Recent reviews by RonjaLin

What is "Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster"?

Well, obviously it is the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy VI, or in the United States Final Fantasy III (SNES). This review necessarily has to contain some spoilers, so please just get the game (possibly on a sale) and play it instead. I fully recommend it!

The controls allow you to easily access everything important thanks to the menu system, an idea that originated in Dragon Quest I for the NES and was quickly adapted by nearly all JRPGs. Combats happen in kind of real time, similar to Final Fantasy V. The game also can be played with a keyboard.
You can save at any time in the overworld, or at predetermined save points in dungeons. The Pixel Remaster also added a quicksave functionality that does NOT delete the save upon loading, so you can have one save at any time now in addition to the "hard" saves. Entering any new room also creates an autosave (like the quicksave, the autosave also is always overwritten with the newest one).

During the story you will be able to learn magic with every one of the more than a dozen characters.. The storyline is where the game truly shines. The Empire wants to rule the world, and Emperor Gestahl has devised a plan to control the world with Espers, of which Terra is one. What are Espers? How can Terra overcome the odds and save the world from the Empire? And - if you heard some things about the game before - why does this include a (fully voiced) opera scene? This and much more is figured out by you as you play the game. You start out in a cold city named Narshe, After around an hour or two the game splits into three paths or "scenarios" that you will all have to play out. The story is one of the strong points of the game, as is the gameplay, the music, the... well... everything except part of the menuing and level-up system where you must carefully plan to min-max but can win the game even without that at the time you reach level 50+.

Like almost every Final Fantasy game, there are missables and one-time dungeons, so using a guide is advised for 100 percent completion. The updated map system from the Pixel Remasters allows you to see how many items and treasures are left in a specific location. But some things you can discover in the world would require some exploration skills.

The gameplay is typical Final Fantasy: New ideas meet the solid battle system. This time you have multiple ways of fighting at your disposal, an idea that originated in the job system in Final Fantasy III and was perfected in Final Fantasy V. Here it is more like Final Fantasy IV where the jobs are bound to characters however. For example, you can use tools to inflict damage and even instant death, or do so with "bushido" techniques.

The music, as said before, is again absolutely masterful. Nobuo Uematso by the time of this game had absolutely perfected his skills. As just one example from very early on, Terra's theme is one of the most memorable not only in this game but in video game history.

The graphics are a great update to the SNES graphics while still staying rather true to how the original should have looked like. Final Fantasy VI was the last 2D entry in the series, Takahashi, Shibuya, Sasaki, Inazawa, and Tanaka created a wonderful 2D pixel world that looks even better in the remaster. For more background information - pun intended - you can see this interview: https://web.archive.org/web/20231001175827/https://shmuplations.com/ff6/

The gameplay is what you expect from a Final Fantasy game. You run through the world, gain experience from random battles, level up, and experience a story that you will think about long after playing the game. The Final Fantasy series never spared any of its characters from death, so you'll always be on your toes about if the story will kill off one of your main characters, any NPC that grew on you, etc.
When you are a bit through the game you get to an "auction house" and a "coliseum", minigames needed for 100 percent completion that allow you to get some better items.
Speaking of items, you can equip two relics again, similar to Final Fantasy V. This will lead you to nearly always being able to equip an item that gives you an answer to the task at hand as well as giving your characters a permanent (as long as the relic is equipped) bonus effect (I chose haste).

As you explore the world, conquer dungeons, fill up the bestiary, the gameplay is rather linear, but eventually it will open up and you are in an open world where you can do things in the order you want.

There would be a lot more to talk about that makes this game great, but it would necessarily have to contain big spoilers. Instead, let me just add one last thing for those in the know: Yes, that move still works against that boss in that forest. Some unintended features are so good they are better left unfixed. And thankfully this is one of those occasions.

The length of the game is around 35 to 50 hours if you go for 100 percent completion. I needed almost 41 hours.

Do I recommend the game? Well, the first half of the game was a 12/10 for me. Especially that opera scene. Just that alone is worth playing the game. The second half got worse in my opinion, but was still a solid 8/10. I guess after playing five other Final Fantasy games before the gameplay just wore out on me.

