Unlock the Underworld!

I've never really been a fan of Nihon Falcom. The Ys series has confused me with the sheer number of versions that exist, with remakes of the first game still on the way. I'm never sure which version will offer the best experience, so I tend not to bother in the end. As for Legend of Heroes, I've been tempted on a couple of occasions, but actually locating them has proved to be an issue. So why then, have I taken an interest in the PSP remake of a relatively unsuccessful dungeon crawler? It's at this point that I'd like to state it's not for the scantily clad wizard girl on the front cover.

The game is Brandish, and I only became aware of it due to a rather vocal minority who seemed excited about the prospect of a remake. I gave the SNES version a try, as I'm considering going for the remake. Firstly, it had aged badly. Admittedly many games I like have done the same, but this seemed poor even considering that. Regardless, I stuck with it, and it ended up being pretty fun. The best way I can describe it is an adventure game crossed with a rogue-like, with the usual addition of RPG elements. Nothing amazing, but a fun way to pass the time.

Interestingly, the remake seems to be mostly the same, with most of the update focusing how the game looks and handles rather than changing the core mechanics. So, considering how I've enjoyed a really dated version, I reckon I'm sold on this remake. Plot was light, so I could probably stumble my way through with my limited knowledge of Japanese. Although with any luck a localised version won't be too far off. Plus, scantily clad wizard girl is playable in this edition, so that definitely helps. A little.

I'm yet to find out how to stop widescreen youtube videos messing up the formatting on this blog, since I'm just that talented in my knowledge of how to code such things. So for now, a link to the page will have to suffice!

Nano!

No, despite the title of this update, this is nothing to do with an iPod in any shape or form. No, this is something much worse than that. This is another occasion where my obsession with videogames and figures rears it's ugly head.

One of my favourite games on the DS is Etrian Odyssey. A slow paced, first person dungeon crawler that offers little reward to the player for struggling through. It's certainly got a classic feel to it, with minimal plot and a no-frills battle system. It's exactly what I began to crave though, with RPGs becoming bigger and fancier, I felt myself drawn towards the core values of the genre.

It's also got some of my favourite character design. To the extent that I frequently find myself checking the blog of the artist, Yuji Himukai in the hope of seeing some new drawings of the cast, which he does from time to time. Naturally, when there's a new figure from the series I find myself oh-so-tempted to order it. Which I have done on numerous occasions. This time however, I accidentally became aware of a whole series of figures, due in the next few months.


Like with a few other figures from the series, these are being manufactured by Wave, who I've only got a few figures by, but I've always found the small details they have to be very endearing, details which are often lacking from others. So, figures from a game I love, with character design I obsess over, by a manufacturer that I find myself steadily impressed with. I get the feeling my wallet may be hurting soon.