There's an old internet meme about this series where people just call it "Underwater Ray Romano" instead of trying to actually pronounce the real name 😅
I had that same feeling about Okage: The Shadow King! Easy to overlook at the time because it didn’t offer much new, but in a vacuum it’s a great game with a unique visual style that still holds up
Thanks for sharing such a gem with us. I am loving the game, 60h plus at the moment, also doing everything I can. The localization didnt bother me, to tell you the truth, i like the game, the voice acting and so on. I found it really well done. So many laughs with that sarcastic Halu. For me at least it didnt compromise the understanding of the story. I would rate this as a 9 out of 10 easily.
I really like it too. Its a shame sales were so bad. I mention it at every opportunity, but still nobody tries it, which I guess means we wont be getting a follow up most likely :(
Getting more and more excited for this game with some of the reviews I’ve seen being more positive than ones I’ve previously heard. Just finished the trilogy today and am excited to get to spend more time with these characters I’ve really come to like from the series.
Probably about 40 hours each which includes some grinding. Definitely should be played in order as they all connect. Prelude to Fallen->Mask of Deception->Mask of Truth
I actually really like when games keep Japanese terminology, like with the Persona series or 13 Sentinels keeping honorifics even in the English dub. It’s a nice look into another culture. I will say I don’t think the game potentially not succeeding will have anything to do with the voices being in Japanese. I think the real obstacle will be it being part of an obscure series. And I can’t recall seeing any marketing for this game outside of one video on the Sony channel and David talking about it
The stuff David called Japanese isn't even Japanese. Oshtor isn't a Japanese name Pashpakur is closer to Indian and certainly not Japanese at all, Arva Shulan also not Japanese all though the Shulan part is closest to Chinese. There are other names scattered through the video like Mayacowl and Shantuura that aren't typical Japanese. The names in this game sound like made up fantasy words like what Tolkien made up for his characters just in this case they were thought up by a Asian mind instead of a Western one. The game itself looks cool though and it's an interesting thought I had never considered that someone might take issue with a Japanese RPG for not making up separate English names for it's characters.
@@VXMasterson You're probably right. The stuff that was shown on screen wasn't Japanese, but there's probably a bunch of monsters or skills that have Japanese style names.
Me too I like them. But that's because I'm not new to Japanese stuffs (legends, monsters, words play, etc.) I already grown accustomed to them. For the sake of english release, it's better to actually properly translate them or include an explanation of some sort, something like a translator note like in official translation of manga, it's optional but if people interested they can read it in the game.
Yakuza does this too. Especially in the Judgment games, when they brought back English voice acting, and I can tell you, the difference between the 1st Yakuza game, and the first Judgment game, is night and day.
This game has been on my radar for a bit now. May have to go ahead and pick it up to add it to the backlog. As someone who only plays in a game's native language, having Japanese dialogue is fine with me, as I always prefer my media in its original language with English subtitles.
Thank you David for highlighting a game that unfortunately will probably be buried because it will be released the same week as starfield and baldurs gate! I will check it out
The Utawarerumono were subbed only as well. I'm assuming it's because they want to save on costs as they know the series is very niche but most of us don't mind it anyways. Speaking of the Utawarerumono series, you should definitely check them out as yes, they are part visual novel but also part Srpg, which does a excellent job at keeping you involved with the amount of battles you'll do. Too bad we never got a Switch port, as it could have definitely helped the series get more recognition.
A lot of your complaints with the half-localisation stem from not fully understanding AQUAPLUS's history (which i do get as despite being a big name on the Japanese gaming scene, AQUAPLUS are quite obscure overseas). The Utawarerumono series very much has a Japanese setting (largely inspired by Ainu culture), hence all the various Japanese terms that aren't translated into an English equivalent. Plus, AQUAPLUS have previously never developed a game on the scale as Monochrome Mobius due to their history primarily developing visual novels/eroge, genres that are far too niche to get English dubs in most cases. Hence why there's no dub and why this game took so long to release overseas for consoles (the Steam PC release and Japanese PS4/5 versions were very rough at launch). The flipside of this is that their history is also the storytelling, music, and gameplay are so good. I do think you should try the Utawarerumono series. They are visual novel / RPG hybrids like Tears to Tiara II (but a bit more VN than RPG, with improved RPG gameplay).Plus you can turn the Japanese audio off in them too alongside view a glossary too. The storytelling is equally as fantastic in them plus you can see what happens to the Monomobi cast after the events of this game. Great video! :)
Hey David, i am glad you covered this game. I never played an Utawarerumono game. However I have watched their anime series and I adored it. Hopefully one day i can play the tactics games first and then this one. I have read that this game in particular is the first time for the developers to head into the "turn-based combat and exploration direction", their games before this one were the tactics and visual novels ones. So if we support the developers by buying this game, they will make another one like this but better. Hopefully that happens ! finger crossed !
Thanks for giving this game a chance Dave. Both the previous Utawarerumono games were also good srpgs with amazing stories. Glad to hear they managed to nail the turn based battle system on this one.
I guess the game is assuming that you are already familiar with the Utawarerumono series as a whole. I've played through all of them so im familiar with most of the terms since they are explained in the other games. I don't mind half localized games and I am pretty excited for this one 😊
No... not at all. It was the first one I played... I totally understand the story. I guess the characters do appear in other games and there's probably references I don't get but its really not necessary. Its one of the best jrpgs of last year that nobody fkin played!
