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The extraordinary Sega game that played the player
- Thread starter Mama Robotnik
- Start date
It *does* play well. Well, at the time. It was a really unique take on the 3rd person character action-y game - it's a slash-em-up, but with lots of jumpy puzzles, etc. It's a real mish-mash of genres in how it plays - definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
That looks really fascinating - I really have to get around to it at some point; thanks for putting together the topic.
I know, it's a perfect combination of experimental elements that appeals to me so much I can't believe I haven't run into some mention of it by chance before.
Or maybe it's for the best I'm only hearing of it now, otherwise I wouldn't be able to truthfully claim I wasn't plagiarising it.
I know, it's a perfect combination of experimental elements that appeals to me so much I can't believe I haven't run into some mention of it by chance before.
Or maybe it's for the best I'm only hearing of it now, otherwise I wouldn't be able to truthfully claim I wasn't plagiarising it.
so...kinda white bear long before black mirror, then?
fuck me, that's awesome. ive had this one sitting on my shelf for far too long - awesome writeup as usual mama robotnik, cheers!
those XBLA releases last gen were such a tease. can't imagine the hype there'd be for a saturn mini done well - still one of the best libraries in gaming that far too many still haven't experienced
fuck me, that's awesome. ive had this one sitting on my shelf for far too long - awesome writeup as usual mama robotnik, cheers!
those XBLA releases last gen were such a tease. can't imagine the hype there'd be for a saturn mini done well - still one of the best libraries in gaming that far too many still haven't experienced
Hply shit Mama robotnik you made another amazing thread! This game sounds absolutely amazing and now I'm sad that I can't play it :(. Quick get someone at Sega to view this thread. They'll have to port it after seeing how interesting this game is!
It's definitely the sort of idea that would much more easily generate word of mouth and mean the difference between cult hit and flop today.
The game is a bit more abstract than the OP makes it sound, that's not to say that it doesn't have a fascinating narrative but I think decent amounts of the OP are rooted in personal interpretation of ambiguous events and storytelling elements. That's not necessarily a slight against the game; in fact it's arguably a good thing, because the game supports a number of theories and is rife for the kind of theorycrafting/fanwankery that people did on, say, Undertale.
The game does not play well in my opinion. The combat itself is fun in its own way but I would not consider it a compelling gameplay experience overall, other than the broad structural elements of the narrative and how that narrative loops over on itself in fascinating ways. The best way I could describe it is: someone took the gameplay design of a roguelike and then applied it to the storytelling itself. But at any rate there's no point describing the narrative since the OP did a great job of covering how unique it is.
It's interesting that the Saturn was predominantly an arcade experience and yet two of the most compelling and experimental narrative experiences of that gen - this game and Panzer Dragoon Saga - were Saturn exclusives. It's yet another reason why this console's library is criminally underappreciated.
The game does not play well in my opinion. The combat itself is fun in its own way but I would not consider it a compelling gameplay experience overall, other than the broad structural elements of the narrative and how that narrative loops over on itself in fascinating ways. The best way I could describe it is: someone took the gameplay design of a roguelike and then applied it to the storytelling itself. But at any rate there's no point describing the narrative since the OP did a great job of covering how unique it is.
It's interesting that the Saturn was predominantly an arcade experience and yet two of the most compelling and experimental narrative experiences of that gen - this game and Panzer Dragoon Saga - were Saturn exclusives. It's yet another reason why this console's library is criminally underappreciated.
This game sounds fascinating.
And here I thought the OP might have overstated that, lol.
And here I thought the OP might have overstated that, lol.
Youve really made me want to play this OP.
No idea where to look for a saturn or this game though
No idea where to look for a saturn or this game though
Nice thread. Great write up!
Played it back in the day. Was really frustrated and at the time never understood how it all connected. Kept playing until I gave up on it with the feeling that either it was a badly constructed plot or I was simply "not getting it".
I must say now, after knowing what it all meant, it makes sense and it sounds really cool. But when you are a teen wanting to play action games on your new Sega console, you don't pay much attention to plot details :p
Played it back in the day. Was really frustrated and at the time never understood how it all connected. Kept playing until I gave up on it with the feeling that either it was a badly constructed plot or I was simply "not getting it".
