Release: 2019, original release 2011
Developer: Level 5, Studio Ghibli
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Genre: Turn based, JRPG, Catch em all
Gameplay Stats: 74 hours, 33/33 achievements
I decided to give this game a replay because I was itching for some more Studio Ghibli in my life. I played the original right before I started this blog, so back in 2015 I believe. Since this was remastered and released on Steam, I decided that I would play it again! Plus my wife hadn't seen it and I wanted to show it to her in my quest to get her to like video games a little more.
Visuals/Audio: B-E-A-UTIFUL. These parts of the game are so clearly Studio Ghibli and it's incredible. The very detailed, hand drawn backgrounds and the little animations that they give to their characters to convey personality are definitely captured in the game. The music is orchestrated and really does seem like it could fit into another of their movies. They are masters of keeping a theme and that is absolutely the case here. There is one tune associated with towns in the game and it is played in varying instruments that thematically match each of the settlements. This overall aesthetic is very definitely a strength of this game.
Plot: Pretty standard JRPG fare here to be honest. Lots of repetition, not very much subtlety. Most of the male characters in this game go through pronounced character arcs, but many of the females of the game seem to be pretty helpless to their surroundings. The game is framed to be like a fairy tale and I think it nails that aesthetic. I was kind of annoyed with the story while playing because it is so heavy-handed, but reflecting back on it I realize that it was meant to be a story for children and the broad strokes of it are actually pretty complicated keeping that in mind.
Gameplay: The gameplay is definitely unique! You get to control your little monsters (think Pokemon) but they all share your human character's HP/MP. It's kind of Pokemon meets Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. I do think that completing the game relies way too much on randomness, both in catching the different beasties and getting them to drop particular items for your late game alchemy. There isn't enough that you can do as a player to make it seem like these elements are more in your control, so it really seems like pulling the slots over and over for a relatively small pay-out. I watched The Completionist's review of this game and that was his chief complaint as well. It doesn't really factor in very much until the post-game, but then it hits it hard. Another gripe of mine here is that your party member's AI is actually garbage. I don't understand why more games don't take cues from FFXII in this regard. Having a simple system for specifying your team member's autonomous actions is so needed, it's almost painful.
Overall I really enjoyed playing through this game again! I didn't do any of the post-game stuff when I played through originally, and I did think it was pretty good overall. This game has the quality of feeling like a story book, playing a little each night after work would be a perfect way to enjoy this game. I think the aesthetics are definitely what would draw a person to this game and keep them interested. The game design takes some risks and I don't think that many of them payed off, but it was nice to see something unique. I'm excited to play the sequel! [8/10]
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