Thank you!! This went from not even being on my radar to a very likely pick up down the road once it goes on sale. There’s just too many games right now for me to justify a full price buy.
I'm glad you enjoyed the game despite some of its budget constraints.I'd definitely prefer a fully realized localization, but I'm also just glad we're still getting double A games from Japan that I can understand without aide. I'm a big fan of the Uta series and am looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review!😁
Thank you for talking about this game. As I didn’t know much about it as their was so many other games releasing this month. I quickly got me a copy and I’m enjoying the game so far.
OMG Popolocrois and Arc Rise Fantasia are some of my favourite games and so glad you mentioned them! Popolocrois was is wholesome, and ARF had the most intense bosses and overall an amazing game.
Like any other long series, yes why not? Ofc the die hard fans would ALWAYS recommend you to play from the first game. Just remember it's game, so don't go out your way to turn it to chore. But if you do like VN, then please check out the previous games first they are worth it.
Played all 3 of the Utaw...erueueoenomo games and I still can't spell them let alone pronounce them so you're definitely not alone there. Really looking forward to this one
Utawarerumono game is a turned based strategy which is very good and also very difficult as you progress further. But unfortunately, except the first game have English localization. The story is definitely very deep as it spread across 2 generations as I remember. This again is slightly different from the rest of the game in the series but the last one that came out before this is an action RPG game (Utawarerumono Zan 2)
Thanks for highlighting this game, David. The battle system looks like a lot of fun. I see your point about Japanese voice acting and while I prefer to play my games with an English dub as well, I am currently playing through Trails from Zero and the voice acting in that game is so good that I just have to let it play out even if I can read the text faster than the voice actors deliver their lines. It all comes down to personal preference though.
This game seems like a lot of fun! I'm keeping this on my radar. Unfortunately, my backlog is a little bit too large and I don't want to add to it at this point in time. I've got the Utawarerumono games in the backlog, so when I eventually get to them, I'll be sure to remember this one. As a non-native English speaking person from a European country where only kids games / movies / series get translated, I'm completely unbothered by half-translations or half-localizations because I've had to deal with that for all my life. Sometimes I'm even bothered by the localizations. For example in Pokemon, when Brock takes out rice balls, everyone is like "Ooh, these are really nice cookies! Hmm, best cookies ever!" and they don't look like cookies at all. Why not just call them rice balls because that's what they obviously are? Yes, we don't have rice balls in our supermarkets, but we also don't have pokemon running around. To me it's just a fantasy land where pokemon are real, is it too much of a stretch to assume that people in this fantasy land eat different things than we do? And a few episodes later they didn't localize tofu. We have tofu now, but 20 years ago I'd never heard of tofu.
I feel like the intro fits the Utawarerumono series as a whole. I love it, it made me cry, but I rarely recommend it to others because SRPG players aren't usually looking for 20 hours of visual novel storytelling, and visual novel readers aren't usually looking to spend 20-30 minutes in every SRPG combat encounter. The dated visuals and lack of English voice acting in Monochrome Mobius are likely also to be hard for people to get past. Also, a slight correction - though "utawarerumono" and a small handful of other names and terms are Japanese, most of them are of Ainu origin (native people of Hokkaido and other islands north of Japan). The localizers have done a pretty good job of trying to not just double-transliterate them too, i.e. we get "owlo" for lord/king instead of "ouro" (Japanese transliteration).
So many jrpgs have japanese-only voices, I don't understand why its always such a big sticking point with this one. I'll select english if its an option, but I don't really care if its japanese - I much prefer that to games likes ys where 90% of the game has zero voice acting.
I am so, so looking forward to getting this game now that it's on console. And I totally agree, this is sporting massive Arc Rise Fantastia energy, but unlike that game, at least this one is also available digitally and on Steam, so that means there will be an affordable way for people to play it officially into the foreseeable future. And yeah, I think not having English voice acting really can hurt a game like this. While I love when games include a Japanese language option, I feel like a game can come off as rushed or cheap to non-enthusiast audiences, who are a key part of any game's success. Granted, the localization team probably had next to no budget, which despite more and more games being made for a global audience, seems to be the case pretty often
Super Derek and Baku was talking about this one not too long ago. They too had a nice review of it. I think it's going on my wish list so I could pick it up in a few weeks. As far as the half localization, I don't mind it too bad. Just play trails from zero and Azure that way and I enjoyed the immensely.
Hi David, what's the difference between localization and translation? Localization is a term I often see connected to videogames but I thought it was a fancy term for translation and inclusion of a game in the western market. Thanks for the video, and have a wonderful weekend :)
The difference eg. : In Hungarian we use the phrase: It is as rare as a white raven. - simple translation to English. Localized version: As rare as a white elephant. - used the cultural/historical background/idioms of the targeted audience/region.
Definatly gonna check this game out, I know about the Utawarerumono series, but I never gave it a shot because they are visual novel/strategy rpgs, But this one is turn-based so I am gonna get it for sure
Well if you want to experience the lore without playing the games you could always watch the anime, the original Utawarerumono and the Masks saga got adapted a while ago.
