Review scoopings 4/5 · Jan 19, 2026
Pleasant Surprise. A Highlight Of Early TRPGs Imo
Preliminary: These cutscenes are quite monotonous but I am liking this better than Shining Force so far (I know, I know, blasphemous). I like how it feels a bit more like Live a Live, and I like that it's one player against the Slimes at the start, and I leveled up etc. It feels closer to an RPG like I …
Preliminary: These cutscenes are quite monotonous but I am liking this better than Shining Force so far (I know, I know, blasphemous). I like how it feels a bit more like Live a Live, and I like that it's one player against the Slimes at the start, and I leveled up etc. It feels closer to an RPG like I prefer. I am not a big tactical/strategy RPG fan, so we will see if this earns a 3 or higher, but so far it is clicking almost at the Fire Emblem level. Good music sometimes too. Just sick of this bridge dialog spot.
Ooo a beautiful new screen for dialog! :-p 
Day 1
It's nice approaching tihs without a guide, just playing it how it's meant to be played. I think it helps that I'm not committed to finishing it, just a couple areas would put it at the Fire Emblem level and earn it a 3 or 4. And a standout among early Tactical RPGs.
Something I forgot to mention in Preliminary is, I like that Japanese vocalizations for soudn effects :-p Also feeling very modern with actually nicely placed save opportunities and a memory card to save on etc.
I'm surprised how much I enjoy this. It's too slow-paced for me to stick to the whole thing, as tactical turn-based often feel, and my party is growing which is a negative, but it was manageable and the mage guy was actually really strong physically too (? I did use the attack increase spell for both members, but yea). And I cleared out another screen. Here comes more dialog tho. The slow pace is expected, but will likely be what keeps it from a 4 star, despite the good Look (for its time) and Sound and pleasant surprise of the gameplay.
The slow walks over to an enemy are funny lol. Ending turn repeatedly just to get to them. And dang this girl is also OP compared to my main char. Maybe I should return to an old area and grind? I suppose I see why all characters have decent physical attack ability: you seem to only level up from killing an enemy? I was excited for the dynamic of an Ability-focused support character hm.
Unlike many of its predecessors/contemporaries, this has an approachable progression. Instead of characters basically being doomed to die the first couple areas like in Fire Emblem.
Hmmm the game is basically telling me to grind in this continent before boarding the airship. This is my true test to see if I will stick with this game. And as much as it's impressing me, I think I will jsut go to the next continent and see if I can manage ha.
I like that the plotline deals with occupation and uh was that "White House" that I read? lol.
I made it through Nicarus Forest! It was rough and I had to use a Revival Tonic but uh, maybe one more? Well okay that next area is clearly too tough. I tried returning to Nicarus Forest but meh. Here's where the slow pacing comes in. I could just abuse Fast Forward but I'm trying to expect more as we approach 96 and my childhood gaming era.
Dang yea even after redoing Nicarus Forest that next area was too tough. Maybe I was supposed to go to the third option first? Either way, time to move on. Still, pleasantly surprised and imrpessed by this game. Espceially considering how much I read it was a pale imitation of Shining Force etc
Look: 8/10 Love it. Part of me wants to give it higher for the great early PS1 yet still SNES looking, well, Look, and for the good world map, but many of the screens didn't grab me.
Sound: 8/10
Play: 8/10 Highlight of the early TRPGs imo
Feel: 8/10 Exciting to see the start of a series I hadn't heard much about, if anything, and for me to enjoy it more than the serires of this genre I had heard so much about.
Attachment: 8/10 Part of me wants to just keep grinding at Nicarus Forest and get strong enogh for that next area, or try that third option. If I finally feel up to committing to finishing a TRPG before Final Fantasy Tactics (which I sure hope I like considering how much I've heard about it), this would be my pick. Tho I likely would use Fast Forward in that case.
Overall: 8/10
Completion: Nicarus Forest twice
Playtime: ~3 hours
Edit: On further reflection, it really was special that I wanted to try to learn and strategize myself, so I'm happy with the 4 rating and may return to it for a higher rating.