I must say now, after knowing what it all meant, it makes sense and it sounds really cool. But when you are a teen wanting to play action games on your new Sega console, you don't pay much attention to plot details :p
This looks ace. Despite being a SEGA kid I never got a Saturn. I jumped to Playstation from the Megadrive.
With Climax Studios closing, do we know what happened to the rights/assets?
With Climax Studios closing, do we know what happened to the rights/assets?
I almost wish I had stopped myself, because after spoiling myself in the OP I realized I would have loved playing this without knowing where the story actually goes!
I'm really surprised at how I've never heard of this game until now, the only Saturn RPGs that ever get mentioned as Panzer Dragon Saga (which, quite frankly, I don't think is remotely worth the price tag), the Shining series, Lunar and Oasis, if you had told me it was a long forgotten Yoko Taro game I'd believe you.
How does the PAL version of this run, much slower or did it get correctly adjusted? I've been seriously debating ditching my Saturn because it never gets used, the PAL game selection is dire and US releases cost too much to make modding worthwhile, but this might be worth keeping it for.
How does the PAL version of this run, much slower or did it get correctly adjusted? I've been seriously debating ditching my Saturn because it never gets used, the PAL game selection is dire and US releases cost too much to make modding worthwhile, but this might be worth keeping it for.
Great write-up. I did my part: I bought it when it was new. But I have to be honest, I played and finished the game and I really liked it, but I think I was too young to really grasp what was really going on so a lot (most?) of the subtext was completely lost on me (though I was 15 at the time, I was kinda dense then). I suppose it didn't help I'm not a native English speaker.
But you've definitely inspired me to give it another go. I still own my original copy so I might just dive in again.
But you've definitely inspired me to give it another go. I still own my original copy so I might just dive in again.
How demanding is the platforming in this game? I could never get into Landstalker because of it. I struggled a lot with the combination of its isometric angle and its level design, and the gifs make those aspects look similar here.
Love this game. It also made such wonderful use of the Hardware, pushing the VDP1 to its limits (I think in an interview Climax said they were pushing over 120,000 polygons up to 140,000) and also making great use of the VDP2.
This is an unbelievable thread
That mega postmodern narrative is absolutely amazing too
It reminds me of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest - in that the '80s culture of "endless entertainment" has borne entertainment products that are infinitely compelling yet have a dark and twisted core and that they are designed to never end
That mega postmodern narrative is absolutely amazing too
It reminds me of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest - in that the '80s culture of "endless entertainment" has borne entertainment products that are infinitely compelling yet have a dark and twisted core and that they are designed to never end
It's totally the same. There are some parts later in the game that will enrage you. I think it's part pf the isometric perspective. Expect a lot of falls from tiny floating platforms in the sky.
I remember it being pretty iffy. It's not gamebreaking at all, but the isometric viewpoint just isn't great for platforming. But if I recall you can turn the camera, which helps.
Extremely fascinating. And yes it makes we wish that this game that I knew nothing about until now was widely known and loved and available to play.
what a great read...great job op!!! I just started collecting again and the Saturn was one of the first systems I bought. Other than the crazy prices some of the games are going for, i've been finding some really good games to play, one being Dark Savior. Had no idea the story was this dark but looking foward to going through the different stories.
One of the few SEGA JRPGs that I never got to play... Sounds amazing, but they pretty much always were. SEGA was never considered a JRPG company like Square but they certainly made JRPGs that gave Square a run for their money; Skies of Arcadia remains my favourite JRPG of all time.
It's crazy how many people have not played this game. I obsessed over it when I was a kid. It even has one of my favorite soundtracks in gaming.
I do remember it getting kinda bad reviews back then. One video game magazine I read gave it a 6.5 I remember. I always thought it was amazing. I replayed it (still own a copy) a couple of years ago and still holds up.
I do remember it getting kinda bad reviews back then. One video game magazine I read gave it a 6.5 I remember. I always thought it was amazing. I replayed it (still own a copy) a couple of years ago and still holds up.
It's a fascinating game, but not much fun to play.
I ended up dropping it after losing an hour or so of progress on a cheap instant-death.
I ended up dropping it after losing an hour or so of progress on a cheap instant-death.