Got another weird one today, both in its content and because I don't know how to feel about it.
Adventures of Hourai High was not initially on my playlist. It seemed more of a gimmick than an actual game. However, doing research for this quest brought me to several YouTube videos, some from people I've been subscribed to for a while. PixaAfterDark raved about Hourai High, and it caught just enough of my interest to make me expand my horizons. Worst case scenario, it'll be a way to break up all the dark, mysterious, and brooding stuff I gravitate towards. After finally finishing it, I see where he's coming from. But I also think we have very different opinions on video games.
Let's start with the obvious. In Hourai High, you play as a transfer student who makes a bombastic entrance on his first day of school by literally falling from the sky, through the roof, and into another student. You pick your name, blood type, birth month, and gender. Gender does decide some different characters and story beats, so it does matter. But this leads your instant celebrity into a series of wacky, slapstick events with you and your underground newspaper friends forcing your way in. Keep in mind, you're all in high school, and this is a grounded plot. Just ignore your skydiving antics, million high student body campus, and principal just out of university. Okay, so it's not THAT grounded. But the student council is always changing the rules to wild ideas around bathroom limits, gender segregation, and replacing names with numbers. It's low stakes, but it's a comedy game, so who cares.
Skills are also learned via traditional school shenanigans. To learn new attacks or gain passive skill boosts, you must join clubs! The kendo club boasts bashing weapons and teaches Triple Strike, and the medic club turns your characters into a white mage, for example. There's a secret occult club that grants access to quasi black mage spells. Each club only has three levels, so it isn't particularly deep, and leveling them up is done entirely through traditional battles. That's where I begin to fall off. It's cool that learning new skills is passive, but I want more of a club feel to them. There's a mini game in chapter two or three with a strange jousting mechanic, so there's certainly something they could have done out of the box to increase levels or, at the very least, master a skill.
And with the amount of battles in the game, you're gonna master skills very fast. Hourai High has a very high encounter rate. And the battles aren't particularly hard, so it's easy to overlevel. There's even an auto battle option, so hit that and hold down the emulation speed up button. I might be a weird one, but I didn't mind the encounter rate. It felt like passive grinding and made the endgame dungeons and bosses a breeze. But that also meant I stopped caring about the clubs. I had my attack skills and a few magic and healing, so let's get this done with. And most of the advanced clubs deal with status effects stuff, which... who cares? I got sick once from an enemy. Status effects do work in boss battles, so there can be some depth here. But if you want to experience it, you'll need to download a rom hack that lowers it. It does exist, so maybe that'll be fun if I ever play the girl's route. There are so many clubs, including secret ones, and it's a bit of a shame I barely bothered with them.
The same can be said for the characters. Only four matter: you and your three other Hospo newspaper group. And you're a mute... I collected fourteen other friends, but I know I missed a few more. There's a starfish out there somewhere... But that's four relevant people out of fifteen. The other hanger ons don't do anything in cutscenes, and they rarely have unique clubs. Or maybe they do, and I just didn't care. Julia does, so shout out to the fellow American. What was the point of them? They could have helped make the clubs feel bigger. They could have made student life feel bigger too, as even that felt flat. Student council elections are brought up early, but you never participate in them. They simply pass. Several festivals are relegated to a small scene. You never take any tests, talk to friends outside of missions, or make non combat friends. It's just shallow.
Believe it or not, the villains are... also along those lines. They're a monster-of-the-week type, so they lack the means to be deep. The final boss is very Dragon Questy, but the main organization at least has some lasting impact.
Visually, the game is also limited. There's one cave tile set, you roam the jungles a tad too often, and buildings are all the same. That last one probably makes sense, seeing as the entire campus is on one island, which should have a cohesive architectural design. Mob pallet swaps are because of school uniform regulations too. It can be hand waved away, I guess.
The music is... fine. It's background noise with little variety. If there was speech over it, it would be perfectly suited. I really could imagine this being the soundtrack to an anime.
Which I think the devs were trying to go for. If anyone wanted to, they could turn Adventures of Hourai High into a pretty solid show. It would be a slice of life with plenty of sophomoric humor. It would be Angel Beats meets CLANNAD without the crying. There's plenty of NPCs to fill out the cast. The world is huge and filled with so much side content. I found zero of the seven wonders! I enjoyed repairing the rail lines; cool side content. Studios wouldn't need to change a thing. There's plenty of charm here, but a SNES RPG probably shouldn't have been made. There's a damn good basis here; it's Persona ten years before Persona as we know it.
So it's an ambitious game filled with plenty to do. Maybe I skipped a lot (because of the encounter rate), but I see the humor, the vision, and the attempt. I just like stories and characters. I'm not high on Hourai High, but I think it's actually kinda solid. I'm giving it only 33/50 points, but my super secret new rating system says it's a top twenty RPG on the system.
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Reviewing my review of Child of Light
Just over ten years ago, I posted one of my first reviews to Steam. It was on a game called Child of Light. I'll post the link at the bottom so as not to break up the flow more than I usually do. I believe I posted it here, but I can't find it, so maybe I didn't. Or I'm confusing it with another. Recently, my boss bought me a new computer. Go play Crowns if Power! Wanting to relive and begin some new games I couldn't hope to experience with my last (two) rigs, I booted up an oldie.
Child of Light was a magical experience ten years ago. Its visuals, soundtrack, world, and gameplay all felt like a fever dream of everything I want in an RPG. I know I enjoyed the game, but it was a fever dream because I don't remember anything about it. Who are these characters I have written down in my giant Google spreadsheet? Why don't I have any villains on it? I've been listening to this Cœur de pirate album for ten years, but I don't have any mental images to get lost in when I snuggle with my stuffed animal/waifu, Lucy, outside. I need to fix that. I also want to look back at myself from ten years ago.
