Dragon Warrior II (NES) Review

It’s common knowledge that the original Dragon Quest is one of the most influential Japanese video games of all time, giving birth to the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre and inspiring notable series such as Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star. Dragon Quest was itself influenced by Western computer RPGs -- primarily Ultima and Wizardry – but creator Yuji Horii wisely chose to reduce the complexity and difficulty of the games he was inspired by, making Dragon Quest a fairly streamlined experience.

After the original’s mammoth success, Horii set out to make a sequel that would more closely resemble the Western RPGs that he loved so dearly. For starters, Dragon Quest II’s world is exponentially bigger than that of the first game (in fact, the entire land of Alefgard from DQI can be revisited in DQII and takes up just a small portion of its world). Another big change is the addition of two playable companion characters who join the hero on his quest. DQII’s scope is incredibly ambitious, but it unfortunately takes a few missteps that lead to an occasionally frustrating experience.

Dragon Quest II’s most notable problem is its difficulty balance, or lack thereof. Unlike its predecessor’s one-on-one combat, DQII pits a party of foes against you, and while having companions should theoretically even the odds a bit, the companions you pick up are woefully unprepared to take on the dark forces of Hargon. Your first companion, the Prince of Cannock, is ostensibly a warrior-priest – not as sturdy or powerful as the starting character (the Prince of Middenhall), but able to use a handful of spells. Unfortunately, Cannock never pulls his own weight, and his inability to equip most weapons and armor causes him to get cut down by most monsters with only a couple of hits. The second companion, the Princess of Moonbrooke, is physically frail, but commands some powerful offensive spells. So you have one powerhouse tank of a character in Middenhall, who is accompanied by a near-worthless weenie and a glass cannon. Many monsters are programmed to specifically target the weakest character, so you spend much of the game backtracking to town to revive your flimsy partners.

Things only get worse in the game’s final section, which is woefully unbalanced to the point of being entirely unfair. Monsters spam status effect spells such as sleep and poison, which soften your already tender party up for an easy wipe, but the absolute worst thing in the game is the inclusion of multiple instant death spells. One regular enemy can cast Sacrifice, which murders your entire party 100% of the time. If you’re unfortunate enough to be ambushed by a team of Blizzard monsters and they spam the Defeat spell, you party might be wiped from existence before you can even attempt to run. One dungeon towards the end is very long and mazelike, with pitfalls that drop you to zombie-infested “trap” rooms. It’s difficult enough without instant kill spells, so their inclusion is just baffling.

Difficulty gripes aside, DQII has a lot going for it. Graphics aren’t improved much over the first game, but there is more variety in monster design, and Akira Toriyama’s art style lends well to the 8-bit pixel art. Background art during combat was sadly compromised in order to fit more enemies on the screen at once, but it’s a small price to pay to increase the number of enemies significantly, and the size of the enemy sprites was not reduced whatsoever. The game’s music is fantastic, with some of the most memorable and iconic tunes in the entire series, and you’ll be humming the town, overworld, and battle themes long after turning the game off.

Your mileage may vary in regards to how much you enjoy exploring the world of Dragon Quest II, as there is a distinct shift towards non-linearity when your party acquires a ship about a third of the way into the game. Suddenly, you are presented with a dozen or so options of where to go next, and the game’s all-over-the-place difficulty can make it difficult to know if you’re at the right place. It can be quite daunting, but also a little exhilarating to make a dangerous trek through an unexplored island in the hopes of discovering a hidden town or monolith, and fortunately the game lets you cast a Return spell to return to a previously-visited location.

Dragon Quest II is generally considered to be one of the weaker games in the series, and while I’m inclined to agree, I think many of its strengths are overlooked, along with its significance to JRPGs. The original NES version of the game will likely not appeal to many people these days, but it has been remade several times, and all of those versions are much more accessible, with balance tweaks and a few layers of much-needed polish. The Super Famicom and Game Boy Color versions are a great way to revisit this somewhat infamous entry without suffering through the worst difficulty spike in the entire series.

Blazing Lazers Mini Review

I recently revisited Blazing Lazers, a legendary TurboGrafx-16 vertical shooter originally released in 1989. Shooters of its ilk are in the midst of something of a renaissance, but the shooters released for NEC's ill-fated TurboGrafx-16 remain some of the most revered.

Blazing Lazers is often considered the best TG-16 shooter, and it only takes a few seconds of gameplay to see why. The game is an absolute technical marvel, pushing the system to its limits with blazing-fast scrolling and virtually no slowdown at all. It's the type of game that makes you sweat when you realize you might have to move your thumb for a split-second to hit the pause button. The audio complements the hectic on-screen action perfectly, with blisteringly-fast chiptune metal music accompanying your ship's manic movements as it darts about the screen.

