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Post by Ex on Jun 4, 2021 11:02:31 GMT -5
I like Zeta's cover art. I found a much higher resolution version of it: Definitely doing some legit hardcore retro gaming dunpeal2064, hats off brother. |
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 4, 2021 19:00:36 GMT -5
Thanks Ex , I hope my ravings about these games are at least somewhat enjoyable to read. I should be able to be less vague with other adventure games I plan to play. I just have to figure out a good way to review story-heavy games, especially when a lot of them are very NSFW. Those both sound like something I'd play, even now when I'm not playing games like I used to. I don't think I want to do so with a shitty machine translation, though... While probably not on the same level, there's a pretty decent sci-fi adventure game on the Genesis that was translated a while ago called Psy-O-Blade. dunpeal2064 might want to check it out. It also had a PC-98 version, and I think I'd read one of the untranslated versions has an additional chapter. Yeah, I've had my eye on Psy-O-Blade, it looks sweet. As much as I'd prefer playing PC-98 versions of games, though, I don't think I could take machine translation over the hard work of fans to properly localize the game, just for a system variance. I do plan to play the Genesis version though, for sure. It does suck that machine translation is really the only way to play a lot of these games, and I totally get that most people won't want to bother with it. I will say, though, that I've been pleasantly surprised at how playable and understandable these games are despite that. It does take some on-the-fly "fixing up" in your head from time to time, but even in games with pretty complex stories like Zeta, I never felt like I was missing something due to translation, other than some small phrases here and there. |
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Post by Sarge on Jun 4, 2021 19:28:41 GMT -5
Are you using RetroArch's feature for translating, or something else?
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 4, 2021 20:31:43 GMT -5
Are you using RetroArch's feature for translating, or something else? I'm using a program called Textractor, its a text hooker that also has several translators built into it. I'm hooking that into a special fork of Neko Project called NP2TH that is built to work with text hookers. Its honestly worked surprisingly well so far. The only issues I've run into are visual text, which I don't think any translator could manage at this point, and the mixing of Hiragana and Katakana in sentences, which confuses the hell out of the translator. Otherwise, I've been able to understand everything pretty well, from complex stories to various menus and items and such. Granted, I've mostly used it for Adventure games so far, but I'll test it on some RPGs and such soon to see how that goes. |
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Post by Sarge on Jun 4, 2021 21:59:10 GMT -5
Interesting indeed! I should give that a try, and also compare with what RA pushes out, although it might be a pain getting PC-98 working like I want it in RA. I'm pretty sure I'm using Neko Project when I do PC-98 stuff.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 7, 2021 23:26:56 GMT -5
X-Girl X-Girl is a Japanese Adventure Eroge developed by Fairytale under their "Fairytale Red Zone" label, and released in 1996.  X-Girl's premise is that your main character, an ex (girl) cop, is tasked, without much choice in the matter, in tracking down several escaped criminals (Also girls). The gameplay loop from there involves searching various locales, via standard adventure exploration, to find the escaped criminal. You then catch them via a "shooting mini game" that involves putting a crosshair over a jpeg and finding the weak spots of the enemy before the timer reaches zero. Afterwards, you take them back to your base and, uh, "interrogate" them for info, which leads to a bit more story details, and hints to your next criminal to track down. The interrogation also involves some "click on still image" gameplay, though this time offering tools to select from, and rather than being timed, requires the player to click on every part with the applicable tool to progress the scene. Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious, these are parts where the "ero" is on full display.  