REVIEW: Mysterious Song

[termis]

Hah, it's been a couple years since I've really been active around here -- RL stuff - family, job, etc, etc., but I've always been lurking around from time to time, and finally managed to squeeze in some to play a new PCE game - Mysterious Song!  I'm sure most of you on this board are familiar with the title, and there are no shortage of reviews/comments on it.  So I thought I'd add in my 2 cents.

I must say I was quite impressed - you can really tell a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into creating this, so before anything else... great job guys.

I won't bore folks with the minor details, but will jump straight into it. 

The gameplay is of the classic JRPRG variety.  3-player party wandering the overworld, going between villages, caves, dungeons, etc.  Gameplay is simple in nature -- players can equip all things, there are the basic attack/heal spells, and everything just flows without dragging on.  There's nothing that hasn't been done before, but it doesn't do anything wrong.  It's a short & sweet RPG that one can finish in a single session (~3 hours), but that's not such a horrible thing for many of us who are time-poor now. 



Graphics are decent and I thought they were definitely comparable to other "commercial" releases back in the day.  The battle backgrounds in particular were really well done, with great detail & shading in some of the landscapes.



Music is excellent, and probably the standout feature of this title.  Battle music is really well done, for both the peon & boss battles.  I also like the cave BGM, which really makes it feel like your in a cave setting, with that echo-y reverb atmosphere.

The few cutscenes are also well done.  The art style isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I can appreciate it being different from the standard anime fare, and again, I can tell a lot of work went into all this.



Other than the length of the game, I would say this game can certainly satiate the needs of classic RPG players. 

Compilation of my other reviews:
Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World
Ane-san
Babel
Bakushō Yoshimoto Shinkigeki
Blood Gear
Burai
Burai II
Cosmic Fantasy 1
Cosmic Fantasy 3
Dragon Knight III
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes
Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
KO Seiki: Beast Sanjūshi
Kūsōkagaku Sekai: Gulliver Boy
Nekketsu Legend Baseballer
Tengai Makyō: Itōryōdan
Tengai Makyō: Ziria
Valis I~IV
Xak I & II
Xak III

[Bernie]

BUT....did you play the EX game..... 

[Black Tiger]

But... did you unlock everything... and play the "mini" game?

[Necromancer]

Yeah!  The main game is short (like the source), but you gotta play through EX and find all the goodies for the full experience.  It's almost like trophies, except not monotonous and retarded.

Anyways, thanks for another great review. 

[Bernie]

3 hours?  Am i really that shitty at games?  I had to grind for more than 3 hours from the start of the game to the point where I got through the 1st cave.

Yeah..that's pretty shitty there lemme tell ya...  LMAO!!!!

[Bernie]

lmao

[Black Tiger]

I think I had the first scenario pegged at around six hours, if you did the typical amount of dungeon exploration and grinding for bosses, without hunting down all the monsters for the beastiary or taking down any dragons. I think that to truly clear the first game in 3 hours (not just reaching the final boss), you'd have to either have already played it once and know the exact routes through the dungeons and the right chests to grab, or happen to be very lucky.

The size of the maps and number of regions with different enemies makes filling out the beastiary very reasonable. There's so much to unlock though, it's not just entire galleries that becone available from single achievements. I think that single floors in some of the EX dungeons are as big as the world map of the first scenario. So clearing the original game, whether you rush through or do everything, is kinda like playing through only Ys I in the Turbo/PCE version.

[termis]

Yeah, I started off with the "original" mode for about 10 minutes and found that, well, the balance of the monster difficulty to be a bit off and would need grinding for a bit.  So, then I went and tried the "balanced" mode and found that to be a lot more, well... balanced, and stuck with that mode.

As noted, I haven't completed all the "trophies" and all that, so there's still more hours remaining yet.  I'm just not a completist anymore...

The minigame bit does pique my interest though.  Does that have anything to do with the blue female character in one of the cave paths stating "Move on, human" and not letting me go beyond her?

[Bernie]

Yeah, I started off with the "original" mode for about 10 minutes and found that, well, the balance of the monster difficulty to be a bit off and would need grinding for a bit.  So, then I went and tried the "balanced" mode and found that to be a lot more, well... balanced, and stuck with that mode.

As noted, I haven't completed all the "trophies" and all that, so there's still more hours remaining yet.  I'm just not a completist anymore...

The minigame bit does pique my interest though.  Does that have anything to do with the blue female character in one of the cave paths stating "Move on, human" and not letting me go beyond her?

Sure does, but I dont think you can do it by playing balanced mode.  I may be wrong...

[GohanX]

Yeah, you gotta beat original mode first then select ex mode to get to that cave.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'm glad you like the music(not that I composed the music).  I did what I could at the time to try to spruce it up from the original.  For most of it, I didn't have any studio equipment at all, so I just did what I could with sound effects from other stuff & effects like reverb & such.  In hindsite, I would do things differently, especially with what I've learned since then.  Just working on Jungle Bros. along with other projects has helped me, & I now would just go back & rescore the soundtrack, instead of just sprucing it up.

[esteban]

I'm glad you like the music(not that I composed the music).  I did what I could at the time to try to spruce it up from the original.  For most of it, I didn't have any studio equipment at all, so I just did what I could with sound effects from other stuff & effects like reverb & such.  In hindsite, I would do things differently, especially with what I've learned since then.  Just working on Jungle Bros. along with other projects has helped me, & I now would just go back & rescore the soundtrack, instead of just sprucing it up.

Sure. Sure.

You still made it better than it would have been, otherwise...so give yourself a little bit of credit   

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'm glad you like the music(not that I composed the music).  I did what I could at the time to try to spruce it up from the original.  For most of it, I didn't have any studio equipment at all, so I just did what I could with sound effects from other stuff & effects like reverb & such.  In hindsite, I would do things differently, especially with what I've learned since then.  Just working on Jungle Bros. along with other projects has helped me, & I now would just go back & rescore the soundtrack, instead of just sprucing it up.

Sure. Sure.

You still made it better than it would have been, otherwise...so give yourself a little bit of credit   

Perhaps.  Ultimately, I could probably say about any song I do, that I wish I could go back & tweak this or that.