Tales of Phantasia

Tales of Phantasia
RPG - Playstation
Backup memory - 10 save slots
1 Player

Love-hate. That's the feeling I get from ToP. As the first entry to Namco's popular Tales series, I can definitely see how it sets itself apart from other RPG series. Yet, that doesn't make this title impervious to complaint. For every step of progress, there's a wall holding it back too.

I was immediately drawn into the game by its dark story. Maybe I don't play enough RPGs, but I can't remember any that began as tragic as ToP. Somehow, it pulled me in. As an anime-ish story, there are definitely a bunch of light hearted moments too. But the tone of the game remains grim throughout. Nevertheless, sometimes I felt like the situations were forced to keep that grim tone. What was initially refreshing became excessive.

I felt the same with the battle system. At the time of its release on the Super Famicom, ToP was cutting edge. The fights happen in real time on a 2D plane, where you have almost full control over one character, and can direct AI or manually use items/cast spells for your party members. I say "almost full control" because things still happen in "turns". They're extremely quick so it's -almost- like playing a hack 'n slash, but there are some slight delays that remind you it's an RPG. The unfortunate drawback is, this is a party-based game and you need to be able to manage your other party members while you're actively controlling your leader. Luckily, most of your party members will be magic users so it's easy to have them cast whatever you want via a menu. What's nice is they even allow you to queue up the next spell for the following turn too. Since it plays out in real time, characters need time to attack & cast spells. If they get hit within that animation, their turn is cancelled. So there's an urgency of hitting your enemies as fast and as much as you can so that their attacks/spells are cancelled, while not allowing them to be close enough to cancel your attacks/spells.

While all of this was fascinating at first, it quickly becomes a chore as you're thrown random battle after random battle after random battle. True to old school RPG form, you'll be facing random encounters as you walk around the overworld and dungeons. The nice thing is ToP does have a few enemies you see on screen. But random encounters are unfortunately the norm. Battles become extremely repetitive. Most require little other than mashing the attack button with your team leader, Cless. Even the boss strategies are easily reduced to: "Hit them over and over so they don't have a chance to attack." The later battles are ridiculously brutal to the point where if you let them get off a single attack, they will have you in a trap until your entire party dies. It's extremely frustrating to be juggled over and over with no hope of getting out. And that's the kind of game ToP ends up being: Juggle or be juggled. Neither of which are that interesting to me.

One area where Phantasia shined is in exploration. Most of the dungeons are layed out well, with some interesting puzzles that require some logic to it. There are a couple that I couldn't figure out without a FAQ, but they're generally clever. There are also a lot of secrets and optional quests you can do, including a multi-floor dungeon with some of the hardest enemies in the game. They are far more difficult than the enemies you face in the last dungeon, so seasoned RPGers should have a blast.

I come out of Tales of Phantasia with mixed feelings. I can see how during its time of release, it was a bold step to change how combat was done. I can also appreciate how Namco put a lot of effort into refining standard elements of the genre. But ToP retains too much of the old jRPG conventions for me to truly enjoy. My feelings toward the game shifted from amused to annoyed to satisfied to bored to frustrated. In the end, I'm somewhat glad I saw it through, but I'd definitely never want to touch it again. The amusement wears off quickly.

Metroid Fusion

Metroid Fusion
Action - Gameboy Advance
Backup memory - 3 save slots
1 Player

I've heard the complaints of Metroid Fusion before going into it: Too linear, too short. But my favorite Metroid game is actually Metroid II, which is also linear and short. So I'm not bothered by it. In fact, it may have been those "complaints" that attracted me to Fusion in the first place. As the first Metroid game in a long while, Fusion has a lot to live up to.

Let it be said: Metroid Fusion is not a bad game. But as far as Metroids go, it's at the bottom.

It has a lot of the external qualities of Metroids: maze-like environments, lots of hidden items that encourage experimentation and exploration, classic weapons and abilities, energy tanks, missile tanks, endings that depend on speed-runs, etc. Everything feels very familiar, and the map is layed out quite cleverly.

But some of the additions to the engine do a lot more harm than good. For starters, the hand-holding is awful. There are a lot of "Navigation Stations" spread throughout. When you encounter one, the computer terminal gives you your next immediate goal. The problem is, not only do they give you the map of the entire area, they also limit your routes so that you can only go through with your objective. Both things kill the exploration that was so integral to previous Metroid games. Metroid II also limited your progress in a way, but it wasn't as blatant. In fact, Metroid Fusion not only limits where you can go, but it also closes off routes that you came from. So if you missed an item in the past, there's a chance that you may never again be able to back to acquire it. It's pretty frustrating because you never know how much freedom you'll be given. The fact that they give you a full layout map also makes the game incredibly easy and takes the thrill out of it. It doesn't always show the secret routes, but it already spoils most of the game by telling you where things are. Another irritation is the lack of skippable dialog. It just bogs down a game that is all about running, jumping, and shooting the crap out of enemies.

That being said, it's not all bad. I like how the game automaps and displays a piece of it in the upper right hand corner so you are always aware of your current positioning. It just makes the experience more user-friendly. I also enjoy the challenge of the enemies and bosses. It seems like even with a lot of Energy Tanks, boss battles are always intense and downright difficult. I've had to continue multiple times, and even then, most of the time I barely defeat them with a fragment of my lifebar.

