Man, I like EDF games, but the YUKES ones (like most (all?)) Yukes games, this seems awful. Insect Armageddon, and Iron Rain both just didn't have the honesty as a real EDF game. Bummer.
As a counterpoint, I will say I am legitimately really liking World Brothers (but will agree w/you on IA and Iron Rain not being great). I think I'm almost finished with my first run through the campaign, and I think a lot of the mechanical changes they implemented are interesting and make the game more fun and less grindy. And in a lot of ways, it feels like a game made by fans of the series for fans of the series.
I like the whole conceit of having the groups of 4 characters that you are rapidly switching between (which I suppose led to some problematic stereotypes in their desire to make it feel like an international affair with the whole world coming together). I guess maybe I'm willing to give that a pass because the game is very goofy, and it doesn't feel like it is trying to be offensive. I guess, where is the line? There's a stereotypical American cowboy character, a Canadian man in a bear suit, a ninja, a Viking, etc. Are any of those okay? I don't feel like people flipped out when Mario was running around in a sombrero in Odyssey.
The game is also weirdly polished for an EDF game, solid frame rate, nice art style, and with dialogue that is fun and well-delivered, rather than just "good" campy schlock.
I was not expecting a comparison by Alex of the much maligned book to Johnson, but I kinda get hear it. Although the latter character I love, and the former...not so much. Now we just need the parents running around screaming "BIG BONER" and then we'll have a high quality video game!
I feel like I would like this game more sans the divorce premise, but keep all the weird stuff and anthropomorphized objects (like Forgotton Anne). The co-op platforming mechanics seem pretty decent as well.
That sucks about your save Jan, sorry!!! I actually turned off the auto-saving in this game (and in the newest Ys game as well) because it feels like heresy to me to have an auto-save in a JRPG. Pretty sure that is just a product of me playing games of this genre my whole life and the fact that you always had to find a save point, manually save on the world map, etc. I'm totally used to doing the save management for these types of games. And this game is pretty good about it, you can manually save basically anytime except for when you are in a dungeon and not at a save point.
Jan mentioned it, but I like how quickly this game throws you into it, it doesn't have the slow start a lot of JRPGs have, and a lot of the mechanics are available from the jump. You get a full party almost immediately and can start messing around with job swapping.
The narrative and stuff is pretty boilerplate, so I feel like you have to be into this game for the mechanics (which I think are pretty fun, a good battle system goes a long way for me), but I think all the voice acting is quite good (except for the player character). I've mainly had to do grinding because the boss battles in this game are HARD; you need to be leveled pretty well AND have a good strategy.
Sorry this comment is long! Jan, you did a good job showing off this game and explaining it :)
p.s. did the localization team purposefully name all your party members after famous musicians??? I just made that connection while watching this video, haha.
I was unfamiliar with Blackthorne before this, but seems like a cool game.
I still stand by Cursed Castilla EX being the best modern Ghosts 'n Goblins game around. Recommend people check that game out if they want a game in that vein.
Jeff, If you do end up playing any more PC-88 games, I would personally be interested in seeing some of the earlier Ys games that I know originated on that platform like Ys I&II (aka Ys: The Vanished Omens and Ancient Ys Vanished ). I've played the PSP remakes of those games, but have never messed around with the original versions.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 was a game I wish I liked more. I should like it, since I love both Minecraft and Dragon Quest proper. But something was just lacking from the experience.
I think a lot of it was that I just wanted a place to be creative while the game was so insistent on making you do things its way. It can't just say "build a farmhouse" and then let you figure out how to do it. It has to tell you what to build, when to build it, where to put, and what materials to use. Rather than letting you be an architect, the game only lets you be a subcontractor for the worlds most micromanaging municipality.
In the end, it just felt like it combined the worst parts of an RPG (derivative story, pedantic tutorials), with the worst parts of Minecraft (horrible inventory management, mediocre combat).
Even though I love that game, I can totally see that being the case for some people. As a non-creative, the game's mix of like 80% guided tasks / 20% creativity really hit the spot for me. I need some kind of tasking list to stay focused, this is why Minecraft really does nothing for me. Being able to make whatever you want in the hub world and goof around there was about the level of freedom I was looking for.
I will agree about the combat, that was the one thing they didn't improve at all going from DQB1 to DQB2, and I wish they had. At least give me like a dodge roll or something!
Some might say Dragon Quest Builders 2 was one of the best games of 2019 :)
Had not heard of Comet 64, but looks up my alley as a weird idiot who likes playing programming games in my free time when not programming at work. I like the visual style of it quite a bit. Thanks for mentioning it, Vinny!
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