From Kharg, brought up as the prince of a human kingdom, to Darc, brought up as a Deimos slave and mocked for his mixed heritage. As both of them rise to leadership positions of the opposing races, an collision is all but inevitable.

In terms of story quality, Darc’s route >>>>>> Kharg’s. If the game was just about Kharg it would be the standard, tedious RPG fare: prince of a small kingdom, evil empire taking over the world, mysterious girl on the run with magical trinket feeds prince cock-and-bull story, prince immediately swears to protect her to the death. I shouldn’t even have to spell all this out, you know it so well. Kharg is such a bore, such an annoying goody-two shoes with his little ponytail and his nice-guy attitude and his mommy running up every five minutes to wipe his little nose, it makes me sick.

That’s where Darc comes in. He’s no less goody-goody (despite his protests to the contrary) but his story is waaaay better for several reasons. First, visually and setting-wise his route is more appealing because of all the different kinds of Deimos and Deimos designs. Humans come in one flavor: human, but there are all kinds of Deimos. Orcon, Drakyr, Pianta, Coleopt, Lupine and many more besides, so there’s a lot more to look at. They also have different cultures, viewpoints and rivalries, so it’s an interesting world to read and learn about. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Kanuchi: Futatsu no Tsubasa – Should have known it was too good to be true (spoilers)

kanuchi_frontRemember how I said last time that I thought I’d be done with Kanuchi soon and that Kasuga’s route would be relatively drama-free? Yeeeahhh, I kinda underestimated Idea Factory’s readiness to ruin a good story. Kasuga x Aki really seemed like a match made in heaven to me. The ordinary blacksmith girl and the ordinary royal bodyguard, just two normal people falling in love in a normal kind of way. What could possibly go wrong? Well, how about Kasuga actually being a time-traveling zombie from 14 years in the future, for starters?

It all went downhill from that reveal, and I won’t bore you with all the details of how he and Shin (who is actually a time-traveling murder-arsonist-matricide-patricide) came to Aki’s time, how Kasuga turned into a zombie/immortal and all the struggles they go through. The story does makes sense, more or less. I was just utterly blown away by the suddenness and unbelievability of such a turn of events. There was no indication of any such secret until the minute I got locked into Kasuga’s route.

(And it’s not just sudden, but it actually contradicts some earlier parts of the story. For one thing, if Shin really was the son of nobles, how could he burn down the house, kill his parents, go on the lam for a few years and then up and join the palace guard a few years later without changing his name or anything else about himself and have absolutely no one suspect a thing? But we’ll be here all day if I start picking the story apart, so I’ll give it a rest here.) Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Kanuchi: Futatsu no Tsubasa – One step forward, five steps back

Shortly after my last post about Idea Factory’s fantasy blacksmithing otome game, the writers hit the reset button and reset most of my progress back to square one. To recap the story a bit, the two nations of Takamahara and Yasuna have been at war for approximately 2017 years. Aki, an ordinary Taka-whatsit village girl, moves to the city to work as a blacksmith so she can buy medicine for her sick grandpa (he’s all better now, thanks for caring). Somehow or the other, she gets possessed by Kayana, the legendary Taka warrior queen from 2017 years ago, but they manage to make things work out.

While Kanuchi does have a romantic component and about 12 or so potential partners to woo, romance isn’t really a major aspect of the game. It has more in common with the older Atelier games, where you can get endings with particular characters, but that’s hardly the main character’s goal in life. But since the Takahamara guys were all more or less decent, I had Aki/Kayana play nice with them in the hopes of getting some good lovin’. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Happy New Year! And resolutions for 2014

new-year-fireworks-wallpapers-hd-wallpapersIt’s a little late, but Happy New Year!

Now, straight to business. What am I playing this year? Last year’s resolutions were a bit of a disaster. I packed the list with games I’d “always wanted to try,” little realizing that the real reason I’d never actually tried the games I’d “always wanted to try” is because somewhere deep inside, I didn’t really want to try them. Although I only ended up playing three of those last year, with the exception of Monster Hunter*, I will probably play all those games one day. However I see no reason to deceive myself or anyone else by listing any more “always meant to try” games this year.

After all, I had much greater success with my half-year resolutions, when I put down stuff I was eager to, or at least fairly interested in playing. That’s what I’m going to do this time. Taking a leaf from that book, I will also limit the list to 6 items, for now.

Enough with the preliminaries. Here’s what I’m looking to play.