When I still had hope...
The first thing I notice is that I understand why I barely graduated from college. I love commas! Why didn't I use them? And those run on sentences... You know it wasn't written by a clanker, at least. But I'm not here to mock me. I do that every other day! What did I get right, change my mind on, or wish I had better knowledge of?
My first paragraph is a joke, walking the line between how bad Ubisoft is and telling people the game is too good to pass up anyway. Some things never change. I still begin with a joke, and Ubisoft just keeps getting worse...
The second paragraph is where the review begins. It's one long sentence saying that the game is similar to something from the PS2, except the main character isn't a brooding teen. In fact, she might be the weakest character in the game! Grammar aside, this is true. Aurora is such an amazing character, but her stats leave a lot to be desired. She's towards the bottom in every stat, with her only saving grace being her Light magic spells. Stuffing her full of Stardust, a consumable stat booster, helps to even her out, but maybe the min/maxers would place them on other characters. I go on to "accidentally the whole thing" setting up the plot. I mention Aurora's father, The Duke, and his depression. The story begins with Aurora dying, followed by a massive rainstorm threatening to flood their kingdom. She seeks the Sun, Moon, and Stars, saves two realms, and I'm vague about some twists. It's a decent overview of the story. I end the paragraph with a fun note about Austria's history with dukedoms. By the way, I didn't bring up Stardust once ten years ago.
I then talk about the combat. I kept this concise, so good job. I make frequent references to the timeline, mentioning the goal is to interrupt your opponent before they interrupt you, sending you back to the beginning. There are ways to constantly manipulate battle participants' roles in the timeline. I even bring up the ability to switch characters on the fly. I did get it wrong that it sends new characters to the back of the line, though. I didn't experience that my second time through. I probably should have compared it to Final Fantasy X in that fashion. I also hadn't played Grandia yet, but that would have been the best connection to make.
I continue that point by talking about the "multiplayer" aspects and the firefly Igniculus. Igy can slow down enemies and heal in battle. He also gets easier access to the restorative flower pollen. I dared player two to have fun, but I somehow forgot Igy can open several types of treasure chests. I no sold him, which was just pathetic of me.
I then poorly talked about character skill trees. I inferred some can get magical or physical skills, but that isn't true. Every tree is based around a character's "class" of sorts; what they do best and bring to the table. It would be better to have said each tree enhances a character's skills. Aurora, for example, gets a physical route, a path to boost her quick Light spell, and another to up her super Light spell. Óengus gets a branch to up his attack, his defense, or a magic spell called Quake. Robert gets attack boosts, skill boosts, and his antidote buffs. So maybe I was right, but I worded it poorly. Finn, though, only gets magic boosts. The other characters do have physical/magical splits, too. Good job, me. And better job, game devs.
I'm halfway through, and I finally talk about the "platforming." The ability to fly makes running and jumping antiquated, but the amount of hidden things is amazing. The verticality of Lemuria adds so much to the game and it's visuals, while adding some much needed whimsy. There's a word I wish I had used back then. The collectables are fun to find, even if I misspelled "as."
I then gush about the graphics. "A prodigy's watercolor dream" is still an apt way to describe it. Character sprites, portraits, and the world are all stunning. There's texture in those watercolors, mind you, so it isn't flat like Valkyria Chronicles (THIS JS CALLED FORSHADOWING), and Yoshitaka Amano can eat his heart out. I go on to say how the visuals work with Aurora's age and naivety before pinning for more games to look like it. You can tell my eyes have gotten worse because I made no mention of how hard it is to read some of the word bubbles over Aurora and Igy's heads during gameplay. They're fine during visual novel cutscenes, but being legally blind kinda sucks here.
I saved the music for last. I suggest everyone listen to the soundtrack, even if you want to play the game, before questionablely describing what I heard. It's probably the same way I'd do so now! I even posted links to the soundtrack(s), bringing up tracks not on Spotify. Even now, I still think Cœur de pirate, or Beatrice Martin, wrote one of the greatest soundtracks the industry has ever seen. I did not place it in my top ten, though, because I am a fool, a coward, and, most obviously, an idiot. I'd probably throw it at seven, between Final Fantasy VII and Bastion.
Lastly, I bring up the alleged downsides of it being a linear game. This is true, but I failed to mention how short it is. I finished my second playthrough in just under thirteen hours. I want more Child of Light and Aurora antics, and I'm kinda sad it's already over. But I'm not sure how to add to it. Answers on where the circus is and what's in the houses of all those locked doors. Those feel like side quests, though. There's no more main content to do. But it's okay to end a story when it's over. And, maybe this time, I'll keep the memory of this game in my head.
I throw more unnecessary shade at Ubisoft and those boycotting the game because of Child of Light's connection to it, but my closing thoughts are still poignant. "If you're an artist of any style, you're going find [sic] plenty to love in Child of Light. If you're a gamer of any style, you're going to find plenty to love." I said that ten years ago, and it's still the best way to describe CoL. Just, ya know, get a better editor...
That was the past, so let's talk about the now.
I can't believe I forgot about Child of Light. Everything about it is amazing, and I want more of it. The art style is stunning, in the way backgrounds showcase a massive world filled with both fear and whimsy. The music tells a tale of sorrow and triumph on its own. And the story, with all of its heavy segments about a young girl seeking her father and missing her mother, but through it all, saving a world she doesn't belong in just because it's what's best. I don't think the secondary cast holds up to Aurora, but they're all fun and lovable. In a world of rhyme, our white mage is the only one who can't. A sad jester, a thirteen-year-old man with a beard, a horny capitalist mouse, a knight with a checkered past, and a fish girl who's the last of her kind help this strange girl who can fly get home. To say nothing of the firefly who shuns his own people to see her journey through. I felt like crying several times in these thirteen hours.
