 |
| Whoo buoy, here we go again |
Steam
DISCLAIMER: XSEED did not provide me with a free review copy or any financial incentives to review this game. My opinions are my own and I am not directly affiliated with XSEED or the game's original developer, Nihon Falcom, in any way.
Good day fellow adventurers! Having played Zwei: The Arges Adventure for +/- three hours, I am in the process of recording my thoughts about this lovely little game in the form of a review-in-progress, with a full review to follow once I've beaten the game. Hopefully this will give you some idea of the mechanics and general vibe. Let's start the adventure!
UPDATE: After +-44 hours of laughing, raging and grinding my way through this game, I have finally beaten the final boss, and hummed along to the jaunty ending credits music. Check out the rest of this review for my thoughts!
Visuals
Visuals Score: 77% (Hey, that's pretty good!)
 | |
| XSEED have lightly garnished the game with a meme here and there. Oh, you! |
Audio
From the lively yet stirring score that accompanies the game's anime intro video, to the toe-tapping melody of Puck Village, the hometown of the MCs, Pipiro and Pokkle, I have been thoroughly taken in by the games musical charms so far. The sound effects aren't anything to write home about, and the combat lacks a lot of the oomph of Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection as a result of the lacklustre sound effects. Overall, though, I wasn't too bothered, as I was too busy jamming along to the dank tunes on offer.
Audio Score: 74% (Mildly spicy)
Story & Dialogue
 |
| Pipiro, the Queen of Shade-Throwing, at it again. |
Story & Dialogue score: 71% (Light and fluffy)
Gameplay
The gameplay falls very much in line with standard action-RPG fare, although of course, as this is the predecessor to Zwei: II, there is the twist in the form of chowing food down to gain experience in addition to the standard function of healing HP - eating is the only way to gain experience in this game, actually! Thus the player is faced with chowing food as needed in order to avoid getting wrecked by the rather brutal enemies, or saving up ten of each food in order to exchange it for a richer, fancier, and thus more experience-bestowing food at the local bar/restaurant in Puck Village. This leads to flexibility in levelling up as compared to other systems - although players who struggle to dodge enemy attacks well and judge whether or not to fight or run from particularly dangerous foes will find themselves quickly depleting their food supplies. I know I have, multiple times! I have the feeling that things will eventually smooth out a little as I progress - at least, I hope so!
After struggling through most of the boss battles, which are more a test of endurance and resource management than skill and strategy, the gameplay is unfortunately the weakest link due to them, not to mention the simplistic, slightly unsatisfying combat, and the basic bitch dungeon layout (although the last few dungeons do get a bit more interesting). Full disclosure: I'm not the most persistent or skilful gamer, so there were times when I felt like giving up on the game in absolute despair at the boss battles. It was only through sheer bloody mindedness and enjoyment of the game's aesthetics and charm that I managed to push through to the very end, although I still have post-game to tackle!
The mini-games do spice up things somewhat, although I found them too unforgiving (even on "Easy" mode) to be enjoyable for more than a few minutes, particularly The Typing of Ys, which left my wrists and fingers aching by the time I reached the last level (which I STILL haven't cleared, grrr).
Gameplay Score: 59% (Note to Falcom: do better next time ;))
So that wraps up this review! My conclusion: if you can tolerate some frustration and challenge in exchange for charming music, humour and graphics, then run out and buy this game from Steam or GOG, preferably on sale.
FINAL SCORE: 70% (GOOD - NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS)
