ruitomo
2023
tl;dr: If you've played and enjoyed a Ys game, you'll probably like this one too. If you haven't, try out VIII first. If you liked VIII but disliked IX, this one is much closer to VIII than it is to IX.
Playtime: 70h 5m, did everything.
Plot: Fine, better than IX. Not a fan of the pacing, felt like it took a while for me to get into it but I enjoyed how everything panned out. Not the biggest fan of the main crew but I like Karja and most of the side characters.
Gameplay: X contains the debut of the "Cross Action" system, a change from the Seven system that was used in 7/8/9. Rather than controlling a full party, it's just Adol and Karja. You can either control them individually or switch into the Combined mode which changes your moveset and lets you guard most moves. Weaving between solo and combination modes was fun and I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop it in the next game.
They also added a system like orbments from the Kiseki series but it doesn't really affect too much, would like to see them develop this more.
Music: Didn't love any of the battle themes but a lot of the zone and town themes are great. Doesn't have the overall quality of VIII and previous OSTs but it's better than IX for sure.
Exploration: I'm biased towards islands and coastal environments so I was a fan (anything is better than Balduq). Some of the zones are a too large and feel emptier as a result. Also, buried treasures are AWFUL. John Falcom, if you're reading this, never do that again. Controlling the boat during ocean exploration is painful, which leads to...
Naval Battles and Maneuvering: The worst part of the game. Controlling the boat is very clunky and simply not enjoyable. Thankfully I was able to S-rank all of them first try because having to redo any of them would be MISERABLE.
Overall, while it took a bit longer than usual to get into it, once the game hit its stride I had a pretty good time and am looking forward to XI.
Playtime: 70h 5m, did everything.
Plot: Fine, better than IX. Not a fan of the pacing, felt like it took a while for me to get into it but I enjoyed how everything panned out. Not the biggest fan of the main crew but I like Karja and most of the side characters.
Gameplay: X contains the debut of the "Cross Action" system, a change from the Seven system that was used in 7/8/9. Rather than controlling a full party, it's just Adol and Karja. You can either control them individually or switch into the Combined mode which changes your moveset and lets you guard most moves. Weaving between solo and combination modes was fun and I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop it in the next game.
They also added a system like orbments from the Kiseki series but it doesn't really affect too much, would like to see them develop this more.
Music: Didn't love any of the battle themes but a lot of the zone and town themes are great. Doesn't have the overall quality of VIII and previous OSTs but it's better than IX for sure.
Exploration: I'm biased towards islands and coastal environments so I was a fan (anything is better than Balduq). Some of the zones are a too large and feel emptier as a result. Also, buried treasures are AWFUL. John Falcom, if you're reading this, never do that again. Controlling the boat during ocean exploration is painful, which leads to...
Naval Battles and Maneuvering: The worst part of the game. Controlling the boat is very clunky and simply not enjoyable. Thankfully I was able to S-rank all of them first try because having to redo any of them would be MISERABLE.
Overall, while it took a bit longer than usual to get into it, once the game hit its stride I had a pretty good time and am looking forward to XI.
If you have any denpa experience, you know what this is. Kind of underwhelming in that it went exactly as I expected after the first hour or so. At least it's short.
Positives are that the music and visual atmosphere are well done and serve the plot well. Just enjoy it for what it is and don't expect too much, especially given its status in the VN community.
Positives are that the music and visual atmosphere are well done and serve the plot well. Just enjoy it for what it is and don't expect too much, especially given its status in the VN community.
Slightly unhinged. Worth playing for Rance's map drawings.
It's a meme but it's short and I laughed. Worth playing for Athena's map drawings.
Not bad but rough to get through. There's a bit of jank with the game itself and I wasn't a big fan of the gameplay, being forced back to town, menuing, etc. However, there are some good parts, like the character interactions (especially with the townspeople) and parts of the lore from Rance 3 that it expands upon. This is probably the most skippable one, although I'd recommend watching a let's play instead of skipping it altogether.
The first strong entry in the Rance series. Improves upon Rance 01 in every way and even holds up as a standalone adventure (although greatly enriched by playing 01 and 02). As expected of Alicesoft, the character designs and music are fantastic and the gameplay is engaging enough to make the dungeons and boss battles fun to play through. The plot is a step up from previous Rance games and creates a more involved story with many great characters and all the "Rance moments" that you'd expect. This one also has voice acting, featuring a standout performance from Kanami's VA. Highly recommended for a fun VN/JRPG adventure, even if you haven't played any of the other Rance games (which you should).
2020
Not bad. Gameplay is what you expect from Persona (SMT-lite) but the dungeons are bad and make the gameplay portion of the game feel like an obstacle to get through. The characters have some charm to them and the plot starts off strong (although it falls apart pretty quickly in the last act or two). If you've played other Persona games and didn't care for them, you could get away with just listening to the OST since that's easily the game's strongest point.
2019
The best roguelike I've played. Booting this up is equivalent to burning the rest of my day grinding runs, each being "the actual last run".
Not good. The gameplay is dated, the music is whatever, and the plot is uninteresting. However, it is a must-play for anyone going through the series since it introduces characters and events that show up and get referenced frequently throughout the rest of the series. The only positive points are that the character designs are good and it's pretty short, especially if you use a guide. It's unfortunate that this one isn't a proper remake like 01 or 03.
Great for those who plan on going through the rest of the series or have already played some of the later games, doesn't really stand out on its own though. The music, art, and character designs are all fantastic. The gameplay is fine and serves its purpose of bridging together the set pieces but is not terribly interesting.
1995
One of the golden era JRPGs that holds up very well. Not overly long, no random encounters, great characters, and one of the best OSTs ever.
2023
An upgrade over the OG in basically every way.
The characters, visuals, and music are all top notch. Kind of rough in some places and the RTS segments were whatever but pretty great overall.