Ahhh, Working Designs. If there's one company that always comes through for the niche market they represent, this is the one. Bringing obscure Japanese RPGs stateside since the 16-bit era, Working Designs is the rare company that stays in touch with its core audience. Their latest much delayed project, Growlanser Generations, continues this tradition. This game is not for everyone, but those who it's aimed at will be overwhelmingly satisfied. The Growlanser series, which dates back to PSone, is an RPG series with a focus on tactical combat. The two games both feature stories that are rather typical RPG fare, save for that the first game in the collection, Growlanser II, has a number of very dramatic forks in the plot that can lead down totally separate paths. Still, the games go down the entire bill of Japanese RPG cliches, from amnesiacs to power-crazed dictator wanna-bes. This isn't necessarily bad, just don't be expecting the next Final Fantasy Tactics in terms of storyline here. The real meat and potatoes of the game, after all, is the battle system : it's actually more like a traditional RPG, particularly Grandia, than a turn based Strategy RPG. There's a definite focus on troop movement and ability use, including a rather innovative spell system that makes a spell more potent the longer you cast it, that makes the game stand on its own. The games also offer customization in levelling up by giving the player the choice of what abilities their characters learn next. Both games feature very similar battle systems, with Growlanser II employing parties of eight while Growlanser III only features four. Additionally, the battles themselves can offer very unique challenges. In one battle in Growlanser II you have to stage a fight between your own characters while another character slips into the back of the enemies unnoticed. In one battle in Growlanser III, you have to fight your way to a destination while another high level enemy is approaching the same object. Overall Growlanser II includes more of these unique battles, while Growlanser III pads the gameplay a bit with somewhat dull dungeon crawling sections, but both games rely heavily on their battles and the system has the weight and depth to pull it off. In terms of presentation, I've definitely been more impressed, especially in terms of the RPG genre. Everything about the graphics in these two games screams PSone, even if the resolution is slightly higher. Characters, spells, and enemies are all represented by sprites, while the background is typically pre-rendered fare. I don't believe there's a polygon to be found. The game does fill the entire screen with a large portrait of a character whenever they speak, and the character designs are impressive and varied, if ocassionally bizarre. For those who remember fondly the days of 16-bit gaming, you'll find a lot to like here, but for those who cut their teeth on the high production values of FFVII, you may find this somewhat lacking. Sound is a mixed bag. The tunes are serviceable, with some catchy songs to be found here and there, but Growlanser III recycles a large batch of Growlanser II's music, and that just didn't sit right with me. Additionally, much of the dialogue is prerecorded by actors, and for the most part its pretty good. There are a couple of instances where the sound quality of the dialogue dips for no good reason, but these are rare, and I'd have to say I'm impressed with what Working Designs put together for voice actors considering their limited size. It's not oscar caliber work by any means, but it's still better than most game dubbing. In the end though, Growlanser is a love it or leave it title, a game made for a specific niche of gamers who would probably love this game even if its graphics harkened back to the days of Adventure and the sound was like a pong machine. Well, that might be a bit much, but for fans of the genre Growlanser is a good time. Anyone else who thinks they might enjoy a little fast paced strategy RPG action should give it a look as well: Just know what to expect.
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