The bosses can be painfully frustrating, and they definitely don't carry their weight in the plot, but the presentation and gameplay are more than adequate for anyone to enjoy Child of Light.
48/50. It's been a long time since I've played anything this good.
And here's my first review, which I'll give a D- too. https://steamcommunity.com/id/Deadaghram/recommended/256290/
Child of Light was a magical experience ten years ago. Its visuals, soundtrack, world, and gameplay all felt like a fever dream of everything I want in an RPG. I know I enjoyed the game, but it was a fever dream because I don't remember anything about it. Who are these characters I have written down in my giant Google spreadsheet? Why don't I have any villains on it? I've been listening to this Cœur de pirate album for ten years, but I don't have any mental images to get lost in when I snuggle with my stuffed animal/waifu, Lucy, outside. I need to fix that. I also want to look back at myself from ten years ago.
When I still had hope...
The first thing I notice is that I understand why I barely graduated from college. I love commas! Why didn't I use them? And those run on sentences... You know it wasn't written by a clanker, at least. But I'm not here to mock me. I do that every other day! What did I get right, change my mind on, or wish I had better knowledge of?
My first paragraph is a joke, walking the line between how bad Ubisoft is and telling people the game is too good to pass up anyway. Some things never change. I still begin with a joke, and Ubisoft just keeps getting worse...
The second paragraph is where the review begins. It's one long sentence saying that the game is similar to something from the PS2, except the main character isn't a brooding teen. In fact, she might be the weakest character in the game! Grammar aside, this is true. Aurora is such an amazing character, but her stats leave a lot to be desired. She's towards the bottom in every stat, with her only saving grace being her Light magic spells. Stuffing her full of Stardust, a consumable stat booster, helps to even her out, but maybe the min/maxers would place them on other characters. I go on to "accidentally the whole thing" setting up the plot. I mention Aurora's father, The Duke, and his depression. The story begins with Aurora dying, followed by a massive rainstorm threatening to flood their kingdom. She seeks the Sun, Moon, and Stars, saves two realms, and I'm vague about some twists. It's a decent overview of the story. I end the paragraph with a fun note about Austria's history with dukedoms. By the way, I didn't bring up Stardust once ten years ago.
I then talk about the combat. I kept this concise, so good job. I make frequent references to the timeline, mentioning the goal is to interrupt your opponent before they interrupt you, sending you back to the beginning. There are ways to constantly manipulate battle participants' roles in the timeline. I even bring up the ability to switch characters on the fly. I did get it wrong that it sends new characters to the back of the line, though. I didn't experience that my second time through. I probably should have compared it to Final Fantasy X in that fashion. I also hadn't played Grandia yet, but that would have been the best connection to make.
I continue that point by talking about the "multiplayer" aspects and the firefly Igniculus. Igy can slow down enemies and heal in battle. He also gets easier access to the restorative flower pollen. I dared player two to have fun, but I somehow forgot Igy can open several types of treasure chests. I no sold him, which was just pathetic of me.
I then poorly talked about character skill trees. I inferred some can get magical or physical skills, but that isn't true. Every tree is based around a character's "class" of sorts; what they do best and bring to the table. It would be better to have said each tree enhances a character's skills. Aurora, for example, gets a physical route, a path to boost her quick Light spell, and another to up her super Light spell. Óengus gets a branch to up his attack, his defense, or a magic spell called Quake. Robert gets attack boosts, skill boosts, and his antidote buffs. So maybe I was right, but I worded it poorly. Finn, though, only gets magic boosts. The other characters do have physical/magical splits, too. Good job, me. And better job, game devs.
I'm halfway through, and I finally talk about the "platforming." The ability to fly makes running and jumping antiquated, but the amount of hidden things is amazing. The verticality of Lemuria adds so much to the game and it's visuals, while adding some much needed whimsy. There's a word I wish I had used back then. The collectables are fun to find, even if I misspelled "as."
I then gush about the graphics. "A prodigy's watercolor dream" is still an apt way to describe it. Character sprites, portraits, and the world are all stunning. There's texture in those watercolors, mind you, so it isn't flat like Valkyria Chronicles (THIS JS CALLED FORSHADOWING), and Yoshitaka Amano can eat his heart out. I go on to say how the visuals work with Aurora's age and naivety before pinning for more games to look like it. You can tell my eyes have gotten worse because I made no mention of how hard it is to read some of the word bubbles over Aurora and Igy's heads during gameplay. They're fine during visual novel cutscenes, but being legally blind kinda sucks here.
I saved the music for last. I suggest everyone listen to the soundtrack, even if you want to play the game, before questionablely describing what I heard. It's probably the same way I'd do so now! I even posted links to the soundtrack(s), bringing up tracks not on Spotify. Even now, I still think Cœur de pirate, or Beatrice Martin, wrote one of the greatest soundtracks the industry has ever seen. I did not place it in my top ten, though, because I am a fool, a coward, and, most obviously, an idiot. I'd probably throw it at seven, between Final Fantasy VII and Bastion.
Lastly, I bring up the alleged downsides of it being a linear game. This is true, but I failed to mention how short it is. I finished my second playthrough in just under thirteen hours. I want more Child of Light and Aurora antics, and I'm kinda sad it's already over. But I'm not sure how to add to it. Answers on where the circus is and what's in the houses of all those locked doors. Those feel like side quests, though. There's no more main content to do. But it's okay to end a story when it's over. And, maybe this time, I'll keep the memory of this game in my head.