Most of the time i set the voice to Japanese when available, so i have no problem with half localization. Now i just need to finish Sea of stars before this game come out.
I absolutely couldn’t agree more with you on this. All my friends share this sentiment. We were disappointed with the one pice RPG solely bc of that. It’s ridiculous. It’s as if turn based aren’t even worth the effort. How is todays quality worse then ps1 Ted Wolsey projects 🤦🏻♂️
I was about to be all "The Utawarerumono games aren't visual novels; they're tactical RPGs!" but then I remembered that I've only played (and semi-given up on) Mask of Deception, and that after almost an hour and a half of jabbering, I still haven't made it to the first fight. The anime was pretty cool, though.
Just got this game off your recommendation and it’s so good! As someone who has just a basic grasp of Japanese it was tough hearing people’s names and titles in Japanese and then have them spelled out in furigana :/ Either localize to a western equivalent or keep the spelling in Japanese for names!
David, I think you should try the Utawarerumono series. Yes, it is a visual novel tactical RPG. I only played the first one on PC. The game have good story and characters. The visual novel part might be a little boring and time consuming.
Looks good, if I had a Playstation 4 or 5 I'd give it a shot but alas... I love Grandia and I agree that's high praise. As for localization? I definitely agree, while I don't know what happened my guess is they "translated" it with AI. You need that team. I could go either way with half localization as long as they put some care into it and not just pushing out a product. For example you mentioned Rhapsody and to me that'd be OK because it seemed like maybe a creative choice. Games like Breath of Fire II? No, that's just cutting corners and the game/gamers suffer for it.
I think classic turn-based jrpg gamers should support games like this, so bigger companies, like Square, wouldn't think that the future is only/mostly just Action RPG (or worst, roguelike). A little bit strict with my budget atm, and this is like 60$ on steam. But you sold me with this review, and I will definitely get this once I see it on sale, even if just 10%-15%. Btw, no review yet for Sea of Stars? I am seeing a lot of phrase for it, but worried about that button-timing aspect of it, which some reviewers said that it is necessary if you want to win against harder bosses later on the game.
I played Sea of Stars for 4 hours and yes you need to utilise the button timing only if you want an easier time or if you don't intend to use the artifacts which is kind of like cheats but hey the dev themselves made them available as accessibility, also you actually need to get them first. But then again, I played only for 4 hours maybe the button timing is mandatory at later stage of the game but I doubt it.
I felt the same way about One Piece Odyssey. It's actually a fantastic game, but I almost overlooked it because of its half-localization. The half-baked approach is even more irritating when you consider the fact that the game is based off of an anime that has an English dub. I too had to turn down the voices to keep them from being a distraction while I played. I'd have rather just had the option for English voice acting.
This wasn’t on my radar at all, looked generic at a glance. But man, referencing Grandia when discussing the battle system paired with some of the environments and Eastern influence is tempting me.
Since the game was made kinda to commemorate the Utawarerumono games, alot of the terminology comes from the VNs, granted even there were times I had trouble with some names, now the VNs are only dub in japanese so for thoses that played the prior games I believe is not a issue, but I can understand where you're coming from. I already recommended the VNs in your last video, but to add I personally think the first game is okay, and the first half of the second one can be very slow to the point of being boring, but after that is just great moments after great moments, specially in Mask of Truth (the final game), granted alot of the impact of these moments comes from the slow burn that precedes
David can you try to play Ruina Fairy Tale Of Forgotten Ruin?Very underrated gem as well,im sure you will like it Next year the remake will be released on PC
NIS America has a nice Limited Edition for sale for this game and I've had my eye on it for a while. I guess I'd better get to it huh? I really like how the battles appear to flow. It looks like it moves really well and gets things done without wasting too much time which is great. I have been collecting the Utawarerumono games in the background for a while but not sure if I will get to pushing through this series to better understand this one. I have found in recent years that if there isnt any english voice acting that I usually turn it off so I can more easily adapt. In both Crossbell games I have done this because I tend to find it distracting especially when Im trying to focus on the deep lore that series has. Expense on these projects has a lot to do with partially localizing and we are lucky to get these at all if this is how they have to do it so I usually let that get a pass. Thanks for looking and playing this one over, looks like a must-buy to me.
Utawaramono is a game series I fucking love. It's like 90% vn and 10% great tactical RPG. But the story hits hard and is so well done. Mask of deception and truth broke me on such a emotional scale. Especially for a series that started off as a adult echi game. For me it frustrates me how much the devs love Sony because all of their games are PS exclusive nowadays.
I find the Japanese voice acting and terminology a plus. Not distracting in the slightest. I welcome it as it ads to the overall atmosphere of the game.
David100K! Game looks gorgeous but they party looks like they are playing Red Light - Green Light in combat. Dragon Quest XI comes to mind as far as a dynamic look to combat for those who aren't taking action. And I agree 100% on English voice acting making a difference. Tactics Ogre Reborn not only added voice acting to an amazing base game but also had English and even highlighted the VA credits in the opening sequence. Made me proud to have pre-ordered it.
Its a shame when companies make these really high quality games and then release them in a way that prevents them from reaching a wider audience. This game does look really good, so i will definitely pick it up.