While Blazing Lazers is a wonder to behold, its quality is dragged down by significantly unbalanced difficulty. You'll get through a majority of the game's nine stages with ease, and much of the difficulty in the first half of the game is actually derived from avoiding unwanted power-ups. Much of the time, the screen will be absolutely littered with power-ups, and you'll likely gravitate toward one or two and avoid the others unless they provide situational advantage for a certain type of enemy.

Veterans of the genre will likely sleepwalk through the first two-thirds of the game before running into a brutal difficulty wall in the last two or three stages. The shock will set in after your first death, when you realize that you start back at the checkpoint with no power-ups whatsoever. Depending on the checkpoint, you might have all of three seconds before being swarmed by a legion of enemies that are a breeze with powered-up weapons, but tough-as-nails when fought with the measly peashooter of a default weapon. It's not unusual to play through six stages without being touched only to die seven times in a row immediately after your first death.

Blazing Lazers is a great way to show off one of the most underappreciated consoles of all time, and has certainly aged better than most shooters of its era. I wish the first half of the game was more challenging and that I didn't have to spend so much energy simply avoiding unwanted power-ups, but it's easy to ignore the flaws when you focus on the game's unmatched speed and manic action.

Was Persona 5 Worth the Wait?

Was Persona 5 Worth the Wait?

Persona 5 is a game that I have been looking forward to for the better part of a decade. Persona is a series that I hold dear, and while I'm not so fond of the initial entry (which came to the US under the title Revelations: Persona), the rest of the series has been so stellar that I think I can safely say that Persona is my favorite RPG series.

While Persona was a fantastic JRPG in its own right, Persona 3 revolutionized the genre with an emphasis on time management and maintaining relationships with friends in order to strengthen innate abilities. It was an ambitious concept that was executed impressively, but the game had sizable flaws, such as bland randomized dungeons and inconsistent pacing. Persona 3 was easily able to overcome its flaws with a combination of addictive gameplay and jaw-dropping style, and it earned itself a loyal audience while establishing a new direction for the series.

Persona 4 was a near-perfect follow-up to Persona 3, keeping its predecessor's vibrant, hyper-modern style while addressing each and every one of its flaws. Dungeons remain randomized, but each has a distinct visual style that ties into the story. Pacing is also no longer an issue, with an overarching story that is made apparent from the get-go, and a tight-knit case of likable characters that you really want to get to know better. The game steadily built a rabid following and was eventually successful enough to spawn a handful of spin-offs, including a fighting game and even a dancing-themed rhythm game.

Anticipation was high for Persona 5, and it certainly took its time to hit shelves. After a tumultuous development period spanning eight whole years and an entire console generation (the longest console generation, naturally), the mammoth sequel finally found its way to the PlayStation 4 and into the hands of fans with very high expectations. After spending the last month playing through the game, I'm happy to say that it's a sequel worthy of its pedigree, and easily one of the best games in a year full of amazing games.

The developers of Persona 5 wisely chose to stick with the same winning formula that made the previous two games so successful, focusing their efforts on polishing the game's presentation to a blinding sheen. Everything in Persona 5, from the general user interface to screen transitions, oozes style and personality, and there is never a dull moment visually. The presentation in Persona 5, bolstered by vibrant art by character designer Shigenori Soejima and a brilliant, jazz-infused soundtrack by series veteran Shoji Meguro, is one for the ages, and makes most other games feel lifeless in comparison.

Gameplay has not changed much since Persona 4, with the same addictive cycle of school and free social time leading up to lengthy dungeon dives. Persona 5's battle mechanics also adhere to those of Persona 3 and 4, for the most part. Combat is snappy and has a nice flow to it, with helpful button shortcuts that let you exploit an enemy's weakness in the blink of an eye. Downing an entire group of enemies and defeating them with a group attack rewards you with a nice bit of character-centric art, which, along with the awesome victory screen, is a nice way to keep combat from feeling tiresome.

In an unexpected nod to the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games and the original Persona, you recruit Personas by negotiating with enemies. Successful negotiation depends on answering demons in a manner that complements their personality type, but figuring out the correct response can feel like an exercise in frustration. Fortunately, you can still create Personas through fusion, and don't have to renegotiate with any demon who you have recruited in the past.

The dungeons (referred to in the game as "palaces") are vastly improved from Persona 4, and are no longer randomized. Each has a specific theme, and their design makes them feel like the manifestation of their ruler's twisted desires that they should be. My biggest complaint about the palaces in Persona 5 is that you are often forced to leave them at least once before reaching the goal due to story-related reasons. With limited time to socialize with friends, it's always preferable to get through a palace in as few days as possible.

