Machina of the Planet Tree -Unity Unions-
An entire play-through is about 2 hours 30 minutes.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Beyond that its fine. Not great.
– Real player with 42.4 hrs in game
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Summary
This is a magic flavored action game where you fight enemies by shooting magics and summoning minions. The emphasis of its progression system is on levels and gears; there is not much you can do action-wise except for kiting. The gears are collected as drops with at most 4 random attributes, where the attributes may be transferred to other items to create your desired set. Later in the game, most of the fun will be around gathering drops and combining them to make your character more powerful, and doing time attack runs.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
Ys Origin
The Ys series is quite a mixed bag. I played Ys Origin after playing Ys 1 & 2 (since that is the order they were released in, though obviously “Origin” is a prequel). I wasn’t hugely impressed by Ys 1 & 2 - they were kind of ok, but had lots of issues; the lore was uninteresting and the story didn’t really resonate and the gameplay itself was … tepid.
Ys Origin, however, breaks free from the earlier games by radically changing the gameplay, and this is a good thing. Rather than an Ultima-style open world framework that the earlier games used, Origin simplifies all that to become effectively a linear dungeon crawler threaded through a series of highly structured narratives. The gameplay itself is distilled down to much more enjoyable and consistent core combat mechanics, while retaining the structure of building up to periodic challenging boss fights.
– Real player with 63.5 hrs in game
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Isometric, Action, RPG, Multiple Characters
In Ys you play as one of three selectable characters and go through their journey in order to help the goddesses fight off evil that dwells within the tower. Each character has their own dialogue and conflicts most notably the secret third character has a lot more bosses than the other two.
Progression
Traveling from floor to floor can take some time, luckily you have goddess statues that teleport you instantly to other statues you have unlocked along your travels in the giant tower. This allows the player to be able to teleport to any floor he thinks requires more exploring weather its to grab a item he missed or simply to teleport back to floor 1 for upgrades. Not only that but you are fully healed when in range of the goddess statue, you can also save.
– Real player with 60.0 hrs in game
CrossCode
Like Zelda but the puzzles and story are good. The best game I’ve ever played. 100%:ed it, not because I particularily enjoyed it, but because it felt wrong to love a game so much and not do it.
Admittedly, the story gets a little bit wack around the major conflicts. At one point the cast is shown a torture dungeon, made by the antagonist to extract information, and yet when they confront him that is not even brough up.
! The game also does not treat AI as real people with the exception of Lea. Vermillion wasteland contains AI, just like her, having gone actually insane, but that is a-okay and never brought up again. I assume the developers wished for a lighter story, but God almighty is it jarring when contrased with that part of the game. This isn’t Deus Ex. This would be my major gripe with the game, but I understand why they stepped away from that part of the script.
– Real player with 114.5 hrs in game
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Crosscode is what I like call a “P/P-RPG”, Puzzle/Platform RPG.
While the elements of classic RPG’s are there such as leveling up, status, equipments, sidequests etc, the majority of the game is made out of Puzzles and Platforming. Dungeons are usually 2 to 3 rooms made of intricate puzzles followed by a small wave of enemies. Going from point A to point B on general gameplay is simple but if you’re going for completion such as all chests, maps are huge and mostly platforming oriented with some puzzles on the side.
– Real player with 111.3 hrs in game
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Tl;dr:
Part hack&slash ARPG, part visual novel/interactive movie with a slow burner of a story. All wrapped up in Falcom’s usual rock-solid presentation, although this particular game is rather guilty of recycling stuff from Trails of Cold Steel in particular.
Long version:
First things first:
While this bears Xanadu in the title, it doesn’t have much to do with Falcom’s previous Xanadu games. About the only thing they have in common is that supernatural dark forces are encroaching on the world, and that they’re making a push again after X amount of time. You won’t find a fantasy kingdom here, you will not be chasing 4 crowns and a magical sword, and this game doesn’t even mention Galsis - you get another mystical monstrosity as the main antagonist instead.
– Real player with 117.3 hrs in game
While reviewing this game, I’ll divide it in two parts: the “OG version” and the “Ex+ version”.
Short version: If you played any Ys game excluding Ys 1 and Ys 2, then you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into. If you haven’t played an Ys game before then check that series out. Tokyo Xanadu Ex+ is an upgraded version of the original that adds some nice stuff and some bad stuff. Overally pretty fun and enjoyable.
