In another topic, someone wanted to see what Telenet's Elfeene game was like. Here's my little review (ie: is the actual game-like content worth wading through the non-game idol dreck?)
This beautiful title screen caught my eye in an old issue of EGM (#14) back in 1990. Is it a Zelda-type game? Is it fun from the get-go? Are the characters adorable?
Are they hell. You have to sit through a full 4-minute concert with an animated, "singing", Tomomi Nishimura. She's the tone-deaf idol this game is manufactured around.
Arrgh! Get out of here with your moon face and Groucho Marx eyebrows! At least in-game, you only have to look at her anime characterization.
See the uncanny resemblance? It's like they were twins separated at birth! (one of whom was then smashed regularly in the face with a deck brush...)
The game itself is not an RPG but an adventure game/fetch quest. You have to wander around various lands (grassy hills, lego city, castle town, etc.) talking to characters, noting what they are missing/unhappy about, and then finding the thing they need, either buried somewhere in the land, or with some person in another house, etc. Japanese skill is not absolutely needed, but you'll do more aimless wandering (than usual) if you can't follow the conversations. There are lots of cinemas between lands and at important parts of the story.
The graphics themselves are average, but charming and sometimes beautiful or interesting to look at. The music is typical second-rate Telenet stuff, similar to Valis II/III, Last Alert, Avenger, etc. I really like a couple of the tunes, but they're a bit too short. Oh, and there are 2 full-length Tomomi pop songs. You'll either like them, or would rather listen to Track 2 of any PCE CD instead.
Okay, screw the fetch quest. There are at least some mini-games that we can enjoy more than the main game itself. Hold Sel+I+II+Down and press RUN at the title screen, which will get you into the familiar Telenet debug menu:
From here you can play a tricky/frustrating Head-On/Rally-X clone:
A slightly frustrating Arkanoid clone (the baddie at the top drops bombs at you whenever he passes overhead.)
And a pretty fun cute-em-up:
The final mini-game is your familiar quiz type thing. Hope you can read Japanese! (Make your pick: Camus, Sartre, or Hemingway...) If you get it right, you still have to claim your prize through an Amida mini-mini-game.
And finally, at the end of the game, a pair of devils fight it out, and you, controlling Tomomi, simply have to avoid them and their projectiles for 2 minutes. WHAT FUN
So , in summary, this is some nice graphics, music, and occasional action wasted on a totally unappealing concept. (I always feel this way when I come across ornate turn-based RPGs...)
At least the idol factor is low, compared to No*Ri*Ko, Mami Inoue and their ilk. Anybody wanna review those?
Topic: Meikyuu no Elfeene (Elfine/Elfeane) pics (dump other idol game pics here too) (Read 571 times)