Recommended? Yes, absolutely! My favorite, after all is said and done, among the Pixel Remasters is Final Fantasy V for the gameplay, but Final Fantasy VI for the story and... did I mention the opera scene? I think so. But just in case I forgot my previous mentions: There is an absolutely amazing opera scene. So if you don't have the game, get it on a sale, or the entire Pixel Remaster collection. They are all great, except maybe Final Fantasy III.
And if you have the game, why are you reading this? Install it and play it!

What was "Soul's Spectrum: Awakening"?

Soul's Spectrum: Awakening was a prologue to the game Soul's Spectrum. According to the developer on the Steam forums, the prologue is also included now (as optional content) in the full game.

Based on the RPG Maker ZX engine, the developer - according to the credits around 20 people were involved, if I counted it correctly - created a nice little puzzle game gem. The story is intriguing, the controls utilizing the gamepad feel good, and the graphics are fitting as well.

Gameplay
The player is one of four forms of the same character. Depending on what form you are in, different weaknesses and strangths exist. The special action of a character is usually activated with one button (X on the XBox controller). This could be teleporting, disappearing (similar to Shadow in Illusion of Gaia), throwing a bone, or rolling. Despite there being four different character forms, this doesn't feel overwhelming and is easy to learn, as it makes sense what the weaknesses are: Human and skeleton form are vulnerable to spikes on the floor, for example. Walking into a floor trap with non-corporeal character forms doesn't hurt, as they have no body.
Switching between forms is easy but not available at all times. Instead, one has to light candles, or die. You can save at checkpoints, which are vast as they are also part of the puzzles. Wait, how can they be part of the puzzles?
Here is the brilliant idea: The checkpoints actually let you respawn there when you die, but in another form. Not the form you saved at, but one form less corporeal than you died in: Human becomes Skeleton, etc.
Dying multiple times means you can switch to other forms that way. And this allows you to solve the puzzles, as you now have other options on where to go.

In the prologue, or "awakening", I avoided all rats on the floor. I don't know if those were opponents or just for decoration. Those aside, there was one enemy at the end which chased me but I escaped easily. This brought a small action element into the otherwise chill game.


What is worrying to me is the question if the full game offers more substantial changes, or if it is just more similar puzzles. The awakening introduced new mechanics with its character forms, but it seems that more than those four also wouldn't make sense. Obviously the full game is out but I don't have it (yet). So you'll want to check the reviews there.


Controls
The entire game can be controlled with the gamepad. For more details, see Gameplay above.

Graphics
The graphics are very atmospheric, but show that they are made with the RPG Maker. This isn't a bad thing, as everything looks very nice, but be aware that it looks tile-based, and plays that way too. To me this is not a bad thing, but I know some people unfairly dislike it in general.

Sound
The sound design was done well here too. There is not much to say about it. I didn't hear any memorable music tracks, but they were atmospheric.

Recommended?
Overall, if this was still available for free, or if you got it when it was, I would recommend you to give it a try. The developer mentioned also that, as opposed to the prologue, there is no achievement for needing x or less deaths in the full game. So for the prologue you might want to watch a video to get the achievement for the very beginning, and after that save, and reload whenever you make an error. Or just do it like me and use a video for the entire prologue. I still enjoyed playing it.
Recommended: Yes, if it still was available. You'll probably want to wishlist the full game, or at least check out the reviews there!

Ignore this, this is only for the Steam Awards.

Really good game, though. Check it out! Just gets repetitive after a bit.

[SHORT REVIEW]

What is "Cloud Climber"?

"Cloud Climber" is what you'd call a "walking simulator", played only with keyboard and mouse. It takes 15 minutes from start to finish. But it was one of the most melancholic, yet beautiful experiences I ever had in such a timespan.

The developer poured his heart into that game, which originally was created for a game jam, as he reveals in the (paid) Fan Pack DLC's developer commentary. And it shows. With just a few notes that you find throughout the game the story is conveyed in parts. You are left with a sense of wonder, but ultimately also a sense of beauty that is impossible to explain as it is not on a visual level but something that touches the soul.

I'd definitely recommend that you play through this once.

(Short review)

What is "RetroArch"?

