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Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection |OT| Dual gourmets, too punny, a 2-for-1 Falcom sampler
- Thread starter Pasokon Deacon
- Start date
Having completed them all, I never saw any way to warp to the halfway point. It merely seems to serve as checkpoint.
Thanks~
---
One other question, regarding the 'for rabbits only' treasure.
PLEASE PLEASE tell me that I'm doing something wrong and there is a non-rage-inducing way to make the rabbit follow you instead of going back and forth and ripping your hairs out when it turns back for no reason or gets stuck on a curve or pillar or falls down the path where you float, because christ, this is the worst 'escort mission' I've ever seen. Falcom whyyyyyyyy.
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection - A short review.
I must confess: I didn't play that many games this year. Maybe only 12 games, all up. Not only that, 5 of those games are Falcom games. Nevertheless, I'd like to say that Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was one of the best games I played in 2017. Since I have never encountered a Falcom game which I dislike (granted, I haven't even begin to delve into their back catalogue yet -- WIP, I suppose.), Zwei : The Ilvard Insurrection has ticked all the right boxes for me.
"Nyahaha. You picked a rotten time for your little pleasure cruise to Ilvard, stupid human."
Ragna Valentine, a fortune hunter, got waylaid en route to his destination, and following an altercation with a nefarious cat and a mysterious teenager, crash-landed his plane on Ilvard, almost costing him his life, if not for the assistance of Alwen du Moonbria, a NEET-vampire with designs of her own. They form a pact to help each other, and goes on a journey across Ilvard, meeting some interesting personalities along the way. Their journey allows them to come to terms not only with their own past, but also to learn about themselves and one another, not to mention preventing the demise of Ilvard in the process.
A simple enough plot for some, but much like other Falcom games, it didn't really hit the ground running from the get-go, as many of Kiseki fans are familiar of these type of things. Rest assured, the plot will unravel in a rather brisk pace in this game, which is a very welcome change. Also, I love the humor in this game, a lot. Ragna's one-liners were especially great.
"Doc, 'feature creep' doesn't even begin to describe the issues with this..."
It's always a joy to play a game designed to be played in PC, and this game is no exception. XSEED has done some great work with this game, not only with the localisation, both voice work and translation, but also in delivering consistent performance. The original Japanese release of the game is locked at 30 fps, and the game employs frame-doubling to "fake" 60fps. It was however, very consistent in its delivery. It also has arbitrary resolution support, and the ability to remap controls (although this one is probably par the course). If I had a complain though, it's probably the aliased dialogue text, which hopefully XSEED will patch out, much later.
As an aside, there is also a SpecialK mod to bring input latency down if you have a G-Sync monitor here, something I've used to great effect.
"So, Princess, who's the tater tot?"
If you are familiar with Falcom's main character designs, you can be certain that they had a dark past, and you can expect some of that here. Don't let the cheerful exterior fool you though, there's plenty of depths in the two leads. Not to mention the supporting characters, as you'll discover by talking to each and every one of them. Yes, don't forget to to talk everyone after a story event, or, after every dungeon if you must collect all the character dossiers. Each of the supporting characters are memorable and their personalities distinct, and they have their own stories to tell. If the task seems daunting, considering there are 3 dossier items per character, I can only tell you that there are less NPC to talk to here, compared with Tokyo Xanadu eX+, for example. One of my favourite characters in this game is Odessa. I thought she looks cool with her hat and boomerang. Although, I feel it was kind of a missed opportunity to not give her an Australian accent.
"The hell is THAT thing?!"
