A Unique Concept That Doesn't Really Hold Up
A Unique Concept That Doesn’t Really Hold Up
Venus and Braves is the type of game that you see in a magazine and be utterly captivated by the beautiful screen shots that you find. It has very unique graphics along with non-traditional RPG elements. The game definitely breaks the mold but does it hold up in the end?
Graphics:
The games graphics are by far the high point of the title. The graphics consists of lush, artistic 2-D work. The graphics are comparable to the Mana Series or Unlimited Saga. To be honest, I was actually drawn to the game by its unique artistic graphics I found online. In the end, I wasn’t let down one bit by the graphics I found in the game. The artistically painted sprites are definitely the high point of this title.
Music & Sound Effects:
Venus and Braves sports a really great soundtrack. It has a wide variety of instrumental tracks that use brass instruments, stringed instruments, and some drum based instruments. All the tracks are original and really well made. The soundtrack really reminds me of some of the instrumental work found in Unlimited Saga. The sound effects are also top notch and voice acting was really well done in this game as well.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in Venus and Braves is definitely a mix of bad and good. I really like new approaches to the ancient RPG mechanics of old but it seems that there are a few things that keep the game’s new formula from really working.
Firstly there is very little interaction in actual combat. You are only allowed to place seven of your fourteen party members on the combat grid. The grid is aligned in a 4 x 3 square formation. Each row in the three part grid is used for different strategic function. The back row heals themselves as well as other party members on their row. The middle row supports your frontline troops with offensive or defensive aid and your frontline troops dish out the damage to the enemy. It sounds like a pretty solid formula for some great gameplay but in the end, I found it rather difficult to find a real balance in combat. With only having seven party members to place in combat at a time, I could never really find a good balance between offense, support, and healing. The only plan I found that worked was to place all my really good offensive units up front and give them a few supporting party members for defense and hope for the best. If the battle lasted longer than two rounds, I really started taking damage and usually died.
Apart from actual combat is the element of actually having to maintain your small army of individuals. You gather new party members by progressing through the story or recruiting generic characters from a guild in town. This is sounds typical but the game throws in a twist to your traditional RPG formula. The game has an in game clock which keeps track of the age of your main character and his comrades. The clock is not real time so days can pass by in seconds. If you journey around enough a year will pass by and the game will continue on till the year 1099 A.D., which supposedly the world will then come to an apocalyptic end. Though the main character is immortal, your other comrades are not and will continually die off throughout the years. You must replace these deceased comrades with fresh ones from the town guild or new characters given to you by progression of the story. As characters grow older they will peak in strength at the prime of their life (20’s – 30’s) and begin to decline in strength and finally die after they venture into the later years of their life. In order to get stronger characters you must breed them and use the evolved offspring in battle. If you take a man and a woman character and have them fight along side each other, they will eventually develop an interest in each other and then fall in love and have children. This sounds like a great innovative twist but ends up being a huge burden in the mechanics of the game. I was rarely able to breed new offspring because you have to get so many circumstances lined up for the event to take place. My characters would either die in battle, decline and die of old age, or just not really develop much interest for his female partner. I never could really get an offspring to come forth and if the event ever did happen the offspring would usually die by an enemy because it was vulnerable and weak.
Another flaw I found in Venus and Braves was the issue of saving. Saving was really frustrating at times to me due to the fact that you could save your game but then later discover that at the point of the game you saved at is to difficult and that it is impossible for your troops to venture any further to 1099 A.D. The only solution to this situation would be to restart the game from the beginning. The game doesn’t allow you to skip through cut scenes either, so if you find you’re self in this circumstance and you are ten hours into the game, it will take you another whole ten hours to redo all that work. The game gets harder and harder as the years progress and if your army is not up to speed to compete with the enemies and you then go to save, your game most likely come to a grinding halt. The enemies will continually kill your party members rendering you without any offspring to grow stronger. The game continues to spiral downwards. While enemies continue to get stronger, your party continues to get weaker until you are forced to restart the entire game and try to manage your party a little more effectively this time around. This frustration could be eased a little if you had the ability to skip through cut scenes and useless chatter, however that option is no where to be found.
I’m not going to totally gripe about the game. Venus and Braves has been given the honor of being placed in The Best series which is an equivalent to Greatest Hits in America. Obviously people like the game and are able to get over the different qualms about the gameplay mechanics. I did have some fun with Venus and Braves and am not really upset with my purchase. It may just be a difficult game for importers to tackle. The game is saturated with innovation and fresh ideas. The graphics, voice acting, sound effects, and music are all top notch quality. I will probably give Venus and Braves another shot later down the road.
Final Score: 7