Articles by Rav

A loving look at best and the worst of the genre.

Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (Estapolis Denki)

April 9, 2012 in Series, SNES by Rav | 1 comment

I was surprised when I looked up the publication dates of this game. It came out in June of 1993 in Japan, and was translated and released here in December of 1993.  There are some rough spots in the translation (no worse than other games of that era) and Lufia II is the one that’s infamous for translation issues (glitchy graphics in a specific dungeon and various text issues.)  Lufia & The Fortress of Doom is a polarizing game for me.  I played it as a kid and struggled all the way to the end of the game.

In the introduction, Maxim and Selen have an inspirational speech.

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Destiny of an Emperor II (Tenchi o Kurau II : Shokatsu Koumei Den)

March 23, 2012 in NES, Series by Rav | No comments

It’s actually pretty hard to talk about Destiny of an Emperor II, since it’s basically the concepts of the first game with better balance, polish, and other such things.  It came out in 1991 from Capcom, and was never translated into English officially.  However, there’s a pretty nice translation available.  The only complaints I heard about the translation was some non standardized spelling (for example, certain names don’t match the most common translation of a name.)

The art here for the Peach Orchard Oath looks more refined and detailed compared to the previous game. Guan Yu's lost the reddish facial coloring, and his beard is surprisingly short.

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Destiny of an Emperor ( Tenchi o Kurau )

March 17, 2012 in NES, Series by Rav | No comments

Destiny of an Emperor came out in 1989 in Japan, and was released in the US a year later.  The publisher was Capcom, who didn’t do a lot of RPGs in the era, though they did release Sweet Home in 1989 (a interesting horror RPG.)  Considering that the game came out in 1989, there’s some definitely old school elements to the game, but it does have some interesting ideas.

The introduction to the game shows the Peach Tree Garden oath. Note that Guan Yu (on the left) has a different skin tone compared to Liu Bei (middle) and Zhang Fei (right.)

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Looking at the RPG in Roguelikes

March 14, 2012 in meta by Rav | 2 comments

I only tried TOME (Tales of Middle Earth) due to posts called “A Day in the Life of -” on the main forum.  The game’s been updated now, and supposedly it’s changed to the point where the familiar features are quite different from the game I remember.  Still, the stories were basically explaining game mechanics, odd and interesting events, and weaving a story for the character around them.  One of the best writers tended to take odd character combinations (a sorcerer with amazing speed, but ridiculously low health) and turn them into interesting characters (the one he was writing was a sort of British professor type) as well as explaining how to survive.

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More Romancing SaGa

February 23, 2012 in Series, SNES by Rav | 4 comments

Romancing SaGa was released in 1992 from Square on the SNES.  I actually managed to kill the first boss in Albert’s scenario, so I thought I’d put up some screenshots to give my readers a feel for how the game looks and the issues I’m having.

From top to bottom, this is Albert, his sister, and two guards fighting an enemy in the caves. The 13 damage is from the enemy using a knife.

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SaGa games and Obscurity

February 21, 2012 in SNES, Uncategorized by Rav | 2 comments

So, I started to look at Romancing SaGa for the SNES.

I was warned that there were a bunch of issues with the game.  For example, you need 30,000 gold for a quest, but you need to sell an item when you have 9,999 gold to get a jewel (representing 9,999 gold.) Any excess gold while you have 9,999 gold is lost.  I was warned that the final boss would probably be impossible for me to kill.  You cannot get all the items to weaken the final boss (since some quests weren’t finished.)

I wasn’t expecting that the music is lovely in the game.  I wasn’t expecting that the graphics look a lot like a mix of Final Fantasy IV’s towns with some pretty complex battle sprites.  I wasn’t expecting to feel as lost as I was.

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Legend (Legend – Ashita he no Tsubasa)

February 15, 2012 in Gameboy / Gameboy Color by Rav | No comments

Legend is a 1991 Gameboy RPG, published by Quest.  There’s barely any discussion of the game that I can find, and it sounds like it’s pretty obscure.  As games go, it’s got some odd flaws, and definitely seems pretty generic.

This is the starting area of Legend, with the hero on the left at the bottom of the screen. This feels a lot like Twin or a dozen other RPGs, doesn't it?

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STED update

February 15, 2012 in Actual Play, NES by Rav | No comments

Redid the boss battle, and managed to keep Corona alive.  Unfortunately, much like the grinding near Orvis, I’m hitting another brick wall in regard to levelling.  You see, the next area is a new continent once you use your pass to unlock the tunnels.

The hero's present stats. Notice that we have 1492 credits. The grinding will take a while.

The monsters, as per usual, are worse on the new continent, and there’s a money grind as well.  Basically, if you bought the best of the new weapons, you’re looking at 28,000 gold.

One curious thing about how levelling works in the game.  There’s actually a sort of anti-cheat function.  Experience levels seem to be dependent on your stats.  So, for example, if you give yourself extra points to build the character, you’ll level more slowly.  You will also get less EXP if you’re wearing better armor.  It may actually be better to fight with bad equipment till you hit the level you want and then upgrade.

Other than that, I fear, I’m merely pushing my way through grinding in the game.

Simularity in RPGs

February 4, 2012 in meta by Rav | No comments

If you talk to someone who hates JRPGs, or RPGs (pen and paper or video game style ones,) they tend to bring up simularity or a lack of innovation.  You can find, for example, tons of D&D clones and there’s even the term “fantasy heartbreaker.”  This basically is used to cover games which claim to be someone’s better than Game X game.  Unfortunately, it’s the same flaws as Game X, and often the new elements are poorly planned or utterly unnoticeable.  In console / computer RPGs, there’s a pretty consistent complaint about novelty / innovation / sameyness between game series / games / etc.

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Silva Saga II

January 25, 2012 in Series, SNES by Rav | 2 comments

Silva Saga II is a very pretty SNES game.  It was released by Seta in 1993, and features a number of glitzy graphical effects.  The battle system and plot advancement, however, feels a lot like a more retro style Dragon Quest clone.  A translation was quite recently released for the game, but it’s pretty playable in Japanese, as long as you can figure out where to go.

Note the reflections in the water for the hero. The sprite work in the game does look pretty nice.

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