Mugen Souls PlayStation 3 Game Review

Conquering the universe through the power of “moe.”

What They Say
There exists a small galaxy in the universe containing seven worlds, shimmering in seven colors These worlds exist and act independent of one another. This has allowed them to develop and nurture rich, unique cultures. Then one day, a decree was sent out “I’m gonna make everything in each of these worlds bow to me!” – The Undisputed Goddess, Chou-Chou

The Review!
Graphics:
The graphics in Mugen Souls are for the most part solid, colorful and sharp though the presence of jaggies and some aliasing during the 3-D animated cut scenes and some feedback noise during the more traditional 2 D scenes that is more than a little distracting. For the character designs the development team chose to go with a more cartoonish  animation style approach rather than a more realistic one that can be seen in other games like Halo or the Metal Gear Solid series. During the more traditional animation cut scenes the characters are designed to give the appearance that they are 3-D models with no real movement save the mouth and a CG wave look that makes it seem as if the characters are breathing-or possible just used to make people look at certain characters bodies move slightly, an effect that isn’t terribly convincing but not nearly as overblown and distracting as when the same method was used in the original Hyperdimension Neptunia game while the actual battles and field movements use 3-D modeled characters though the 3-D/CGI model scenes do include movement though the detail level of the designs seems to drop and the jaggies presence explodes.

Most of the visuals are done in an anime influenced 3-D rendered presentation with backgrounds, levels and the screen character in exploration mode having a very well developed look to them that gives a decent, though not incredible intricate, visual look that help add some “pop” to the environments though the characters and enemies aren’t quite as fortunate. For both exploration and battle the characters are shown with whatever noticeable equipment changes (be it in clothing or clothing accessories such as glasses or weapons) reflected in their appearance the majority of the time,  though the presence of these items can vary in certain cut scenes as a number of the animated scenes are set to the character’s default look. The palate of colors used for the game worlds and their inhabitants is fairly vast and impressive leading to each land having a distinctive look that helps to add a sense of freshness to them even when each land follows the same game mechanic format.

Audio:
The game includes both the original Japanese voice acting for the game and the English language version that NISA created for English speaking markets and both are present in 5.1 which adds a tremendous value at times as it can help make one really feel like they are in certain battles as both effects and music work to compliment the visuals. For the purposes of this review the Japanese language track was used during the play through and it plays fairly well with the 5.1 allowing for a good deal of range for dialogue, effects and battle music without necessitating the need to constantly be adjusting either the games audio functions or whatever sound system the player is using to allow for both the louder and quieter moments to carry their weight without drowning out being in opposition to each other throughout the game. The game does however offer the player the ability to customize the sound in different respects so you can boost or lower dialogue, effects and background music as well which can help with creating a new balance if the preset standard turns out to be insufficient.

The voice actors themselves include some who are quite good and who are able to convey subtleties as well as the more energetic and boisterous parts of their dialogue in an effective manner.  The game has a number of music tracks in it with a couple vocal ones being present at times including a high tempo one that is used during “Fever Time” (explained later) to help sell and amp up the time limited nature of certain attacks or statuses (as well as visually the game using frenetic light effects during this particular period) and most of the instrumental music falls between “adequate if not memorable” to really helping sell the action during story points and boss battles.

Control:
Being an RPG the precise nature of the controls isn’t as important as in a fighting game but for the most part the system works well enough, though at times letting go of R3 while traveling in the exploration mode may cause the character to face the opposite direction depending on how loose the controller being used is which may lead to some unfortunate but not devastating tactical disadvantages if it results in an enemy advantaged encounter.