I throw more unnecessary shade at Ubisoft and those boycotting the game because of Child of Light's connection to it, but my closing thoughts are still poignant. "If you're an artist of any style, you're going find [sic] plenty to love in Child of Light. If you're a gamer of any style, you're going to find plenty to love." I said that ten years ago, and it's still the best way to describe CoL. Just, ya know, get a better editor...
That was the past, so let's talk about the now.
I can't believe I forgot about Child of Light. Everything about it is amazing, and I want more of it. The art style is stunning, in the way backgrounds showcase a massive world filled with both fear and whimsy. The music tells a tale of sorrow and triumph on its own. And the story, with all of its heavy segments about a young girl seeking her father and missing her mother, but through it all, saving a world she doesn't belong in just because it's what's best. I don't think the secondary cast holds up to Aurora, but they're all fun and lovable. In a world of rhyme, our white mage is the only one who can't. A sad jester, a thirteen-year-old man with a beard, a horny capitalist mouse, a knight with a checkered past, and a fish girl who's the last of her kind help this strange girl who can fly get home. To say nothing of the firefly who shuns his own people to see her journey through. I felt like crying several times in these thirteen hours.
The bosses can be painfully frustrating, and they definitely don't carry their weight in the plot, but the presentation and gameplay are more than adequate for anyone to enjoy Child of Light.
48/50. It's been a long time since I've played anything this good.
And here's my first review, which I'll give a D- too. https://steamcommunity.com/id/Deadaghram/recommended/256290/
Friday, July 17, 2026
BAZOOOOOO!
Ancient Magic: Bazoo is one of those games that does something new, even by today's standards (keep in mind, I don't play modern games). And that something can be fun, is really rad, and it's wrapped in a lovely box your grandfather bought for you. But your grandpa is a bit crazy, and there's a bomb attached to the lid.
Let's start with the good! I thought the story was amazing. You play a teenager in a small town. Relatable! You choose your name, gender, and background. Gender doesn't seem to mean much, as there's no apparent romance, but your background dictates what your character says when interacting with the world. I chose priest because its skill is lore. I like to think I know about the world and want to show it off, which that does. Anyway, you quickly learn your dead dad was a heroic mage, and you want to follow in his footsteps. Your reluctant mom listens to a bard, who whisks you off to your rich uncle, where you meet your cousin. But your uncle kinda sucks and has you working as a servant until you do something cool. And then you go to wizard school to spend the next two years.
And that's one of the best things Bazoo does. It tells a long term story about how you grow as a mage and as a person and introduces you to characters and concepts slowly. It does feel like a life, but without the boring stuff. Only adventure! And from there, you save the world, but whatever. The story has neat twists about your morality, a strange history, and what happens after "happily ever after." There are even small choices along the way that slightly change the story. I'm not sure by how much, but you can 'skip' certain bosses by making the appropriate decision.
And the battle system is pretty neat too. It looks like your typical turn based affair (where speed matters), but there's a twist. There isn't just one screen all battle participants are standing on, but an entire field. You'll often have to run up to your enemy to actually stab them. It's very D&D in that manner. And sometimes a mob can't hit you because someone is standing in the way. Which is where magic comes in! Magic is very powerful, but it's also even more expensive. MP drains fast. This can be mitigated by actually buying elixir fizzes, but guess what I didn't find until too late. The lack of item descriptions is poor game design, I'll give you that. Most important, don't forget to do the ritual for learning new spells after you've bought the scroll. Your master, another choice you make, only teaches you so many.
Visually, the game is kinda NES Premium. Tile sets are reused, and every village and town feels the same. Not too much variety here, and that includes the spell animations. They try to do something while the magic travels, but it's a meager attempt.
And musically, it's much the same. A few good songs are scattered about, but there isn't much here. It's also forgettable.
But... the world! I got a kick out of seeing it live. Ships sail, and carriages travel as you leave the villages scattered throughout the world. NPCs are almost up there, but there isn't enough side content to make them matter. The game's also pretty short, so they only get so much time.
It's a shame Grandpa planted that bomb, though. The encounter rate in Bazoo is outrageous. It might be the second worst on the console, behind Arabian Nights. I wish the story was longer, but I couldn't suffer through any more encounters and had to tap out early.
I enjoyed playing Ancient Magic: Bazoo... I like games that try new things, even if they're rough around the edges. I didn't know that about myself, but this SNES RPG saga has taught me that. Ogre Battle, Metal Max, and Cyber Knight can attest to that. If I don't finish it... All in all, Bazoo gets a score higher than those games. 32/50. I'm shocked, but I'm not gonna argue with myself.
Let's start with the good! I thought the story was amazing. You play a teenager in a small town. Relatable! You choose your name, gender, and background. Gender doesn't seem to mean much, as there's no apparent romance, but your background dictates what your character says when interacting with the world. I chose priest because its skill is lore. I like to think I know about the world and want to show it off, which that does. Anyway, you quickly learn your dead dad was a heroic mage, and you want to follow in his footsteps. Your reluctant mom listens to a bard, who whisks you off to your rich uncle, where you meet your cousin. But your uncle kinda sucks and has you working as a servant until you do something cool. And then you go to wizard school to spend the next two years.
And that's one of the best things Bazoo does. It tells a long term story about how you grow as a mage and as a person and introduces you to characters and concepts slowly. It does feel like a life, but without the boring stuff. Only adventure! And from there, you save the world, but whatever. The story has neat twists about your morality, a strange history, and what happens after "happily ever after." There are even small choices along the way that slightly change the story. I'm not sure by how much, but you can 'skip' certain bosses by making the appropriate decision.