Conception_~Ore_no_Kodomo_wo_Undekure!~1. Conception: Ore no Kodomo wo Unde Kure (PSP) – A dungeon-crawler with a relationship aspect, if I recall correctly. I’ve steered clear of spoilers as much as possible, but it’s a game I’ve been wanting to play for a long, long time. Why I’ve held off so long, I don’t know, but I’m going to rectify that as soon as I can.

2. Tokimeki Memorial 2 (PSX) – I’m still waiting for the announcement of either TM5 or TMGS4. In the meantime, I’m going to pass the time by finishing off the only game in the series I haven’t played. Something tells me I’ve actually tried this game before, but I don’t remember when or why I didn’t get anywhere (bad sign?) so it’s time to do a proper job of it.

3. Atelier Lilie (PS2) – The only non-PS3 Atelier I haven’t played. Actually, I’ve tried it before. And uhh, I didn’t get very far. Aaand I didn’t like it very much. Buuut it’s very likely I was playing it wrong, trying to blaze through a game where you’re meant to slow down and think before you move, paying careful attention to what NPCs tell you. The same thing happened to me with Atelier Lina, where I tried a little bit then went on a rampage when it didn’t immediately ‘click.’ I ended up loving that game, so it’s likely I’ll do much better with Lilie too.

4. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) – Ore ga Omae wo Mamoru opened my eyes to the world of Metroidvania games, which I’d like to explore a little further. I was told by that a trusted source that, “Even you can play this game,” so I will proceed to do just that. By the way, this trusted source was the same one who recommended TWEWY and Earthbound, and we all know how those turned out. Third time’s the charm? We’ll see.

Tides_of_Destiny5. Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Wii) – I started it right after Rune Factory: Frontier, decided it was a little too soon and benched it for a while. The colors look messy and garish on my ancient 21-inch TV too. I don’t quite know what to do about it, but maybe 2014 will be the year I finally upgrade my TV? <_< with whose money? Still, I know I’ll have an RF/HM craving before too long, and this will be there to meet that need.

6. Dragon Shadow Spell (PS2) – Assuming the PS2 doesn’t flatline on me before I can get to it, that is. A colorful and dramatic SRPG from the sadly-missed Flight Plan. I started this several years ago. The gameplay was nice, but the story seemed really complicated, and I wasn’t in the mood for that. But if my PS2 is on its last legs, then I definitely want to play this before it goes.

There. I’ll start off with these for now. As usual, all this assumes I’ll have the time and strength and the same interest in games all the way through the year. It’s funny, I was only half-serious last year when I said I was looking to quit gaming. But once I got the thought out there, suddenly it started sounding more and more feasible, even desirable. On the other hand, that didn’t stop me from playing at least 44 (o____o I must have counted wrong) different games last year, so I wouldn’t take myself too seriously just yet.

The list doesn’t include titles I’ve already started like Tales of Legendia or Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits. It also doesn’t include those games I’d agreed to give a final chance to, like Disgaea, Avalon Code and the first Shiren the Wanderer game, so I’ve already got more than enough to keep me busy for the next 6 months at least. If I’ve made good progress by that point, I’ll add some more games halfway through the year. Have a good one!

* Re: Monster Hunter: Nothing against it. I just spent the holidays watching my brother play Monster Hunter: Tri on the Wii. It’s a good “spectator game,” if there’s such a term, but the more I saw of it, the less I could see myself playing it. It’s too stressful! And they’re so stingy with the rewards! I have better things to do than spend a whole day cutting off Rathian tails looking for a Plate.

Kanuchi: Futatsu no Tsubasa – An introduction

Kanuchi: Futatsu no Tsubasa (Kanuchi: Two Wings) is a fantasy blacksmithing otome game developed by Vingt-et-un Systems and published by Idea Factory under their Otomate label. The ‘kanuchi’ part of the title is an in-game title for the king’s exclusive blacksmith. The ‘two wings’, I suppose, refer to the fact that our heroine Aki has been possessed by the ghost of Kayana, a queen from 2017 years ago, and two are sharing the same body until further notice. It’s very weird as far as otome games go, but it’s also a tremendous amount of fun.

In a later post, I’ll talk more about the ever-changing story and maybe introduce the characters. Today, though, I want to introduce the gameplay. After all, otome games with actual gameplay are few and far between, much less those with alchemy/smithing action.

First the story: Aki’s grandfather, a blacksmith, is sick. She needs to earn money to buy him medicine. The city guildmaster rents her a blacksmith’s forge and a shop where she can live and work. Sadly, Aki doesn’t know a thing about smithing. Happily enough, she soon gets possessed by an ancient queen who does know about it.

Do please go on, this is most interesting →