Well, I'm done with Pandora's Reflection for
now. A second run with my overpowered duo was darn tempting, but I was just
dying to play *name
hidden for suspense's sake* and that took precedence. So here comes my final opinion about the game,
warts and all.
This is a PSP budget game, with the good and bad points of such games. I like
the lo-fi charm of budget offerings from that console generation, so I was
delighted and felt right at home. That lovely fuzziness! Those charming
non-animated skits! Those nostalgia-inducing pixelated 2D sprites! Gimme more!
What I didn't like so much, on the other hand, was how dark the game was
— like, in every sense of the word. From the dull and murky colours to the
gloomy story that spares the player no gruesome description of murder, torture
and the like, PR did a serious number on my mood after a while. Also,
the final boss — the one I fought, that is — is a nasty cheating b*tch. She had
as much HP as Claude and Yuri at their max level together, she could
teleport, cast spells and heal, she moved four times faster than my duo and,
cherry on the cake, she had 25 minions as cannon fodder. How is that fair? It
took me no less than four tries to beat her, and boy, did it felt vengefully good.
I was initially planning to check the other two endings, but... After that
laborious showdown, I really didn't feel like it. Those endings can wait until
my next run of PR.
Although I love PR's simplicity and low-fi feel, there's no denying that the gameplay is a bit lacking. This game obviously wants to be the perfect portable SRPG and Visual Novel hybrid, with its short chapters offering narrative developments along with the battle du jour; but alas, the story and battles are too disjointed and this enticing mix never gels. Like, my crew goes on and on endlessly about how weak and fragile Yuri is and how she needs to be protected from harm, when Yuri is actually a warhorse that eats foes for breakfast on the battlefield — cue Underrated and Overleveled. And talking about the battlefield, it's downright silly to see the battles' winning and losing conditions contradict over and over what the narrative struggled to establish just seconds before. Even when the whole crew insists on sparing opponents, seizing enemy positions first and foremost or destroying a given contraption, battles always unfold the exact same way and can ALWAYS be won by slaughtering every living thing in sight and/or taking the enemy base. Take, for instance, that chapter where you're forced to fight brainwashed young orphans: the way the whole crew insists on sparing the kids' lives, you'd think that the ensuing battle would include a losing condition in case too many kids are killed — but NOPE! You can slaughter them all, and you'll win just the same, with hefty amounts of XP in your name! Also, battles that are titled "Destroy contraption X" or "Take position Y" usually don't even feature the objects in question, let alone the actual opportunity to destroy them! I swear, this became hilarious after a while.
But hey, let's be honest: I don't care one bit. I played that game for the battles, the grinding and the duo run thrill, and I got everything I could wish for on that front. The story can get lost for all I care, and so can the rest of the crew. Claude&Yuri forever! I loved that game, and let's face it, I'll probably purchase a Japanese copy of it somewhere down the road. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
Oh, wow. So you
picked up and finished Pandora's Tower while I wasn't looking. Among budget PSP
games, it's probably one that I would recommend to any RPG fan. Good story,
good characters, polished gameplay (despite being full of unused potential),
good music, reasonably challenging mission/maps, etc. Everything about the game
is above average.
And a final heads up: the game was developed by Sting (Riviera: The Promised
Land, Knights in the Nightmare, Baroque, etc. developer) not the usual GoC
developer, Idea Factory, hence the radical difference from the other two PSP
GoC games. And it seems like Sting was paid in peanuts iirc, so the game was
partially rushed.
Isleif24 January 2018 at 14:37
The story didn't really click with me, but I sure loved everything else. I think Sting did an amazing job with the tiny budget they had and managed to imprint their own style on the game, which was easier said than done.
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