The basic combat set up borrows heavily from the style that was used in Hyperdimension Neptunia MK-II as the player is able to navigate the party (on the field screen represented by Chou-Chou in whatever form or customized outfit she is in) and move around the field with enemies being represented also by a moving creature which gives the player the opportunity to attempt to dodge the encounter if they wish or time the swing of whichever weapon Chou-Chou is equipped with in order to initial battle with an advantage- though if the enemy intercepts the character from behind they can initiate combat with such an advantage for themselves (note- the advantage or disadvantage that comes from this type of encounter can be strong but it isn’t nearly as big a difference here as was the case in Neptunia -MK II). An additional advantage (at least through the early parts of the game) that exists is the linked attack ability which allows the party members to combine their efforts in one of a number of different random (some odd, some hilarious and some appearing brutal to the party members- though no party member is injured during them-) combined attacks with other party members who have an active turn coming up near the initiating character (meaning before the next enemy in line) and who are within range of the character initiating the attack(though by the later stages and  new game plus this feature actually becomes a bit of a hindrance). Beyond that basic combat is what one would expect in an RPG as character turns are based off attributable stats with certain actions counting against the active timer turn system more based on the power of the attack.

An interesting twist present in Mugen Souls when it comes to weapons is that each character has an assigned weapon specialty which provides a bonus to attack when the character has a weapon of that type equipped but the player can choose to assign any type of weapon they like to customize the type of party they want (though each character’s status level up mostly based around the type of character the weapon type they start with would dictate for class so assigning close combat weapons to mage class characters for example is possible, though the results will largely be predictable given the rather RPG standard of mage types having low physical attack status and relatively hit points compared to characters designed to be front line combatants).

Much like the Disgaea series though “basic” combat is not the only form that can take place though as Mugen Souls introduces a number of different ways to approach combat  that may both thrill and annoy the more experienced player at the same time as many of the different aspects and tactics that are based off them  lead to different results in rewards and require different strategies to pull off. The most common and probably most used of these skills will be the “Blast off” feature that accompanies a number of skills that the characters will learn through leveling up which allows the player to send the enemy characters sliding around the battle field to careen about like billiard balls on a table or (depending on the skill) flying into the air to hit bonus objects that hover over the combat field. This effect allows for incidental damage to be dealt to anything that the sliding object may hit (and which can send those hit objects into motion as well)  and the total number of hits is kept track of by a meter on the bottom of the screen that measures such collisions as combos which effect rewards given upon clearing the encounter. This tactic can be a double edged sword though as many monster types can also make use of it to send party members flying as well which may leave them out of range for the next turn or dropped into some very dangerous places on the field. While this effect can be used to delay the turn of both characters and monster that get knocked into by the sliding entity (which makes it a valuable tool at times both offensively and defensively to push back a particular monster or character’s turn) probably its most useful property is found in using it to attack field crystals.

With the exception of a few early tutorial battles every character combat battle will feature the presence of a large field crystal that starts near the center of the combat field (and later smaller crystals will appear as well). Each of these crystals creates an effect (or multiple) that falls across the game field and which can create a unique condition for a particular encounter and cause a change in the tactics needed to clear the battle efficiently. In the early levels many of these effects are mostly benign, effecting the amount of different rewards after battle or the fields conditions as to how much sliding occurs with blast off attacks but as the player moves progresses through the game some of these effects can make a major difference in tactics as some of the possible effects can create major negatives for players with the field crystal causing hit point or special point damage being among the more annoying ,though the crystal can also limit certain types of action as well as create a counter that limits the number of actions that can be performed and if the field isn’t beaten by “0” the player’s party is wiped out. In addition to this the smaller crystals that appear each have their own effect which can seriously change game tactics as their effects range are much smaller along with their diminutive size (which means none of these can create a “doomsday timer” but characters or enemies that are in their range can find they get either a tremendous advantage or disadvantage creating a new level of tactical planning that has to be taken into account). To make things slightly more annoying, each crystal has its own number of hit points (often dictated according to size) which requires them to be destroyed in order to eliminate the effects (as well as initiate “Frenzy Mode” which is covered later) but they are immune from direct player attacks leaving the use of blast off attacks as the only combat offensive way to rid the field of troubling status effects though damage taken is only proportional to the amount of blast off used on whatever enemy is sent flying off toward the crystal usually leaving the player to have to make a number of attacks like this before shattering the crystal.

