I'm not usually an RPG guy. I loved this game so much, though; I couldn't put this one down, and when I caught myself replaying through a JRPG right after already having finished it, I'd thought I'd gone crazy.
I cannot believe how much this game does to innovate, especially at the time. The battle system is surprisingly intuitive, and levels never matter as long as you as a player are skilled. Which is always appreciated; you can find what works for you and stick with it.
The sheer amount of tricks, secrets, and alternate paths you can take in this game along with its relatively short length and non-linear chapter setup make it a lot more replayable than most RPGs, even today. Some chapters only take about 30 or so minutes to complete, which is blazingly fast... and while I can see that being a turn-off for some who might want a more involved story, I think it's great that you can just pick it up and play it. Helps that the music is incredible, and the stories are well-written! (for the most part)
The only reason this isn't a perfect score from me is because I thought the mecha chapter sucked. It didn't suck so much that I stopped playing the game, but.... man, if I picked that chapter FIRST, I wouldn't be here writing this review right now.
I prefer this version over the 2022 remake. While the sprites in the remake are nice and all, the animations being as long as they are seriously slow down the pace of the game. I LIKE that this game is fast, so that's a downgrade for me!
I cannot believe how much this game does to innovate, especially at the time. The battle system is surprisingly intuitive, and levels never matter as long as you as a player are skilled. Which is always appreciated; you can find what works for you and stick with it.
The sheer amount of tricks, secrets, and alternate paths you can take in this game along with its relatively short length and non-linear chapter setup make it a lot more replayable than most RPGs, even today. Some chapters only take about 30 or so minutes to complete, which is blazingly fast... and while I can see that being a turn-off for some who might want a more involved story, I think it's great that you can just pick it up and play it. Helps that the music is incredible, and the stories are well-written! (for the most part)
The only reason this isn't a perfect score from me is because I thought the mecha chapter sucked. It didn't suck so much that I stopped playing the game, but.... man, if I picked that chapter FIRST, I wouldn't be here writing this review right now.
I prefer this version over the 2022 remake. While the sprites in the remake are nice and all, the animations being as long as they are seriously slow down the pace of the game. I LIKE that this game is fast, so that's a downgrade for me!