X-Girl's premise is a bit simple, but it does tell a fairly interesting story as it develops. Its set in a cyberpunk, post-ww2 era and goes far enough into that territory to satisfy. Setting up the protagonist as not only an ex-cop, but one that frequents brothels to get high on "purple", and and one that very vocally fights back against and questions those around her, makes things all that much more interesting. The gameplay loop, for the most part, is pretty fun too, with the adventure sections being less linear than expected, hiding things just far enough out of site to feel rewarding when you finally crack that case. There is even a point in the game where you are in a dangerous part of the city at night, and your character comments on it being safer to come back in X hours. This stumped me for a bit, until I tried setting the clock ahead, which turned the city to daytime and let me progress! Its a simple but neat trick I was not expecting. So, the elephant in the room, for me, are the ero scenes in this game. This is a "red Zone" game, a label apparently reserved for Fairytale's more, uh, specific interest of ero (Basically, kinks). X-Girl, for better or for worse, essentially focuses on torture ero. This, I think, will turn a lot of people away, as it is not only required and frequent, but it insists on interaction through the scenes, and it honestly gets pretty graphic. As someone that's decided to play a bunch of PC-98 games, I obviously don't mind a bit of ero thrown into a game, but I honestly had a pretty hard time getting through this one. That said, I suppose the scenes are well done, and if you're into this sort of thing (No judgment!), then you'd probably dig this.  Okay, bad out of the way, time for the good. X-Girl has some of the absolute best pixel art I've seen so far in my PC-98 journey. If cyberpunk cityscapes and cool looking characters with sweet lighting are your thing, this game may just blow you away. To go hand-in-hand with the visuals, the soundtrack to X-Girl, composed by the legendary MUSE, is excellent, again among the best of the best I've heard on the computer. While X-Girl's story is above average, and its lewd scenes are, uh, what they are, the visuals and music are THE reason to play this game, or to at least check out some of its art and soundtracks. It is very much an aesthetic, a game frequently used to show how cool PC-98 games look and sound, and for good reason. It really is a shame that a game that looks and sounds this good, is married to what I imagine will be a tough subject matter for many to get through, even those that are okay with or fans of ero in general.    Story 7/10: Above average when it actually moves the plot forward. The good parts range from good to excellent, but they are infrequent, as the bulk of the game is looking for people, and doing the thing once you've found them. There is a "Good" and "Bad" end, which are decided based on one decision at the end of the game, which I appreciate, and the final half hour or so is quite thrilling. Graphics/Sound 10/10: Possibly some bias as I am particularly fond of this setting and music genre used, but for my money this is the peak of pixel art and FM sound design. I know this isn't a game for most people, but I hope at least the screencaps here and the music for the game might speak to some folks here. Extremely good stuff. Lewd Factor 5/10: This game is very much an ero, and its not a skippable part of the game. I split it down the middle, as technically everything is done well. The art is high quality, and the fact that these sections are interactive is pretty rare from what I've played. That said, I just don't like the lewd stuff in this game, purely based on subject matter. If this style sounds stomach-able, or even good, to you, then consider this some sort of high score. If it sounds awful, then it'll make an otherwise excellent game completely unplayable, which is a damn shame.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 7, 2021 23:31:05 GMT -5
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Post by Ex on Jun 8, 2021 0:02:44 GMT -5
X-Girl has outstanding graphics, I mean that is so my aesthetic right there. Absolutely gorgeous man.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 16, 2021 0:13:55 GMT -5
Mahjong Fantasia Mahjong Fantasia is, unsurprisingly, a fantasy-themed mahjong eroge, developed and Published by Active Software, and released in 1992. Its most notable aspect, in my opinion, is that it is (as far as I can tell) the first game with scenario and artwork done by Sei Shoujo, who would later become famous/infamous in the eroge scene for creating Bible Black While this is primarily a mahjong game, it does have a light lining of adventure game to it, as you'll be given some text options and story chunks in between battles. I'd hesitate to actually call it a mahjong/adventure hybrid, but its enough to flesh the game out just a bit.   