Cleared on July 15th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 29/160)
You have no idea how close I was to giving this game a 1 star. The fact that I considered it perhaps even more so than I did with Fantasia is an indicator for my deep hatred for the game, but after composing myself and looking at the game in the grand scheme of things, I felt as if it might not be the right choice. After all, for a game to truly acquire a 1 star rating or below in my eyes, it needs to not only be incompetently made, but also have many of its bad game design decisions feel deliberate. As much as I hate this game, I know some people do like it and to them have far more value to them than I perceive it. That said, this game enraged me on a spiritual level. I don't care if its an unpopular opinion or even a skill issue; I'm fighting back!
Now I will say that I think the game's presentation is really well-done. The chibi style is perhaps seen as cutesy, but I can tell that's the vibe they were going with. The spritework for the friendly NPCs, monsters, and bosses are also quite good. It's cartoony and colorful, and the environment really compliments it. The music also adds to the atmosphere and it's not too bad to listen to. I don't recall there being a song I found grating.
The story for an RPG is rather lame. "Monsters are invading monster world". Wut? I mean, this is 1991, so that's just whatever. I've put up with RPGs having underwhelming stories before. What really gets me is the gameplay and some of the decisions surrounding it.
The game is a 2D side scroller action adventure game that is structured like a Metroidvania where you explore a large interconnected map. Now I've played my share of Metroidvania games, Dust: An Elysian Tail and Shantae are games that stick out to me in that regard, but the gameplay just doesn't really vibe with me. It starts out very slow, and I tend to really despise slow movements in my games, but to its credit, the difficulty seems manageable enough and the game actually does give you better movement speed when you get better boots. You also get physically tougher through armor and stronger through new weapons. However, after awhile, the game not only starts to feel boring, but also really frustrating.
My first problem is the knockback which I find obnoxious enough as is, but if an enemy is charging towards you, you cannot move in front of them. This has actually led to a few scenarios where I got stunlocked because they would push me into a wall and knock me around, giving me little chance to strike back. Even wielding the shield, you still get knocked back when it connects which can be aggrevating.
The attack range feels rather scuffed at times and while this could be remedied through the spear, you don't really get a lot of opportunities to use it and in the late game, the Best in Slot happens to be a Sword. On top of that, this is probably just a me thing, but the controls feel oddly sensitive. There are times where I'll think I'm about to strike right, but end up striking left. I thought maybe this was a control issue since I recall having a similar problem with Twinkle Tale, but I was playing on an official Microsoft Xbox One controller, and I checked other games to find I don't have that jittery issue there.
But the thing that really killed the game for me are the boss fights. The first boss is difficult to avoid, but with the right equipment, you can down it fast before it takes you down. The second boss is also a challenge, but once you figure out the pattern, it's manageable. The third boss is just a quiz show... but then there's the fourth boss, the snow boss. Picture this, you are about to face a boss in an icy castle. You have slippery floors which is already seen as an annoyance, but maybe you'll get use to it as long as you understand the terrain around you. Except for the fact that it's an auto-scroller with changing scenery and the weak spot of the boss is on the head which requires you to get on the top platform which is actually rather difficult when you are already wrestling with ice physics, but then you have to deal with the enemy barraging you with projectiles that come in fast and at a rapid pace. And taking a good amount of hits, you need to get lucky in order to defeat it. Somehow this fight was so bad that I was ready to call it the worst Sega Genesis boss that I've fought and I've fought some really obnoxious fights such as Sol-Deace's penultimate boss, the final boss of Gain Ground, and the snow boss in Hook. But would it surprise you to know that the game's penultimate and final boss are even worse?!
The Penultimate boss is a multi-phase fight where you already have to deal with it stunlocking you by pushing you into a wall with its massive body and having difficulties hitting its head to get it to back off. But once you get one of its head down, it forms a new one and uses its previous one for new attacks which is straight up difficult to avoid and for the record, I had best in slot by this point which means all of the legendary equipment. So I had to brute force my way through that fight with the Power spell which increases attack damage and somehow, after a few tries, I manage to down it.
But let me assure you, no amount of bullshit that this game throws at you could ever prepare you for the game's final boss which combines a barrage of things I absolutely hate.
Cramped space leaving little room for maneuver because the room is actually smaller than all of the bosses you've fought up to this point.
Doesn't have its own boss theme for some reason, I think using an earlier boss theme in the game.
Loss of movement control which is especially apparent during the 2nd phase because of conveyer belts moving from one side to the next which makes approaching the boss already difficult enough without accidentally bumping into it and taking damage.
If that's not enough, you have to deal with two lasers guns that are destructible after two hits (one with the Power spell) during the 2nd phase in contrast to the manageable just one. And then the game has the balls to throw in a huge sawblade on the conveyer that is not only difficult to avoid, but because of how the knockback works in the game, if you get knocked back because the conveyer bumped you into the boss or if the laser guns hit you, the sawblades will just knock you to the back of the room.
This is quite possibly among the most bloated boss I have ever faced in all of my years of gaming. When even using rewinds and save states, in the middle of the fight, still doesn't make it any easier, there is something very wrong. Like with the penultimate boss, I relied on luck and brute force my way which isn't even the intended strategy (not to mention using rewind), but because the game is so willing to pull this, I just about had it.
If or when I eventually get around to Dragon's Trap and Asha in Monster World, I am praying that at least one of them doesn't turn out anywhere near this frustrating or boring, especially when I already bought them both on Steam, but I'm going to clear my mind before playing both games and focus on my Sega Genesis games list.
