Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception (PS Vita) Review

Utawarerumono and its sequel are two games I've had my eye on for awhile, and when they hit my buy price, I snatched them up.  Mask of Deception is the first part of the story, and the game is a mixture of visual novel and strategy RPG.  Two of my favorite genres in one!

I'll start with the SRPG portion of the game.  There aren't that many stages, but I do like these fights.  At first it seems like a standard grid-based SRPG.  Characters can move and attack, while speed sort of dictates how fast and how often their turn comes up.  Once you get a few levels, it starts feeling more unique.  Your attacks are basically combos, with one of two different timing mini-games for criticals.  While there are only a few different strings, they become much more powerful as you level up.  Each added attack makes the combo do a lot more damage, or adds some other type of effect.  Even healing skills get extra moves, with either more healing, or some kind of buff.

The first timing mini-game is hitting the button at the right time.  A circle closes toward the button, and you must press it when very close, but not too far.  While it is pretty simple, there are some that are very fast, making them hard to hit.  There is not much of a penalty for failing, as you either get standard damage, or may cut your combo short and miss a bit of damage.  The second one is holding the button down, and releasing it at the right time.  This tends to be the mini-game used for magic skills, and feels a lot less strict than the first type.

It is a cool and unique system, but there is a downside.  Each attack has a different range, and it can be a problem trying to remember which attacks have which range, and what point of the combo they are at.  It will display the largest area and approximate damage when selecting one.  It's a bit misleading since not all attacks in your combo hit that range.  Plus, it doesn't account for enemy defensive moves.  This is really only a problem in the dream battles, where the enemies have the best and most annoying defensive and passive skills, while you don't get very many of them.

The visual novel portion is the bulk of the game.  You follow the story of Haku and the multitude of other characters he meets, befriends, and is generally pushed around by.  While I normally like visual novels, it does entirely depend on the story told.  For better or worse, Mask of Deception reminds me of Ranma 1/2.  Haku generally gets abused (physically and verbally) throughout the whole game, and that kind of thing really bothers me.  I can let a bit of it go, but as it goes on and on and on...I get tired of it.  Most of the characters come off as selfish ***holes.

It's a shame, since the rest of the story is actually really good.  The sections that move the plot forward, and aren't just character interaction pieces, are very interesting.  Also, I'd really appreciate it if tapping the touch screen would advance the dialogue.  I understand that because it's also a PS4 game, such a function may not be feasible, but it's silly that a standard of visual novels isn't in the Vita version.

The only other related thing that bothers me is the authentic terminology.  I get that they want to keep the terms that might be harder to translate, but it makes it all more confusing.  Many of the terms and combo attacks could and should be translated to something close.  At the very least, they need to use the spacebar when typing them out.  Look at the title of the game, you get an idea of what I'm talking about.  For the combo attacks especially, I can't tell which is which until I pick them.  If one gets another link when a character levels up, I again don't know which attack it is.  I'm sure there are some silly purists who insist on it, but it makes me more annoyed than the game has to.  So I suppose more than being authentic, it's senseless pandering.

Doing all of the story battles and scenes runs about 20 hours.  A series of dream battles opens up after completion of the main story, which gives you another few hours.  The trophies aren't bad, but a few would require hours of grinding.  The game's battles start out easy, and get harder as the game progresses.  The curve is decent, but there are some notably hard (and sometimes cheap) stages, like the final fight and most of the dream battles.  If you are stuck, you can usually re-play earlier battles for more experience and BP.  Experience scales with level difference, meaning you have to play later stages to actually get experience for actions.  This would be less of an issue, but higher level enemies excel at dropping you with 1 or 2 attacks.  That's a bit extreme in my opinion.  At least at that point you are through the actual game story, so you can safely move on to the sequel.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception was worth playing.  The story flip-flopped from being obnoxious to really interesting, but the battles kept me coming back to play more.  While I don't agree with some of the story choices, the gameplay and ending have me looking forward to starting up the sequel.


The Good:
Battles are fun, interesting combo system.

The Bad:
The story has some really annoying parts (think Ranma 1/2).

The SaHD:
So, technically, the experiment worked, right?

(Physical copy of Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception was purchased by the reviewer)

Disgaea 1 Complete (Nintendo Switch) Review

Back in 2003, I saw an ad for the soon-to-release Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.  Since I liked strategy RPGs, and anime art, I decided to buy it when it came out.  Once I played it, my mind was blown.  There was crazy stuff I hadn't seen before in an RPG.  Crazy characters, wild terrain effects, and insane stats.  The levels went to 4 digits!  It was eye-opening to see this stuff after max level 99 and max damage 9999 Final Fantasy games.  It quickly became my favorite game, and its success likely fueled other RPGs increasing their own level and damage caps.

