All Ys games have different flavors. If Ys 8 was akin to a Lost world/Jurassic Park misadventure after being shipwrecked on a mysterious island then Ys 9 is roughly what you'd get if you made Adol a roof top jumping vigilante (I am the night! I'm...Bat ma...er...The Crimson King!) whom gets recruited into a league of unlikely heroes charged with protecting a dark mysterious city! (Kinda like Gotham Knights but arguably much better!) Every character has their own nifty skill aiding in traversal or uncovering hidden clues in the environment. This is all done seamlessly with every character able to share their abilities on the fly. You no longer have to bring up an annoying menu screen to switch out special items like " Ze big jumpy boots" "Ze goggles of X-ray vision" "Ze umbrella of slowed falling" or "Ze claws of sneaky scampering"! Whereas Lacrimosa Of Dana was a slow burn with the building climax amazing me with its' deceptively complex existential yarn during the ending stretch,Monstrum Nox sunk its' talons into my nostalgia receptors right away! This has a lot to do with the visual direction and somewhat darker themes throughout. Every chapter focuses on a new party member allowing you to become invested enough to actually care about them. The side characters are equally likable as well! Toward the beginning you are restricted to a very small area with an eye rolling macguffin that prohibits you from going further. However,each successful mission unlocks more areas at a brisk pace. There is also a gimmicky yet intriguing side story with its' own playable sections that puts Adol's very identity into question. This may annoy certain gamers whom perceive it as "unnecessary filler" but so far it has not been an issue for me personally. The general consensus is Lacrimosa Of Dana is the better game but to me they're both equally good games that excel in different categories. (Though I suggest getting the deluxe edition during a sale!)
One of the better Nep games with four distinct campaign arcs,good voice acting,likable new characters,a lot of side quests to complete,item crafting,hidden areas that can only be found with specialized scouts/helpers,,and additional layered complexity you would not normally associate with a lighthearted 4th wall breaking J-rpg parodying the console wars! If you liked Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force chances are you will enjoy VIIR as well. Highly recommended for gamers that like old school turned based Japanese rpgs with a few new ingredients added to the overall formula! Only gripe I have is the difficulty level towards the end bottle-necks you into intense grinding and trying to scavenge rarer parts to make high tier equipment.
Played and beat Blood-Stained: Ritual Of The Night a long time ago on an older computer that wasn't as good at running it. While I would have preferred the "old skool pixel look" of SOTN and Igas's Nintendo DS outings,the game still looks decent in 2.5D having both spectacular visual effects and very gonzo over the top boss battles! Being a shard-binder, Miriam pretty much has the same power of Soma Cruz in being able to absorb the powers of her demonic enemies by absorbing the devil-shards they leave behind. Some of these give you new spells or allow you to summon forth the creatures you just slayed while others can be more essential in aiding your exploration of the massive castle and hidden areas around it. The game has the dark-fantasy-gothic vibe Dark-Souls and Castlevania fans expect that's intermittently broken up by more whimsical easter-eggs that are tributes to backers of the project or are little "cross over events" referencing other beloved games made on smaller budgets (Everything from Shantae to Shovel knight to Two Kingdoms to Child Of Light) Sometimes it can get a tad obnoxious but for me it hasn't detracted from the core experience. (At least not much) There's also a lot of post-game content too after you beat the main campaign which is always goes towards giving you more bang for your buck. I want to say fans of this genre should immediately pick it up but true Castlevania aficionados can be a tough lot to please. I know they would have preferred more retro styled hand-crafted pixel graphics as I would have but that would have taken much more development time. ROTN also suffers from what I call "safe edginess" in which its' mature themes were softened somewhat,in part due to the off-beat easter-eggs and odd-ball cameo references tacked on. Regardless for me ROTN's merits definitely outweigh its' flaws!
For a cheap price you get a banger of a J-rpg,one with branching paths,memorable characters,and a surprisingly in depth leveling up/customization system. At first the game presents itself as a tongue in cheek parody and meta commentary of J-rpgs. Yet it does it in a loving way while managing to weave in deep lore,mature themes,and touching moments as well whilst the soundtrack and VA work are top notch. Even if you have the vanilla version of Fairy Fencer F I recommend it as it adds more endings,two new recruit-able characters,the ability to have up to 6 companions in battle,"and" challenge dungeons absent from the original. (And even if you miss out on a sale the game retails at only $19.99,the fairest bargaining price I've ever come across for a J-RPG of this caliber!) Despite fights being turn based you can move around freely in the battle zones and string together impressive chain combos to the point it "almost" has the feel live action combat. Granted you have to level up and unlock the proper abilities to be at this full potential. A bit slow going at first but after a few hours in you'll be riding the lightning,devil triggering,and raining down hell fire with the best of em! My only gripes are the lay-outs and scenery of Fairy Fencer's different environs are a bit lack luster whilst enemies suffer from pallet-swap-itis. However, this world has a vibe distinctly its' own. I dig the overall theme of "Look at these foreign technological structures from ancient civilizations that have been taken over by nature". It has a bright and vibrant yet surreal quality in which medieval towns and rolling green hills are layered over the top of strange metal bridges with flashing neon lights and what could be the derelict remains of a space station that fell out of the sky.