You have no idea how close I was to giving this game a 1 star. The fact that I considered it perhaps even more so than I did with Fantasia is an indicator for my deep hatred for the game, but after composing myself and looking at the game in the grand scheme of things, I felt as if it might not be the right choice. After all, for a game to truly acquire a 1 star rating or below in my eyes, it needs to not only be incompetently made, but also have many of its bad game design decisions feel deliberate. As much as I hate this game, I know some people do like it and to them have far more value to them than I perceive it. That said, this game enraged me on a spiritual level. I don't care if its an unpopular opinion or even a skill issue; I'm fighting back!
Now I will say that I think the game's presentation is really well-done. The chibi style is perhaps seen as cutesy, but I can tell that's the vibe they were going with. The spritework for the friendly NPCs, monsters, and bosses are also quite good. It's cartoony and colorful, and the environment really compliments it. The music also adds to the atmosphere and it's not too bad to listen to. I don't recall there being a song I found grating.
The story for an RPG is rather lame. "Monsters are invading monster world". Wut? I mean, this is 1991, so that's just whatever. I've put up with RPGs having underwhelming stories before. What really gets me is the gameplay and some of the decisions surrounding it.
The game is a 2D side scroller action adventure game that is structured like a Metroidvania where you explore a large interconnected map. Now I've played my share of Metroidvania games, Dust: An Elysian Tail and Shantae are games that stick out to me in that regard, but the gameplay just doesn't really vibe with me. It starts out very slow, and I tend to really despise slow movements in my games, but to its credit, the difficulty seems manageable enough and the game actually does give you better movement speed when you get better boots. You also get physically tougher through armor and stronger through new weapons. However, after awhile, the game not only starts to feel boring, but also really frustrating.
My first problem is the knockback which I find obnoxious enough as is, but if an enemy is charging towards you, you cannot move in front of them. This has actually led to a few scenarios where I got stunlocked because they would push me into a wall and knock me around, giving me little chance to strike back. Even wielding the shield, you still get knocked back when it connects which can be aggrevating.
The attack range feels rather scuffed at times and while this could be remedied through the spear, you don't really get a lot of opportunities to use it and in the late game, the Best in Slot happens to be a Sword. On top of that, this is probably just a me thing, but the controls feel oddly sensitive. There are times where I'll think I'm about to strike right, but end up striking left. I thought maybe this was a control issue since I recall having a similar problem with Twinkle Tale, but I was playing on an official Microsoft Xbox One controller, and I checked other games to find I don't have that jittery issue there.
But the thing that really killed the game for me are the boss fights. The first boss is difficult to avoid, but with the right equipment, you can down it fast before it takes you down. The second boss is also a challenge, but once you figure out the pattern, it's manageable. The third boss is just a quiz show... but then there's the fourth boss, the snow boss. Picture this, you are about to face a boss in an icy castle. You have slippery floors which is already seen as an annoyance, but maybe you'll get use to it as long as you understand the terrain around you. Except for the fact that it's an auto-scroller with changing scenery and the weak spot of the boss is on the head which requires you to get on the top platform which is actually rather difficult when you are already wrestling with ice physics, but then you have to deal with the enemy barraging you with projectiles that come in fast and at a rapid pace. And taking a good amount of hits, you need to get lucky in order to defeat it. Somehow this fight was so bad that I was ready to call it the worst Sega Genesis boss that I've fought and I've fought some really obnoxious fights such as Sol-Deace's penultimate boss, the final boss of Gain Ground, and the snow boss in Hook. But would it surprise you to know that the game's penultimate and final boss are even worse?!
The Penultimate boss is a multi-phase fight where you already have to deal with it stunlocking you by pushing you into a wall with its massive body and having difficulties hitting its head to get it to back off. But once you get one of its head down, it forms a new one and uses its previous one for new attacks which is straight up difficult to avoid and for the record, I had best in slot by this point which means all of the legendary equipment. So I had to brute force my way through that fight with the Power spell which increases attack damage and somehow, after a few tries, I manage to down it.
But let me assure you, no amount of bullshit that this game throws at you could ever prepare you for the game's final boss which combines a barrage of things I absolutely hate.
Cramped space leaving little room for maneuver because the room is actually smaller than all of the bosses you've fought up to this point.
Doesn't have its own boss theme for some reason, I think using an earlier boss theme in the game.
Loss of movement control which is especially apparent during the 2nd phase because of conveyer belts moving from one side to the next which makes approaching the boss already difficult enough without accidentally bumping into it and taking damage.
If that's not enough, you have to deal with two lasers guns that are destructible after two hits (one with the Power spell) during the 2nd phase in contrast to the manageable just one. And then the game has the balls to throw in a huge sawblade on the conveyer that is not only difficult to avoid, but because of how the knockback works in the game, if you get knocked back because the conveyer bumped you into the boss or if the laser guns hit you, the sawblades will just knock you to the back of the room.
This is quite possibly among the most bloated boss I have ever faced in all of my years of gaming. When even using rewinds and save states, in the middle of the fight, still doesn't make it any easier, there is something very wrong. Like with the penultimate boss, I relied on luck and brute force my way which isn't even the intended strategy (not to mention using rewind), but because the game is so willing to pull this, I just about had it.
If or when I eventually get around to Dragon's Trap and Asha in Monster World, I am praying that at least one of them doesn't turn out anywhere near this frustrating or boring, especially when I already bought them both on Steam, but I'm going to clear my mind before playing both games and focus on my Sega Genesis games list.