The story here is decent, mostly focusing around your main character, Ring, going on an adventure to find a princess he promised to return to. There's an overlaying plot about Belladonna and Odin having some giant battle that, somehow, resulted in everything being settled by Mahjong in this world. You also save a fairy named Raspberry pretty early on, and she plays the Puck/Navi role of annoying but sweet sidekick. Of course, all of your opponents are women, and beating them typically "exposes" them for a screen. There's nothing all that lewd here, mostly just a boob after winning a fight, but its gotta be there I suppose. So, I have to admit, I'm no expert at mahjong, so judging the gameplay will be a bit challenging. It is 1v1 mahjong, which is a change from what I think is the standard 4 player setup, but this did allow for some leniency and provided a decent learning environment. The game itself doesn't teach you how to play mahjong at all, but its forgiving enough that anyone wanting to learn via a guide to play this can probably get by okay. All of the various calls and Yaku and all of that seemed to work just fine here, I never ran into anything that stood out to me as an error compared to actual Japanese mahjong.  I do find mahjong to be a very interesting game, and would love to learn more about it. I watched a 3 hour tutorial to prepare for this game, and still felt like I was playing the most basic, safe, and boring strategies, but it was enough to spark some interest. Of course, the AI has a huge advantage over a new player, since they actually understand the extremely complex rules of the game, but I still managed to push through, mostly with stubbornness and luck. So, is Mahjong Fantasia a good game? If you aren't already into mahjong, I'd say no, as nothing here is worth the effort of not only tackling a foreign language, but also a foreign and highly complex game. If you are already into mahjong... then I imagine there are a plethora of much, much better mahjong games out there. And, considering I was able to get through the game being awful at mahjong, I'd hazard a guess that anyone half-decent at the game would just get bored. The story is okay, but its not worth playing the game for, and if you are playing a PC-98 game for its lewds, this is pretty bottom-of-the-barrel too. I think I could only recommend this to someone that wants to explore Sei Shoujo's library, which was the reason I decided to play it.  Gameplay 5/10: Its a basic mahjong game, but mahjong is a good game. This game didn't invent mahjong though, and you could probably play it and have more fun just about anywhere else. Its still a perfectly playable game, gameplay-wise though, and it was a decent stepping stone into the game for me personally, though I'd guess there are better games for new players too. Story 5/10: There's a story here, and it even has some moments that are kind of cool, but this is mostly relative, as I didn't expect much at all from a mahjong game. Going into this expecting anything on the level of actual PC-98 adventure games would certainly lead to disappointment, but whats here is brief enough and decent enough to add to the game, rather than take away from it Visuals/Sound 6/10: There is some charm to the early PC-98 look, and for me personally, its also cool to see Sei Shoujo's earlier, less unique artstyle. On graphics alone, I'd rate this a bit lower, but the sound pulls it back up, and as is tradition, is probably objectively the best part of the game, with some genuinely decent tunes spread throughout. Lewd Factor 3/10: This would be a 2 if there wasn't the appeal of the artist. The art is pretty mediocre for the platform, and the lewds are so few and far between, and so close to not being lewd at all, that it will certainly disappoint anyone playing it for that reason (And if you're playing it because Sei Shoujo made it, thats probably the reason). There's just enough there to turn off anyone avoiding eroges full-stop, and far from enough there for eroge fans, so it ends up feeling rather pointless. This game had the most barriers to play of anything I've attempted so far. Setting up a text hooker to make some sense of the story (The translation was especially obtuse in this one for some reason), and then trying to learn how to play mahjong from scratch was a hell of a barrier to entry. It was also most definitely not worth it. There are two more of these games on the PC-98, and I already know I'll end up playing them too. I do have cooler games to talk about though, I promise, I just have to weave these weird ones I like digging into every now and then.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 19, 2021 0:05:23 GMT -5
Briganty: The Roots of Darkness Briganty is a side-scrolling action/beat-em-up with very light RPG elements, developed and published by Giga in 1995.
Briganty primarily consists of side-scrolling action, with story and explicit scenes sprinkled between stages. The first few levels are done in order, after which you have 3-4 levels you can play in any order you like. from there, the game goes into its final stages, of which there are several, and rather than revisit the map, you are offered a save in between (Aside the final gauntlet, which must be done in one go). You have a town with a base at which you can rest and heal, as well as "interact" with some characters at certain points, and a cathedral at which you can save and load your game.
