OK. Finished TwinBee RPG. Took me under 9 hours to complete (little over 6 hours to reach the final chapter). I think this is the shortest turn-based RPG I've played. Don't know why Konami even bothered.
+ Battles happen on field like CT/BoF III, zero transitions. Enemies wander around on field, too (not much of a plus point for me personally).
+ Battles are somewhat quick (not Suikoden quick, mind). You can also use auto attacks to help speed battles up.
+ Tamawari is the composer*.
+ Clouds (when you see can them) move. Rad.
+ You can use a blender to make items on the fly (using fruits you earn in battle).
The battle system is really basic. It has an ATB like system (real time but pauses when using the menu to use items/actions). You can combine attacks. You know the rest. Not terrible, just your standard fair.
Each character has one field action, think tools in Wild ARMs. Except they're used for really unoriginal shit like using Twinbee's hammer to hit a switch zzzZZZ.
You can plant and grow stuff too but I never really care to try.
- Unsurprisingly, the game is easy. Maybe a little too easy. The game was made for younger players in mind obviously, but still. Guardian's Crusade did it better.
- The camera, it's... it just sucks.
- Graphics don't really bother me but I must say the featureless monsters in the game are pretty lame.
- *Lackluster soundtrack. This is what disappointed me the most. I gave the OST a listen long before I played the game but it didn't do much for me. I went in hoping the music would click context-wise but nope, it did not. The shmups had great music. Shame.
- Nothing much to do outside of the main storyline.
One nagging thing that stood out was this decrepit house near the beach. The house has its own unique music that plays nowhere else. And guess what? Nothing happens in there. Empty rooms except for the one that contained an item. The room on the second floor is fit for a boss fight. I'm pretty sure it's where you were meant to fight the boss of the area but for some reason the developers made you fight it on the beach. Rushed content maybe.
In the end the game is slightly below average. Unremarkable but not abysmal.
BONUS:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also early Suiko:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Konami PSX RPG rank:
Top tier: Suikoden I & II, Vandal Hearts I & II
Mid: Azure Dreams, Elder Gate (this is what I'm writing about but don't know where to post it when done, it won't be on Resetera)
^v TwinBee RPG
Bottom: Magical Medical (looks like
visual diarrhea)
Never played/will never play: Paro Wars
Other games I tried playing this past week.
FFXIV: I'm still not liking Stormblood's content very much. [back on hiatus]
PSO2: logged in, heard
Vamos a Carnaval playing in the lobby, promptly noped the fuck out.
Don't know what to play next.