This should have been an easy review to write.  This is a re-release of Disgaea.  The first one.  My number 1 favorite game of all time.  It dethroned Final Fantasy IV for heaven's sake, which was no small feat.  All I should have to do is gush about how much I loved the game.  However, nostalgia can be a cruel mistress.

Is it the updated visuals?  Nope, those look crisp.  With the exception of the graphics and sound, the game is a fairly faithful recreation of its original incarnation.  And therein lies the problem.

The subsequent game added new things, changed some, and fixed things for the better.  Well, most times.  Still, there were plenty of quality of life changes that just made the core experience better.  None of that is present here.  There's no cheat shop, so leveling up takes more time and more grinding.  Money is more of an issue in the early game, as is fully equipping your people.  You don't get experience from healing, so healers fall behind.  High rank weapon types aren't balanced.  Heck, monsters only have the one type of weapon, so "too bad" if they need INT.

The item world is of course present.  Every item contains a random dungeon that allows you to power it up as you descend.  Still a great idea.  Levels aren't as small as they became over the years, and Mr. Gency's exits aren't as easy to come by.  No innocent farm or storage.  I will give the game credit for at least removing the geo panel from the exit square.  Now there should not be any floors that are actually impossible.  Also, the support innocents, like Statistician, seem to be higher starting values.  I don't remember there being so many, especially in values over 5, at the early stages of the game.

Some aspects of the Dark Assembly feel dated, too.  Since the cheat shop (regretfully) wasn't added, you have to use the council to increase or decrease monster levels.  Bribery is a huge pain, since each senator is an individual, not part of a group.  The percent chance of success isn't shown before the vote.  If you want to increase your counter attacks, you'll need the Dark Assembly, since there is no Character World.  No more promotion to increase your class' rank, you have to reincarnate for that.  Mentor and student isn't something that can be switched to benefit people, it's completely set at creation.  Just listing the stuff that should have been added to the "complete" version is kind of depressing.

Now, as much as I want the improvements from future games to be crammed into Disgaea 1, making a formerly great game incredible, I can see reasons why they didn't.  Maybe they wanted a 1:1 copy of the original, just with crisper graphics.  If that was what happened, I would still complain, but understand.  For better or worse, that's not what happened.  Remember the treant golems in the first game?  They were there, but now they're not.  Several enemy types were replaced with later iterations, likely because HD sprites of them already existed.  So I guess they aren't even pretending to faithfully recreate it, just do what ever is cheap and fast, consumer be damned.

But, we get Asagi.  I mean, she's been in other games before, but now she's...here.  And a Prism Ranger!  That's actually cool.  Not totally unique, because there was apparently a way to get one in the PSP version.  Still, it's a shame that those two things are the only things that were added.  Maybe it's my fault.  Maybe I expected too much after how great the re-releases of all the other mainline games have been.  How they get upgrades from new system mechanics, benefiting the player.  However, part of the blame is also adding Complete to the title, which implies something comparable to the last release that carried it.  Adding one and a half new characters doesn't strike me as a "complete" sort of thing, just a tiny gesture.

There is a silver lining through all of these dark clouds.  For all the things that should have changed, there remains one thing that shouldn't.  The story.  Disgaea 1's story is still the best the series has to offer, and it is completely intact.  I still think Laharl is wonderful, Flonne is ditzy, and Etna sucks.  The story for this game is wonderful, and was one of the reasons I kept playing it, despite how painful it could be.

Disgaea 1 Complete should have been a slam dunk.  Take the original characters and story, add the improvements from the past 15 years, slap in some new characters and battles, and rake in the praise and profits.  Sadly, that isn't what happened.  What we did get was a lazy port that tries to keep to everything original, except the things that would require doing work.  Despite the Complete moniker, it's barely different from the current PC offering.  If you have never played the original Disgaea, then it might be worth it to play the amazing story.  Otherwise, leave your nostalgia in the past...having your face shoved in its faults is a painful experience for the soul.  It's not a bad game, but it's a huge missed opportunity.  Just play Disgaea 5 Complete instead.


The Good:
Uh...it looks much better than the PS2 version.  I don't think some random item world levels are impossible anymore.  The plot is still great.

The Bad:
Disappointingly lacks the quality of life improvements from the last 15 years that really should have been added to make this game utterly fantastic.  I'm pretty sure I brought that up at least once or twice.

The SaHD:
Well I had already preordered the special edition from NIS, so it should be very easy to keep it sealed.

(Review code for Disgaea 1 Complete was provided by the publisher)

God Wars: Future Past (PS4) Review

God Wars: Future Past was definitely a game that sounded interesting to me.  It's a grid-based strategy RPG with heavy influence from Japanese lore.  It adheres to the tenants of the genre - each turn you can move and do 1 action, damage and accuracy from behind is better, and other such things.  Once everyone has had their chance to do something, it moves over to the next turn.  While being faster doesn't let you move more than other units, it does allow you to move sooner in a turn.  MP starts empty, but you get a percentage every turn.  This isn't so good for fighter classes (since their MP max is low), but great for casters...especially when you give them the MP+ passive.

