I don't know if I can even do this game justice with any review. So many times we review games where there's nothing left to be said about them. How does one handle a review of a game where there's EVERYTHING to say about it?

Peret em Heru, along with Azusa 999 and Corpse Party, were the holy trinity of RPG Maker 98 games that laid foundation for the subgenres of RPG Maker horror games and RPG Maker walking sims as we know them today. In other words, Peret em Heru walked so walking sims could walk along with horror RPG Maker games, say that 5 times fast.

It's easy to see why this game gained some clout. From the moment it boots up, the most minimalist screens imaginable pop in along with droning and much too loud noises of the desert wind distorting into almost abstract horror. All while messages about how even for the most known wonders to man like the Great Pyramid of Giza, there are so many aspects veiled in mystery to our history. Much in the same way I would be creeped out reading about say, Anastasia's disappearance as a child, the opening of this game made me feel spooked out over how much there is to know in this world that can never be known.

What makes Peret stand out is that it's an RPG Maker game that's actually an RPG. The closest comparison I have is Sweet Home, with the character death screens in particular. The battles and cutscenes are impressively animated, with the PC-98's pallet being used to its maximum potential to create stark contrasts between bright characters or creatures interspersed with dull worlds. I was constantly unsettled having to watch so many bright and lived things suffer in this inhumane, completely dead world. Striking down animals in gory ways (ie slicing a lizard's head clean off) made me feel utterly guilty to have defiled such sacred ground.

I don't want to give away much about the story at all since the sense of mystery is something not to be spoiled. I don't think it was particularly that deep, even if I liked some of the themes that were surprisingly conveyed such as how the older generation can hold the younger generation down. The fan translation was definitely a bit colourful, but it fit well enough given the characters' roles and ages in the story. There was going to be a lot more meat on the story's bones, but much of it was sadly cut as seen on the TCRF page: https://tcrf.net/Shuujin_he_no_Peret-em-Heru

The real motivation to play the game is to get the hell scared out of you. I would say it mostly hits in that regard. My main problem with the game is that like with Sweet Home the combat can become too easy too quick if one is experienced at playing JRPGs. The battles can be unnerving on a visual level, but never enough to terrify me that I might be in danger. However the battles are serviceable enough to not outright detract from the game and I think the developers realized the exploration and puzzles were the strong suit regardless, so the gameplay is still overall decent in my opinion.

Having written my sincere thoughts, I feel as though this review is so surface level and safe but I truly do urge everybody interested in RPG Maker games to give it a fair shake. I used Retroarch with the NP2K core for speedup purposes, and it serviced me fine enough.

tldr, Peret em Heru is an interesting experimental indie games from days long since past. It's a real nice history lesson of a game that is pretty short for a JRPG (roughly 3-5 hours long) while bringing out a constant feeling of dread for all those frustrated that so many parts of our history that defined our cultures are forever buried knowledge.

Oh, and about the OST? Azusa 999 clears ez I'm afraid https://youtu.be/8a5zf0NQOwU?t=24

Someone really watched a Sean Connery prestige film and was like "Do you know what the boomers watching this truly need? An arcadey Nintendo shmup that takes advantage of the latest toy gimmick gun!"

And, make no mistake, it's a very fun and unique game, but I can't help but feel its audience may have been... kneecapped a bit by the movie being adapted into something where you fight a giant cartoon squid in a sexy mode 7 level https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1116608022110797824/Hunt_for_Red_October_The_USA_-_Snes9x_1.60_2023-06-09_01-46-33.mp4

The graphics are pretty alright on SNES. It does the usual technique of making the water backgrounds very wavy and disorienting, much like say Super Bomberman 3. The enemy sprites aren't the most memorable but I suppose it fits. The sprite scaling in the lightgun segments is pretty nice as well, reminded me that this is one of the only 10 or so games to take advantage of the Super Scope and even now I wonder what potential the device could have fulfilled if more people were interested in it.

Red October isn't your typical shmup, AT ALL. There's a massive health bar, which already makes it more fun than at least 90% of arcade shmups by default. While most "space shmups" and the like are very fast-paced, Red October is slow and meticulous, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It emulates the feel of a slow deep dive into the ocean and being assaulted by unknowns. Thankfully, the player has a huge arsenal to work with. There is a weapon for each face button, and they hit just about every pattern imaginable. The player can either strafe with their shots or make hard turns, and if the player is moving up or down the bullets carry momentum which is super helpful for the penultimate boss.

Also I have to give mentions to the special weapons. The EMP disables all enemy projectiles for a while, which I suppose is realistic but utterly breaks most of the boss fights lol. I prefer the camo personally; Red October features stealth gimmicks that are actually pretty integral to surviving the experience, as some enemies are nigh-undodgable otherwise. Stealth elements in non-stealth games tend to be very tacked on, so I was pleasantly surprised by this to say the least.

And I have to give special mention to the soundtrack. It's all classical shit you've heard a million times, but it still never gets old hearing Ode to Joy in 16-bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8t45dOIFx0

Main flaws with the game? It's not the most fitting adaptation, it's very easy to 1cc to the point it should take ~2 hours max, and the cutscenes are uninteresting. But frankly, this sort of unique experience is the kind of shit I live for. Again, it's a meticulous underwater shmup with 5 different weapons, stealth mechanics that are fleshed out, and chiptune classical music for the OST. There's nothing quite like it and I would rec at least one playthrough for any hardcore shmup fans.

The words "retro rhythm game" absolutely evoke dread from me. To my surprise however, this unreleased masterpiece is not only just as playable as it was in the 90s, but even more so.

Sound Fantasy is something else indeed. It's a rhythm game that's playable entirely with a mouse. With modern mouse technology allowing for adjusted scrolling speed and the works, this meant I could set my speed to the 2nd slowest option and it felt absolutely perfect in terms of smooth movement.

In fact, everything about the game is accessible. The Pix Quartet and Star Fly modes are rather freeform if one wishes to get their brainjuices flowing, but what really steals the show is Beat Hopper. This can be best described as Q-Bert meets a concert. Clicking on a tile of a different colour or size can affect the abstract world's background, the pitch of the instrument, how long it is played, etc. Not to mention, the number of lines within make it immediately obvious how many times the player is allowed to hop on each square. If the player jumps outside an allowed hitbox, they lose hitpoints but the game is actually very generous, perhaps even too generous. It's easier to show than tell, here I suppose

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1101973056248889344/PERFECT.mp4

The real kicker is that the player has 2 means of progressing through a level; they can either clear every square like a badass, or they can left-click to progress through a stage automatically. This means there is a risk and reward element where the player can either clear with a high score, or save a life to continue. I think the system would be improved if the player was required to return to the center square for the auto-progress, but as is it's my one minor flaw.

Also yes, this means speedrunning the game entails just mashing left-clicks. And that's hilarious https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1101973575579222108/sneedrun.mp4

I've been thinking about this game a lot today. How with the rhythm genre being so non-existent, this could have very well been a breakout hit. It really makes one wonder just how often games came out that could have defined a genre, only to be canned behind the scenes because, say, a publisher didn't think it would make bank. And with how creepy the box art is, perhaps they were right

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1102015917589794916/SoundboxJP.jpg