Easy likely would have made battles go by more quickly, but on normal, I did like how I was tested against tough enemies, even if part of that was due to it taking forever to chip away 100K+ health. It was a give-and-take where I didn't like how it took forever to win, but it was a bit thrilling to be in a situation where I had to use magic-restoring or resurrection items regularly, while looking for any opportunity to trigger allies' special moves.

Zeugles was definitely a choice for what monsters are called. And I also loved the hand-waved explanation for why they are everywhere. "Well, you see, the Renans bred them for use in battle...but they kinda let a lot of them get away and they went feral and are everywhere!"

As for the palette swaps, there is a guide on GameFAQs that has an illustrated bestiary. Under "normal" monsters, there's a total of 24 designs, with most being used 3-6 times. Wolves are the worst at 15 (eight normal and seven "alpha" versions which are the same, but larger). There also are 17 forms of soldier, although one could divide them into more categories as you have swordsmen, shielded ones and gunmen. Included in that 24 is one possibly unique model that only is in a dungeon meant to be tackled in the post-game (you get the quest to go there earlier, but it's higher-scaled than the final dungeons) and 6-7 that are somewhat degraded versions of bosses and get placed in the final few dungeons as tougher-than-normal encounters.

For a bit there, I was worried I exaggerated things because of all the wolves and soldiers, but no. There are about 15-16 monster designs that provide the bulk of your fighting with a few more that are more specialized in use, so you do basically fight the same stuff over and over in battles that last a bit too long.

I finished this not long ago! Can't say I noticed the palette swapped enemies, but someone tipped me off to play the game on Easy, which probably left less time to notice swaps.

Judging by the "arena challenges" that are fixed to Normal difficulty, Normal is perhaps too long for a zillion standard battles. For many of us, at least.

I liked the game, but it still took ages to finish because of one problem you touched upon. This might be the preachiest RPG ever. The endless cutscenes that are nothing but group therapy sessions...it raises questions about where the developers' heads were. I finally had to skip 'em!

P.S. Which is better: calling the intimidating enemies "zeugles", or the end movie that included Hootle in the list of heroes?

Yeah this one really bummed me out. My initial optimism with the game's presentation quickly faded away after like an hour or two of playtime.

Ufouria 2 was so frustrating to play, because it had several interesting ideas (shuffling stage structures, quasi-open world, etc), but it executed each one with a very bland, by-the-numbers approach. It almost felt like someone came up with some cool ideas in a meeting, then someone else brought out a bingo-card of side-scrolling action segments to wrap around it. Cave stage with spikes? Check. Mine cart stage? Check.

Granted, you can make solid stages around such concepts, but here it almost felt soulless, as if they were literally contractually obligated to make a game with these "goal posts" planted along the way.

Thanks for reading!

There's some good insight here into the sort of stuff that can make a follow-up feel lackluster compared to the game it follows. I haven't played either of these two games (yet?), but you did a good job of explaining how this bland successor might not be worth my while despite not being a total disaster.

Heh, I rented Dr. Chaos once when I was young. It was about the most confusing time I ever had trying to do something in a video game. I'd just be wandering around through those 3D rooms. Sometimes, I'd find a side scrolling dungeon. Other times, I'd get kicked out and have to use up all my ammo on a big monster.

I tried, but I don't know that I actually accomplished much of anything. Think, if memory serves, I did beat one side-scrolling level. And found maybe two others. Maybe. So, yeah, that one was probably a bit too far in that "meh, let the player figure shit out" direction.

Absolutely agreed. Honestly, we've got easy access to more classics than I might have expected... but also less access at the same time, if that makes sense. Publishing rights and such are surprisingly difficult for a medium young enough that these things should have been figured out by the time PS2 games were releasing. Didn't anyone learn our lessons from the movie industry? Apparently not.

That reminds me of my first time playong through Dr. Chaos. I didn't have the internet, the game had almost no coverage, and the instruction manual offered the vaguest hint for finding the first level. In other words, I was stuck playing the game for months, searching the mansion, opening closets and cupboards without any idea how to progress.

I stumbled upon the first level while bored one night and screwing around. I opened a wardrobe or closet or something in the first-person mode and tried entering it, thinking it was going to give me the same negative message. Instead, it said, "Here we go..."

While some games benefited from having little coverage and social elements with friends pooling together their knowledge, developers would have had to take a gamble on whether or not the game would be popular when including such qualities. Sadly, you sometimes ended up with ones like Dr. Chaos or Ghoul School, which were obscure even then, and thus forced you to rely on dumb luck.

In a big way, what I liked most about Dragon Warrior II was the lack of walkthroughs. While Nintendo Power had a full guide as part of their promotion of the first DW and the third game came packaged with a guide in its instruction book, I think (other than a couple questions in NP, in particular pertaining to the Cave to Rhone), there was very little coverage of this one.

Led to a situation where, when I got the boat and the game went from really linear to completely opening up its world, I had no idea what to do, so I just sailed around, went to different lands and had to find out by trial and error what I could handle and what I had to save for later. As time went on and the Internet got more and more guides and stuff for everything, that sort of thing has really faded from gaming, since if I get stuck, I know the answer is at my fingertips and its just a matter of how long it takes for me to cave in and look it up. Back then, I didn't have that option and, if Nintendo Power didn't have the answer, I'd have to figure it out on my own, one way or the other.