RetroArch is an emulator for various old video game platforms based on the libretro framework. It supports fully customizable controls (with only one input device per input device, i.e. you can't map some keyboard keys and controller buttons to a single controller, which is no issue anyway but I thought I should mention it as some crazy people probably want to do that). The "RetroAchievements" framework is also fully implemented, so people who dump their cartridges as ROMs, CDs as ISO/CUE/BIN, etc., can play their old video games on the PC. In addition, there are many games on Steam that offer ROM files that can be played with emulators.

Many Steam games are supported even, there is a guide for that in the community guides. Notably the SEGA Genesis collection that is (partially was) sold on Steam uses ROMs that can easily be renamed and used here, or at least it was like that years ago, so I don't think that has changed. Some other developers made NES versions of their games in addition to the Windows versions, which are offered as DLCs.

RetroArch for Steam comes with many DLC that add "cores", i.e. emulators, to it. In addition other "cores" can be added. To use some cores and systems you will have to read the data from your hardware and copy it to the PC, such as BIOS files.

If modifications of video games are legal in your jurisdiction, after dumping the correct cartridges to your PC, you can also download so-called "ROMhacks" from the internet, apply those patches, and play those. Games like Super Mario World and the Zelda series offer many such fanmade modifications and many RPGs offer randomizers. Other games have maybe one or two big modifications. If you are a hardcore collector who has Japanese games, fan translations also can be applied.

There are of course also other means of obtaining files that can be used with RetroArch, but that will not be discussed here.

All in all, RetroArch is a good GUI to use with the emulator collection, i.e. the "cores", to have the libretro functionality and RetroAchievements all in one program, replacing most standalone emulators. After the initial setup and possibly some tweaking you are good to go wild on your collection without having to plug in the real hardware. As save functionality also is supported, including savestates, and other conveniences of emulation, you don't have to worry about your batteries in cartridges dying or your memory cards wiping your data.

An in-depth review would be beyond my capabilities. As such I hope this short review is enough to give a short overview.

Recommended: I can recommend RetroArch if you want to use emulators.

Note: In an earlier version of this short review, I made a mistake about what engine was used. The game was created entirely from scratch in Unity, the developer responded. The review was updated to reflect this, I failed my due diligence here to look into the game folder, as the menus felt right at home to me. My apologies go to the readers and the developer.

This review is rather short, but of sufficient length, I hope, to inform about this "I.C.E. Breaker" version (the start of the full game, it seems) that indeed broke the ice for me.


What is "Jack Move: I.C.E. Breaker"?

This game is essentially a prologue (or the start of the full game) to the upcoming title "Jack Move".

As the gameplay is reminiscent of classic RPGs, I will point out how it differs from those. Note that the game actually uses the Unity engine, and was made from scratch. In an earlier version of my review I had that wrong, and I apologize to all readers and the developer for this. Knowing this, it is even more impressive what was created here, as all was created from scratch.

The controls support the XBOX gamepad, which is a really nice way to experience games in general. Alternatively keyboard controls also work, obviously. The battle system is overhauled, so skills are leveling up as well. In this slice of the game at least there is no party, but it seems from what I saw that you will spend most - if not all - of the game with only the single character, the girl Noa.

The setting is a cyberpunk world with high pollution. You battle your way through the office of a megacorporation, then escape spectacularly. For a moment I thought this prologue ends on a cliffhanger, as you put your life completely into trusting a guy you're in contact with - your business partner in crime, it seems.
Oh, yes. You're a criminal. You steal data to blackmail people, or in this case a megacorporation. That can't end well...
or will it? I guess we will find out in the full game.

There is a tutorial that explains the intricacies of the battle system. The major downside I found so far is that you can use "cache" all the time, i.e. with cache you defend and postpone your move (instead of losing it). So you can chain two moves together, attack or heal in the first and "cache" in the second. That way you always defend against enemy attacks, apart from when they attack you first.
Oh, yes, you can see the predicted order in which you and your opponents will attack, but not what attacks they will use. But they also won't be able to predict your "Jack Move", the limit break that deals huge damage if you do a rhythm minigame correctly. People with dexterity issues or who don't like this minigame can just set the Jack Move to always do the maximum damage.

