To start I have to say that Working Designs has always made somewhat good choices on what games to bring over or re-do (As the Lunar series is one of my favorites for it's story and revolutionizing Anime sequences for it's time) and Growlanzer is one of those games that I am glad they decided to bring over to us. First off - this is a TWO game package, not one. So if you purchase this game, you are getting a very good deal. I have not completed either game entirely - yet - and promise to update the review when I do complete the games in their entirety... but I have delved into both a bit to see how they play. I have to say the best part about the game is the fighting and Story Battles - which I will get to later in my review. First things first however. The games themselves are not entirely different. Part III incorporates more Role Playing Aspects (like towns and such) while Part II takes on a more Final Fantasy Tactics feel with the overhead map where you select towns and read a lot of text to progress the story. This has been done before in other games and in other games have been VERY unfriendly. In this game however navigating is very very simple and quick - so there is not much time really searching for what you need to do or finding the fights you need to level your characters or progress the story. Most people will be turned off by the graphics of this game - as it is a port of two older games (I think for the ps1, although I am not sure as I have never played them before I had for PS2). The storyline is fairly straight forward with enough plot twists and characters to keep any RPG entertained. Part II has a friendship system that gets affected by how you answer many of the decisions the game offers your main character. For instance - the first two characters to join your party are generally opposites in terms of personality and background (One is an orphan, one is from a nobel family) and they tend to disagree or at least argue over some stupid (although sometimes funny) things. You are always given 3 choices of answers, and these answers sometimes are in favor of one of the characters or is neutral to both.... and as you get confronted by them, you friendship level increases and decreases - having different stat gains. Part III seems to drop this system from what i have seen thus far. The battles themselves seem to have a larger affect on the story as well as this friendship system as a lot of choices will bring you down different paths (which at first is a little overwhelming) but makes for a unique experience. Somtimes you can complete a battle and clear it or you can complete it - the difference being if you saved a certain character or of certain characters lived or if you did certain special objectives. There is a lot of Anime Style drawing in Part II although I have not seen any actual "Cartoon" sequences yet so I do not know if they are included. The characters are all well drawn though and there is a nice art style to any anime fan. The real meat to this game however - is the fighting and battles - which is why I think this game even was noticed at all. It is like Final Fantasy Tactics meets Shining Force meets an Action RPG which meets Grandia. The fighting really takes your very average game (without it this would be a 5 or 6 rating at most) and turns it into a 8+ game! Everything is sort of real time (with only pauses for giving your characters actions) and instead of having "squares" to move, everyone can run around just by setting their paths or just having them attack. You have techniques and Magic to use and it seems just like a lot is going on at once. You equip "rings" which give you stat bonuses or access to special abilites which have varying levels. A ring may have an attribute of 8-3-1 which means that you can assign gems to it to further your abilites allowing anything up to a level 8 gem, a level 3 gem, and a level 1 gem to be equipped into those slots allowing for a lot of customization. The system does well on it's own and grows more as you get further into the game. The real bonus points come into the way the battles are designed. Right from your very first battle there become all these "special objectives" that just give the game a VERY unique feel and sometimes EPIC feel. Sometimes the monsters just keep coming while you have to protect children, or herb villages into safe havens or attacking certain monsters while avoiding traps... all on the same mission. I remember when playing Tactics I always wished for more "specialized" missions where you really had to do unique things, and that is where Growlanzor for me has been the most fun with it's average graphics and story. Examples of what I have seen... The first battle pits you with higher level characters that you don't control. There is a village that needs to be defended and on the monsters vary having both really High level monsters and Low level monsters to run around and wreak havok. Your job is to protect the villagers - by helping them run into a building, while taking out the lower level monsters and avoiding the higher level monsters allowing the higher NPCs on your side do that dirty work. Halfway into the battle - there is a shout "The southern district is under attack!" and two of your 3 higher level NPC's leave the battle for you to duke it out alone with one of the other NPC's. Soon after - all during the same battle - the building you get the villagers safely into gets broken in from behind by more monsters forcing you to evacuate the villages to the other side of the map. As you fight off monsters, more show up leaving you feeling hopeless, and in a last minute effort the NPC's who left show up to help you clean house saving the day. Another example is during a fight - a monster activates a wall trap that makes the walls every few seconds close in to squish you. You have to very quickly and strategically gauntlet your party through a horde of monsters to make sure you don't die from the walls - forcing you to play very offensively (rather than the "Cure Cure Cure attack Cure cure cure" approach that you might normally do to keep your characters alive) and keeps things really tense *Super Slight Story Spoiler* Another instance of intriguing battle is a part of the story where you get set up for a crime and guards of your nation try to capture your party. Your characters realize that they are still the "good guys" just acting out on orders so you cannot harm them in your escape. In order to win the battle - you have to NOT kill any guards while keeping yourself alive and escape the map. To make matters worse, every 2 rounds of battle, about 3 more guards show up, causing you to have to make the faster characters distract and take damage while your slower characters make a run for it. By the end of the battle it was 2 heroes vs 12 guards with the restriction that I wasn't allowed to kill any of them while they just beat me to my almost doom. Very interesting. Meanwhile during these real time battles - characters often interact and sometimes there is that "Oh no, what now!?" feeling. Imagine a fight 3 heroes vs 12 monsters... and you finally kill 9 of them and the main Bad monster says "Hahah, now let's REALLY get this party started" and 8 more monsters appear! You just go.. "oh no..." and have to deal with it. It is this aspect alone that I feel Growlanzer Saga Really shines... ...and oh how I drool to see how great this game could have been had it's production value been upped or released at a more recent time. I think this game has the right building blocks, and with a stronger story and overall equipment system, Growlanzer could be the next big thing. (Again, remember that this game is older, so some of you who really only think the latest is the best... you were forewarned!! Great for anyone who is a RPG nut though!) Overall I like Part II's pace more than part III. Although both seem to be good games. ~wakasm~ www.wakasm.com
Ahhh, Working Designs. If there's one company that always comes through for the niche market they represent, this is the one. Bringing obscure Japanese RPGs stateside since the 16-bit era, Working Designs is the rare c... Read Full Review
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