Thank you. You just sold me this game 😊. I'm currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles 1 def edition and could't pass throught that weird UK accent...(what a bunch of jokers 🤮) so I switch to original japanese and I love it !! The game for me is way better in it's true form ✌️
Arc Rise Fantasia get so much shit for its voice cast but honestly it's really only two characters that are "bad" in my opinion. The game itself is fantastic with a great soundtrack and beautiful locations to explore. Also calls back to the days of the snes rpgs by being hard as shit but the battle system is so fun you don't mind grinding out weapon skills and such.
You had me at Grandia Combat. Grandia Style Battle System should just be the subtitle. I love Grandia combat so much I actually completely finished (and enjoyed!) Grandia Xtreme! Hell I love it so much I'm actually willing to spell "Extreme", "Xtreme". Capital X and everything. That's some serious commitment. What's a low effort localization in the face of all that?
I am sick of the garbage that localizers put into games i want the game the developers intended not what these self proclaimed writers butcher because of self inflated egos who are out of touch with the consumer base.
Hm, I'm happy to hear you're excited about the game, but I have to say that the older Visual Novels + SRPGs (genre blend, not 100% VN! ... maybe 92% VN) were more polished. That said, I'll die on the hill that the development direction on this newer game should be considered legendary! By my estimation this is a mediocre game, but you have to look really hard to see why. (The Normal difficulty appears balanced around the idea that the player doesn't complete all available sidequests, for one thing. Getting all the Skill Points you ever need is no problem at all - you'd never see the same in a Final Fantasy game. The super bosses are a challenge, but nothing like old Ruby Weapon.) The terms are, strictly speaking, derived from the Ainu language - not Japanese. (But used as they would have been used *in* Japanese. Cultural sensibilities, I suppose?) I'll accept it as a world building thing, but I can understand why people find it confusing. It did make sense in the first games (Prelude to the Fallen and Mask of Deception), though, where the protagonist was as ignorant of the game world at the outset as the player was.
This is the first time I heard someone play Japanese game, especially J-rpg think Japanese voice-acting is dictracting 😅 for me, Japanese voice is better most of the time; the emotions are clearlier expressed.
It's trying to sell it self to anime fans that is why the dubbing is all in Japanese and the writing keeps some Japanese terms on it which can appeal to Anime fans but annoying to us normies I have never really understood the appeal of the Japanese dubbing and "Kawaii" terms they keep using but I guess it's got some audience as there are plenty of Un-dub patches out there for PS1, PS2, PSP and other console games that removes the english dubbing and replaces them with the Japanese dubs I don't really care about it myself as I don't like hearing gibberish even if the english dub is a bit SO SO on some games I actually stopped Playing the Yakuza games after the first as I really enjoyed the english dubbing on that game but every sequel after that had nothing but Japanese on it. No offense meant for the Japanese language here I simply don't like hearing gibberish and please don't ask me to read the subs I do that most of the time in the game already so sometimes I would like to be able to close my eyes during a cutscenes and be able to hear actual words that I understand so that I could at least be able to keep up with the story I would rather hear some noob scream "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIGHT!" rather than yamete kudasai or whatever that means.
![Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten [PS5] First Thoughts - Overleveled Games](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IGcSJ-dUO1s/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a huge weeb so I actually prefer these "half-localizations" with JP voices. That being said, I also played the Utawarerumono trilogy and loved it.
Localizers really love to add nonsense like jelly donuts and politics that doesnt belong.
There's an old internet meme about this series where people just call it "Underwater Ray Romano" instead of trying to actually pronounce the real name 😅
I had that same feeling about Okage: The Shadow King! Easy to overlook at the time because it didn’t offer much new, but in a vacuum it’s a great game with a unique visual style that still holds up
I love that game had to get it again after it was released for ps4 😁
Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well, but seriously Okage: TSK deserve more recognition
oh!!! i havent got the chance to finish the game. i hope they port/remaster it. i love the art direction
This game is on my wishlist so I'm glad to hear its as good as it looked. Definitely will get to it eventually.
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for sharing such a gem with us.
I am loving the game, 60h plus at the moment, also doing everything I can.
The localization didnt bother me, to tell you the truth, i like the game, the voice acting and so on. I found it really well done. So many laughs with that sarcastic Halu. For me at least it didnt compromise the understanding of the story. I would rate this as a 9 out of 10 easily.
I really like it too. Its a shame sales were so bad. I mention it at every opportunity, but still nobody tries it, which I guess means we wont be getting a follow up most likely :(
Getting more and more excited for this game with some of the reviews I’ve seen being more positive than ones I’ve previously heard. Just finished the trilogy today and am excited to get to spend more time with these characters I’ve really come to like from the series.
How long did it take to beat each entry or the total for all? I want to try it but don’t know where to start.
Probably about 40 hours each which includes some grinding. Definitely should be played in order as they all connect. Prelude to Fallen->Mask of Deception->Mask of Truth
I actually really like when games keep Japanese terminology, like with the Persona series or 13 Sentinels keeping honorifics even in the English dub. It’s a nice look into another culture.