And the battle system is pretty neat too. It looks like your typical turn based affair (where speed matters), but there's a twist. There isn't just one screen all battle participants are standing on, but an entire field. You'll often have to run up to your enemy to actually stab them. It's very D&D in that manner. And sometimes a mob can't hit you because someone is standing in the way. Which is where magic comes in! Magic is very powerful, but it's also even more expensive. MP drains fast. This can be mitigated by actually buying elixir fizzes, but guess what I didn't find until too late. The lack of item descriptions is poor game design, I'll give you that. Most important, don't forget to do the ritual for learning new spells after you've bought the scroll. Your master, another choice you make, only teaches you so many.
Visually, the game is kinda NES Premium. Tile sets are reused, and every village and town feels the same. Not too much variety here, and that includes the spell animations. They try to do something while the magic travels, but it's a meager attempt.
And musically, it's much the same. A few good songs are scattered about, but there isn't much here. It's also forgettable.
But... the world! I got a kick out of seeing it live. Ships sail, and carriages travel as you leave the villages scattered throughout the world. NPCs are almost up there, but there isn't enough side content to make them matter. The game's also pretty short, so they only get so much time.
It's a shame Grandpa planted that bomb, though. The encounter rate in Bazoo is outrageous. It might be the second worst on the console, behind Arabian Nights. I wish the story was longer, but I couldn't suffer through any more encounters and had to tap out early.
I enjoyed playing Ancient Magic: Bazoo... I like games that try new things, even if they're rough around the edges. I didn't know that about myself, but this SNES RPG saga has taught me that. Ogre Battle, Metal Max, and Cyber Knight can attest to that. If I don't finish it... All in all, Bazoo gets a score higher than those games. 32/50. I'm shocked, but I'm not gonna argue with myself.
Monday, July 13, 2026
Time travel is fun.
I've been playing two games at the same time for about two months. Mediocre SNES games, man. I needed something different! I learned my phone is stronger than my (old) computer by playing some Nintendo DS games on it. Why I played this particular game instead of another Final Fantasy is beyond me, but I wanted something really different, I guess. Anyway, Radiant Historia was really fun!
And the biggest reason why is the story. Or, rather, both stories. Radiant Hiatoria tells two interweaving stories about a war, mana, and human/beastkin relationships. It focuses on Stocke, a top ranking member of Alestiel's special ops division. Or you can leave and become a commander in the primary army. Regardless of your choice, though, you'll be experiencing both. Information and items obtained in one timeline helps propel the other forward. And each side is wildly different, taking you to different areas, meeting different people, and fighting different bosses. There are even bad endings along the way to keep you on your toes.
And that's aided by the characters. Most of them have a reason to be there, grow along the way, and become their own person by the end. Their motivations are clear, they're well written, and they're easy to like. Each brings something slightly different to combat as well. They also get a pretty neat scene through side quests, too. Hell, even minor characters without a name have some vital side quests. In fact, some of those are the key to getting all the endings. You really need to explore everywhere and talk to everyone. Wanting to see what happens next was the whole reason I kept playing.
Largely because the battle system is kinda hit or miss. The idea of it is amazing. There's a manipulatable turn order of Final Fantasy X, but there's also a grid, à la Lunar, for the enemies. You can move your opponents around the grid, with the back row lowering their attack strength. Certain boss groups also get formations that enhance their skills if they ever achieve this, so keep them out of that! You can also push your opponents into each other, letting subsequent combo attacks deal bonus damage to all mobs on that square. This is rad, but this also hamstrings the usable party composition. This also might just be a me problem, though. I focused heavily on moving around the mobs, which only a handful of player actions can do, and not every member gets access to. So I never used most of the group for that reason. Sorry, Aht. There's also the problem with availability. Only Marco and Raynie are stalwarts in Stocke's party, with everyone else showing up depending on the story path or event. Eruca may have just been an NPC. But the basics of moving, comboing, and turning single target spells into AoE is a lot of fun.
The soundtrack is also up to snub. It's filled with tracks I wish were on streaming sites as they're so relaxing. City and field songs are fitting, battle themes get you focused, and story scenes hit great. However, there aren't a lot of tracks here. The OST was composed by Yoko Shimomura, so the quality is assured, but why are there only twenty five tracks? The game deserved more, which makes me want to check out the 3DS remaster. There are more tracks there, so maybe I'll give that a listen later.
Graphics, though, are the biggest dropped ball. I'm pretty sure there are only seven mobs in the entire game, each with four or more pallet swaps. I don't know how limited the DS was, but I've seen more varied games on it. Ya know, like Pokémon... It's kinda inexcusable. The sprites are high quality, mind you, there are just so few of them. And spell animations don't help either. All fire attacks look the same, regardless of caster, usage, or level.
But the charm tries to save it all with a wonderful wrapping. NPCs, even unnamed ones, are vital to the story, and the world feels like an ever changing entity. Exploration grants you strong gear, side quests, and even better (and more) endings. There isn't much replayability here, and the final boss kinda sucks.
Radiant Historia takes you back and forth across two timelines, meeting six great characters, and inviting you to play a unique battle system. In fact, the characters have the highest score of any cast I've reviewed. And the story matches that. It really is a shame about the graphic reuse, as that's the only middling issue here that prevents the game from being an all timer. That's also a personal nitpick, so maybe you're less judgmental and can see RH for its true ranking. As for me, it might be the best 78% game I've experienced. There's a lot of competition for that, though. Definitely a must play for the NDS.
