As I mentioned before, halfway decent Japanese games unique to the 360 are few and verrrrry far between. Aside from Love Tore, Otomedius and Onechanbara Z (the third of which will soon have a PS3 port this coming June), I'm at a loss as to what game to get that isn't a Cave Shooter or a galge.
MAGES/5pb recently released Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds for the XBLA, and being a fan of side-scrolling beat-em-ups, I jumped into it right away.The 16-bit vibe (though MAGES insists that it's supposed to be a homage to 8-bit for some reason), cute characters and funky combat system (which mirrors it's 2D fighting game predecessor) made it particularly appealing.
The story follows up from the aforementioned fighting game, and as such, isn't really that deep. The (supposedly) sealed Phantom is trying to regain his lost powers, and thanks to wayward loopholes in the space-time continuum created by the Fu-mantion Artifacts (items that give the PB girls their special powers) he is able to do just that and and then some, kidnapping Nagi in the process. The main character Mikoto and Nagi's sister Waka rush to save her, with fellow PB compatriots Itsuki and Yuzuha in tow.
Like with Guardian Heroes, PB Battlegrounds sports a level-up system, which grants points to distribute towards stat boosts and unlocking special moves. The level cap will only go up to 50 unless you purchase the solitary DLC pack (which isn't that pricey, really) which pads it to 99. As an added bonus, you'll also be able to use Makise Kurisu of Stein's;Gate fame.
Don't expect to breeze through the the whole thing at base level even if you're playing on easy. The overpowered and cheap stage bosses will make sure of that. The key to mastering this game is grinding, proper stat distribution, finding each character's exploitable specials and using them to full effect. Pedestrian players will find this formula stale after a while. Only hardcore beat-em-up fans (and patient JRPG grinders as well) will be able to stick to it on a consistent basis.
There are 4 modes to choose from: Story mode allows you to use one of the main characters to play out the rescue mission in your own pace. Next, Arcade mode (which is more like Score Attack, really) where you can select all characters, main, unlockable and DLC in a straight-out single run with no continues. Co-op mode allows up to 4 players to finish the game as a team, and finally Battleground mode, a 2- to 4-player slugfest where only the cheapest of the cheap will prevail.
Now you may be wondering why I put Battleground mode in that light... well, with the way game plays, that's exactly how everything works. In Story and Arcade, the AI often spams difficult-to-counter moves in a rate that very few human players can mimic. The ones who can will shine in Battleground mode, as there's no need to memorize any of those whacked combo strings like in your run-of-the-mill fighting games. It comes as no surprise that despite just being fresh out of the XBLA release oven, the proverbial needle in a haystack comes to mind when trying to find an online opponent in Battleground mode. (though that may be partially attributed to the fact that Microsoft is bull-headed in sticking with it's antiquated pay-to-play-online practice) Tried it just for the lulz and the Achievements, but speaking for myself (and perhaps pretty much a handful of other PB Battlegrounds players around), I'd rather play Co-op.
As a beat-em-up, Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds is pretty good. As a versus game, not so much. It would have been awesome all around if the retro presentation didn't include the same retro exploits. Even so, it's still a must-try for any beat-em-up aficionado, whether you're raring for the old-school style or just want another stress reliever/fanservice title in your library.
こんにちはございます。はじめまして。
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want to warn you that this comment is irrelevant to this actual article. I wanted some way to directly contact you, but I have found none. There may be a way to privately message you through Blogger, but I am incompetent with Blogger and haven't found any such option. Your other blog also mentions an application called "shoutbox," which you don't appear to be using any more.
So what I wanted to say is that 日本語がならって (if ga is the wrong particle there, I apologize. It seems like I've been getting iffier on the wa/ga/o particles). I can read all 92 kana, more or less. Not as fast as roman letters, of course, but I can read them if they aren't written too weirdly. I however, do not know all 2,136 Joto Kanji, 僕が漢字を少しだけ読んでことができます。 I also know around only two of the radicals (gen/(i)u, hito, and I don't know what exactly hito signifies, either).
Anyway, the reason I brought this up is that I wanted to thank you for your 絶体絶命年３ walkthrough. My internet went down for an entire week and really the only thing I had to do was try and see if the game was playable on PPSSPP, which it is, with some big caveats. I would try playing it on my PSP, but unfortunately it stopped charging its battery (it wasn't bricked, it just would not charge for whatever reason), and I was curious to see if the game was actually completeable via that emulator. Now, that being said, I did manage to get past that one area in the subway where you gave medicine to the girl, somehow. However, I did get stuck and had to consult a guide when I met a girl and her "ママ" stuck under a fence. I did not even know what exactly I was trying to solve, but I spent a long while trying to look for a solution. The most I was able to ascertain was that I noticed "キガ" (I think it was) in a message when trying to access a door back near the supermarket, and I thought it was "key." Unfortunately, this lead me further from the solution because I thought that possibly the mother may have a key, should I be able to save her and her daughter. Ultimately, I had to go and consult a guide, and Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 isn't exactly the most popular of games. At the least, I suppose the game had me look up some kanji that I saw appearing at the beginning of some sentences, like 見て、 (which I now assume to be like "look!") and 今、 (which I now assume to be like "now,"), although I think I'll stick to children's literature if I can find any, or something like Pocket Monsters Ao or even formal lessons.
Sorry for the long comment and again I realize this is the wrong place to leave this, but I do not know how to otherwise contact you to show my gratitude for paying attention to and writing up a guide on a very obscure game.
ありがとうございました。