There are also two types of treasure chests strewn about the maps, plus hidden items.  One unique aspect is gathering materials.  There are sometimes special places that you can gather herbs, or mine ore, but you need an appropriate skill to do so.  Side quests use the story mode stages, so you have plenty of opportunities to get these items, since you can repeat side quests.  The game's story is broken up into 4 chapters, with several episodes (battles) each.  Focusing on only the story battles should run you about 35+ hours, but much more if, like me, you do all the side quests.  I found it best to not do all the side quests when first available, since it made my progression feel sluggish.

Now for the job system.  Ever since the first Final Fantasy Tactics (and Final Fantasy V), I've loved that idea.  God Wars has it too, and I really like what they've done.  Each character can equip two classes, a sub and a main, plus they always have access to their default job class.  That's a total of three job classes, all giving active skills to use.  The amount of JP earned is reduced for each successive class, but that's a good compromise for such a system.  Sadly you can only equip three passives, which doesn't feel like enough when there are so many good ones (increased MP and JP are amazing).  It's probably for balance, because having too many passives would probably make certain combinations overpowered.

The story is pretty much fully voiced (at least in the PS4 version) story scenes, some of which are animated, and some others are more in a comic book style format.  It's dual language, so you can set it to English or Japanese.  Be warned that the animated scenes don't have subtitles.  I found that some lines (in English) were really quiet, and were overshadowed by the music.  Not terrible, but kind of jarring and strange.

I set the game to normal, and it wasn't really that hard.  Sure, some battles were harder than others (especially bosses that got multiple actions per turn), but none were super difficult.  I'm not sure if that's because I play lots of SRPGs, or if the game isn't very difficult in and of itself.  Also, some skills are far better than others, so learning those helps.  One gripe I have is that enemies get better skills.  One example is their magic damage reflect.  Theirs seems to reflect all magic damage, but my skills, even at max, don't reflect nearly that amount.  Accuracy can feel uneven at times, making misses at >85% more common than they should be.  You can save in battle, which is nice, but you can't save scum to make those attacks hit.  I tried it a few times, and it sadly didn't change.

God Wars: Future Past is a very good, solid, and most importantly, fun strategy RPG.  While it doesn't do anything revolutionary, being able to have multiple job classes at one time is a great start.  I definitely recommend the game to SRPG fans, especially fans of the classic Final Fantasy Tactics.

The Good:
Fun, old school grid-based SRPG.

The Bad:
No cross save.

The SaHD:
Wolf boss appears
Me: "Haha, it's Okami."
They identify enemy: "It's Ookami."
Me: "Oh..."

(Review code for God Wars: Future Past was provided by the publisher)

Mercenaries Saga 2 (3DS) Review

Mercenaries Saga 2 is a strategy RPG, much in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics.  So much so that it looks similar.  However, it isn't a copy, and if you draw inspiration from another SRPG, you might as well start at the top.

Battlefields are divided up into small squares that your character can move around on.  If you have played any other grid-based SRPGs, then you will feel right at home with the battles in Mercenaries Saga 2.  Each side takes their turn in alternating order, so being faster won't get you more turns.  Your characters can move and then take one action, be it an attack, skill, or using an item.  Unfortunately, you can't do an action first, and still have your move, like some other great SRPGs (although there is one character who can get that as a skill).

MP starts at 0, but units recover some each turn (based on their MPR stat that you can't see), so mages and healers stay useful throughout the fight.  Though, sometimes the close-range fighters struggle to gain any useful MP until late in the fight because heavy armor has a MPR penalty.  By the end of the game, you have 10 characters, but can only take 6 with you into battle (save the last two fights), meaning the later characters likely won't be used much.

At the end of each battle, all surviving characters get a portion of the obtained skill points.  These are used to buy new classes, skills, and power-up skills you already have.  It's a nice system that lets you power up any character brought into battle (and doesn't retreat), regardless of how many enemies they killed.  This is great for the healers, and helps balance out how easily the mages can destroy foes.  They will still be ahead in levels, though.

Once you reach level 10 or 20, you can class change your characters.  Each character can use all of the skills he or she has purchased, regardless of class.  Changing classes can easily be done in the menu.  You will have to re-equip their stuff, though.  Two of each character's high classes are locked until you exchange special items for them, but these will keep through playthroughs.  Overall, it's a great job class system, since you get the benefits from all your classes, and can pick whichever one you want for look or stats!

