f13.net

So, I was supposed to review this game. I got it about a month ago and have logged X hours in it. I say X because it's probably barely into the double digits of what seems to be a game that would take 120 hours to finish if you're any sort of completist.

You're probably wondering why I don't just review it anyway. Well, frankly, I'm not sure I'm qualified. I'm not sure anyone is qualified. The entire game is a weird mutant hybrid of 4 different genres (action, RPG, shooter, and sim).

Here is but a taste of the mechanics in the game:
1. Real time combat, you shoot an arrow, it can miss.
2. Crafting (sim!), you collect body parts and can turn them into creatures.
3. Fly around AS a dragon and shoot shit!
4. A largely incomprehensible story. It's not bad, I don't think, I can't really tell. It's all over the map.
5. No morale system! Thank god! Or at least, I'm not sure there is one. Frankly, I can't tell.
6. Read Minds! Yes, every NPC in the game can have their mind read. If it costs more than "a little bit" of experience, it's probably worth doing.
7. Use experience to upgrade stuff and read minds! This is just a weird system.
8. European Jank.

As was mentioned in another thread, this is a game that screams European jank. It's very much a catchall RPG. It does a little bit of everything. The presentation is fantastic, the GUIs are insane, and it's not entirely buggy. It never crashed for me and never fought with my decisions. The world is largely handcrafted and gorgeous. A lot of the dialogue is hilarious, some not so much. I'm really not sure of whether or not the game takes itself seriously.

I'm being vague because I honestly don't know whether I can recommend it or not. It's just such a strange game. Having played it, I will say that it's probably worth $50 or whatever to the European RPG enthusiast just because they're trying so much new stuff here. It's a game with a large amount of breadth and a surprising level of quality given it's European origins. It's also a game that has no clue what it wants to be and seems apt at letting you make a million decisions without actually knowing which ones are nearly ever important.

Final Verdict(s):
1. Do you like European RPGs? Buy it.
2. Do you like RPGs? I don't know, get the demo. Maybe it's up your alley. If i had to be specific, it's a cross between Fable, Mass Effect, and Europe.
3. Do you like fun? Maybe buy it? Get the demo. Something like that.
4. Are you afraid of Europe and new ideas and bizarre mechanics? Don't buy it. This game will make you wet yourself.
5. Are you frightened by too much to do but none of it being AMAZING enough to sway you on a certain path? Don't buy it.

P.S. This game has no balance to speak of. It's all over the map, It's hard for me to say "challenging" so much as "surprisingly difficult at certain parts."

P.P.S. Some of the animations and art are amazing. This bears repeating.

P.P.P.S. The world is stupid huge. This bears repeating as well.

Thanks for the review? Sounds intriguing, at least. What does European Jank mean? Is that where a Euro game tries too hard to be cool by using jargon they think sounds like American cool lingo?

It's where European companies start doing crazy shit that sometimes work and sometimes doesn't but it's always bizarre. This game is full of that. Sometimes it works here, sometimes it doesn't. It's not a very coherent "review" simply because I'm not sure what to review it as or even where to start. Too much going on, which is probably what's keeping me from playing it.

Trying to be innovative used to be an universal thing. And its always hit and miss, thats why there are so many clones of proven concepts.

I love me some eurojank.

I'm not quite sure I'd call it innovative. In most cases it comes across as "didn't know better" or "tried to reinvent the wheel and made a square." For sure, they take more risks, but I'm not sure it's always for reward. European games are strange. It's to western Action-RPGs in a way that Drakensang is to say, Dragon Age.

(http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/928/928161/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4-20081107040707411_640w.jpg)

As expected Sky, trying to prove a point with a shitty picture. Let's try that again:

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39720/games/persona/IMG_2012.jpg)

European games are still stranger in their mechanics than Japanese games are in their dialogue.

I love the ways you build up social stats in Persona.. They're realistic, not weird.  :grin:


I just tried Two Worlds... I think I've had my Eurojank fill for the year.. But this does look like a much better game (that wouldn't be hard). Might check it out when I'm desperate.

I have to say that the XBox 360 demo seems poorly thought out, since as far as I could figure out, there's no way to save or resume the demo, and yes, the demo is long enough to want to save, it seems.

Seemed interesting enough to rent from what I saw though, although the combat mechanics felt...off.  And right trigger as the jump button?  Huh?  Naturally the controls aren't remappable.  (Tangent/Rant: Why are games still made where controls can't be remapped!?)

I'm sure there's a rule with euro games where you will inevitably ask a question like that.. "Why are games made where ______ ?"

Well, that isn't just a euro games problem, I see it constantly in console games and even occasionally (although pretty rare) in PC games.

This is a PC game. I wouldn't touch it on a console.

I actually liked the demo.  I didn't get too far into it because I saw enough that I liked but don't want to ruin it for myself when I get the full copy.  That said, I'll likely look for it when it hits $20-$30. 

It could have used a little more polish, but it's not terrible.  It's pretty, that's for sure.

That's why the Witcher is the best euro rpg.

I picked this up as a rental, only did the starting area so far and I liken it to Two Worlds, which I just finished last week and enjoyed in small concentrated play sessions over the past year. There's nothing gripping about it, also nothing pushing me away atm.