The gameplay on offer here is certainly the main selling point. Your character has the standard attack and jump buttons, as well as a duck by holding down. Holding up lets you guard (Not direction dependent), and double-tapping a direction lets you run. You have unique attacks while crouching, jumping, and running, and you can even wall-jump, the distance of which also changes based on whether or not you are dashing. On top of this, you also have some smaller specials achieved with fighting-game motions, and a screen-wide special activated by pressing both attack and jump buttons together. There is some chunkiness to the game, both with its large sprites and it being a PC-98 game, but its rather ambitious and honestly, works quite well for the most part.
Briganty, like every Giga game I've played so far, boasts some really impressive character pixel art, and some sweet tunes to boot. The higher-quality stuff, again like most Giga games, is saved for its more adult moments, but there are plenty of scenes in between that are quite beautiful. It also appears to have a rather in-depth story, or at least a wordy one, which I unfortunately wasn't able to access despite my best efforts. I will say, though, that Briganty is perfectly playable despite the language barrier, as its primary appeal is its gameplay, and there is plenty of that to be had here.
 
The levels in Briganty start off quite linear, but eventually open up a fair amount, with plenty of directions and doors to choose, and plenty of secrets to find. Most of these amount to health refills as far as I could tell, but its still pretty fun to explore the levels. Each stage features a boss as well, and they can boast some pretty cool sprites and attack animations. I did find the bosses, for the most part, to be surprisingly easy to take down. Honestly, aside maybe the last boss, the entire game was pretty much a breeze to get through, I don't think I died once untill the final showdown. Personally, I didn't mind that, as beating dudes up was fun, but the bosses in particular were a bit of a letdown, as they clearly had potential to do some cool stuff, but could often just be thrown or attacked to death without chance to recover.
There are some platforming and RPG elements very lightly sprinkled throughout as well. As far as I could tell, the only "RPG" element present was found in its level-up system. Its about as basic as it gets, just simply increasing your stats automatically every now and then as you play. I never once stopped to grind enemies, nor was I particularly thorough in finding secrets, but I was always strong enough to take on whatever the game threw at me. The platforming is similarly light, with only a couple levels actually requiring precise jumping to avoid falls, but even then the falls just set you back a couple screens, and never result in an instant death. These elements are just there enough to add a bit of spice, but luckily never get in the way of the fun actioning that the game does best.
Briganty is definitely one of those games you'd see recommended to people just getting into the PC-98, and for good reason. Its a rather unique, very "game-y" game, and would likely appeal to fans of more standard 16-bit stuff, while still being very "PC-98" with its art, music, and adult content. Its not quite on the level of something like Night Slave imo, but its quality, and its accessible enough that I'd feel comfortable recommending it in the same breath as stuff like Night Slave or Rusty.
Gameplay 7.5/10: Briganty gets higher marks for effort, as the devs clearly put in effort to make this more than a standard brawler. If the game were a little smoother, and more balanced around the cool shit you could do, it'd be much higher, but its hard to not have fun dashing about beating the crap out of everything you come across.
Graphics/Sound 7.5/10: Giga does character pixel art really well imo, and their backgrounds are quite detailed too. Most of the music here is at least decent, with a few tracks being standout enough that I'd stop to let them play out a bit. There is a little lack of variety in the art department, which pushes this down a bit, and while the ost is a bit more varied, its not always at its highest quality. The bar for the platform is pretty high though, so I'd still say that most of whats here is quite satisfactory.
Lewd Factor 8/10: Much like Giga's other works, like V.G. and Steam Hearts, the quality is pretty honed in here. Luckily, there's nothing too specific to warrant concern, and the scenes, while quality, are brief enough that I think someone coming here for the gameplay wouldn't put the game down because of them. I believe you can also turn off these scenes in the options, which is always a plus. If you're into this, you'll be pleased, and if not, you'll probably be fine without em, which is the hallmark of a playable PC-98 game.
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