I will say I don’t think the game potentially not succeeding will have anything to do with the voices being in Japanese. I think the real obstacle will be it being part of an obscure series. And I can’t recall seeing any marketing for this game outside of one video on the Sony channel and David talking about it
The stuff David called Japanese isn't even Japanese. Oshtor isn't a Japanese name Pashpakur is closer to Indian and certainly not Japanese at all, Arva Shulan also not Japanese all though the Shulan part is closest to Chinese. There are other names scattered through the video like Mayacowl and Shantuura that aren't typical Japanese. The names in this game sound like made up fantasy words like what Tolkien made up for his characters just in this case they were thought up by a Asian mind instead of a Western one. The game itself looks cool though and it's an interesting thought I had never considered that someone might take issue with a Japanese RPG for not making up separate English names for it's characters.
@@acidwizard6528 Tbh I just meant in general and assumed he was talking about stuff he wasn’t showing
@@VXMasterson You're probably right. The stuff that was shown on screen wasn't Japanese, but there's probably a bunch of monsters or skills that have Japanese style names.
Me too I like them. But that's because I'm not new to Japanese stuffs (legends, monsters, words play, etc.) I already grown accustomed to them. For the sake of english release, it's better to actually properly translate them or include an explanation of some sort, something like a translator note like in official translation of manga, it's optional but if people interested they can read it in the game.
Yakuza does this too. Especially in the Judgment games, when they brought back English voice acting, and I can tell you, the difference between the 1st Yakuza game, and the first Judgment game, is night and day.
This game has been on my radar for a bit now. May have to go ahead and pick it up to add it to the backlog. As someone who only plays in a game's native language, having Japanese dialogue is fine with me, as I always prefer my media in its original language with English subtitles.
I’m so glad you played this! I was on the fence about it but now I’m going to check it out. I’m a sucker for turn based RPGs.
I'm definitely getting this gem for Christmas. ❤
you find jp voice acting distracting ?
Really great review. I’m gonna check it out!
Your setup is cleeean 👍
Currently playing this on Steam Deck and am loving it, i never played the VN previous games
Thank you David for highlighting a game that unfortunately will probably be buried because it will be released the same week as starfield and baldurs gate! I will check it out
The Utawarerumono were subbed only as well. I'm assuming it's because they want to save on costs as they know the series is very niche but most of us don't mind it anyways. Speaking of the Utawarerumono series, you should definitely check them out as yes, they are part visual novel but also part Srpg, which does a excellent job at keeping you involved with the amount of battles you'll do. Too bad we never got a Switch port, as it could have definitely helped the series get more recognition.
A lot of your complaints with the half-localisation stem from not fully understanding AQUAPLUS's history (which i do get as despite being a big name on the Japanese gaming scene, AQUAPLUS are quite obscure overseas).
The Utawarerumono series very much has a Japanese setting (largely inspired by Ainu culture), hence all the various Japanese terms that aren't translated into an English equivalent. Plus, AQUAPLUS have previously never developed a game on the scale as Monochrome Mobius due to their history primarily developing visual novels/eroge, genres that are far too niche to get English dubs in most cases. Hence why there's no dub and why this game took so long to release overseas for consoles (the Steam PC release and Japanese PS4/5 versions were very rough at launch). The flipside of this is that their history is also the storytelling, music, and gameplay are so good.
I do think you should try the Utawarerumono series. They are visual novel / RPG hybrids like Tears to Tiara II (but a bit more VN than RPG, with improved RPG gameplay).Plus you can turn the Japanese audio off in them too alongside view a glossary too. The storytelling is equally as fantastic in them plus you can see what happens to the Monomobi cast after the events of this game.
Great video! :)
Hey David, i am glad you covered this game. I never played an Utawarerumono game. However I have watched their anime series and I adored it. Hopefully one day i can play the tactics games first and then this one. I have read that this game in particular is the first time for the developers to head into the "turn-based combat and exploration direction", their games before this one were the tactics and visual novels ones.
So if we support the developers by buying this game, they will make another one like this but better. Hopefully that happens ! finger crossed !
Thanks for giving this game a chance Dave. Both the previous Utawarerumono games were also good srpgs with amazing stories. Glad to hear they managed to nail the turn based battle system on this one.
I guess the game is assuming that you are already familiar with the Utawarerumono series as a whole. I've played through all of them so im familiar with most of the terms since they are explained in the other games. I don't mind half localized games and I am pretty excited for this one 😊
No... not at all. It was the first one I played... I totally understand the story. I guess the characters do appear in other games and there's probably references I don't get but its really not necessary. Its one of the best jrpgs of last year that nobody fkin played!
Thank you!! This went from not even being on my radar to a very likely pick up down the road once it goes on sale. There’s just too many games right now for me to justify a full price buy.
In the past I might’ve gotten this game , but I don’t have the time to play every game I want to anymore so I have to be more picky.
I'm glad you enjoyed the game despite some of its budget constraints.I'd definitely prefer a fully realized localization, but I'm also just glad we're still getting double A games from Japan that I can understand without aide. I'm a big fan of the Uta series and am looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review!😁
I loved the game but worried they're not even breaking even... I want that alluded to follow up.
Thank you for talking about this game. As I didn’t know much about it as their was so many other games releasing this month. I quickly got me a copy and I’m enjoying the game so far.
OMG Popolocrois and Arc Rise Fantasia are some of my favourite games and so glad you mentioned them!
Popolocrois was is wholesome, and ARF had the most intense bosses and overall an amazing game.
Great review. Really looking forward to getting this
Cant believe people actually want english dubs lol
Can I jump into this? Or do I have to play other games in the series first?