As for the battle system, you can install hardware and software modifications. One of those is an equipment system, the other is a skill system where you swap out skills depending on what you need in the current situation. This can also be done during a fight, but uses up a move. However, it guarantees you always have an answer, as long as you have "Data" (skill use points, essentially MP) available. There are items that refill health and data, as well as some stations that also refill you for free. At least there was one in the prologue.

You can freely save at any point, it seems.

Recommended?
All in all, this small portion of the game is around 25 minutes long. If you play over 10 minutes, you can also win the full game, so it is definitely worth playing through the demo if you enjoy cyberpunk RPGs.

Trying for months now to download this. Simply does not work. Sad!

What is The Indifferent Wonder of an Edible Place?



This is the kind of game that I can't review.

It is art. Art that you have to experience. Any review would just spoil the experience.

Just the basics: You play from the first person perspective. The genre nowadays would be called a "walking simulator". Back in my day it was called First Person Adventure. Semantics don't matter. What matters is not the gameplay, which is very basic, but the story. The idea. It is a short story in video game form. It transcends the genre.

I recommend this so you can experience it. It takes around 10 minutes to complete. Maybe 15 if you read slowly.

What is "Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition" (just "Dark Souls" from now on)?

Dark Souls is a Third Person action adventure game that is known for its high difficulty, which however is not significantly harder than games from the 1980s and 1990s. The boss fights are impossible at first, but once the player learns the patterns, they get possible.

Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to games such as the King's Field series. FromSoftware created a masterpiece which I never played with Demon's Souls and upped the ante again with Dark Souls, a game that is as much about the player improving himself as about the hopelessness of the struggle of humankind.

The controls with a gamepad are nicely done, but have some quirks that are part of the game design, for example jumping is done by running and then pressing the run button again (which is usually the roll button or jump back button if quickly pressed, the run button when held). All in all, the controls are something the player has to learn at first, but the tutorial marea in the Undead Asylum offers enough space for this.

The music is top-notch, especially the final boss battle is memorable for having a perfectly fitting soundtrack. The sound effects are helpful and fitting as well.

The game offers a cooperative mode of sorts, for which the DSFix plus a tool called DSCM is suggested, which makes it easier for players to connect. A PvP mode is also included. Both are optional and can be avoided, however, if the player decides to "unhollow" in the game to play coop, he always runs the risk of being "invaded".

Death does not carry a big penalty in the game - the player can just go back to where he was and retrieve his lost Souls. However, dying again in this state DOES carry a big penalty: The souls are gone then. Souls are the currency used to level up, buy items, upgrade items (together with other materials which partially can be bought), and more.

The game is rather short, but takes a vast amount of time at first for normal players, as they will have to level up, improve their equipment, find equipment, etc., which sums up. In theory the entire game is beatable in less than two hours with all achievments, as speedrunners proved, but in practice the game length for the first game could be far over 50 hours. I finished the game with around 115 hours on the character that got all achievements, which requires two and a half playthroughs, and includes doing side quests and things.

This also leads me to the bad part of the game: Much of it is a huge Guide-Dang It. Most things are obvious or are found out while playing, but some side quests - for example Siegmeyer - are outright brutal without a guide. One must talk to NPCs and choose the correct options, or can permanently mess up (at least in the current playthrough).

New Game Plus makes the enemies more difficult but they also give a lot more souls, so in total the game gets easier on subsequent playthroughs. Probably it gets harder at the time that one should have all achievements, and New Game Plus 7 outright deletes the character upon death, or at least I heard so.

The character has different attibutes that can be leveled up, multiple playstyles are possible - ranged, different kinds of melee, sorcery, pyromancy - but in the end equipment and attributes need to cooperate, as some equipment has specific necessities. The bigger the equipment, the more strength it will need, for example. You can use a dagger easily, but a vast greataxe requires strength. On the other hand, some weapons require dexterity. All attributes have their sense, although there is one - Resistance - that is not worth leveling up.

Now I could talk about the story, but actually it is up to the player to find out the story. That is part of the fascination of the game, there are many small stories told by NPCs, the intro tells you what happened prior, but it is up to you to explore the world and talk with people. Personally, I don't like this kind of storytelling.

So would I recommend Dark Souls? Absolutely! The gameplay is amazing, and the feeling when you finally "git gud", as the developer described it once, is amazing! Every progress is a hard-fought battle, but makes you feel great when achieving it.

