tdstr
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
36h 55m
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
September 10, 2020
Platforms Played
edit: ok this review sucks now but im not changing it, tldr story is cool but it sucks ass to play, if they remake it with the new engine it's probably like an 8 or 9/10 but as it stands don't bother
Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.
This game makes me sad. The story can reach narrative peaks as high as the Explorers games (and arguably does some things even better than them), but I don't think I can recommend this one due to how terrible the actual experience of playing it is. Nearly every aspect of gameplay was made worse from previous games in the series, and it just kind of makes me upset how so great a story is blocked behind a game that is unfathomably painful to get through. I know a lot of want an Explorers DX, but I think this game could benefit from a remake far more. So many of the issues in this game could honestly be fixed with a damn rom hack, and a remake could easily skyrocket this game up to one of my favorites of all time.
If these things were remedied, this game would be a 9/10:
- Text speed is WAY too low. You think it's not a problem until you have to sit through 5 seconds of spamming A anytime a single person in your party levels up, and navigating shop menus quickly becomes a sluggish hell.
- Constructing shops and stuff in Paradise? Get rid of it, or make it so that the buildings can actually do something useful. Literally the only one I used consistently was the Oran Berry field, and even then, 2 in game days to get 2-3 Oran Berries???
- Let me take more than one job request at a time. Why was this even changed?
- Expand the starter selection. I'm not usually one to care too much about this kind of thing, but really? You have to pick 2 choices out of 5, and one of the 5 is Pikachu?
- Some of the music choices are... bizarre, to say the least. I'm not saying that none of the music in this game is good, all I'm saying is that some of the ost really falters in comparison to its predecessors. I recall there being a part in the game where an area that, tonally, was supposed to be very tense was accompanied by something that sounded exactly like circus music.
- Ditch gold bars as a concept. They drop way too rarely and are not nearly useful enough.
- Fix dungeon generation. This game generates a lot of long, windy, corridors that lead to a LOT of dead ends that make using the run button pretty terrible since you have to retrigger it every time you turn a corner or enter a room. Also, get rid of the random rocks in the middle of rooms that just get in the way.
I think if you're ok with suffering though 30+ hours of pain for a pretty good story then go ahead and play this, but I know I probably won't ever be picking this up again. And if you're new to the series, just play Explorers. It's a much more palatable game that still has the "Epic Good Story Moments."
Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 2/10
Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.
This game makes me sad. The story can reach narrative peaks as high as the Explorers games (and arguably does some things even better than them), but I don't think I can recommend this one due to how terrible the actual experience of playing it is. Nearly every aspect of gameplay was made worse from previous games in the series, and it just kind of makes me upset how so great a story is blocked behind a game that is unfathomably painful to get through. I know a lot of want an Explorers DX, but I think this game could benefit from a remake far more. So many of the issues in this game could honestly be fixed with a damn rom hack, and a remake could easily skyrocket this game up to one of my favorites of all time.
If these things were remedied, this game would be a 9/10:
- Text speed is WAY too low. You think it's not a problem until you have to sit through 5 seconds of spamming A anytime a single person in your party levels up, and navigating shop menus quickly becomes a sluggish hell.
- Constructing shops and stuff in Paradise? Get rid of it, or make it so that the buildings can actually do something useful. Literally the only one I used consistently was the Oran Berry field, and even then, 2 in game days to get 2-3 Oran Berries???
- Let me take more than one job request at a time. Why was this even changed?
- Expand the starter selection. I'm not usually one to care too much about this kind of thing, but really? You have to pick 2 choices out of 5, and one of the 5 is Pikachu?
- Some of the music choices are... bizarre, to say the least. I'm not saying that none of the music in this game is good, all I'm saying is that some of the ost really falters in comparison to its predecessors. I recall there being a part in the game where an area that, tonally, was supposed to be very tense was accompanied by something that sounded exactly like circus music.
- Ditch gold bars as a concept. They drop way too rarely and are not nearly useful enough.
- Fix dungeon generation. This game generates a lot of long, windy, corridors that lead to a LOT of dead ends that make using the run button pretty terrible since you have to retrigger it every time you turn a corner or enter a room. Also, get rid of the random rocks in the middle of rooms that just get in the way.
I think if you're ok with suffering though 30+ hours of pain for a pretty good story then go ahead and play this, but I know I probably won't ever be picking this up again. And if you're new to the series, just play Explorers. It's a much more palatable game that still has the "Epic Good Story Moments."
Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 2/10