Graphics: This is a very late PS1 title, and it really shows, the character models are very well-rendered and detailed, and they animate pretty smoothly for the system, too. The character designs are memorable, ranging from a skeleton in a clown outfit, a flower, a dancing strawman, a mushroom-headed man, a mermaid, a mexican wrestler, and some 30 or so other recruitable characters. The backgrounds are very detailed, with some of the best art I've seen in a game. The enemies are also well-animated and rendered. The motif of the ocean is ever-present, always showing itself whenever possible. The overall theme is very island-ish, with beaches, towns floating on rafts, and of course, pirate ships. The battles have a little pan-around of the arena before the fight, establishing where it takes place very well.
Sound: As a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it has an equally memorable soundtrack, words really can't do it justice. The overall theme is, again, the ocean, and the sound effects added during the beginning of a battle, from seagulls, to the rocking of a massive boat, all enhance the atmosphere greatly. The battle theme itself sounds chaotic, even written in an unusual meter, and fits the ocean motif very well. The boss theme is intense as well, with a tribal sound to it. The Island of the Damned has a very grim, desolate theme, capturing the death and despair around it perfectly.
The Another World theme captures the feeling of a world very much like your own, but vastly different in many ways.
Addictiveness: The game has several branching paths through the plot, and loads of characters to recruit, it'll take you at least three playthroughs to get them all. The world is vast, and fun to explore, there are neat cutscenes here and there to discover, and experimenting with different party combinations is really fun, too. Each character will get you slightly different dialogue in each cutscene, my personal favorites to tag along are Kid and- well, I don't wanna spoil it, but let's just say you'll know her when you meet her! ;3
Story: The story itself is engaging, the characters are likeable, and the plot never gets dull, always throwing a twist at you when you least expect it. Problem is, it also gets very, VERY confusing past a certain point (those who've played it know what I mean). As much as I like it, it could've been explained a heck of a lot better.
Depth: In addition to everything mentioned above, there's also the unique battle system. Basically, every turn, you pick between 3 different intensities of attack, 1 being the mildest, 2 being aggressive, 3 being outright vicious. 1 has the highest chance of hitting the enemy, 3 has the lowest. The probability of hitting the enemy with each intensity increases as you attack, so you can either stick with an intensity, or climb your way up. Each character has a stamina bar that gets used up with each attack. The magic and item systems are replaced by Elements. Every time you attack, higher tiers of elements become available, and using an element makes it unusable again until the next battle (unless it's a consumable, then it's gone forever). Using an element depletes your stamina entirely, so you'll have to switch to another character after using one.
Going into the rest of the game's mechanics would take several pages, but it's easy to learn after you've played for a while, plus there's a very thorough (but thankfully optional) tutorial at the beginning of the game.
Difficulty: This game's difficulty's about the same as any Squaresoft RPG, with the occasional hair-pullingly difficult segment here and there.
Overall, this game is a must-play for anyone who likes RPGs, and possibly some who normally don't. Graphics: This is a very late PS1 title, and it really shows, the character models are very well-rendered and detailed, and they animate pretty smoothly for the system, too. The character designs are memorable, ranging from a skeleton in a clown outfit, a flower, a dancing strawman, a mushroom-headed man, a mermaid, a mexican wrestler, and some 30 or so other recruitable characters. The backgrounds are very detailed, with some of the best art I've seen in a game. The enemies are also well-animated and rendered. The motif of the ocean is ever-present, always showing itself whenever possible. The overall theme is very island-ish, with beaches, towns floating on rafts, and of course, pirate ships. The battles have a little pan-around of the arena before the fight, establishing where it takes place very well.
Sound: As a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it has an equally memorable soundtrack, words really can't do it justice. The overall theme is, again, the ocean, and the sound effects added during the beginning of a battle, from seagulls, to the rocking of a massive boat, all enhance the atmosphere greatly. The battle theme itself sounds chaotic, even written in an unusual meter, and fits the ocean motif very well. The boss theme is intense as well, with a tribal sound to it. The Island of the Damned has a very grim, desolate theme, capturing the death and despair around it perfectly.
The Another World theme captures the feeling of a world very much like your own, but vastly different in many ways.
Addictiveness: The game has several branching paths through the plot, and loads of characters to recruit, it'll take you at least three playthroughs to get them all. The world is vast, and fun to explore, there are neat cutscenes here and there to discover, and experimenting with different party combinations is really fun, too. Each character will get you slightly different dialogue in each cutscene, my personal favorites to tag along are Kid and- well, I don't wanna spoil it, but let's just say you'll know her when you meet her! ;3
Story: The story itself is engaging, the characters are likeable, and the plot never gets dull, always throwing a twist at you when you least expect it. Problem is, it also gets very, VERY confusing past a certain point (those who've played it know what I mean). As much as I like it, it could've been explained a heck of a lot better.
Depth: In addition to everything mentioned above, there's also the unique battle system. Basically, every turn, you pick between 3 different intensities of attack, 1 being the mildest, 2 being aggressive, 3 being outright vicious. 1 has the highest chance of hitting the enemy, 3 has the lowest. The probability of hitting the enemy with each intensity increases as you attack, so you can either stick with an intensity, or climb your way up. Each character has a stamina bar that gets used up with each attack. The magic and item systems are replaced by Elements. Every time you attack, higher tiers of elements become available, and using an element makes it unusable again until the next battle (unless it's a consumable, then it's gone forever). Using an element depletes your stamina entirely, so you'll have to switch to another character after using one.
Going into the rest of the game's mechanics would take several pages, but it's easy to learn after you've played for a while, plus there's a very thorough (but thankfully optional) tutorial at the beginning of the game.
Difficulty: This game's difficulty's about the same as any Squaresoft RPG, with the occasional hair-pullingly difficult segment here and there.
Overall, this game is a must-play for anyone who likes RPGs, and possibly some who normally don't. |