Quite the charming experience!
So right off the bat I must stress that this game has no key rebindings. I found the default buttons for my controller to be not optimised but could not change this. That said, let's get to the meat of the game.
You're playing as the female protagonist Alyssa who works for a space agency and get sent to a mission to retrieve something on a remote planet and the fun starts from there. The story is 'okay', nothing to write home about. The dialogue feels very indie and reminds me of the time I tried making my own RPG. You get a lot of party members along the journey which can be swapped in and out depending on your liking. None of them are that interesting in terms of background story, but the real meat of the game is the combat.
People have compared the game to Chrono Trigger in terms of combat. While you do start fights like in chrono trigger the combat is quite different in comparison. Yes It's tactical and turn based, but each ability expires for the remainder of the combat unless you defend a turn. This forces you to be extra strategic. I played and beat it on hard which meant that each fight felt very tough and in the early stages of the game I could JUST scrape by. About halfway through the game you do start to get that edge and the fights become less challenging. Fortunately you can switch the difficulty at any time. There are many abilities, weapons and armour to choose from. Each with extra combat abilities and perks.
The graphics are a throwback to the old days and look decent. I do wish there was a bit more animation in the cut scenes though. The score for this game is quite good, but unfortunately some tracks could've done with more exposure in the game. Still, the soundtrack delivers and sets the right mood.
In short, the game was quite enjoyable, had excellent combat but the writing and the story could've been better. If you like turn based JRPG games with interesting combat mechanics, this is a good enjoyable experience.
8 gamers found this review helpful