Esper Dream 2: Aratanaru Tatakai is a Role-Playing game, developed and published by Konami, which was released in Japan in 1992.
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Ótimo jogo!
O conheci há poucos dias e, sinceramente, teria sido um dos meus favoritos na infância se o tivesse jogado. Infelizmente não veio para o ocidente. Ainda bem que existe internet! Recomendo àqueles que gostam do estilo hoje conhecido por action-rpg.
O conheci há poucos dias e, sinceramente, teria sido um dos meus favoritos na infância se o tivesse jogado. Infelizmente não veio para o ocidente. Ainda bem que existe internet! Recomendo àqueles que gostam do estilo hoje conhecido por action-rpg.
It's amazing to think even in 1992 Konami was still making games for the Famicom. This is also a sequel to a much earlier game on the FDS called Esper Dream. Both of these were Japan only and while I haven't played the first game, I wanted to see if this was any good due to barely anyone talking about it.
Esper Dream 2 has you trying to save the stories of books in the library with 5 in total you need to do. This is an action RPG so you'll be getting weapons, armor, items and fighting random encounters for level ups. You'll visit many places like a night starry mountain, a harbor that lets you go underwater, and many more. You'll have to help the problems of each world and you'll get a helper for each world, it's pretty formulaic.
Battling plays similar to the first game where it's still top down and you have to shoot every enemy down or you can retreat by just touching the edge of the screen. You can level up all the way until level 33. Now these battles start out fun but they can very repetitive and can get boring, especially once you max out on level. They don't even try to sometimes change the patterns of their placement or movement. Sometimes the RNG layout has them be stuck in terrain which feels kind of sloppy.
The game also lets you use ESP powers though if I gotta be honest. I only ever used the teleport that lets you escape battles easier or let you go back to the library, the light that lights up dark areas, or barrier which makes many enemies and bosses a joke as it leaves you invincible for a few seconds. Once you get a lot of ESP it's the one I used a ton. It helps the game sometimes has enemies drop ESP and Health refills.
Speaking of those bosses, they're terrible in this game. It actually starts out promising as the first boss is a fair and not too long drawn out fight but pretty much everything after that is a joke. No really, they're all going to probably be knocked out in what feels like 5 seconds outside of the last couple of bosses. Even the boss rush which I normally hate isn't even bad here cause the bosses are such jokes.
The game does start out pretty fun though but it begins to nosedive after world 2 where the 4th world is just a pain in the ass to navigate. It's not the worst thing ever but compared to the others, it's kind of obnoxious. The 5th one isn't too much better in what feels like you're going through the same few routes every single time.
You may have noticed I haven't talked about the 3rd world. Well that's because once you beat the 4th world, the protagonist of the first game comes to the library to tell you he did the world for you. If you try entering the world, the 2 NPCs in the room will say everything is fine, he even gives you the items you need. I can't really say if it's rushed or maybe just a neat way to show continuity? The last world isn't much better either just being a straight line for the most part.
Oh btw let's talk about that last level where you can't even enter it without the best armor. Meaning you have to do a fetch quest across every world. Isn't that just so awesome? Granted most of it is very quick to do but it's not like the armor has some special thing to it, it just ups your defense by 10. It took an already boring and not fun 2nd half and continues to drown it down more.
If there is one thing I'll praise about it is the presentation. This game is amazing looking for a Famicom game. I love the choice of pastel characters and the environments all look so good. The artwork for characters is great and there's some really cool effects done too. Even some locations look really good and would make for nice screenshots. The music is also pretty good. This game uses the VRC6 chip for extra sound and it really shows. Give it a listen if you haven't.
Esper Dream 2 in some ways is disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's still a decent game. I just don't like how much the game nosedives for me in being fun in the 2nd half. Regardless of my enjoyment, it's kind of a shame just how neglected the game is here. You think it having a fan translation would shed some light on it here more but not it's still pretty obscure. While it could be a lot better, you could do much worse then this and plus at least visually and audibly it's great. Try it out if you're curious.
Esper Dream 2 has you trying to save the stories of books in the library with 5 in total you need to do. This is an action RPG so you'll be getting weapons, armor, items and fighting random encounters for level ups. You'll visit many places like a night starry mountain, a harbor that lets you go underwater, and many more. You'll have to help the problems of each world and you'll get a helper for each world, it's pretty formulaic.
Battling plays similar to the first game where it's still top down and you have to shoot every enemy down or you can retreat by just touching the edge of the screen. You can level up all the way until level 33. Now these battles start out fun but they can very repetitive and can get boring, especially once you max out on level. They don't even try to sometimes change the patterns of their placement or movement. Sometimes the RNG layout has them be stuck in terrain which feels kind of sloppy.
The game also lets you use ESP powers though if I gotta be honest. I only ever used the teleport that lets you escape battles easier or let you go back to the library, the light that lights up dark areas, or barrier which makes many enemies and bosses a joke as it leaves you invincible for a few seconds. Once you get a lot of ESP it's the one I used a ton. It helps the game sometimes has enemies drop ESP and Health refills.
Speaking of those bosses, they're terrible in this game. It actually starts out promising as the first boss is a fair and not too long drawn out fight but pretty much everything after that is a joke. No really, they're all going to probably be knocked out in what feels like 5 seconds outside of the last couple of bosses. Even the boss rush which I normally hate isn't even bad here cause the bosses are such jokes.
The game does start out pretty fun though but it begins to nosedive after world 2 where the 4th world is just a pain in the ass to navigate. It's not the worst thing ever but compared to the others, it's kind of obnoxious. The 5th one isn't too much better in what feels like you're going through the same few routes every single time.
You may have noticed I haven't talked about the 3rd world. Well that's because once you beat the 4th world, the protagonist of the first game comes to the library to tell you he did the world for you. If you try entering the world, the 2 NPCs in the room will say everything is fine, he even gives you the items you need. I can't really say if it's rushed or maybe just a neat way to show continuity? The last world isn't much better either just being a straight line for the most part.
Oh btw let's talk about that last level where you can't even enter it without the best armor. Meaning you have to do a fetch quest across every world. Isn't that just so awesome? Granted most of it is very quick to do but it's not like the armor has some special thing to it, it just ups your defense by 10. It took an already boring and not fun 2nd half and continues to drown it down more.
If there is one thing I'll praise about it is the presentation. This game is amazing looking for a Famicom game. I love the choice of pastel characters and the environments all look so good. The artwork for characters is great and there's some really cool effects done too. Even some locations look really good and would make for nice screenshots. The music is also pretty good. This game uses the VRC6 chip for extra sound and it really shows. Give it a listen if you haven't.
Esper Dream 2 in some ways is disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's still a decent game. I just don't like how much the game nosedives for me in being fun in the 2nd half. Regardless of my enjoyment, it's kind of a shame just how neglected the game is here. You think it having a fan translation would shed some light on it here more but not it's still pretty obscure. While it could be a lot better, you could do much worse then this and plus at least visually and audibly it's great. Try it out if you're curious.