Although I'd like to hug him for introducing me--in "JRPG Spotlight Vol. 1"--to the Westone-developed, Enix-published Dark Half, which was released for the Super Famicom in 1996, for instance, I'd like to hit him for the very same reason. After all, if I'd never heard of said game, I wouldn't have spent more minutes (OK, hours) than I'd care to admit reading about, staring at screenshots of and watching videos of it.
I've yet to spend much time with volumes two and three--which shine a light on Radia Senki/Radia Wars Chronicle and Emerald Dragon, respectively--but I plan to do just that sooner rather than later. At the very least, I hope to get through them before volume four shows up.
8 comments:
I'm a fan of both Westone and T's Music, so I should probably check this out. The premise and soul counter system as described in the NeoGAF thread sound very interesting. Screenshots remind me of Rings of Power for the Genesis, but I bet this is a much more polished effort than that one.
I'm a fan of Westone, too, and definitely plan on checking this out at some point. Have you ever played the PCE version of Emerald Dragon, IvaNEC? It's always interested me...
Yep, I've played through Emerald Dragon (and thanks for the reminder--I need to play it again and get some screens so I can do a review of it for my site). For me, it was a nice game, certainly worth playing but not nearly as good as the elite PCE RPGs like Manji Maru. But some people think it's really special. A good buddy of mine LOVED it and wrote an excellent review of it that you can check out here if you're interested:
http://www.honestgamers.com/reviews/3140/Emerald-Dragon.html
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the game -- and linking me to your friend's review. I'll check it out!
Also, you're reminding me that I'm going to have to get a CD-ROM2 system or even a DUO eventually -- as I *really* want to play the Tengai Makyo games. I actually bought Manji Maru when it was released in Japan (back when I had a Turbo and CD unit), but it was before the days of GameFAQs and I had no idea what I was doing. Ha!
BTW, IvaNEC -- I have to admit I'm bummed that you don't let visitors to your blog post comments. I'm guessing it's because you don't want to deal with spam, etc?
Your early Manji Maru experiences remind me of my own. I bought it years and years ago based on its reputation. At the time, I couldn't read any Japanese at all, and I hadn't played through many imports of any kind yet, let alone epic RPGs. Needless to say, MM seemed totally overwhelming, and I didn't think I'd ever be able to get anywhere in it. Moving past that initial intimidation factor (which was especially high in MM because the menus seem loaded with options at first) was probably the toughest part of getting into PCE RPGs.
About comments, we didn't shut them off until very recently. We really enjoy and appreciate feedback, but we weren't getting very much of it through that feature. Instead of telling us what they thought of the site or contributing their own opinions on the games, people were using the comment form to post "sell me this game" pleas or pointless gibberish.
Ha! It sounds like we had similar first experiences w/ Manji Maru :) I wish now that I had given it more of a chance back then, but, like you said, the menus were sooooooo intimidating. Someday soon I'll give it another go, I hope.
RE: comments on your blog -- I can understand that. Still, let me know if you ever decide to allow them, OK? I'd certainly share my thoughts and not ask you to sell me the games :)
One thing that's nice about Manji Maru's menus is that they work in pretty much the same way as Kabuki Den's, so if you figure out one set, you've already got the other worked out as well. For that reason, I usually play them back-to-back and recommend that others do the same, though I imagine not everyone will want to devote seventy-five straight gaming hours to Tengai Makyou. :)
I'll definitely let you know if we work out a good way to handle comments. And thanks for your interest in the site, it's very much appreciated!
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