There are 32 story battles to go through, and almost as many free battles.  Each story level can be completed once per run, but the free battles can be completed as many times as you want.  I'd recommend doing most of them anyway, since you will want the extra experience, money and skill points from them.  Yes, it is grinding, but it's pretty quick, so I don't mind it.  It took me over 20 hours to get through the story mode, which included doing almost all of the free battles, too.

The game also has a very good new game+ mode.  You won't keep your levels or normal equipment, but you keep your money, skill points (although you have to re-allocate them), and magical/unique items.  If you get enough of the powerful and rare stuff, you can still power through a chunk of the game, even if your level is low.  You also unlock extra free battles and can challenge a higher difficulty once you complete the game.  Since there are two endings, it would be worth it to go through again.

Mercenaries Saga 2 is not as deep as other similar offerings (not limited to the 3DS), but is still very fun.  It offers good replayability, a great price for the content, and I would heartily recommend it to fans of grid-based strategy RPGs.


The Good:
Fun and well done SRPG with hours of content for a tiny price.  The skill and class system is pulled off very well.

The Bad:
Story is a bit bland.

The SaHD:
It can be a real pain to find the hidden weapons, so just use a guide.

(Mercenaries Saga 2 was purchased by the reviewer)

Langrisser Re: Incarnation -TENSEI- (3DS) Review

Sadly, I had not heard of the Langrisser series until a few years ago.  I understand why, since only one title was localized in the US, it was renamed Warsong, and was on the Sega Genesis.  Back then, I was a Nintendo fanboy (wow how the times change!), and didn't play a whole lot of Genesis games.  Many years later I sought to buy one and get a few of the gems that I liked or wanted to play, and Warsong was toward the top of that list.  Now, the latest entry, Langrisser Re: Incarnation -TENSEI- has come to the West on the 3DS, courtesy of Aksys Games.

After watching the nice intro movie, I started the game and was then faced with a questionnaire.  Hmmm.  Well, it helps to determine your starting class and your stats...I think.  I'm not fully sure.  While these are fun to do, I still prefer to just set the stuff directly, or at least would like to know what each answer affects.

I also quickly learned that the buttons are switched from "normal" Nintendo controls, and were more in-line with western Playstation or Xbox buttons.  Meaning the bottom button, (B in this case) was accept and the A Button was cancel.  It's not a big deal to switch over, but since I was previously playing a game that uses the more traditional Nintendo button layout, it took me a bit to keep it straight.

Langrisser is a strategy RPG with grid-based battles.  While most SRPGs have individual v individual combat, it is more focused on army v army.  This is accomplished by having commander units and mercenary units.  Your actual characters are the commanders, and for each battle you can spend points to give them some mercenaries (referred to here as "mercs").  Mercs have lower stats, but gain a significant bonus if they are within range of their assigned commander (this can make them stronger than the commander unit).  Therefore, while they are separate units, you will want to move them almost as one.  It definitely makes for some interesting battles, since enemies also follow this system.

If a commander is killed, any mercs assigned to them die too.  Well, since they are hired, it might be seen as running away, but there is a large explosion that claims them all, so I'm sure they just magically die.  You won't get any experience for mercs killed this way.  Therefore you have to make the decision to kill them one by one for the boost in rewards, or go for the quick kill.  Since there is no way to grind in the game, you are often better off if you go for the mercs before the commander, and try to have your mercs get the killing blows (they pass all exp to the commander).  However, there are times you might want to just cut the head off the snake, as it were.

Every unit starts the battle with the max HP of 10.  If you lose a unit, you will be out any points that it cost to hire them at the end of the battle.  Beyond that, there isn't really any penalty for getting a unit killed, which is nice.  Well, other than a character falling behind in levels, which can be very difficult to make up.  Since you don't reclaim points for any destroyed units, I would think it is possible to run low enough on points to make it much harder to proceed.  I didn't have this problem, so I don't know if it could actually happen, but it seems possible.  Before you confirm your attack, it shows about how effective your attack will be.  They range from Overwhelm - Advantage - Normal - Disadvantage - Danger (best to worst).  These aren't the best indicators of how much damage you will do, but at least it will let you know if you shouldn't attack at all.

In an interesting twist, character order is set by character class.  Healers go first, which is very nice.  Units that have large move ranges, such as cavalry, move later in the turn.  At first I wasn't keen on it, but it didn't hinder me as much as I thought it would.  It was a nice change of pace once I got used to it.  Once you start getting more and more mercs for your commanders, battlefields can become cluttered.  There are many choke points on the various maps, so you have to be careful of crowding.  It's also not very easy to tell your units apart if you have multiple of the same merc types, since they will have the same graphic.

