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Alcahest
I've been trying to work down my backlog, so since I set up my old PC to play emulators on my TV, I've been playing more of the fan-translated emulator games that I've been meaning to. Alcahest was one such game, an action/adventure game made by Square that I expected to take me much longer than it did.
From descriptions of the game, I had expected something Zelda or Ys-like. 3/4-perspective, some amount of fighting enemies to get stronger, memorizing boss patterns and figuring out the right weapon to use against them, that sort of thing. What I got was even more action-y and less rpg-ish than that: The enemies drop health refills and temporary attack power-ups, and you only collect XP to get extra lives. The game is divided into eight stages, with passwords for each one, and no going back or reason to do so. There are all of two armor upgrades, your attack only gets stronger at the end of stages, and the only non-plot items you can save and carry are two one-shot health-restores. You get a series of partners who accompany you, each of whom has a regular shot that they use when you attack, and a special attack that has limited charges. (I was reminded of Magic Sword's companion system.)
It's not designed as a "play through continuously" game, it's a "die and try again...a lot" sort of game. If you're really good at it (or use an infinite health code), it takes a little over three hours to get through.
If you like that sort of game, though, it's pretty decent. The graphics are very good for the era; I'm reminded a lot of the action sequences in Actraiser. They also were very aware of the SNES's processing power, and there's very rarely slowdown from too many objects on screen, despite the number of enemies/energy balls/summons that can conceivably be there. The control is okay, and your attacks have a nice range (and your companion's attacks are even better), and by the end you have a nice bunch of tricks up your sleeve. There's very little in the way of puzzles; it's mostly just "walk down the right corridor to find the boss you need to beat to get the key item".
The plot and between-stages cutscenes are the only indication that Square made this, because it's a formulatic early-90s Square plot. You're an unlikely hero chosen by destiny. Find the four summoned gods/sword spirits. Fight the four elemental generals. Watch the evil emperor get betrayed by his mysterious wizard sidekick. Go to the underworld and fight the evil god.
Incidentally, while the main translation page seems to be down, there's details at FantasyAnime about the game and the dudes who translated it. Except for the password system--which I really can't blame them for not dealing with--it's really nicely done.
I think I was expecting something that would take a few weekends, maybe 10-12 hours of gaming, like a Zelda or later Castlevania game would. I suppose I could have taken longer with it, but for this type of game, I'm just as happy to have blitzed through and called it a day.
From descriptions of the game, I had expected something Zelda or Ys-like. 3/4-perspective, some amount of fighting enemies to get stronger, memorizing boss patterns and figuring out the right weapon to use against them, that sort of thing. What I got was even more action-y and less rpg-ish than that: The enemies drop health refills and temporary attack power-ups, and you only collect XP to get extra lives. The game is divided into eight stages, with passwords for each one, and no going back or reason to do so. There are all of two armor upgrades, your attack only gets stronger at the end of stages, and the only non-plot items you can save and carry are two one-shot health-restores. You get a series of partners who accompany you, each of whom has a regular shot that they use when you attack, and a special attack that has limited charges. (I was reminded of Magic Sword's companion system.)
It's not designed as a "play through continuously" game, it's a "die and try again...a lot" sort of game. If you're really good at it (or use an infinite health code), it takes a little over three hours to get through.
If you like that sort of game, though, it's pretty decent. The graphics are very good for the era; I'm reminded a lot of the action sequences in Actraiser. They also were very aware of the SNES's processing power, and there's very rarely slowdown from too many objects on screen, despite the number of enemies/energy balls/summons that can conceivably be there. The control is okay, and your attacks have a nice range (and your companion's attacks are even better), and by the end you have a nice bunch of tricks up your sleeve. There's very little in the way of puzzles; it's mostly just "walk down the right corridor to find the boss you need to beat to get the key item".
The plot and between-stages cutscenes are the only indication that Square made this, because it's a formulatic early-90s Square plot. You're an unlikely hero chosen by destiny. Find the four summoned gods/sword spirits. Fight the four elemental generals. Watch the evil emperor get betrayed by his mysterious wizard sidekick. Go to the underworld and fight the evil god.
Incidentally, while the main translation page seems to be down, there's details at FantasyAnime about the game and the dudes who translated it. Except for the password system--which I really can't blame them for not dealing with--it's really nicely done.
I think I was expecting something that would take a few weekends, maybe 10-12 hours of gaming, like a Zelda or later Castlevania game would. I suppose I could have taken longer with it, but for this type of game, I'm just as happy to have blitzed through and called it a day.