Like any other long series, yes why not? Ofc the die hard fans would ALWAYS recommend you to play from the first game. Just remember it's game, so don't go out your way to turn it to chore. But if you do like VN, then please check out the previous games first they are worth it.
Great video. Thanks for this game review. Love from Belgium 🇧🇪 ❤
Nice review!
Played all 3 of the Utaw...erueueoenomo games and I still can't spell them let alone pronounce them so you're definitely not alone there.
Really looking forward to this one
as a utawarerumono/auqaplus fan i jumped on the pre-order for this game. i even have a few figures of characters from utawarerumono.
Popolocrois 😂😂 that was a gem
Utawarerumono game is a turned based strategy which is very good and also very difficult as you progress further. But unfortunately, except the first game have English localization. The story is definitely very deep as it spread across 2 generations as I remember. This again is slightly different from the rest of the game in the series but the last one that came out before this is an action RPG game (Utawarerumono Zan 2)
Never heard of this one, glad you featured it.
Thanks for highlighting this game, David. The battle system looks like a lot of fun. I see your point about Japanese voice acting and while I prefer to play my games with an English dub as well, I am currently playing through Trails from Zero and the voice acting in that game is so good that I just have to let it play out even if I can read the text faster than the voice actors deliver their lines. It all comes down to personal preference though.
This game seems like a lot of fun! I'm keeping this on my radar. Unfortunately, my backlog is a little bit too large and I don't want to add to it at this point in time. I've got the Utawarerumono games in the backlog, so when I eventually get to them, I'll be sure to remember this one.
As a non-native English speaking person from a European country where only kids games / movies / series get translated, I'm completely unbothered by half-translations or half-localizations because I've had to deal with that for all my life. Sometimes I'm even bothered by the localizations. For example in Pokemon, when Brock takes out rice balls, everyone is like "Ooh, these are really nice cookies! Hmm, best cookies ever!" and they don't look like cookies at all. Why not just call them rice balls because that's what they obviously are? Yes, we don't have rice balls in our supermarkets, but we also don't have pokemon running around. To me it's just a fantasy land where pokemon are real, is it too much of a stretch to assume that people in this fantasy land eat different things than we do? And a few episodes later they didn't localize tofu. We have tofu now, but 20 years ago I'd never heard of tofu.
I feel like the intro fits the Utawarerumono series as a whole. I love it, it made me cry, but I rarely recommend it to others because SRPG players aren't usually looking for 20 hours of visual novel storytelling, and visual novel readers aren't usually looking to spend 20-30 minutes in every SRPG combat encounter. The dated visuals and lack of English voice acting in Monochrome Mobius are likely also to be hard for people to get past.
Also, a slight correction - though "utawarerumono" and a small handful of other names and terms are Japanese, most of them are of Ainu origin (native people of Hokkaido and other islands north of Japan). The localizers have done a pretty good job of trying to not just double-transliterate them too, i.e. we get "owlo" for lord/king instead of "ouro" (Japanese transliteration).
So many jrpgs have japanese-only voices, I don't understand why its always such a big sticking point with this one. I'll select english if its an option, but I don't really care if its japanese - I much prefer that to games likes ys where 90% of the game has zero voice acting.
Would you recommend this to newcomers to the series? Combat is the biggest reason I'm looking to give this game a try
Just beat this last night! Loved it!
I am so, so looking forward to getting this game now that it's on console. And I totally agree, this is sporting massive Arc Rise Fantastia energy, but unlike that game, at least this one is also available digitally and on Steam, so that means there will be an affordable way for people to play it officially into the foreseeable future.
And yeah, I think not having English voice acting really can hurt a game like this. While I love when games include a Japanese language option, I feel like a game can come off as rushed or cheap to non-enthusiast audiences, who are a key part of any game's success.
Granted, the localization team probably had next to no budget, which despite more and more games being made for a global audience, seems to be the case pretty often
Damn it David. Halfway through the video I jumped on Amazon and pre-ordered it. On a side note, your shoulders are popping nicely.
Super Derek and Baku was talking about this one not too long ago. They too had a nice review of it. I think it's going on my wish list so I could pick it up in a few weeks. As far as the half localization, I don't mind it too bad. Just play trails from zero and Azure that way and I enjoyed the immensely.
Hi David, what's the difference between localization and translation? Localization is a term I often see connected to videogames but I thought it was a fancy term for translation and inclusion of a game in the western market. Thanks for the video, and have a wonderful weekend :)
The difference eg. : In Hungarian we use the phrase: It is as rare as a white raven. - simple translation to English. Localized version: As rare as a white elephant. - used the cultural/historical background/idioms of the targeted audience/region.
Truly a hidden gem, this game looks fantastic!
I'm a fan of the Utawarerumono games so been looking forward to Monochrome Mobius
Definatly gonna check this game out, I know about the Utawarerumono series, but I never gave it a shot because they are visual novel/strategy rpgs, But this one is turn-based so I am gonna get it for sure
Well if you want to experience the lore without playing the games you could always watch the anime, the original Utawarerumono and the Masks saga got adapted a while ago.
@@nekrumzero8117 oh nice, I might check the anime out then, thanks for telling me!