However, while healers and mages tend to move earlier in a turn, they are also handicapped by another system in the game.  Skills and magic can only be used if you don't move first.  Therefore, you cannot move up to a unit to heal it.  You also have to already be in range to use an offensive spell.  Offensive spells are also pretty weak.  While the second spell can hit a bigger area, it doesn't eclipse the damage you can do just by attacking.  Added together, mages are just really bad in the game.  Mercs will heal some HP if they are next to their commander at the start of the turn, and if a commander doesn't move they can use the "heal" command to restore 3 HP and some MP.  Meaning, clerics and other healers aren't very useful either.  At least they can do some good damage by attacking.

When you do an attack, the game switches to a battle view that shows your unit/troops attacking the enemy unit/troops.  They use the chibi art style of having a big head.  Here, the head is gigantic compared to the body, being several times larger.  Maybe it's so they can display more models on the screen?  Regardless, I don't like that style at all here, and turned it off.  Besides looking better, it was easier for me to track the damage done.

When any character hits level 10, they will get a class change.  Until the last change, you can choose from 2 different paths.  One will be the upgrade of whatever they already are, and the other is a different type.  Before you finalize your choice, it will show the stat changes and any skills gained, so you can make an informed decision.  Each class has a strength and weakness.  In practice, I didn't really notice this in-game.  I've had plenty of cavalry units beat lancers (which they are weak against) and other similar match-ups.  I'm glad that it isn't an absolute system, so units can defeat their weakness, but it feels like it isn't in use at all, which isn't good either.

Like many other SRPGs, the terrain you move on affects your movement.  For some reason, everywhere has at least a move -1.  Even so, it doesn't actually seem to lower my movement.  Some areas, like water, are move -2, but seem to hinder it even more.  I don't get it, as the whole system is inconsistent.  It's also different per unit type (flyers have very few restrictions).  Even if a tile is impassable, you can attack over it with an archer or mage.  Sadly, that doesn't really make mages any better.

Each story has 25 missions, and they take anywhere from 30-75 minutes each, especially the later battles that are multi-part.  It took me about 23 hours to get through the first run.  Battles were not hard at all, even when I lost the occasional character, until the last few of the game.  The final 3 or 4 battles  seemed to bump the difficulty up by a notch, mostly by making the enemy generals have high stats.  Also these battles would have a second or third wave of enemies appear after clearing out the initial batch.

At a few points in the game, you will have to make a choice on what path to take, leading to multiple endings and party configurations.  These branching paths give the game good replay value.  My biggest gripe is any choice is made in or after a battle, so you can't save before doing one.  Yuck.  You can also sort of romance the characters, which will unlock a special skill and give you a CG image.  Problem is, you can ostensibly get one per run.  In theory you would need to go through the game a lot to get this for all 28 characters!  There's also hidden items on some stages to give you reasons to poke around.  While it is still an insane amount of playthroughs needed for full completion (especially for an RPG), there is a new game+ once you beat the story.  Your characters will keep their levels and class choices, but you will lose your equipment.  Subsequent runs will be much easier, but not a whole lot faster.

Langrisser Re: Incarnation -TENSEI- was actually fun to play.  I had a pile of small and medium-sized problems with the game, though.  Type match-ups and terrain effects were inconsistent, and not allowing the player to save before a crucial choice is really annoying.  The game offers a lot of replay value though, with several branching paths and a new game+.

____________________

The Good:
Despite its faults, I thought the game was fun to play.  There are multiple paths through the game, giving good reasons to play through it multiple times.

The Bad:
The chibi art style used in the game, the inconsistency in battle rules, and having big story choices after lengthy battles.  Have I mentioned enough how much I didn't like those?

The SaHD:
So after one of the later battles, you can confess your love to one of the characters.  I picked the one I liked best, and she had the highest level of affection.  However, she then shot me down cold.  I'm not sure why.  So, I put her in the next battle and let her...uh, let's say...retreat.  I stopped using her for a few battles (I don't need her) and she became useless when I tried putting her back in.  See what she caused?  Also, wow some of the character endings during the credits are just cruel to the character.  I guess it's more realistic but seems a bit too over the top.

(Review code for Langrisser Re: Incarnation -TENSEI- was provided by the publisher)

Trillion: God of Destruction (PS Vita) Review

Can you defeat a boss with a trillion hit points?  That's the basis for Trillion: God of Destruction.  Even by JRPG standards, that is a colossal amount of HP, and it is your job to whittle it down and defend the Netherworld.  To accomplish this, you will need the help an Overlord sharing your power.  While the beast sleeps, you must train and prepare...lest it consumes you as well.

There are two main phases in the game.  There are the actual fights against Trillion, and the training period while it rests.  Before Trillion awakens, you have a certain number of cycles and days (1 cycle is 7 days).  Each of the training selections takes 1 day and has a particular focus, usually on a certain type of experience.  Each stat you raise and skill you purchase requires a certain amount of the different types of experience.  It's better for each character to go with their strengths and not round them out, as the normal enemies are easy and Trillion has, well, a lot of hit points.