Long version:
Tokyo Xanadu originally released on the PSVita , made by Falcom and it’s a fun ARPG with fast paced combat mixed with a bit of Persona elements.
– Real player with 101.3 hrs in game
Transistor
Transistor is a sci-fi themed RPG action game, developed and published by SuperGiant games (the same guys who brought us Bastion), releasing on PC in mid 2014, and then later in that year on PS4, and then got a further port to IOS in June of 2015.
Game play in Transistor takes a lot of elements from Bastion. The camera angle is in an isometric point of view as you control the main character, Red. You traverse a series of locations fighting enemies, known as the “Process”. A nice feature which has been added which is where Transistor differs from Bastion, is that you can either fight in real time, or in a planning phase. The real time plays very similar to how any isometric action game would play out, however the planning phase really adds an element of strategy to this title; you have a limited number of commands you can carry out before needing to recharge, these commands include moving around the scene and casting your various spells and abilities.
– Real player with 25.5 hrs in game
Transistor is a pretty interesting game, though definitely confusing. You begin the game “in media res,” with things falling apart and jumping into some uncertain combat with some creatures known as The Process. Your character, Red, seems to have lost her voice, which is odd, and I will get to that later as a criticism related to Supergiant Games. The only thing that speaks to you (as the character and player) for most of the game is actually your weapon, the Transistor itself.
The story is not all given to you. In fact, you must piece a lot of it together - what the world is, where the people in it are, who the people you meet along your journey are, and what you are actually doing in the first place, among many other questions. Supergiant was very lightweight on what they give you, as you only learn small pieces here and there, with a few side details as you explore and find items such as terminals, which have news posts or recorded audio.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game
Xanadu Next
Balance elevates and limits this game. More than any of Falcom’s projects from their late Windows PC period, systems, aesthetics, and non-linearity counterbalance to create a sprawling action adventure that, even with its shortcomings and missed opportunities, seems fully conceived and replete with potential. If anything, this game rewards you for experiencing as much of it as possible, and of Falcom games and outside influences it took from.
I’m already near the end of my third Xanadu Next playthrough, storming my way through Castle Strangerock with every skill, technique, and trick in my book. Every time I know I’m playing one of the easier, often more accessible Falcom games from this period, but it never gets old. Even Gurumin has difficulty options this game sorely could use, not that it’s bad or merely good w/o them. Ys: The Oath in Felghana, released the same year as Xananext, has that and more detailed NPCs to entertain you, not to forget Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim which is heavy on both world-building and character. The soundtrack, as textured, baroque and diverse in genre (including hard rock for two tracks later on), isn’t as large and full as Gurumin’s or Trails in the Sky FC’s. And you don’t get interesting mechanics those games feature, like rhythmic critical hits or attack/experience multipliers based on how many monsters you rend and how quickly. After some thinking I get how unusual Xanadu Next seems to fans of the company’s games, mostly because it blends bits and pieces and then provides a number of seemingly less significant but unique systems.
– Real player with 58.0 hrs in game
Great game to pick up if you like the Ys series, and a great value as well. This game will keep you busy for a while, and manages to remain fresh throughout. This game could be described as a slower, more methodical, puzzle-heavy Ys. I would also argue that it is more difficult than the Ys games (at least the ones available on Steam). The puzzles are hard and the combat has been slowed down and made much more punishing, forcing you to be deliberate in your actions, a noticeable departure from the super fast hack and slash style of Ys.
– Real player with 44.6 hrs in game
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Oath in Felghana is a phenomenal action RPG. It is the third game in the Ys series, and a remake of the original Ys III. While the original Ys III was a good game in its own right, it was also a flawed game in many ways (don’t take that to mean it wasn’t a heck of a lot of fun). Oath in Felghana not only rectifies every flaw of the original, it also improves upon Ys III in every way, all while remaining faithful to the core essence of what made Ys III such a fun and memorable game.