This game won't be a Falcom game without a tightly designed mechanics. The usage of food to improve characters levels is ingenious, and implemented to a great effect, here. In terms of combat, I can see that most will dismiss its design as simpler than most, which I can see where they were coming from, but I think the combat in Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was not a pale imitation of Ys combat, at all. It offers its own challenges just like Ys, if not more, especially in boss fights. There are a few instances where the strategy to beat certain opponent was not immediately apparent, but it offers satisfaction when you've cleared them all the same. There are only a couple of instances where these fights became more of a chore due to how annoying they were, but not to a degree that detracts from the overall experience. Collecting a variety of weapons and upgrades for Ragna and Alwen was pretty fun, battle arena fights and the optional dungeon offers the exhilaration (if not frustration) I've not encountered since Xanadu Next's optional dungeon. The dungeon layouts and its quests offers some challenges, but not to a degree which is extremely annoying. You don't have to break out your notebook for the "teleport level", for example.
"Now then, LET'S EXERCISE!"
What else can I tell you about the music, apart from that it's great, and you should really listen to it? Let's dispense with the superlatives and let the music speak for itself. My favourite pieces from the game would be the dungeon themes:
Ordium Shrine:
Dance in the Dark Night:
Spirit Fortress Melchizedek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIqMP-priXA
Other epic tier tracks:
Prostate Yourself Before Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLxTx84Kr7Q
Help Alwen (Rushing in ver.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMV9-GwBIG8
Lest we forget:
Witch Ra-Laira: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDq1sLHVrMY
Mechanical Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulz4gZLcbjk
"Buddy, I don't gotta spell it out for you, do I?"
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was one of those games which many of its defining qualities probably won't be apparent to most people upon its first hour of playing. But honestly, most Falcom games are like this, in my opinion. It is a fun, delightful game, with memorable cast of characters and tightly designed mechanics and epic musical tracks to go along with it. Playing it in high resolution, on a PC was very enjoyable treat. This game is definitely not one to be missed. Get it. Play it. It's worth it, and I can't wait for Zwei: The Arges Adventure to come out next year!
I must confess: I didn't play that many games this year. Maybe only 12 games, all up. Not only that, 5 of those games are Falcom games. Nevertheless, I'd like to say that Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was one of the best games I played in 2017. Since I have never encountered a Falcom game which I dislike (granted, I haven't even begin to delve into their back catalogue yet -- WIP, I suppose.), Zwei : The Ilvard Insurrection has ticked all the right boxes for me.
"Nyahaha. You picked a rotten time for your little pleasure cruise to Ilvard, stupid human."
Ragna Valentine, a fortune hunter, got waylaid en route to his destination, and following an altercation with a nefarious cat and a mysterious teenager, crash-landed his plane on Ilvard, almost costing him his life, if not for the assistance of Alwen du Moonbria, a NEET-vampire with designs of her own. They form a pact to help each other, and goes on a journey across Ilvard, meeting some interesting personalities along the way. Their journey allows them to come to terms not only with their own past, but also to learn about themselves and one another, not to mention preventing the demise of Ilvard in the process.
A simple enough plot for some, but much like other Falcom games, it didn't really hit the ground running from the get-go, as many of Kiseki fans are familiar of these type of things. Rest assured, the plot will unravel in a rather brisk pace in this game, which is a very welcome change. Also, I love the humor in this game, a lot. Ragna's one-liners were especially great.
"Doc, 'feature creep' doesn't even begin to describe the issues with this..."
It's always a joy to play a game designed to be played in PC, and this game is no exception. XSEED has done some great work with this game, not only with the localisation, both voice work and translation, but also in delivering consistent performance. The original Japanese release of the game is locked at 30 fps, and the game employs frame-doubling to "fake" 60fps. It was however, very consistent in its delivery. It also has arbitrary resolution support, and the ability to remap controls (although this one is probably par the course). If I had a complain though, it's probably the aliased dialogue text, which hopefully XSEED will patch out, much later.
As an aside, there is also a SpecialK mod to bring input latency down if you have a G-Sync monitor here, something I've used to great effect.
"So, Princess, who's the tater tot?"