There is a secondary method of removing a crystal from the field however though only the main character Chou-Chou has access to it and that is to use her “Moe Kill” ability on it. Much of the game revolves around the concept of “moe” as every character, enemy, field crystal and a few other surprise elements in the game is assigned one of eight moe types in much the manner that most RPGs assign a magic affinity to the same types of creatures and objects. While there isn’t quite the “rock-paper-scissors” advantage/disadvantage assigned to each when used against creatures possessing a different type  some attacks of the same affinity as the target can cause the strength of that same attack to vary. When activated Moe Kill allows Chou-Chou to choose from a pair of options for dialogue in three “rounds” to try to win over the target (In some story elements failure to do so creates issues while in combat lack of an instant conversion simply means she has to try again on the next turn), though the effectiveness of her Moe Kill though will rely on the targets affinity as well as which affinity Chou-Chou is currently using in addition to the enemy’s mood as well as Chou-Chou’s own moe level which is raised through collecting of peons and the conversion of anything on the screen can lead to the unleashing of a special attack or party healing depending on what the player chooses the bonus to be.

In order to Moe Kill more than just the small number of enemies/crystals that are in her small sphere of influence at the time, Moe Kill can be used on crystals to change them and thus change the enemies in the field’s effective range into allies, items and Moe Kill is necessary to the advancement of certain story points (and in the case of large field crystals Moe Killing them either through the love or item effect ends the enemy encounter instantly by spreading the effects to all monsters, including any boss character that may be on that field). If the attempt to convert fails however it  sends an enemy into Frenzy, healing them of any previously sustained wounds and upping their status. When the attempt fails on a crystal (or when a small crystal is Moe Killed in any way and thus removed from the screen, or when any crystal, large or small is destroyed), “Fever Mode” is engaged for a limited time.

In this particular form of combat the standard battle music is swapped out for a high tempo track complete with some different lighting as four large blue globes appear above the field (in addition to some floating containers that are always present). The object during this period is to use skills that have the “float” ability to knock opponents into one of these orbs using Blast Off where they will ricochet like a pinball between the orbs like pinball bumpers which racks up the combo hit count and then which awards the player at the end of combat with money in relation to number of hits total as well as a bonus for successive hits (and as long as an enemy doesn’t get a turn the next players use of these orbs –assuming they can do so- continue the count) and which is about the only real effective way to amass money in any meaningful amounts during the game.

The use of Moe Kill serves to power up three other important elements in the game as the use of the Moe Kill skill adds more (often many more) peons to serve under Chou-Chou than simply wading into combat and wiping these threats out in direct actions. All defeated enemies will be turned into servants (peons known as Shampuru for all but the named characters converted) for Chou-Chou and the number (as well as type they are) under her command directly impact the strength of her moe affinity making it easier to convert more peons in the future as well as making it much easier to pass some of the later story elements.

Secondly the number of peons plays a direct role on strengthening one of the required, if lesser items used in general, form of combat that initially appears when traveling between the worlds in the game as the airship G-Castle enters into combat with other airships. While the number of conflicts that the ship engages in during the main story is roughly limited to one per planet neglecting powering it up can lead to combat where the G-Castle is seriously underpowered and in need of more than a little luck to survive these encounters (Ryuto or the enemy ship give hints to what the enemy ships next action may be, though this mechanic can be incredibly unreliable at times) while adding peons (Shampuru) adds to the hit points of the ship as well as increasing its attack strength (and rare Shampuru can also add to the type of other options available as well) as the vessels exchange fire to see which ship will be sunk. For the most part airship battles use a simple attack pattern consisting of Attack, Defend and Pierce with some variations thrown in later as the ships Shampuru levels grow as well as there being options for repairing the ship as well.