Pros:
- Phenomenal soundtrack
– Real player with 159.9 hrs in game
A fantastic entry in the Ys series, simply brilliant. If I had to recommend a Ys game from this generation, it would have to be this one. Ys Oath (3) takes what was created in Ys Ark (6) and refines it into high quality material. Nearly everything in this game is an improvement over the previous, which was already reasonably decent. The following is a list of great positives present in Ys Oath, with some comparisons to the previous game, Ys Ark:
– Real player with 102.7 hrs in game
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Ys: Memories of Celceta has been my favorite Ys game since it introduced me to the series 4 years ago, and this PC port absolutely does not disappoint.
Pros:
-Combat is as fluid as ever. This game is a 3D Action RPG in which you have a party of 3 characters, taking control of the lead, and two AI controlled partners whom you can switch to with the press of a button. Some tweaks were made to the system from Ys Seven, such as a rewarding flash-dodge option which allows you to slow time for a couple seconds and fire off a bunch of shots, as well as consolidating perfect-guards into a single button. Each of the 6 playable characters are fun to play as and have their own little nuances that make them fun and add replayability. I know Ys 8 touched on the system a little bit more, but given that that game has a shaky-at-best PC port, I don’t have the ability to do a thorough comparison. Point is this game is very fun to play for its entire duration.
– Real player with 313.5 hrs in game
So, this game leaves me with mixed feelings. I had played almost no JRPGs until a year ago, and have been slowly making my way through classic series. From a gameplay perspective, so far the Ys series has blown everything out of the water. Final Fantasy and the like have good narratives, but Ys has gameplay that challenges you, and makes you enjoy conquering challenges. I honestly don’t understand why people got, so excited about Dark Souls, given that apparently a tradition of challenge has existed since the late 80’s in Japan.
– Real player with 94.8 hrs in game
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection
Another Falcom title and another great localisation from XSEED. These guys are on a roll with me , ever since I have played Trails in The Sky FC like 5 years ish ago , I have been nothing but satisfied with these games. And for a falcom fan such as me this game was kind of a fanservice considering the stuff this game takes from the other ones in terms of mechanics.
Gameplay:
You like Ys , Gurumin or Brave Fencer Musashi (that one is a square title) , then you will like the gameplay here. Its fast , combo based and really fun. Also really convinient just like the other falcom titles. You can easily swtich between your weapons whenever , levelling up is not grinding but by using food items and you can upgrade your food items by trading them meaning yeah you can grind or just use healing items when you need to meaning you will level up according to your skill and the duo mechanic is very unique and fun. I love comboing my enemies by switching between these characters. Both of their attacks bring something to the table. Also just like Ys you can teleport to the save points meaning you can use that as a short cut too.
– Real player with 72.3 hrs in game
Playing status: 100% achievement
Grindy Achievement(s): No (you need to grind a bit to finish the game).
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (14 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.
Intro
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection is the second title of the Zwei series, succeeding Zwei: The Arges Adventure . It features exploration in a brand new continent with the reoccurrence of some characters from the previous game. Before we proceed, I would like to tell you that my knowledge of the first game is only up to the screenshots that I saw on the Steam store page, so my review will be based on that.
– Real player with 65.2 hrs in game
Ys I & II Chronicles+
Useless bit of trivia first.
The amount of times these games have been redone is truly mindblowing, but then again Ys has been around since 1987. What we have here is an enhanced port of a PSP port of an enhanced edition of a windows remake of a combined turbografx-16/pc-engine remake of a pair of games on an ancient japanese pc. Rolls right off the tongue and I’m not even gonna get into how many ports the original games themselves got. I’m fairly certain this won’t be the last remake either.
– Real player with 67.3 hrs in game
This game screams: Epic. Retro. Action RPG. While we’re at it, Ys Chronicles+ kicks Major Ass (this is an E rated review)! The game mechanics are so simple and so addictive that you can literally spend hours grinding monsters, just because! And then you look at the clock and think, “Holy Pants! It’s tomorrow! …But maybe just a little longer…” and then you turn into a zombie. Yea, this is a hyperbole, but it’s not as much of an overstatement as you might think.
And did I mention that this is a package of two games? Quick history lesson. When Falcom was developing Ys, limitations forced them to split the epic into two, resulting in two games, Ys I and II, collectively called (in this case) The Ys Chronicles (Ys Complete, Ys Eternal, Ys Epic Remake VII, these two games have seen a plethora of remakes, and Ys Chronicles+ is the latest and arguably greatest).
– Real player with 40.6 hrs in game