I wish I could buy this but I just bought a lot of new games and the price is pretty steep for a new physical 😢
Playasia now has the pre-order up for Sea of Stars for the switch for sale right now!!!!!
yes. This game is incredible and I played it knowing nothing of the other titles. I wish there were more turn based games just like it.
Great review!
God I wish theyd port Arc Rise Fantasia that’s a deep cut in RPGs right there man. Good call!!
Most of the time i set the voice to Japanese when available, so i have no problem with half localization. Now i just need to finish Sea of stars before this game come out.
I absolutely couldn’t agree more with you on this. All my friends share this sentiment. We were disappointed with the one pice RPG solely bc of that. It’s ridiculous. It’s as if turn based aren’t even worth the effort. How is todays quality worse then ps1 Ted Wolsey projects 🤦🏻♂️
I want half translations. I want the original story from the original storyteller. Not a half ass retelling with someone elses bs added to it.
Hey David I hope you see this. Just learned of this game. Is grinding rewarding? I like to make characters OP.
It is!
I was about to be all "The Utawarerumono games aren't visual novels; they're tactical RPGs!" but then I remembered that I've only played (and semi-given up on) Mask of Deception, and that after almost an hour and a half of jabbering, I still haven't made it to the first fight.
The anime was pretty cool, though.
Just got this game off your recommendation and it’s so good! As someone who has just a basic grasp of Japanese it was tough hearing people’s names and titles in Japanese and then have them spelled out in furigana :/
Either localize to a western equivalent or keep the spelling in Japanese for names!
David, I think you should try the Utawarerumono series. Yes, it is a visual novel tactical RPG. I only played the first one on PC. The game have good story and characters. The visual novel part might be a little boring and time consuming.
Looks good, if I had a Playstation 4 or 5 I'd give it a shot but alas... I love Grandia and I agree that's high praise. As for localization? I definitely agree, while I don't know what happened my guess is they "translated" it with AI. You need that team. I could go either way with half localization as long as they put some care into it and not just pushing out a product. For example you mentioned Rhapsody and to me that'd be OK because it seemed like maybe a creative choice. Games like Breath of Fire II? No, that's just cutting corners and the game/gamers suffer for it.
Honestly I think the game is priced to high to succeed as well. Especially with all the RPG'S that's coming out in Q4
Arc rise fantasia is my second favorite game of all time
Looks fun and I always enjoyed Grandia's combat system and hold it high regard.
For PC gamers, 30% off in Steam right now! I just bought my copy.
This looks quite good. Reminds me of a turn-based more animeish Sword and Fairy: Together Forever
I think classic turn-based jrpg gamers should support games like this, so bigger companies, like Square, wouldn't think that the future is only/mostly just Action RPG (or worst, roguelike). A little bit strict with my budget atm, and this is like 60$ on steam. But you sold me with this review, and I will definitely get this once I see it on sale, even if just 10%-15%. Btw, no review yet for Sea of Stars? I am seeing a lot of phrase for it, but worried about that button-timing aspect of it, which some reviewers said that it is necessary if you want to win against harder bosses later on the game.
I played Sea of Stars for 4 hours and yes you need to utilise the button timing only if you want an easier time or if you don't intend to use the artifacts which is kind of like cheats but hey the dev themselves made them available as accessibility, also you actually need to get them first. But then again, I played only for 4 hours maybe the button timing is mandatory at later stage of the game but I doubt it.
I felt the same way about One Piece Odyssey. It's actually a fantastic game, but I almost overlooked it because of its half-localization. The half-baked approach is even more irritating when you consider the fact that the game is based off of an anime that has an English dub. I too had to turn down the voices to keep them from being a distraction while I played. I'd have rather just had the option for English voice acting.
Glad to see it’s turn based system keeps up with the classics already preordered so looking forward to it arriving in the post 😊
I subbed because your profile picture is Sabin and you are actually ripped. Oh, and also because your content is great lol
This wasn’t on my radar at all, looked generic at a glance. But man, referencing Grandia when discussing the battle system paired with some of the environments and Eastern influence is tempting me.
BE AWARE : a lot of what is said in japanese is not translated in the subtitles !
I have to say that I am really enjoying this game.
Since the game was made kinda to commemorate the Utawarerumono games, alot of the terminology comes from the VNs, granted even there were times I had trouble with some names, now the VNs are only dub in japanese so for thoses that played the prior games I believe is not a issue, but I can understand where you're coming from.
I already recommended the VNs in your last video, but to add I personally think the first game is okay, and the first half of the second one can be very slow to the point of being boring, but after that is just great moments after great moments, specially in Mask of Truth (the final game), granted alot of the impact of these moments comes from the slow burn that precedes
David can you try to play Ruina Fairy Tale Of Forgotten Ruin?Very underrated gem as well,im sure you will like it
Next year the remake will be released on PC
Since the localization is half-assed I'll wait and get this at half price.
NIS America has a nice Limited Edition for sale for this game and I've had my eye on it for a while. I guess I'd better get to it huh? I really like how the battles appear to flow. It looks like it moves really well and gets things done without wasting too much time which is great. I have been collecting the Utawarerumono games in the background for a while but not sure if I will get to pushing through this series to better understand this one. I have found in recent years that if there isnt any english voice acting that I usually turn it off so I can more easily adapt. In both Crossbell games I have done this because I tend to find it distracting especially when Im trying to focus on the deep lore that series has. Expense on these projects has a lot to do with partially localizing and we are lucky to get these at all if this is how they have to do it so I usually let that get a pass. Thanks for looking and playing this one over, looks like a must-buy to me.