Additionally number of Shampuru also affects the size of a special attack that Chou-Chou alone can use known as a large Peon Ball. This particular attack is one of the more powerful ones in Chou-Chou’s arsenal and it has the ability to change the course of battle as its power can wipe out an entire field of enemies and even layout bosses from its earliest availability. The power of this attack is launched from the hovering G-Castle and its power is determined by both the total number of Shampuru that Chou-Chou posses as well as the amount of Peon Points (PP) that have been collected on the current battlefield through combat actions (up to a maximum of 999)undertaken so far (and the more points one gets the more the PP Points start with as a bonus in the next fight). Like many of the other combat tools in the game this weapon also comes with a potential cost as the peon ball has a small counter in the upper right hand portion of the combat screen indicating the chance that the ball will go out of control and land out of control on the players party instead. A number of factors including the number of turns Chou-Chou has had on a particular world since leaving G-Castle and battle events like any party member being knocked out increases the percentage chance that it will go berserk (a warning that cancels Chou-Chou’s current turn at its start announces that the ball will do so on Chou-Chou’s next turn) and it carries the very real possibility of wiping out the entire party creating a game over if on the regular battle field. The only way to reset this counter to zero is to either return to G-Castle (available either through one of two “Exit” points on the field or by use of a “Save” crystal or by having the ball explode on the party (not recommended), though later a system is revealed that can incrementally lower the percentage by requiring certain actions to be carried out in combat.

Finally one of the aspects added a short while into in the game is a simulator type level called the Mugen Field which serves as a battle ground that allows the party to gain experience as well as exchange a certain the special points (Mugen Points) earned in the game to unlock some of the limiters set on the characters and game conditions such as the standby party size, level locks and even character weapon and magic affinities which makes this a valuable part of the game that the player will likely spend a fair number of hours in to beat the game and even more than that if they wish to experience some special scenes that (along with a certain level of moe affinity) will be required to get the game’s True End. Beyond just the increased chance for combat and unlocking of various things, this field also grants some interesting interactions for the cast as they discover there may be more to Chou-Chou and her various moe transformations than any of them are willing to believe. While the field will be useful in finishing the game the really dedicated (or obsessive) fan who will find that this field will likely be where they spend hundreds- if not more- of hours playing if they hope to unlock all of the various skills, levels and other stats that the Field makes available.
*Note- the copy provided was a review version, bereft of any packaging or manual

Text:
The text for the game is kind of a plus and slightly minus for the release. While the text itself is in a format that is easy to read and is free of spelling errors (at least none noticed) it doesn’t always flow smoothly and there are times where the text is either longer or shorter than the spoken Japanese leading to a feeling some alterations were made, most noticeably in the opening movie as the text stops but the dialogue continues with what appear to be another paragraph establishing the game setting as well as the proclamation of Chou-Chou taking over the galaxy which is more than a little annoying. It doesn’t seem to be an issue that changes the game substantially from the bits of Japanese I can make out but it may be an issue for others who dislike such changes and are more sensitive to them though there is one incredible poor choice made during somewhere during the game translation planning stage as the moe form “tsundere” was given a very unfortunate and inaccurate translation to “Bi-Polar” which not only fails to convey the true meaning behind the moe type but also runs a good chance of mischaracterizing those who have the medical condition. Additionally this will probably leave a good majority of the players who are familiar with the term “tsundere” (whose number likely make up a very good percentage of the people playing this game) to have to make a mental adjustment when seeing “bi-polar” used and then having to make a mental adjustment of their own in order to choose the right option from the dialogue branches when using Moe Kill.

Content (Please note that content portions of review may contain spoilers)

Fans of NISA and the games they release pretty much know that the company has a long history of releasing titles that are headlined by characters that go against the grain of the “heroic leads” in many instances and that there is often a rather twisted (if not outright bent) flavor to the humor found in these titles, a tradition which Mugen Souls proudly continues as it uses a number of elements to skewer RPG staples in both a satirical and also loving fashion (while also engaging in many of these elements it is parodying itself) that will tickle many RPG fan’s funny bones.