There is a bit more to the game - you can join Covenants, for example - but those were the most important points IMO.

Sadly, as of writing this, the game was completely removed from Steam. The "Remastered Edition" replaced the "Prepare To Die Edition", so to speak. I don't have that version yet, supposedly the content is the same but it has slight technical issues, but also makes the multiplayer work easier and does a small quality of life improvement. So now there are only Steam keys floating around that cost a fortune. However, if you have the game already, try it out! You will either love or hate it. Personally - I loved it!

Recommended: Yes, if you have it already and are willing to "git gud".

PRELUDE

The following review is only for "999". I have not completed "VLR" yet, but it plays similarly.


REVIEW, PART 1

What is "9 persons, 9 hours, 9 doors"?

The game that usually is abbreviated as "999" is part of the "Nonary Games" series of visual novels. The both games in this package, "999" and "Virtue's Last Reward" consist of the novel parts as well as Escape Room puzzles to be solved, which are interwoven with the story and - despite at first feeling tacked on to have a gameplay element - being an integral part of it.

In 999, the PC version adds the Flow, which is a chart of all events that happened and information where the storyline splits up. This is helpful as in the Nintendo DS version you had to replay the game entirely from the beginning when you finished one of the endings - here you can jump to any point in the story, "Radiant Historia" style, to continue from there and possibly making different decisions (or replaying Escape Room puzzles if you want so).

The game is played entirely with the mouse, keyboard inputs are optional to assist you. This means you can shortcut with the keyboard, but can't play the entire game with it. I didn't test the gamepad functionality, but supposedly you can play through the entire game, including the Escape Room puzzles, with the gamepad only.

The story revolves around the "Nonary Game". You awaken - after being abducted - in a confined space with several beds. Water enters through a broken window. Soon you figure out, you are on a ship and meet with other people. The nine of you must escape by playing the "Nonary Game". Within nine hours, the nine people must solve escape room puzzles and find a way out, but due to numbered doors through which only 3-5 people can go at a time, it is necessary to split up all the time. The story develops in a way that includes not only horror - without becoming a horror game, i.e. there are no werewolves, zombies or other monsters (other than your fellow humans), the setting itself is just horror - but also crime and mystery. In the end, you want to escape, but to do so you must also find out why you are there, and you will also find out that there is a reason why exactly the people were chosen for the Nonary Game that are there.

The gameplay really consists mostly of following the story, making important decisions every now and then, and solving the escape rooms in-between. All in all, it took me around 20 hours to see everything, including one permanently missable ending (the only one that gives no Steam achievement and is not needed for one). The reason why the ending is permanently missable has an in-story explanation, so I don't want to spoiler it. But it is a bad ending at first where you might or might not miss vital information. If you have that information, the game continues there.

The soundtrack is fitting, similar to other visual novels such as "Phoenix Wright", which however would be more of an adventure game in my opinion. The voice-acting is not completely done but on important lines, which is irritating. The acting itself is fine for the genre - in an action game it would lack panick and urgency.

Overall, 999 is a classic, it was one the instant it came out. So the question here is not if I would recommend it - obviously I would - but if I would recommend the Steam version, and for what price.
The latter depends entirely on what you are willing to spend on it. Personally, I think the best value is gained by waiting for a sale and getting the bundle with all three of the "Zero Escape" games.

Supposedly - from the time that other reviewers have - the second game in this package, "Virtue's Last Reward", adds another 30 hours of gameplay, totalling a bit over 50 hours. I am a bit over 10 hours in it, and from what I saw so far, it takes 8-9 hours to reach the first (non-)ending there, and then due to the "flow" mechanic, and due to other endings maybe being reached shorter, the time of 30 hours might be fitting to reach all endings. This however would be the topic for part 2 of this review after finishing said game.

Recommended: Yes, but wait for a sale and get all three "Zero Escape" games - the two in this pack and "Zero Time Dilemma" in the "Zero Escape Trilogy" bundle. After all, you want to experience the entire story of all games, once you play them. They are different enough to not feel old after the first game, but also seem to reference each other, so playing them in a specific order, that of releases (999, then VLR, then the Zero Time Dilemma) is recommended, according to the forum.