Training will also increase an Overlord's fatigue, so you will need to tell them to rest (otherwise you risk injury) or use an item on them to lower it.  The blacksmith will increase the power of your weapon, which costs money.  Each weapon will also have up to 8 slots (that you also unlock with money) that you can put seals onto.  The seals offer various effects, most of which are stat boosts.  To round it out, there is also a shop that sells some items, seals and equipment.  You shouldn't have to buy much of that, as you can find a lot of things in the Sword Valley.  The shop also sells devil envoys, who are A.I. controlled helpers that will fight with you in the Trillion/Mokujin fights.  If they perish during the Trillion fights, they are gone for good, so make sure to buy and equip another.  They are actually pretty useful.

During the cycles, there are also random events that can happen.  These usually involve you choosing an answer to something, and they can have different effects.  Some can give you an item, extra experience, or even give your Overlord a status ailment.  You will see the same ones several times, but even then the choices don't always lead to the same result.  Eventually, you will learn which ones are worth doing, and some have no downsides to them.  All in all, you are subject to the random number generator (RNG) for many of them.

While each Overlord has HP and MP, and anyone who has played an RPG will understand those, they also have a third meter, called affection.  This represents their feelings toward the Great Overlord, and in battle acts as a shield for their HP.  It is very important, since having some allows you to retreat from the Trillion battles.  Giving the Overlords gifts and spending time with them (in the Rest menu) will raise their affection for you, and also give them more affection meter.  There are many gifts in the game, and each of the Overlords reacts differently to each one.  However, each has a few presents that they absolutely love, and giving it to them gives a big boost to affection and a little scene with them.  As their affection rises, spending time with them will trigger special scenes, some of which have a CG image that unlocks in the gallery.  Plus, sometimes you can find the Overlord in the hot springs, since I'm sure you were going to ask if that was a thing in this game.  Worry not, it is here!

There are other fights besides Trillion itself in the game.  While the training segments are more akin to a simulation game, the fights are like mystery dungeon games.  The area is laid out on a grid, and the enemy only takes an action when you do.  Normal attacks can be directed at any of the 8 surrounding squares.  You can change the direction you face without moving (which is very helpful), use items or active skills.  Being able to plan your actions is very helpful to avoid damage and get to your goal fast enough and safe enough.

Combat will be in one of three places.  The most obvious are the fights against Trillion, but they are also the least numerous.  The second is against a monster called Mokujin.  At the beginning of each cycle, Mokujin will take the form of Trillion and you can do a practice battle against him to better learn how to fight the final boss.  These are really, really helpful for learning strategies and gaining valuable experience.  However, they also stop when you need them most.  I won't spoil why, but needless to say there was a time I needed Mokujin and he wasn't able to help.

The third area for fighting is the Sword Valley.  These are randomly generated and you must reach the exit in the specified number of turns.  There are a set number of enemies and treasure chest strewn throughout the area.  You will want to get what you can, since every enemy killed is experience and the items and equipment you pick up may be useful.  If you are running low on moves, remember that some skills will move you multiple spaces with one move, provided you have the MP.  The fights in the valley are the easiest in the game, since by the time you dive in, you probably can kill everything in one hit.  This is the grinding area, though, not the hard part of the game.  That's what Trillion is for.

So, what happens when...I mean if, your chosen Overlord is overwhelmed by the gluttonous beast?  First, they get to execute their death skill.  there are a few to choose from, and can either do extra damage (I'd love to actually kill Trillion with one of these...so dramatic!), power up the next Overlord or other things.  The one I prefer is Demon Barrier, since it extends Trillion's rest period.  This gives you more time to buff yourself up.  After that, the next Overlord is chosen, and gains a portion of the experience earned from the previous one so you can hit the ground running.  During the fight, if you still have affection, you can retreat.  This will give you more time to train, but you can only do it a few times per girl.  Use it as much as you can...the extra time and experience really makes a difference!

Even when you know you are going to lose one of the girls, it can still be a sad experience.  The sense of loss is one of the driving themes of the story.  I figure it is possible to defeat Trillion your first run through the game, but it is very, very unlikely.  Or I'm terrible at the game, I'm not sure.  It's fine to me that you can't win the first time, since you gain so much while failing.  My only gripe with it is the end.  It's probably not a spoiler to say that if you run out of Overlords to fight against Trillion, you will lose.  When you finally do, it's a small scene and then a game over screen.  It feels really lackluster for such an inevitable outcome.  I'd prefer it more framed as a 'bad ending' rather than just outright losing, since most players that complete the game will see this as their first ending.