The story revolves around the diminutive Chou-Chou- a bombastic character who charges head first into almost every situation convinced her abilities will carry the day…then again, since she declares that she is an undisputed god one would imagine she would have that belief and a bit of arrogance to go with it,  though her lack of a memory of her past (as well as the shear absurdity of the claim) makes her companions question her sanity more than a little much of the time. Of course, none of her companions really believes she is an undisputed god as she appears to be just a small girl with a large ego and a grandiose goal of subjugating the 7 worlds that are grouped together in this area of space simply because she finds them pretty.

While this might normally cause her companions to just treat her in the manner that most people treat those who look to be young and seeming possess impossible delusions- with a bit of a smile while dismissing their fantasies- Chou-Chou has some very untypical powers that create just a tiny bit of uncertainty as to whether she might actually be telling the truth. The first of these powers is her ability to turn enemies (as well as more neutral characters and even some inanimate objects) into peons, with most she converts turning into Shampuru- small rabbit looking creatures that can be used in baths like soap and who are completely subservient to her- which increases the power of her airship and which she claims she will use to turn everything, even entire worlds,  into her peons. Seemingly to complement this ability to convert those before her Chou-Chou has the ability to change into one of seven forms in addition to her normal form that will allow her to play off the innate affinities for moe that exist in those she is looking to subjugate and make it easier for her to bring them under her sway.

Initially joining her in her quest is the expelled demon turned angel Altis who seems to be one of the most star crossed characters in history as she desperately tries to do bad but her actions always seem to turn out good, a “talent”  which resulted in her being kicked out of the Netherworld and forcibly reincarnated into her current status and she desperately wants back in to her former homeland. While she doubts Chou-Chou’s claim of godhood she recognizes that the scheme definitely could qualify as evil and she sees that helping Chou-Chou out may gain her access back into hell (or as close as the Netherworld comes anyway). Also there from the start is Ryuto, the pilot of the airship Chou-Chou has made her own who became Chou-Chou’s first peon as he fell head over heels for her (though he retained his human shape) and who is probably her most loyal servant though he is also…eh, it doesn’t matter, he is Chou-Chou’s servant and that is enough to say about him.

In her quest Chou-Chou will make use of the airship she has commandeered, the G-Castle, to travel to the various worlds and place them under her control using the power of moe to change its inhabitants into her peons. While initially she plans to do this by transforming every creature on the planets into her servants Altis and Ryuto convince her this may be just a tad time consuming so she instead decides (through a major leap of “logic”) that if she can change the strongest beings into her peons the rest of the world’s inhabitants will surely follow. Luckily each of the 7 worlds that she is looking at have a similar set up in that each have a chosen hero as well as a demon lord who are supposed to be opposites of each other and at odds so Chou-Chou sets off on her quest of making these beings her peons. But things may not always go according to plan as the ideal of both hero and demon lord may not live up to the reality as the group confronts these individuals and the player’s perception of RPG staples may be the same ever again.

In addition, Chou-Chou’s travels will have her running across a rival who appears to have the ability to also make Shampuru of her own (if incredible different and more evil looking ones) and who seems to be in competition with Chou-Chou to change the multitude of creatures on the various worlds into her peon’s first. As the two continually collide their similar nature seems to point to something in common between them and both seem to feel a sense of déjà vu when the continually meet and interact. What is the secret behind the history of these two beings that they themselves cannot remember and will the universe- to say nothing of Chou-Chou’s companions’ sense of understanding of that universe- be able to survive the answer?

