The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a difficult game to explain, and a somewhat tough game to recommend to people. On the surface, it's a pretty basic looking indie game with obvious influences from River City Ransom and a hand deep in the pockets of "Yankii" Japanese delinquent lifestyles. But to say the game is more than that would be an understatement.
You are given no direction on how to play the game. Much like real life, you are left to your own devices to figure it out. At first, I felt a bit conflicted with this design choice, but as I continued to play, I grew to admire it. Should I hit the gym and work on my fighting skills? Maybe pick up a book and see what I can learn. Should I get my act together and actually go to class for once? All of these questions are left up to you, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Gameplay consists of doing various tasks, training your skills, fighting people, and growing as a person. You can talk to people, play games with them, get a part-time job, attend school, fight rival schools, etc. It's all about time management and what you want to do with your life.
Combat is pretty simple, consisting of punches, kicks, guards, and grapples. You can improve your fighting repertoire by training under various masters, but the general flow of combat changes little. Fights rarely feel different from one another regardless of who you are up against, which might make some players more willing to skip conflict altogether out of repetition.
The story and characters are also dependent on what you choose to do with your time during Ringo Ishikawa's final year of high school, and as a result, your playthrough will more than likely be different than everyone else's. This adds to replayability, but also helps the immersion into Ringo's world.
The music and presentation are top-notch. The spritework is like an evolution of River City Ransom's style, blending detailed backgrounds with simple, yet well-animated characters. The music is an easy 10/10 for me. This is exactly my kind of music, and it fits the style and subject matter of the game to a T.
My complaints with the game are few and do not stop this game from being great. The repetition of your routine may make the game feel like it's not moving forward. The combat, while fun to me, is understandably simple and could feed into the repetition for some. There are also instances where story events will eat an entire day's worth of time, leaving you with little to do for that day. This can be a little annoying when you planned to do something that is only available on specific days of the week, like Judo practice. Lastly, some of the characters (in my experience) do not receive as much focus as I would have liked, but this could be a result of my own playstyle rather than the game's fault.
If you are still unsure of giving this game a shot, let me put it straight—it's worth your time. It may be a bit tough to get a hang of, but you'll find your groove in time and wish it never ends.
You are given no direction on how to play the game. Much like real life, you are left to your own devices to figure it out. At first, I felt a bit conflicted with this design choice, but as I continued to play, I grew to admire it. Should I hit the gym and work on my fighting skills? Maybe pick up a book and see what I can learn. Should I get my act together and actually go to class for once? All of these questions are left up to you, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Gameplay consists of doing various tasks, training your skills, fighting people, and growing as a person. You can talk to people, play games with them, get a part-time job, attend school, fight rival schools, etc. It's all about time management and what you want to do with your life.
Combat is pretty simple, consisting of punches, kicks, guards, and grapples. You can improve your fighting repertoire by training under various masters, but the general flow of combat changes little. Fights rarely feel different from one another regardless of who you are up against, which might make some players more willing to skip conflict altogether out of repetition.
The story and characters are also dependent on what you choose to do with your time during Ringo Ishikawa's final year of high school, and as a result, your playthrough will more than likely be different than everyone else's. This adds to replayability, but also helps the immersion into Ringo's world.
The music and presentation are top-notch. The spritework is like an evolution of River City Ransom's style, blending detailed backgrounds with simple, yet well-animated characters. The music is an easy 10/10 for me. This is exactly my kind of music, and it fits the style and subject matter of the game to a T.
My complaints with the game are few and do not stop this game from being great. The repetition of your routine may make the game feel like it's not moving forward. The combat, while fun to me, is understandably simple and could feed into the repetition for some. There are also instances where story events will eat an entire day's worth of time, leaving you with little to do for that day. This can be a little annoying when you planned to do something that is only available on specific days of the week, like Judo practice. Lastly, some of the characters (in my experience) do not receive as much focus as I would have liked, but this could be a result of my own playstyle rather than the game's fault.
If you are still unsure of giving this game a shot, let me put it straight—it's worth your time. It may be a bit tough to get a hang of, but you'll find your groove in time and wish it never ends.