maanantai 6. tammikuuta 2014

Ephemeral Fantasia

Hookay!


I played this game when it was published and replayed it now again.


So, The Ephemeral Fantasia for ps2 is in my opinion too under appreciated. I liked that game ten years ago and I still like it. Konami knows how to make a game.








The game is about a five-day Groundhog day on a desolate paradise island. Our hero in this game is a famous musician called Mouse and his long-time partner is an instrument who talks, his name is Pattimo and he is a bit cheeky at times. Mr. Mouse has a weak spot for pretty ladies (and we didn't see that coming, did we?) and he doesn't talk (surprised again? What is it with these Konami's mute heroes?) Anyhow! Mouse has been summoned to the island of Pandule to play in the royal wedding which is held held in five days.

Since you're a musician, you get to play songs with Pattimo. Some songs just feel like your fingers are gonna fall off, but basically it isn't much different from a Guitar Hero games. You can even use the guitar controller to play the songs. You will unlock more songs as you make progress in the game. You can play anytime you can access the menu. You can also save anywhere outside a dungeon and a house from your menu.

You'll soon discover that the king of the island is not much different from Final Fantasy 7 baddie, none other than Sephiroth the great. They look so much alike, and even share same kind of personality. But this time the Seph is called Sir Xelpherpolis and he has put a spell over the whole island where time loops every 5 days back to the first day. You need to start your journey to awaken the poor people of Pandule from this spell.

What makes this game difficult to some, is that you need to be in right place, in right time on the right day to accomplish things. Best way to manage with this is to write down dates and times when things happen since after the second loop, the game won't automatically take you to the destination. And the learning to move inside the town is a pain, especially when you don't have the map of the area (the map has been divided to 49 pieces which you need to find yourself).



The graphics aren't the best of Playstation 2, but it doesn't really matter, in my opinion. It's a fun game nevertheless. And you gotta love that anime style. Not too many different musics but I like 'em. There are also some mini-games to play.

The battle and skill system is interesting. There is no basic "attack" command, only skills and magic spells. As you gain levels, you learn spells. As you use your skills however, you gain new ones. And that is the only way to get new skills. Mouse can also learn skills by copying allies' skills by watching as allies use theirs in battle. All other members have only a few skills in their stock. The time in battle keeps on flowing even if you just stand still. Battling in the wilderness and dying, won't give you the game over screen, battling against certain enemies and dying does. What is also interesting is that your characters have individual levels AND you have a party level. As your character levels up, s/he gains status upgrades yadayada the usual stuff, as party level ups, however, your characters gain more hp/mp. So as you get new members, even if they start at level 1, they can have high hp/mp values.



At least, give this game a chance. Try it. Make your own opinion of it. You need to have a bit of patience but the game is good.

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