Recent reviews by Fiaryn

A truly standout game. Grid based turn based tactical combat reminiscent of Radiant Historia, a killer soundtrack, and a likable cast of characters. The translation is decent, but not great. It feels like an SNES era Squaresoft translation. There are stiff parts but you won't have any trouble following what's going on or what the vibe of the scene is supposed to be.

To delve into the combat system in greater detail, there are five weapon types that the protagonist can use. Swords, which lean towards smaller AoE patterns and higher base damage. Sabers, which have large AoE patterns and lower base damage. Polearms, which tend to have large AoE patterns and more defensively oriented skills. Fists, which have the highest base damage but are single target only on the majority of their moves. Hidden Weapons, which have long range and trend towards having debuffs on their attacks. It's a good system all in all, the martial arts skills are varied and fun to use and there is real variety in builds available. However, this system is not without its downsides.

The chief flaw of the system as I see it is that A) Availability of polearms and hidden weapon skills in the early game is very limited, so they can feel like a 'wrong' choice for the protagonist and B) Polearm's emphasis on being defensive and tanky does not feel particularly useful. The game simply isn't hard enough to feel like you need that level of durability. Still, I had fun with the polearm and hidden weapon party members I used. It is not a crippling flaw by any means, but polearms did feel noticeably weaker than other options.

The story was quite good and managed some real pathos. The sins of the elders falling upon the younger generation, all that tragic wuxia stuff is here on offer with some good twists and turns on the journey. Several times I was certain the game was going to play a plot development relatively straight and predictable and found a curveball I didn't anticipate. The primary two female leads are both interesting figures in their own right, though the Girl in Red is definitely the more active of the two.

This game was a blast from the retro RPG past and one of my highlights of 2023. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys RPGs.

Boats, much like Goku, are real and good and my friend. This game heavily features boats and is also cool therefore.

It's surprisingly well researched (but obviously ahistorical whenever it suits their purposes) and does a good job of evoking the age of exploration. Diverse cast of likeable characters, passable but not great translation, there's a lot to love here. If you liked Sid Meier's Pirates or Uncharted Waters: New Horizons you should really give it a look.