In many ways Mugen Souls feels like a true spiritual successor to the original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness game as many of its characters and game play mechanics feel at the very least like they were inspired by that game and its sequels. In that vein players will discover a universe populated by a large number of characters who each have their own quirks and oddities to tickle the players fancy while the characters and situations will also taking shots at some almost sacred cows of gaming while not being afraid to break the fourth wall at times to do so. Fans will discover many of the Disgaea franchises staples have been ported over here with some minor tweaks at times including the ability to create generic character types (though with a high level of variation of classes possible through advancement in the game and unlocking them through certain conditions) to fill out the party ranks or to be used in combining with others to add skills to an existing character which present in a very similar way to that seen in Disgaea while the new field crystal mechanic feels like a new spin on the spirit of the Geo-block system while doing something fresh with the practical application of the concept.

Playing through Mugen Souls one can’t help but feel that the game has an element of the old Squaresoft philosophy of creating new IPs to test out new ideas in game mechanics that its developers have conceived of but decided to do so in a brand new property as a sort of field test rather than dropping a bunch of changes into an existing franchise and finding out that the audience hates these innovations with a passion. As a result one can’t escape the feeling that some of the various mechanics are being tested to see how well they hold up when the fans get a hold of them and that to maximize the feedback the developers added in just about as many elements as the game could conceivably hold. This approach has both positives and negatives to it though as it creates a game with an incredible amount of options to explore in strengthening characters and items as well as tactics to apply in that quest but this complex relationship may cause more than a little pushback from some more casual gamers which is seemingly addressed by the game trying to balance things so that one need not do a lot of exploration of the mechanics in order to advance.

At times this approach feels like it is almost at war with itself  as it can leave a player feeling like they are cruising along before dropping a challenge that they hadn’t built up enough around to overcome due to sticking with a certain set of tactics and combat approaches  (particularly when it comes to ship battles if the player has been mostly decimating enemies with attacks rather than attempting to Moe Kill enough to sufficiently power the G-Castle) and even some levels themselves are unbalanced at times with the bosses being on a completely different level than the surrounding beasts leading players to have to scramble to either use new tactics, level grind after being wiped out throw everything at the problem or simply try to survive which the game level didn’t really prepare them for. Of course the fact that there is some much depth to be found in the battle mechanics that the more advanced (or obsessed) player may find that they now have a reason to spend hundreds of hours attempting to max out the diversity present is probably part of the trade off and one which may add a good deal of depth to the games replay value.

It isn’t just the combat system that leaves this feeling of having a dichotomy like nature either as one of the game’s major strengths- its characters and their interactions- at times feels like it can be a bit of a weakness as well. While the majority of the writing for the game is on an above-average-too-often-spectacular level the sheer number of major characters that the game winds up assembling as it goes through its paces creates challenges with how to work the cast into the continuing story and at times some of the non-main three (Chou-Chou, Altis and Ryuto) characters can disappear for sizable stretches in the narrative which leaves the feeling that they are being underused at times if not underdeveloped, particularly if the player has developed an attachment to one of them in particular. While the game attempts to alleviate this somewhat with some (non voiced) vignettes that take place between stages on the G-Castle and the post level wrap up it can leave one with the impression that perhaps this is a case where the lily has well and truly been gilded and perhaps a little less would really have been turned out to be more as the attempt to try to juggle such a large cast seems at times to interfere with the stories pacing.

Probably the biggest weakness in the game that appears regularly though exists in the loading time that is often required as even with the game installed on the PS3 hard drive to speed things up there can be noticeable lags, particularly when it comes to the game loading the G-Castle screen where the player will find the various shops to buy/upgrade weapons and armor though the encounter screen can take almost as long as some of the battles once one has gained a couple hundred levels when fighting some of the small fry that still abound in some levels. The almost crawling speed stands as a fairly big negative in the game play as the uses of the G-Castle’s field (it is essentially the only “town” in the game) is vital to progression and it can make the player less likely to visit when the screen takes well over 15 seconds to load a number of occasions which almost feels unacceptable in this current generation of game systems and which can tax players who encounter it often while trying to accomplish various tasks.