There are obviously multiple endings, depending on who manages to slay Trillion.  Since it is very likely you will fail to do so, the game has a nice new game+ feature.  Each girl will keep the experience they earned.  You will have to re-buy their stats and skills, and their weapons will return to the default state (meaning you lose its levels and seals).  I'm fine re-buying the skills, but the stats is a bit annoying.  It's not a huge deal, but you will end up holding the button for awhile to catch them back up.  The weapons returning to the default is the biggest bummer.  Lesson learned: don't spend much on an Overlord unless you plan for them to win.  You also lose any items they had equipped and any tokens for the prize machine and Sword Valley.  However, you keep all the money you had, along with all the items in storage.  This includes the affection items, so spend all the tokens you can before the end!

I'm not 100% positive of my playtime, since I don't see anywhere in the game to track that (which is annoying), but it had to have been over 40 hours.  The time is variable depending on what you do, the choices you make, and if you get more of it through the various means.  Still, it took a long time to get through the game once.  At times it felt a bit long.  Without spoiling anything, there were a few extensions that I did not expect that kept the first run longer than I would have initially thought.  It feels kind of weird to complain about a game taking too long though, but at times it felt this way.

Overall, I very much enjoyed playing Trillion: God of Destruction.  The concept is great and the execution is well done.  Training and combat are simple to understand, but offer some depth if you think a little outside the box.  It's also unexpectedly emotional at times.  The new game+ option is really good and helps you finish off the boss with repeated playthroughs.  I do have a few minor gripes with the game, but they aren't things that diminished how much I enjoyed it.  The game is long, almost too long, and offers a lot of value if you enjoy it as well.  I would recommend JRPG fans check the game out.  It is fun and one of a kind!

(Review code for Trillion: God of Destruction was supplied by the publisher)

Rainbow Moon (PS4) Quick Review

Over 2 years ago, Rainbow Moon released on the Vita.  Like several other games this generation, it has now come to the Playstation 4.  It also offers return players a discount if they want to purchase the newest version.  While the game is not cross-buy, thankfully it is cross-save, so you can continue your file from either the Vita or PS3 version (which I did).  Just make sure you download the DLC you may have so the save file will load.

I'll recap the game a bit here for anyone new, but you can always read the original Vita review here if you want some more in-depth coverage.  Rainbow Moon is an RPG, but battles take place on a grid, so that aspect is much more like a strategy RPG.  You can have up to three characters per battle, but the enemy can have much more.  Some of the map enemy fights seem crazy with the odds stacked against you (I've seen a battle with 29 opponents), but aren't unwinnable.  Each turn you can do one action (move a panel, attack, defend, etc.), but you can gain more sub-turns to do more actions as you level up.  These sub-turns really let the battles loose and make the game more unique.

Some enemies are placed on the world map, and you encounter them by touching them.  They must be defeated for them to disappear for awhile.  There are also random encounters as you walk around, but these can be skipped if you want, which is really helpful.  I would love it if more RPGs had that in place for random encounters.  The game is fun but feels kind of grind heavy at times.  You'll need to level up and get a fair amount of money for everything, so you end up doing a lot of extra battles.  After I reviewed the game last time, I purchased a few pieces of the DLC (on sale of course) to help with that (double xp ring and pearls/money for everyone).  These aren't necessary, but they do speed the game up.

A good battle shot from the PS3 version.

So on to the PS4 version of the game.  It ran perfectly fine on the system, and I had no trouble resuming my Vita save file after the DLC was downloaded.  The game also loads really quickly, which is always a plus.  One thing the developers mentioned was that the game had some reworked dialogue.  I'm not sure where it all is, and someone like me would need to see the shots back to back, but I see no reason to doubt it.  Either way, the PS4 version looks and runs the best out of the three versions.

If you are a fan of RPGs, Rainbow Moon is pretty fun and a solid game.  It offers a lot of gameplay, even more so for its price.  If it sounds interesting and you haven't picked it up, now is a pretty good time to do so, since long time Playstation Plus users may be able to get the discount on the PS4 version.  Personally, I would recommend getting a few pieces of the DLC to save you a lot of time.  Again, it isn't necessary, but it cuts down a lot of the grinding.  Fans of RPGs and SRPGs should try out Rainbow Moon.

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (PS4) Review

It should be well known by now that I really enjoy the Disgaea series.  I've liked every entry in the series so far, so I was of course eager to get an early review code for Disgaea 5.

For the uninitiated, the Disgaea games are a series of strategy RPGs (SRPGs for short).  You move and attack on a grid and alternate turns between you and the enemy.  Stats and levels go crazy high, and the plots revolve around demons and the Netherworld.  Every item and piece of equipment has a random dungeon inside of it.  There are lots of character types to use in battle, and a lot of other things that set it apart from other SRPGs that are around.