And the biggest reason why is the story. Or, rather, both stories. Radiant Hiatoria tells two interweaving stories about a war, mana, and human/beastkin relationships. It focuses on Stocke, a top ranking member of Alestiel's special ops division. Or you can leave and become a commander in the primary army. Regardless of your choice, though, you'll be experiencing both. Information and items obtained in one timeline helps propel the other forward. And each side is wildly different, taking you to different areas, meeting different people, and fighting different bosses. There are even bad endings along the way to keep you on your toes.
And that's aided by the characters. Most of them have a reason to be there, grow along the way, and become their own person by the end. Their motivations are clear, they're well written, and they're easy to like. Each brings something slightly different to combat as well. They also get a pretty neat scene through side quests, too. Hell, even minor characters without a name have some vital side quests. In fact, some of those are the key to getting all the endings. You really need to explore everywhere and talk to everyone. Wanting to see what happens next was the whole reason I kept playing.
Largely because the battle system is kinda hit or miss. The idea of it is amazing. There's a manipulatable turn order of Final Fantasy X, but there's also a grid, à la Lunar, for the enemies. You can move your opponents around the grid, with the back row lowering their attack strength. Certain boss groups also get formations that enhance their skills if they ever achieve this, so keep them out of that! You can also push your opponents into each other, letting subsequent combo attacks deal bonus damage to all mobs on that square. This is rad, but this also hamstrings the usable party composition. This also might just be a me problem, though. I focused heavily on moving around the mobs, which only a handful of player actions can do, and not every member gets access to. So I never used most of the group for that reason. Sorry, Aht. There's also the problem with availability. Only Marco and Raynie are stalwarts in Stocke's party, with everyone else showing up depending on the story path or event. Eruca may have just been an NPC. But the basics of moving, comboing, and turning single target spells into AoE is a lot of fun.
The soundtrack is also up to snub. It's filled with tracks I wish were on streaming sites as they're so relaxing. City and field songs are fitting, battle themes get you focused, and story scenes hit great. However, there aren't a lot of tracks here. The OST was composed by Yoko Shimomura, so the quality is assured, but why are there only twenty five tracks? The game deserved more, which makes me want to check out the 3DS remaster. There are more tracks there, so maybe I'll give that a listen later.
Graphics, though, are the biggest dropped ball. I'm pretty sure there are only seven mobs in the entire game, each with four or more pallet swaps. I don't know how limited the DS was, but I've seen more varied games on it. Ya know, like Pokémon... It's kinda inexcusable. The sprites are high quality, mind you, there are just so few of them. And spell animations don't help either. All fire attacks look the same, regardless of caster, usage, or level.
But the charm tries to save it all with a wonderful wrapping. NPCs, even unnamed ones, are vital to the story, and the world feels like an ever changing entity. Exploration grants you strong gear, side quests, and even better (and more) endings. There isn't much replayability here, and the final boss kinda sucks.
Radiant Historia takes you back and forth across two timelines, meeting six great characters, and inviting you to play a unique battle system. In fact, the characters have the highest score of any cast I've reviewed. And the story matches that. It really is a shame about the graphic reuse, as that's the only middling issue here that prevents the game from being an all timer. That's also a personal nitpick, so maybe you're less judgmental and can see RH for its true ranking. As for me, it might be the best 78% game I've experienced. There's a lot of competition for that, though. Definitely a must play for the NDS.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Playing a saga backwards.
Silva Saga tells a story over three games and across two consoles. I decided to play the last game first because reasons....
But it was pretty fun anyway!
Welcome to the World of Minelvation! We're at the grand conclusion of it all, so of course, we're gonna play as the world renowned hero, Silva, right? No? We're a random dude with amnesia who was found shipwrecked but suddenly wants to seek out the grand hero? That's odd. So you're this dude, right, who wakes up and starts off on a journey to find Prince Kyral. He walks all over where Kyral was, meeting a lot of his friends. His girlfriend, in fact, is the first person to join him. There are also a few who are even more random than you! There are fifteen people who join your adventure for whatever reason. Some are told by another king, two girls use you as a bodyguard, a guard gets bored, etc. None of them feel important, which they're not; not even you do. They don't even get their own class or spell list. There are no character arcs or vital side quests. They're just here. Which is in line with the bosses. There's pretty much only one worth talking about, and he's a Dragon Quest BBG with a backstory. Ho hum. The plot is also lacking depth. But I still somehow liked it. I'm a sucker for sprite changes and weddings. (1-1-2) 4/10
The gameplay, though, is a lot of fun. Besides your ever changing cast of stupidly named people, you also have access to two other types of parties. You can buy your own brand of mercenaries to travel with you. Those four fight separately for you, so only call them when you want a break. I never used them at all. They were very expensive... I did make liberal use of the Idols, though! These statues function similarly to the mercs but only cast magic. Their HP, MP, and status are restored after every battle (unless they die), and they're free. It's a waste not to. You can also combine two of them to create something (probably) stronger. I have no idea the differences, and magic isn't hella diverse in Silva Saga, so I never noticed. Idols are effective, so I used them pretty regularly and held down the turbo button for their auto battle. Elsewhere, you can warp everywhere, including dungeons, which is gonna lead to bonus points in another review system. Either way, I had fun. There's zero difficulty if you're only using one or two parties, so this is probably what's called a 'junk food' game. 6/10
The music is solid. There are a few near bangers but only one I really want on a playlist. Castles feel regal, towns are peaceful walks, and dungeons are ominous. If the game were more well known, I might call it a measuring stick. I just liked it. 9/10
Artwork is a weird thing. As with my previous review, I think the world sprites are lacking. They're very NES premium. But enemy battle sprites are really flashy. Spell animations have their moments, too. What's weird, though, is how beautiful cities are. Buildings almost rival FFVI, and those shadows are really neat. If there were a few more tilesets, there might be a stronger rivalry. Dungeons look different, as well, but they're all still either caves or towers. I loved what they did with the overworld forests and how they actually hide you. 8/10
And Silva Saga has its moments of shine. The world calls out to each other, and there's plenty of NPCs. The rotating cast sees to that. You can inspect nearly everything in a house, and I should do a deeper dive into that. What happened to that mouse I kept finding? Because of the game's brisk pace and difficulty, it lasts the perfect amount of time. 7:10
Silva Saga II isn't super great, obviously. Maybe if I had played the other two games on the NES, which do have fan translations, these random characters might feel more impactful. There's something here. Or it's just a competently made game in a sea of garbage. Whatever. I just think it's neat and liked playing it. Never found out what a Silva was, though...