Persona 5 is so dedicated to ironing out the few flaws that impacted prior games that it can be difficult to find anything significant to criticize. My biggest complaint is that the game feels like it could have been shorter without sacrificing quality. It never feels like it's paced poorly, but by the time I crossed the 120-hour mark, I was felt ready to see the story's resolution and move on to something else, because lord knows there are plenty of other 2017 games worthy of my time as well.

Judged objectively, Persona 5 is the best game in the series. It has a solid narrative with consistent and timely themes and an incredibly addictive gameplay loop complemented by an inspired presentation. The characters are mostly very likable, with one or two exceptions (chill out, Ryuji!), and I look forward to spending more time with them in the umpteen spin-offs that will inevitably be released over the next decade. I likely won't be replaying Persona 5 anytime soon (if ever) due to its insane length, but I genuinely enjoyed every one of the roughly 140 hours spent with it.

For Persona fans, a purchase is a no-brainer, but Persona 5 is also an excellent starting point for those unfamiliar with the series. It's an immense game that somehow lives up to the titanic hype that has steadily built over the last decade, and it will undoubtedly influence console RPGs for years to come.

Simpler Times with Harvest Moon (SNES)

Harvest Moon is a game that intrigued me when it was released for the Super NES in 1997, but the embarrassment of riches that was the result of the RPG output of that era kept me from taking a risk on a quirky newcomer. Nearly two decades and well over a dozen sequels and spin-offs later, I finally decided to fully embrace the original Harvest Moon, and I’m happy to say that it still offers a charming and engaging experience.

Harvest Moon’s pixel art provided a fitting swan song for the Super NES console and the look has held up well over the years. While it would have been nice to have detailed character portraits for the handful of townsfolk that your farmer-in-training interacts with regularly, the 2D sprites do a respectable job of conveying emotion, and are generally well-animated.

The music is simple and can become repetitive at times, but the warbly tunes are all quite catchy. Each season has one music track each, and whether it’s Spring’s hopeful optimism or Winter’s lulling melancholy, each track fits its respective season well. The town and mountain settings each have their own quaint tune, and you’ll find yourself humming along with them often.

Harvest Moon does an excellent job of creating a simple and addictive gameplay loop early on. You’ll be scrounging for cash in the early days of the first year (the game ends halfway through your second year on the farm), but once you’re able to harvest crops on a regular basis, you can diversify your assets and invest in some livestock. Livestock is limited to cows and sheep, and while both require daily attention, you’ll appreciate the break from watering crops endlessly.

Cows will ultimately be the top moneymaker on your farm with milk bringing in a pretty penny, but their dependability also shines a light on the game’s biggest flaw by far: if you have too many cows in your barn at once, the game crawls at a snail’s pace and becomes difficult to play. Even running at full-speed, it can be difficult to keep track of your progress as you attempt to talk to, brush, and milk each cow to ensure that they remain content. Adding significant slowdown to this daily process makes the can make the game’s chores feel a little too similar to the real-life chores they are emulating in the worst way possible. This sizable technical issue can be avoided by simply limiting the number of cows in the barn, but it’s a shame that such precautions need to be taken to fully enjoy the game.

Once your farmer’s daily routines are established, you can focus more on his personal happiness. You can go sightseeing in the mountains or chat up the townsfolk, and eventually you will be able to marry one of the town’s five eligible bachelorettes. The game places much more emphasis on maintaining your agricultural exploits than on keeping your wife happy, but attention to the latter will eventually lead to having children. Your ability to interact with your farmer’s family is extremely limited, but their presence is a nice touch and adds a certain amount of flavor to an otherwise simple formula.

The game’s two-and-a-half years of farming and romancing go by quickly, but you’ll likely be ready for the game to end at that point. You can easily exploit the game’s infinite nighttime to accomplish myriad tasks early on, and efficient gameplay will lead to a fully developed farm before the end of the second year. By the time the third year rolled around, I had an excessive amount of money and only needed to farm to pad an arbitrary score that is calculated at the end of the game. In order to achieve the game’s “best” ending, you have to have crops or grass planted on literally every free spot of land, along with having a barn full of livestock. The reward is an extra vignette or two during the ending, but it is hardly worth the hours of effort required.

Despite its addictive gameplay, Harvest Moon is best enjoyed played at a leisurely pace. The game’s undeniably charming presentation gives it a timeless quality that should appeal to anyone looking for a relaxing and light take on a farming simulation. I greatly enjoyed my first experience with the series and look forward to seeing how the sequels compare.