Space Rangers HD is an updated version of Space Rangers 2 that includes a new faction of organized pirates, and better support for High Definition resolutions (you can easily enough get HD mods for Space Rangers 1 & 2, but this update also provides bigger font size options for easier reading at those resolutions (Government and text quests, but not all fonts are increased in size)). It is pretty much a mashup of genres, but for me at it's heart it is all about undertaking tasks (Text-based quests, Real-time Strategy battles, Ferrying special cargo, assassination missions, Trade or planetary surface exploration) to make money and upgrade your ship equipment or ship itself to become a powerful force in the galaxy to take on the powerful threat of the Dominators and pirate faction. The challenge in my opinion is much more significant than 2, due to the additional weapons the pirate faction make use of; so taking on both the Pirate and Dominator factions at the same time will make life difficult. Some people prefer Space Rangers 2 over HD, but I feel that Space Rangers HD is the better version and is in fact the only game in the series that I have actually finished (By defeating both the Dominators and pirates). I'm a big fan of the 2.5D animations of the ships and equipment and its nice to see the new ones done at the same high quality level as in Space Rangers 2. On top of that there are new variants of older weapons and the 2.5D models are updated to show these changes and often animate them. I think I'm just a big fan of the animations in this game. I also very much love the UI (and the built-in search functionality).
Review on both milestone 1 & 2: This is a visual novel (the second one I've read myself), so no choices to be made, just read the dialogue and click to continue the story. You do have an in-game encyclopedia you can open to reference some of the terminology that comes up during your reading experience, but otherwise it's completely linear. The pacing is pretty slow for the first 2 parts available on GOG (as of writing this review). This wouldn't be really much of a problem as it does a great job developing the world, characters and story; it's more my concern that there may never be a conclusion to this series that has me suggesting that people keep clear of this novel until there are regular releases on GOG with a promise of an eventual conclusion to this saga. Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair in my rating, but in my case I felt I had wasted my time reading this series only to be shortchanged at the end of milestone two. Since I don't think you can upgrade scores on reviews, if they ever do release the entire series, I would consider upgrading my review to 4 stars. In any case the visuals are great in Fault - milestone one, and sprites and background art look crisp at Full HD resolutions. In addition I thought the UI (User Interface) was also very nicely done. Fault - milestone two however is a step down using lower resolution sprites (especially noticeable when zooming in on characters faces) and I feel a slightly less polished interface. Story is still of a high quality as the first part, just the abrupt ending didn't sit well with me.
This is my first visual novel. It isn't a game, but a book, or an audio book (if you can speak in Japanese) with visual images and music to accompany the words. Adult content: This is NOT an erotic novel; there is some suggestive writing, but it is mostly used for humor. There is no nudity (there is a single scene late into the game with a 2-piece swimsuit, but that is as close to nudity as the game gets), and even scenes where blood is depicted in writing, is not shown visually. In saying that, apparently there is a patch available that will unlock erotic content, but the GOG version I finished this novel with, does not include this. I'll start with the bad: Visual Novel resolution: This visual novel uses a resolution of 1024x640, which I feel is pretty low even for it's first release in 2009. Story/Plot: The plot doesn't really get much attention at all, it is very much a tool for which to create drama and build the characters. You will likely find yourself questioning certain plot points and decisions, so a certain amount of 'suspension of disbelief' is required to enjoy this novel. On to some good things: Characters: This novels strength is very much the characters and how they grow and change throughout the novel. The two main characters were especially well done, and despite me not understanding the Japanese voices, emotions were conveyed very well. Art: The art is very nice, I just wished it was rendered at a much higher resolution. Music: There are several music tracks I enjoyed while reading this novel. On completion of the novel you get the ability to play the music tracks individually (within the program), of which there are 32. Overall: I think I enjoyed the story (I did complete it), or at least I believe I may of taken something away from it; but certain scenes I found difficult to proceed through due to my own emotional state. The overall tone of this novel isn't happy, but I guess 'hopeful' is what they were aiming for.
Owned it since it came out in the box 13 years ago. I can't finish many of the games I own, yet this one has had me finish multiple times despite the probably now 1000's of hours now that I've put into it. The Mod community is thriving still with this game, so fixing all those overlooked bugs and getting it to run nicely on your HD display is no problem (currently running it at 1920x1200). There is much to like in this game: many distinct classes (and cross classes) with racial abilities bonuses and drawbacks, the in-depth tactical gameplay mechanics, the fantastic story, amazing locations and the many side-quests; some of which have a significance and depth that would form the basis of a story on it's own in a lesser RPG. With the HD mod on my display and with much more of the map available, you can really appreciate the amount of work that went into creating the vastly different and beautiful architectures and locations in this game. Graphics is a subjective thing (I can't stand low resolution textures eg Dragon Age Origins), but I would say that with exception to the character models (They're pretty tiny at 1920x1200), this game is still a lot more gorgeous then a lot of much more modern titles out there.
