Sometimes, an RPG veteran just craves a quick and easy treat; something that can be polished off in a single evening, while still delivering a healthy dose of grinding and a sense of accomplishment at the end of the run. And lo and behold, the two Kemco offerings mentioned above provide exactly that.
I’m lumping these two games under the same post, because they boast the exact same structure, only with different sprites, skills and story. That structure goes as such:
— An average playtime of 3 hours for full completion, i.e. reaching Lv. 99 and beating the final boss.
— Five chapters with a progression bar, and automatic save after each random fight and menu opening.
— First-person turn-based combat à la Dragon Quest, with a common HP and stat pool for all allies and another for all foes.
— A boss rush at chapter 5, complete with mandatory grinding before the final boss.
— No postgame or side quests whatsoever, but the possibility to start a New Game + with your level and money from the previous run.
And that’s the gist of it. Somehow, these two games manage to tick all classic RPG boxes under three hours, and that’s quite a feat; cherry on the cake, they boast lovely nostalgia-inducing 8-bit-ish graphics and theme tracks, and they offer simple yet engaging stories. Combat is neatly balanced, and each title sports its own unique party dynamic, which leads to game-specific strategies. I’d say that Everdark Tower is easy in the beginning and tougher in the late stages, while Archlion Saga is the opposite. At any rate, both games are totally worth playing, as they provide different experiences under a similar visual and aural coating.
I had a lovely time playing that pair, and I’ll certainly play them again when I crave a grindy quickie. Trust Kemco to provide the very essence of RPG in a pint-sized package! Talking about this, I finally caved in and purchased all digital Kemco RPGs currently available on the Switch. That makes a whopping 20 titles, which will certainly be joined by others before the end of the Switch’s tenure; they’re all safely nested on a dedicated SD card, ready to be played at leisure. With that said, I’ll see you soon with my gaming instinct’s next pick; in the meantime, dear fellow gamers, keep playing and take care!
Kumiko2 February 2021 at 13:12
Ahhh,
Kemco...how nice that their games can go from 120 hours (what I spent on
Asdivine Hearts) to less than five hours. I miss them dearly, but I'm stuck
trying to go through my required games of the year list, and I've spent more
than a month on SMTIV already! One hour a day just isn't enough for JRPGs but I
have other hobbies I like and a job...
If I'm able to return to them later in the year, I'm dying to play Liege
Dragon, Crystal Ortha, Chroma Quaternion (when they port it to consoles) and
then polish off Asdivine Hearts II.
Isleif7 February 2021 at 13:21
You spend 120
hours on Asdivine Hearts? Now I'm curious; I'd never have expected a Kemco RPG
to sustain that many hours of play. That being said, Asdivine seems to be a
massive IP indeed, with several Kemco offerings bearing the name.
Anyway, that makes me even more eager to play Asdivine Hearts — and mind you,
my interest was already quite piqued after learning that you could romance the
cat mascot character. 😜
Kumiko11 February 2021 at 00:01
I honestly
don't remember spending that much time on it, but that's what the savefile told
me. Guess the hours just flew by! It's mostly because I not only grinded to
level 999 (and unlike Miden Tower, the super grinding spot is located at almost
end-game), but I also did the most difficult side quests, and that also
required me to grind for rare drops so I could trade for the most duper-super
awesome weapons.
If you play your cards right, you can save before the end point and get all
romance endings in one go! It's what I did, which means I probably had more
than 120 hours in it, since the file doesn't account for all that reloading.
Isleif13 February 2021 at 18:19
Level 999 and getting all romantic endings in one go makes me drool in anticipation. Should I start Asdivine Hearts right this minute? I had other plans; but heck, the gaming instinct wants what it wants. ^^
Unknown14 February 2021 at 11:05
Hmm, you'll
likely not be able to finish in one week, but if you like it, you can always
keep it in the back burner for either when you finish your weekly game ahead of
schedule, or the one you're playing is terrible but you already wasted a day or
two and don't want to penalize another game. Playing Asdivine Hearts during
those bursts could be a good plan.
I'm playing Soul Blazer for the first time BTW. At first I was unimpressed
because all the praise people give this Quintet trilogy had set my expectations
too high, but I'm fully enjoying it now (I'm just starting St.Elle's) and can
see how unique it was to the people playing it back then, and even today the
basic gameplay loop stands out. I'm glad my 'must play a game from each console
per year' plan is forcing me to go through my huge emulation backlog somewhat.
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