34/50
But it was pretty fun anyway!
Welcome to the World of Minelvation! We're at the grand conclusion of it all, so of course, we're gonna play as the world renowned hero, Silva, right? No? We're a random dude with amnesia who was found shipwrecked but suddenly wants to seek out the grand hero? That's odd. So you're this dude, right, who wakes up and starts off on a journey to find Prince Kyral. He walks all over where Kyral was, meeting a lot of his friends. His girlfriend, in fact, is the first person to join him. There are also a few who are even more random than you! There are fifteen people who join your adventure for whatever reason. Some are told by another king, two girls use you as a bodyguard, a guard gets bored, etc. None of them feel important, which they're not; not even you do. They don't even get their own class or spell list. There are no character arcs or vital side quests. They're just here. Which is in line with the bosses. There's pretty much only one worth talking about, and he's a Dragon Quest BBG with a backstory. Ho hum. The plot is also lacking depth. But I still somehow liked it. I'm a sucker for sprite changes and weddings. (1-1-2) 4/10
The gameplay, though, is a lot of fun. Besides your ever changing cast of stupidly named people, you also have access to two other types of parties. You can buy your own brand of mercenaries to travel with you. Those four fight separately for you, so only call them when you want a break. I never used them at all. They were very expensive... I did make liberal use of the Idols, though! These statues function similarly to the mercs but only cast magic. Their HP, MP, and status are restored after every battle (unless they die), and they're free. It's a waste not to. You can also combine two of them to create something (probably) stronger. I have no idea the differences, and magic isn't hella diverse in Silva Saga, so I never noticed. Idols are effective, so I used them pretty regularly and held down the turbo button for their auto battle. Elsewhere, you can warp everywhere, including dungeons, which is gonna lead to bonus points in another review system. Either way, I had fun. There's zero difficulty if you're only using one or two parties, so this is probably what's called a 'junk food' game. 6/10
The music is solid. There are a few near bangers but only one I really want on a playlist. Castles feel regal, towns are peaceful walks, and dungeons are ominous. If the game were more well known, I might call it a measuring stick. I just liked it. 9/10
Artwork is a weird thing. As with my previous review, I think the world sprites are lacking. They're very NES premium. But enemy battle sprites are really flashy. Spell animations have their moments, too. What's weird, though, is how beautiful cities are. Buildings almost rival FFVI, and those shadows are really neat. If there were a few more tilesets, there might be a stronger rivalry. Dungeons look different, as well, but they're all still either caves or towers. I loved what they did with the overworld forests and how they actually hide you. 8/10
And Silva Saga has its moments of shine. The world calls out to each other, and there's plenty of NPCs. The rotating cast sees to that. You can inspect nearly everything in a house, and I should do a deeper dive into that. What happened to that mouse I kept finding? Because of the game's brisk pace and difficulty, it lasts the perfect amount of time. 7:10
Silva Saga II isn't super great, obviously. Maybe if I had played the other two games on the NES, which do have fan translations, these random characters might feel more impactful. There's something here. Or it's just a competently made game in a sea of garbage. Whatever. I just think it's neat and liked playing it. Never found out what a Silva was, though...
34/50
Real quick...
Inindo: Way of the Ninja is a game that's so awful to experience that I'm surprised no one's tried suing it for assault. The visuals are horrible, but it's the soundtrack that hurts the most. The shamisen does not translate to SNES MIDI chips at all.
I have no idea about the plot, as I had to run across Japan for too long and got ambushed by another ninja. Turns out there's a big grind I didn't do.
14/50. Played it a week ago; only now got around to writing about it because it was horrifyingly unpleasant. Getting my wisdom tooth removed was more fun.
I have no idea about the plot, as I had to run across Japan for too long and got ambushed by another ninja. Turns out there's a big grind I didn't do.
14/50. Played it a week ago; only now got around to writing about it because it was horrifyingly unpleasant. Getting my wisdom tooth removed was more fun.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
This could have been something.
Shin Seikoku: La Wares is so niche I can’t find a translation for the title, and Google Translate just pumps out the same thing. I wonder if the developers didn’t think anyone would play it?
I say that because the actual content here is as barebones as can be. I’ve played RPGMaker games with more stuff to do. And what’s interesting is La Wares has two different battle modes! So let’s start there. Combat is a traditional turn based affair where your agility stat matters. Cool, looking good so far. And there are only three characters in your party, which is fine. In theory, this allows those three to shine. I’m a big fan of a small character list. The difference in La Wares is I’m not sure what the differences between those three are. If I really bothered to dig in, I’m sure I could find a Final Fantasy job they’d fit into, but I’m not gonna. All three learn the basic cure spells. Chiffon, the main character, is definitely physically focused, but Agura and Michelda feel the same. Hell, they can even equip all the same gear. I did get a kick that this tiny princess can use a halberd.
