As LBA 1, this has also been on my "to-do" for over 20 years, ever since first seeing it in a game magazine but never got around to do a full playthrough until today. Let me tell you: every flaw from the first game has not only been fixed but got greatly improved! Blew my mind how it plays like a modern game but with '90s charm and quality. We get a proper start now, with a normal difficulty curve, easing you into the story, familiar locations (if you played the first game) and the characters. There are no enemies until well off into the game and are introduced gradually for a change. Players can finally save (and load) anywhere anytime and it works better than expected. Was a MAJOR source of pain before. Lack of player guidance has been addressed with objective markers (most of the time) on the new and improved globe map so the wandering around is cut to a minimum. They only appear when NPCs know where you need to go next but that's not always the case. So fear not of Skyrim level of dumbing-down. Combat pretty much stayed the same but became less punishing (less damage received) and there are better weapons to find down the line. Enemies are far more diversified, interesting and more thoughtfully placed. Getting stun-locked to death happens WAAY less often. Getting rid of running bumps (2nd MAJOR pain) also helps avoiding combat if your feel like it, not to mention it makes traveling infinitively better. Outdoors camera went full 3D and looks and plays wonderfully. Was very impressive to see old buildings from all angles in all their detailed glory. Indoors stayed isometric but are far more detailed this time around (think Crusader: No Remorse/Regret). All things considered, the game is an incredibly charming mix of Chrono Trigger (diverse places & characters), Ocarina of Time (camera and graphics) and Psychonauts (both). One of best games to slip under my far reaching radar, no doubt.
Been on my "to-do" for over 20 years, ever since first seeing it in a game magazine but never got around to do a full playthrough until few days ago. Let me tell you this game certainly has what they used to call "charm" or "soul" back in the day. In short that means the sum is greater than the parts its made of. Stylized visuals are so well done, as is UI, controls, music, movies, animations and story. It's all very likable and appealing. But... (a big fat one) is that all that is soaked into incredibly repetitive, punishing, tedious gameplay mechanic which overshadows everything else. Even as hard-core completionist I battled real hard to finish the game, especially in the first day. All starts with moronic save system which auto-saves your mistakes. It's just a single save, akin to a rouge-like. Only real way to combat this is via file explored and manually backing up / restoring "S????".LBA save file back and forth during gameplay (excessive Alt+Tab). No real way to avoid it due to horrifyingly done combat (with respawning enemies once you re-enter the area). Expect to get stun-lucked and shoot to death from beyond the screen a lot! Without afore-mentioned save scumming you'll end up in a mental institution in no time. In rare cases where you manage to get a first shoot in - expect to miss more than not because there is no aiming, only eyeballing on your part. Next irritation will come from running mechanic where if you hit an object your will bounce off in a too long animation while taking damage as cherry on top. Traversing endless map screens quickly is highly discouraged by design. Final nail is scarce of player guidance on what to do (or go) next. Enjoy very tedious backtracking and speaking to every NPC in the game while encountering respawned enemies and hitting every obstacle in the way. I used a walkthrough. Beaks most rules of gameplay design. Intended for younger and inexperienced audience who have the time and will for these kind of things.