Utawaramono is a game series I fucking love. It's like 90% vn and 10% great tactical RPG. But the story hits hard and is so well done. Mask of deception and truth broke me on such a emotional scale. Especially for a series that started off as a adult echi game. For me it frustrates me how much the devs love Sony because all of their games are PS exclusive nowadays.
I find the Japanese voice acting and terminology a plus. Not distracting in the slightest. I welcome it as it ads to the overall atmosphere of the game.
Thanks for showing this game, David! I was looking for a good turn based RPG to play. I'll definetly picking this game when releases!
David100K!
Game looks gorgeous but they party looks like they are playing Red Light - Green Light in combat. Dragon Quest XI comes to mind as far as a dynamic look to combat for those who aren't taking action. And I agree 100% on English voice acting making a difference. Tactics Ogre Reborn not only added voice acting to an amazing base game but also had English and even highlighted the VA credits in the opening sequence. Made me proud to have pre-ordered it.
Its a shame when companies make these really high quality games and then release them in a way that prevents them from reaching a wider audience. This game does look really good, so i will definitely pick it up.
Battle system sounds fun as heck NIS has a lot of fun games in their pockets. Might have to add this to my list
Thank you. You just sold me this game 😊.
I'm currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles 1 def edition and could't pass throught that weird UK accent...(what a bunch of jokers 🤮) so I switch to original japanese and I love it !! The game for me is way better in it's true form ✌️
it's Uta Ware Mono :) great series big fan here
Oo I have been so Curious about this and it’s a good price might get it 😊
Arc Rise Fantasia get so much shit for its voice cast but honestly it's really only two characters that are "bad" in my opinion. The game itself is fantastic with a great soundtrack and beautiful locations to explore. Also calls back to the days of the snes rpgs by being hard as shit but the battle system is so fun you don't mind grinding out weapon skills and such.
You had me at Grandia Combat.
Grandia Style Battle System should just be the subtitle. I love Grandia combat so much I actually completely finished (and enjoyed!) Grandia Xtreme!
Hell I love it so much I'm actually willing to spell "Extreme", "Xtreme". Capital X and everything. That's some serious commitment.
What's a low effort localization in the face of all that?
And the Utawarerumono games are even better
I am sick of the garbage that localizers put into games i want the game the developers intended not what these self proclaimed writers butcher because of self inflated egos who are out of touch with the consumer base.
You underestimate us Utawarerumono fanbase hehe
I was going to repeat myself when I saw my 3rd favourite top yummy
Hm, I'm happy to hear you're excited about the game, but I have to say that the older Visual Novels + SRPGs (genre blend, not 100% VN! ... maybe 92% VN) were more polished. That said, I'll die on the hill that the development direction on this newer game should be considered legendary! By my estimation this is a mediocre game, but you have to look really hard to see why.
(The Normal difficulty appears balanced around the idea that the player doesn't complete all available sidequests, for one thing. Getting all the Skill Points you ever need is no problem at all - you'd never see the same in a Final Fantasy game. The super bosses are a challenge, but nothing like old Ruby Weapon.)
The terms are, strictly speaking, derived from the Ainu language - not Japanese. (But used as they would have been used *in* Japanese. Cultural sensibilities, I suppose?) I'll accept it as a world building thing, but I can understand why people find it confusing. It did make sense in the first games (Prelude to the Fallen and Mask of Deception), though, where the protagonist was as ignorant of the game world at the outset as the player was.
I put Japanese voices anyway all the time so im good
Secret of Mana was mine
But the the game your reviewing looks fantastic
Persona 5 Royal: 1 More Edition what is this David I already have royal is there another version??
for some reason, the word "Mobius" give me a very bad feeling... But anyway, the game look good.
Think I’ll use my $20 PSN wallet on this !
I prefer the half localization thing as I used to be a big anime fan and dubs are super cringe.
This is the first time I heard someone play Japanese game, especially J-rpg think Japanese voice-acting is dictracting 😅 for me, Japanese voice is better most of the time; the emotions are clearlier expressed.
It's trying to sell it self to anime fans that is why the dubbing is all in Japanese and the writing keeps some Japanese terms on it which can appeal to Anime fans but annoying to us normies I have never really understood the appeal of the Japanese dubbing and "Kawaii" terms they keep using but I guess it's got some audience as there are plenty of Un-dub patches out there for PS1, PS2, PSP and other console games that removes the english dubbing and replaces them with the Japanese dubs I don't really care about it myself as I don't like hearing gibberish even if the english dub is a bit SO SO on some games I actually stopped Playing the Yakuza games after the first as I really enjoyed the english dubbing on that game but every sequel after that had nothing but Japanese on it.
No offense meant for the Japanese language here I simply don't like hearing gibberish and please don't ask me to read the subs I do that most of the time in the game already so sometimes I would like to be able to close my eyes during a cutscenes and be able to hear actual words that I understand so that I could at least be able to keep up with the story I would rather hear some noob scream "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIGHT!" rather than yamete kudasai or whatever that means.