If you are familiar with Falcom's main character designs, you can be certain that they had a dark past, and you can expect some of that here. Don't let the cheerful exterior fool you though, there's plenty of depths in the two leads. Not to mention the supporting characters, as you'll discover by talking to each and every one of them. Yes, don't forget to to talk everyone after a story event, or, after every dungeon if you must collect all the character dossiers. Each of the supporting characters are memorable and their personalities distinct, and they have their own stories to tell. If the task seems daunting, considering there are 3 dossier items per character, I can only tell you that there are less NPC to talk to here, compared with Tokyo Xanadu eX+, for example. One of my favourite characters in this game is Odessa. I thought she looks cool with her hat and boomerang. Although, I feel it was kind of a missed opportunity to not give her an Australian accent.
"The hell is THAT thing?!"
This game won't be a Falcom game without a tightly designed mechanics. The usage of food to improve characters levels is ingenious, and implemented to a great effect, here. In terms of combat, I can see that most will dismiss its design as simpler than most, which I can see where they were coming from, but I think the combat in Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was not a pale imitation of Ys combat, at all. It offers its own challenges just like Ys, if not more, especially in boss fights. There are a few instances where the strategy to beat certain opponent was not immediately apparent, but it offers satisfaction when you've cleared them all the same. There are only a couple of instances where these fights became more of a chore due to how annoying they were, but not to a degree that detracts from the overall experience. Collecting a variety of weapons and upgrades for Ragna and Alwen was pretty fun, battle arena fights and the optional dungeon offers the exhilaration (if not frustration) I've not encountered since Xanadu Next's optional dungeon. The dungeon layouts and its quests offers some challenges, but not to a degree which is extremely annoying. You don't have to break out your notebook for the "teleport level", for example.
"Now then, LET'S EXERCISE!"
What else can I tell you about the music, apart from that it's great, and you should really listen to it? Let's dispense with the superlatives and let the music speak for itself. My favourite pieces from the game would be the dungeon themes:
Ordium Shrine:
Dance in the Dark Night:
Spirit Fortress Melchizedek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIqMP-priXA
Other epic tier tracks:
Prostate Yourself Before Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLxTx84Kr7Q
Help Alwen (Rushing in ver.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMV9-GwBIG8
Lest we forget:
Witch Ra-Laira: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDq1sLHVrMY
Mechanical Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulz4gZLcbjk
"Buddy, I don't gotta spell it out for you, do I?"
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection was one of those games which many of its defining qualities probably won't be apparent to most people upon its first hour of playing. But honestly, most Falcom games are like this, in my opinion. It is a fun, delightful game, with memorable cast of characters and tightly designed mechanics and epic musical tracks to go along with it. Playing it in high resolution, on a PC was very enjoyable treat. This game is definitely not one to be missed. Get it. Play it. It's worth it, and I can't wait for Zwei: The Arges Adventure to come out next year!
Last edited:
Very close to the end, I enjoyed it (especially the dialogue, not so much the level design), and am surprised there are no FAQs for this game out there... Was this really not that popular? I have 2 questions:
1) The treasures in the ( ) parenthesis... how do you get these? I assume I need some sort of secret item? Or are they New Game + only?
2) I was doing the trading quest, but gave the pet food to Mr. Tiddles (nice Sasha reference!) or one of those cats... and apparently I found out you had to give it to the chef? Am I locked out of this quest? Is there a save game editor I can use to get me that pet food back, if so? I don't have an older save, well I do but that was before doing all of the Illusion Labyrinths...
1) The treasures in the ( ) parenthesis... how do you get these? I assume I need some sort of secret item? Or are they New Game + only?
2) I was doing the trading quest, but gave the pet food to Mr. Tiddles (nice Sasha reference!) or one of those cats... and apparently I found out you had to give it to the chef? Am I locked out of this quest? Is there a save game editor I can use to get me that pet food back, if so? I don't have an older save, well I do but that was before doing all of the Illusion Labyrinths...
OP
OP
You failed the trading quest. The end item's the final Gear which powers up Ragna to a fair degree, but it's reasonable to take down the final boss without it.
Re: treasures, some of them are NG+, but I don't know if the ones in parentheses are.
Re: treasures, some of them are NG+, but I don't know if the ones in parentheses are.