I finished the game with just under six hours on the clock, with a 55% item completion rating. I took my time trying to find all the secrets I could, so I'm surprised I missed so much. Speed runs are supposed to take closer to 2 hrs, so the replay value depends on how much you're willing to invest on finishing it faster and faster. If the lack of length scares you, then you probably should avoid all Metroid games.

Ultimately, Metroid Fusion was an enjoyable romp, but there are definitely changes to the game that hinder it from being much, much better.

Ever17 -out of infinity-

Ever17 -out of infinity-
Visual Novel - PC
Hard Drive - 40 save slots
1 Player

I've heard a lot about this game from a friend who absolutely adores it. I'm usually really big on gameplay, and the last visual novel I played (Kanon) turned me off to the genre. But Hirameki International translated the PC version for the English market, kept Japanese language intact, and was on sale so I took a chance.

I'll be honest. When I finished it, I wasn't impressed. It wasn't particularly special. The characters didn't stand out. The story moved at a snail's pace. It was... well, boring. But since it's one of those games that you only get a piece of the puzzle each playthrough, I resolved to understand why my friend loved it so much. So I played. And replayed. And replayed. And replayed. I became obsessed. I actually began writing down questions that came up - things that didn't make sense, things that were unexplained. I was shocked at the revelations and puzzled at new riddles. But after clearing the final ending, I was pretty amazed at how many loose ends were tied up.

E17 is quite subtle. It's a mystery, except you don't even know what the mystery is. In fact, you don't even know it's a mystery in the first place, at least until you've played it several times. You don't know why the characters are in the situation they're in. Only how they react. Slowly, as you play through each of the endings, only then will you be able to formulate the right questions. And finally when you clear the last scenario, they become answered.

While I don't really consider it much of a "game", I have a huge amount of respect for the way the story and pieces thereof, unfolded. I've never encountered anything like it, and aside from the first playthrough, I was glued to the game. Highly recommended with a caveat... the game can only be fully appreciated when all endings are cleared. So if you're not willing to invest the time to play it to death, you won't really "get" it at all. But if you're willing to put in the time, I'm sure you'll be thoroughly captivated like I was from start to end.

Unfortunately, the English version is not without its pitfalls. Some of the lines are adapted into very colloquial English expressions. While not a literal translation, they give the intended meaning of the Japanese lines, so care was taken there. However, you'll also encounter some broken English that detracts from the rest of the game. It's like they had multiple people doing the translation with various levels of English fluency. And even more than that, are some serious quality control issues. There are typos, incorrect spacings, and even undecipherable words that make me wonder if the script was proofread at all. Generally though, these errors, while annoying, are not game breaking and you can pretty much figure out what they're trying to say. However, there was one subtlety in the game that was completely lost in the conversion from Japanese to English which affects one of the revelations. Aside from that though, the poor English is little more than an annoyance, and not enough to detract from the overall storytelling experience.

Me loving a visual novel. Who would have thought?

Drill Dozer

Drill Dozer
Action - Gameboy Advance
Backup memory - 3 save slots
1 Player

Also known as Screw Breaker in Japan, this is Game Freak's return to form. It's the first non-Pokemon game they've made in the past 6 years! And if this is what they can do when they're not tied up, I'm all for it killing Pokemon entirely.

Drill Dozer is completely awesome in every way. I knew it looked interesting the moment I saw it, but that didn't prepare me for the incredible ride that was ahead. Screw Breaker is very simple. You can jump. And you can drill. But what's completely unexpected is the many different ways you can use your drill so that every new stage is fresh with challenges.

The unique thing about the drill is that the strength is variable. You start every stage with the weakest setting - first gear. Along the way you'll find upgrades to acquire 2nd & 3rd gear. Whenever you drill, a meter will go up and then down. When the meter drops to zero, your drilling stops. But if you have upgrades, you can shift up to the next gear which elongates your drilling time and makes it more powerful. You have to manually shift gears much like you would in a car: Wait til the meter goes near the max ("redline") and then shift. It's a very cool system and makes drilling that much more engaging.

Another neat property of the drill is that the L trigger drills counterclockwise and R, clockwise. For most of the game, it doesn't matter which way you drill. But there are some obstacles that require specific drill-rotation. So you'll have to do some quick thinking at times to distinguish when to use what.

Bosses are designed so that you need to figure out patterns. You'll get hints as to how to defeat many of the earlier ones, but at the later stages, you'll have to figure out weakpoints yourself. The fights are very clever, very reminiscent of Treasure's better efforts.

All of this adds up to a game that's a joy to play. There's plenty of challenges to be had in the course of Drill Dozer. For those gamers who might find the obstacles a little difficult, you can always continue at the last screen with full-heal for a small price. So it's very accessible for gamers of all skill levels. For expert gamers, I'm happy to say that once you finish the game, new areas open up with tricky spots that require skillful mastery of the controls to access. The normal game isn't really "easy" either, especially if you don't use the continue feature.

The amazing thing about Drill Dozer is that it's so simple... yet GameFreak manages to make every stage seem fresh and totally different from the last. You would think that a game that only involves jumping and drilling would get old fast. But just when you think you've seen it all, Drill Dozer introduces a new way of using your drill that you'll have to adapt to. The game is very well designed.

Without a doubt, Drill Dozer is the best game on the GBA. It's simplicity and brilliance all in one. The joy of gaming is back!