One area that gained the game a large amount of controversy when it was announced for the US comes from the decision NISA made to drop a mini game from the US release. One of the elements that the game makes use of to help in the combat phase as well as a number of story elements is found in the presence of a hot springs bath on the ship with a number of scenes taking place in it, though the game uses the now anime staple steam or carefully placed objects to tease the character nudity by exposing large amounts of skin while carefully concealing the area’s most likely to drop the game rating system board down on them like a ton of Shampuru. The mini game (from what has been posted but I lack firsthand knowledge) made use of the fact that one of the game innovations is the ability to use soap and shampoo (either found in the game or purchased from shops) to temporarily increase the stats for the players party (they last only as long as the player is on whatever field they initially go to post visit to the springs) but in the Japanese version the player gained these stats by manipulating a cursor over the female character that could be used to slide and grope the particular character. Given that some of the characters appear young (Chou-Chou in particular) the decision was made to drop this portion of the game as it could impact the rating assigned when the game was submitted for review, if not keep the game from being able to be released in the PS3 in America period. While normally the idea of removing something for censorship reasons is anathema to me, the loss here leaves me a bit conflicted as the concept of the mini game strikes me as uncomfortable at best and the stats boost the game provided from visiting the hot spring is still present with the only real loss seeming to be 51 images that one could collect based off this mini game, though the absence of the game likely removes the need (or desire) to frequent the spring a bit as most levels likely can be progressed passed without its use, though its boost can make difficult boss battles easier and it can make the difference between passing a boss and needing to do a bit of grinding depending on the soap/shampoo combination used.

In many ways Mugen Souls comes across as a title that feels like it was created to test out some various possible game mechanics and which was given an interesting story to help sell the game but which can’t quite close the gap from being an enjoyable and sometimes brilliant game to something that feels like it absolutely can’t be missed. Even the innovations and depth present for the various combat options can make for a game that feels like trying to watch an instrument panel with a fair number of gauges and the lush scenery doesn’t hide the fact that the basic pattern encountered on the first world visited remains with little alteration throughout the rest of the worlds. With so much attention paid in areas like the variations available for combat it is almost shocking how some other ones like the mechanics for exploring the worlds are so undeveloped and which become routine (and worse repetitive) entirely too fast. The end result is one where the game has some fantastic ideas and concepts that stand right next to incredibly mundane (if not leaning toward “bad” with all the repetition) pieces and leaves a title that can be incredibly fun but which raises the overall expectations which are then let down by some of the flaws that come with the title and its mechanics. Add in the controversial removal of the mini game and an incredibly poor choice in a translation that appears throughout the game and one has a title that many fans may skip, which is a shame as the game is one that has an sizable payoff from an entertainment standpoint even if some of its own shortcomings diminish the overall product a bit.

In Summary:
The latest entry into NISA’s catalog arrives with all of the quirky characters and trademark humor that fans of the company have become accustomed to. In addition to these almost staple elements the programmers have done a tremendous amount of work creating various new facets of game play allowing for the introduction of a small armada worth of different game mechanics to explore with its multiple ways of dealing with the combat aspects of the game which occupy a very large portion of game play time, though the possibility exists that there may actually be a bit too many different aspects to the game which can be a bit of a distraction with all the various differences in results they can create. Over all the game manages to overcome these flaws, the controversy of a mini game removal and a particularly poor choice of a translation to provide a game that will likely please those who go out of their way to collect the titles that NISA releases, though given the nature of much of the game play more mainstream gamers may not connect with the story and humor elements in the same way as those who enjoy more of the Japanese Role Playing Game style of storytelling as it is a game that fun is actually more than the sum of its parts if one is able to get into its eccentricities of storytelling and character presentation.

Content Grade: B-
Graphics: B
Sound: A
Text/Translation Grade: C-