And then there’s the robot battles! Yep, it’s a gundam. A singular gundam, in fact. Only Chiffon gets to pilot a robot, and they’re awful. You can only attack or kick. What’s the difference, you ask? Why, it’s the same as a combination of an elephant and a rhino. It’s an ‘eleifIknow! There is no difference. Chiffon is also a terrible pilot because his accuracy is around thirty percent. And the GUI is equally bad. I think I figured out the right side/blue tubes are our HP, but what did the red side mean? To make matters worse, all but the first handful of bosses are done in the mecha suit, so those two mages following you around never get to show off. You don’t need magic in random battles; they’re just so easy.
So the battle system is boring, to the point I stopped halfway through. And I’ll put an emphasis on why in a moment, but what about what I care for the most: the story?
It’s actually pretty solid. I liked two of the characters. A good spunky princess is always nice, and Chiffon is …fine. Nothing negative. I also have no comment on Agura, as her twist is so obvious to anyone with eyes that it isn’t a twist. I wonder if this is based on a novel? The enemy group is, well…
They’re not around a lot. But then again, nothing is.
And the story is filled with melodrama and unanswered questions. What’s this foreign cult trying to assert itself on the playable continent? Probably the Eight Wheel we beat up through the game. But where was Chiffon actually born? His adoption is brought up and instantly dropped. And Agura’s other twist is so out of the blue I feel like I’m watching All My Circuits when Calculon was in a contract dispute. What a dark time for that show. But, oh boy, is it brisk!
Graphics are …interesting. I find the world sprites to be mediocre, but the battle sprites of the enemies are pretty solid. And the world looks alive and lived in, even if there are only two tile sets for towns. And there’s only one type of cave, but you venture into caves ALL THE TIME. Good looking forest, though. Backgrounds are also nice to look at.
Music was also perfectly fine. All fifteen tracks…
But enough beating around the bush, as the bush is already gone. There is no content in La Wares. You can beat the game in eight or nine hours, but half of that is grinding. The actual story comes at you at breakneck speed, and they run out of plot ways to pass the game. No side quests, no characterization scenes, no tangible world building; just grinding. You don’t need to grind for money or rare items; you just need EXP to get through boss walls. The actual common battle enemies die if you sneeze on them, but bosses are just bullet sponges with high evasion. And that’s why I’m over this.
Shin Seikoku: La Wares has a competent baseline for a game. But then they mess with the formula and never expand on that baseline. It’s Final Fantasy XII of 1993 or whatever. And the translation might be a tad too vulgar for me. But maybe I’m still secretly Mormon.
16/50
I say that because the actual content here is as barebones as can be. I’ve played RPGMaker games with more stuff to do. And what’s interesting is La Wares has two different battle modes! So let’s start there. Combat is a traditional turn based affair where your agility stat matters. Cool, looking good so far. And there are only three characters in your party, which is fine. In theory, this allows those three to shine. I’m a big fan of a small character list. The difference in La Wares is I’m not sure what the differences between those three are. If I really bothered to dig in, I’m sure I could find a Final Fantasy job they’d fit into, but I’m not gonna. All three learn the basic cure spells. Chiffon, the main character, is definitely physically focused, but Agura and Michelda feel the same. Hell, they can even equip all the same gear. I did get a kick that this tiny princess can use a halberd.
And then there’s the robot battles! Yep, it’s a gundam. A singular gundam, in fact. Only Chiffon gets to pilot a robot, and they’re awful. You can only attack or kick. What’s the difference, you ask? Why, it’s the same as a combination of an elephant and a rhino. It’s an ‘eleifIknow! There is no difference. Chiffon is also a terrible pilot because his accuracy is around thirty percent. And the GUI is equally bad. I think I figured out the right side/blue tubes are our HP, but what did the red side mean? To make matters worse, all but the first handful of bosses are done in the mecha suit, so those two mages following you around never get to show off. You don’t need magic in random battles; they’re just so easy.
So the battle system is boring, to the point I stopped halfway through. And I’ll put an emphasis on why in a moment, but what about what I care for the most: the story?
It’s actually pretty solid. I liked two of the characters. A good spunky princess is always nice, and Chiffon is …fine. Nothing negative. I also have no comment on Agura, as her twist is so obvious to anyone with eyes that it isn’t a twist. I wonder if this is based on a novel? The enemy group is, well…
They’re not around a lot. But then again, nothing is.
And the story is filled with melodrama and unanswered questions. What’s this foreign cult trying to assert itself on the playable continent? Probably the Eight Wheel we beat up through the game. But where was Chiffon actually born? His adoption is brought up and instantly dropped. And Agura’s other twist is so out of the blue I feel like I’m watching All My Circuits when Calculon was in a contract dispute. What a dark time for that show. But, oh boy, is it brisk!
Graphics are …interesting. I find the world sprites to be mediocre, but the battle sprites of the enemies are pretty solid. And the world looks alive and lived in, even if there are only two tile sets for towns. And there’s only one type of cave, but you venture into caves ALL THE TIME. Good looking forest, though. Backgrounds are also nice to look at.
Music was also perfectly fine. All fifteen tracks…
But enough beating around the bush, as the bush is already gone. There is no content in La Wares. You can beat the game in eight or nine hours, but half of that is grinding. The actual story comes at you at breakneck speed, and they run out of plot ways to pass the game. No side quests, no characterization scenes, no tangible world building; just grinding. You don’t need to grind for money or rare items; you just need EXP to get through boss walls. The actual common battle enemies die if you sneeze on them, but bosses are just bullet sponges with high evasion. And that’s why I’m over this.
Shin Seikoku: La Wares has a competent baseline for a game. But then they mess with the formula and never expand on that baseline. It’s Final Fantasy XII of 1993 or whatever. And the translation might be a tad too vulgar for me. But maybe I’m still secretly Mormon.
16/50
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