Does the game still hold up to the Disgaea standard for gameplay?  Yes, it does.  Is the plot something that fits in the universe?  Yes.  There is a very powerful Overlord trying to take over all the other Netherworlds, and your small group is going to stop them.  Are the characters decent?  I'd say yes.  Most of them have extra things about them that aren't readily apparent, and their conversations tend to be humorous.  It's no horse weiner, but there are some funny parts.  Particularly, I like Red Magnus as the wrestler/Hercule (from Dragonball Z) role.  At first, Seraphina annoyed me, but she got less so as the game went on.  None of the characters are particularly groundbreaking, but done well enough.

So now that we got the basics out of the way, what about the changes?  Given the subtitle of the game, I'll start with the Revenge meter.  Now all characters get a new meter next to their portrait.  As they or their allies take damage, or they dish it out, the meter will fill.  When full, a unit enters Revenge Mode, where all of their skills cost 1 SP and they only do critical hits.  If the unit is an Overlord, they also get a powerful Overload skill (which I keep reading as Overlord skill).  These skills don't take your turn to use, which is a big deal in a game like this.  I don't have to tell you how great it is to be able to use any skill for a negligible cost.  However, the effect only lasts 2 turns, so make use of it while you have it, or stay clear of a powerful opponent who is out for revenge!

Most of the other changes are small, but I like most of them.  Each stage has a one time bonus that you get for maxing out the bonus gauge.  While it isn't a huge thing, it's nice.  The character world is now presented like a board game, where you make your way around a board and try to land on spaces that give you things, like mana, HL or stat increases.  If you run out of moves, you will halve any bonuses you receive.  If you make it to the end, you pick a bonus (better aptitude, more counters, etc.) and any subsequent runs will cost a lot more mana.  This cost resets if you reincarnate, which is nice.  The character world feels a lot different and easier to use, and I approve.

Groups return, and allow you to put your characters in various groups that have different effects.  One might give bonus experience or mana relative to how much the leader earns, or let you capture enemies.  These groups can be leveled up by sacrificing prisoners that you have captured or have surrendered.  Prisoners can be interrogated, which lowers a meter.  When the meter is out, they can be made allies, roam around the pocket Netherworld, or give bonus experience when sacrificed to level up a group.  Since there are a lot of Netherworlds, you can also send some of your extra characters to explore them and bring back prisoners, items and gain experience.  I really like that there are good uses for the extra people you acquire in the game, and a reason to have them get levels and have some gear on.

The item world stages are small and don't have many enemies, which is good.  This has been the case for the last game or two, but it seems faster to go through them in this game.  The biggest change is that you have to actually finish the level to get a level for the item, as it is now a bonus gauge reward.  The boss floor even has an extra level gain at the top of the bonus list.  There are a few other ways to gain bonus levels for an item, which is cool.  Innocents can now be moved off of items without being subdued.  Yay!  Now they have to be subdued to combine them.  What?  It's not a huge deal, but it is strange.  If I have to pick one, I'd rather move them without subduing then combine without subduing.  I'm not sure why we can't have both.  Subduing them still increases their value, which is still a reward for going into the item world and defeating them.  Either way, I'll take this change.

Probably my favorite change is to character creation.  While it used to cost mana to create, it now takes money (HL).  For me, money is a much easier resource to gain in the Disgaea games, so this change is huge to me.  Plus, you can also spend some extra money to increase the newly created character's level closer to your highest level character.  This makes it so much easier to have a new person actual contribute instead of being regulated to the B Team.  Characters can also now equip a secondary weapon, and switch during combat for different situations.  I love these changes.

Is there anything I don't like in the game?  Sure!  When you are in the pocket Netherworld that serves as your base, a song plays.  There are some vocals to the song, and it gets annoying pretty quickly.  It feels like the whole song is a thirty second snippet that is endlessly repeated.  You spend just enough time in the Netherworld that I was hoping for a way to turn off just the song that plays.  Other than that, my only annoyance were the battles that are clearly skewed against you.  They didn't feel as bad as the ones in Disgaea 4 at least, but there are a few.  Grinding fixes this, but it's not an ideal solution to balance.

With all of the things to do in the game, it can eat up a lot of time.  Going through only the story is almost impossible, since there are a lot of other things to distract you.  Entering the Item World to level up equipment, using the Character World to make someone even better, or even end game challenges that require mind-boggling stats to overcome.  Disgaea games do require some grinding, and Disgaea 5 is no exception.  It didn't feel necessary very often, or for very long, but that could be because I tend to use the Cheat Shop to increase the experience percent I get to minimize grinding.  Even so, it is easy to lose over a hundred hours and have fun doing so.

Disgaea 5 is really fun to play.  The core SRPG aspects of the game are still intact and working great, and my gripes with the game were small.  The many new additions and changes make this one of the best Disgaea games yet, and a must play for any strategy RPG fans.