Selective use of a walkthrough did revive my interest and the game had a lot to enjoy in the latter parts. I know walkthroughs/tips were a big thing in the USA through Nintendo Power but don't know if that was the case with Japan. It feels like it was designed with some degree of player assistance (external to the cartridge) in mind in a way that DQ1 and FF1 did not.

Title: Ufouria: The Saga 2
Platform: PS5

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps5/435589-ufouria-the-saga-2/data

Added. (Sorry about the delay!)

Thanks.

Thank you!

Of the Wild Arms I've played, this one is my favorite. I have yet to start 4, 5, or XF, but I will be playing through them soon. Right now, my attention is set solidly on Tembo the Badass Elephant, with which I'm almost done.

And yeah, we're overdue for HD remasters. I just wish we would get more than just remasters of the first couple of games in franchises, though. Like, we got Grandia 1 & 2 HDs, but what about 3, Extreme, and a translation of Parallel Trippers? I'd be interested in those...

This review makes me want to play the game again, and this time go further than the prologue. I remember enjoying it at the time. I just didn't keep going. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever actually get around to it unless someone re-releases it on current hardware. Wild Arms is one of those franchises that has long needed a compilation remaster, but Sony has largely ignored all but Wild Arms 3 (which is a good game, certainly, but not the only one worth playing). Great job with this one, Joe. I had no complaints or nitpicks!

While I can't think of any personal experiences at the moment, I do like when games remove music to build tension. Of course it fully depends on the moment and whether the developers can successfully convey what they are trying to pull off, so it's always great when it actually succeeds.

Though, I think the funniest thing concerning early CD-based consoles is that, more times than not, you can actually tell when something is about to happen or when a new song starts or ends because you can HEAR the console make load sounds. And then there's the Dreamcast... which sounds like it's about to take off from an airport.

So, while I don’t think this game is great for a racer, it does have the one thing a lot of games miss. Turning off music to create a sense of hyper-focus.

I have some spectrum tendencies, hyper focus is one of them. And most games use techniques to amp up focus towards the game. It’s either solid mechanics, or engaging difficulty. Music creates that tone. Either through tension or excitement. Sometimes joy. Sometime telling you this part is importantly or filler. But a lack of music often means the game could not add sound due to various constraints.

I think the boss lack of music is intentional. All you have is a weird as hell police siren, squeaks of the tires, reving of the engine, and two eyeballs just staring at the criminal, ripping their car, piece by piece. It’s sooo haunting if not completely soothing to my brain.

Title: Arcade Archives: Crime City
Platform: PS4

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/487424-arcade-archives-crime-city/data

Added.

Thanks.

For me, it's a bit complex in picking them. Might like SMB 3 as a game a bit more, but the ability to save probably puts SMW in front by a hair or two. That annoyed me when I was younger and is a bit of a deal-breaker now that we live in an era where virtually everything can be saved and many games auto-save so you don't even have to do the "heavy lifting" yourself. Just don't have the same patience for those "do it all in one sitting" games unless they're either short (like a shooter) or the amount of nostalgia I have for it can outweigh that annoyance (Bionic Commando for one). But the only thing worse for me than no saves is the ungodly long passwords some of those old games had. Like Guardian Legend or Battle of Olympus...I still remember having to re-do sections of those games because I wasn't perfect in writing down a 24-32 character password that had upper-case and lower-case letters, as well as numbers. And maybe symbols, I don't remember.

Now, if we're talking about the Super Mario All-Stars version of SMB3, where you can at least save after each world, that's a different story. No complaints about that one and it might rate higher than World. A bit more creativity in the worlds with the one where everything is large and the one where you start on the ground and go up a tower into the sky.

But with a section of Mario games (2, 3, World, Yoshi's Island), it's hard to pick a favorite. Spent hours upon hours with all of them and only have minor complaints about any of them and tend to have to be in a nit-picky mood to voice them at the risk of looking like a chronic grump who hates all things fun.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder borrows the most from this game, probably, and is better for it. But I've always preferred Super Mario Bros. 3 to this one. Sometimes, less is more. Anyway, this is a nice explanation of everything some people love about this (admittedly excellent) game that remains a benchmark for the genre.

I almost never buy a game at full price these days. A few years ago, I realized that I can add everything I want to one store or another's wish list, then pick it up when a great sale comes along. I get twice as many games for my money that way (or even more) in exchange for being willing to wait a few months after release. I mostly only acquire games at full price at launch, and only for coverage. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you think of Ufouria 2.

Fun little game, but I'd say wait for a sell; I didn't realize it at the time, but I purchased the game when it was going for half its full price.

Thanks for reading! I actually have a Ufouria 2 review in a rough draft, but I'm not sure if it's gonna be the next review I submit. Curious to see how you respond to that one!

This review left me with no reasonable choice but to add this to my Steam wish list. I hope you're happy!