"just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you" I wish more Video game reviewers had this open minded mentality instead of just saying a game is bad and nitpicking the smallest things they dislike and then writing off the game entirely.
I LOOOVED the swordcraft story games and this one looks alright. the character designs are quite cool and after you've overcome the clash of visuals between the VN and RPG sections I guess I could find fun in it. I'll keep an eye out for this one
This looks like something I should keep an eye on! I love visual novels, and I do love the Swordcraft Story games. What you said about this not being your thing, but still recommending it to those who who would like it goes nicely with what you said before too.
I finally got to play this the other day and I wanted to thank you for the recommendation! I love the visual novel sections and I couldn't help laughing at times! I've also skipped some voices on accident but I love the scenes though. The fighting may not be that deep, but I was reminded of Swordcraft Story so that's a plus for me! Sure it's not perfect. But this game is a Peachy Miku game for sure! And this video was the one that convinced me to try it, so thank you!
Thank you Derek for covering this!!! I had me eye on it for a while. I really liked the Summonight swordcraft story games so this looked good. But I'm just like you in the sense dialogue dragging on and on in the visual novel which I'm not the biggest fan of.
one thing that really *Really* catches my eyes is that the hitstop (a frame that freezes the game a little when you hit something, usually to make the hit more satisfying) is unnecessarily humongous for each hits, its a small detail but from what im seeing its to the point that its a little uncomfortable to look at
Yea I had the same feeling within a few seconds of seeing battle footage. A couple of older fighting games have this problem, kinda weird to see it in a game released in 2022.
yooo great review derek! i was keeping an eye on this game from the time it got announced but didnt even know an english version was on the way. Def gonna pick it up :D
It's probably not your kind of game since its still heavy on the visual novel aspect but the Rance series by Alicesoft is famous for being an eroge with great story and often amazing gameplay too. Both traditional RPG stuff and even strategy gameplay in the gase of Sengoku Rance.
As someone with a ton of nostalgia for Swordcraft Story 2, I am very much excited to give this one a try. It honestly feels like it's a "what if the PSP/Vita got a Swordcraft Story 3" and that sounds right up my alley xD
Just FYI there is also a fan-translation of the ACTUAL Swordcraft Story 3, if you can access it. This game is definitely a love-letter to that series, and is similar in a LOT of ways.
Even as someone who loved all the Summon Night games (and loves visual novels) I appreciate your honesty about this game's flaws. I still picked it up myself, and I'm enjoying it, but I can definitely see what you're talking about. Also, thanks for covering it and giving it some attention, because I know a lot of UA-camrs didn't bother! Great job. :)
06 sec into the video and you answered the one question I had for the last 6months regarding Maglam Lord! I own Summon Night Twin Age and tried other summon night games; did not like them at all... Therefore, this game probably not for me(my backlog already huge anyways). Thank you! for the straight, simple, concise review!
Looks great but the VN aspect doesnt really seem appealing to me. Watched Erick Landon's quick playthrough of this game and the battle system and pacing looks similar to Tales of Legendia on PS2. Won't pick it up at full price but looks great to get you'd ever find it on sale.
I played this for Switch recently. I wanted to like it, but the low framerate during battles made it unplayable. The overworld map was little too zoomed in. Better off watching a compilation video for the story.
Endangered Species!? Hahaha I like this episode! It feels like or may not be my cup of tea. Usually I’m quite surprised what games actually hit me pretty well these days. Overall, Personally, I’m not the biggest visual novel guy but I am interested Thank you Derek
It's definitely the kind of game you can sit down and turn off your brain, relax, kill some enemies and grind some levels, and laugh at some silly jokes in between. :)
I did like Tales of Destiny back in the day, so I'll put this in the maybe category. Not too sure about the visual novel approach, but then I did like the new Sakura Wars, so who knows. What's really got me on the fence is that jerky combat motion. If that's just the lag then maybe the PS4 version will fix it.
At first I thought it was frame drops, but o that jerky combat you're talking about seems like maybe it is intentional? Seems to happen at each registered impact when fighting enemies. Itmight be a good idea to check some PS4 gameplay too.
I cut my teeth on NES jRPGs where the only cutscenes were text boxes outside battles. Combined with my status as a bibliophile, I have developed a high tolerance for "Visual Novel" segments in otherwise unrelated games. Also, I can't seem to find this on Steam. Is it Switch exclusive?
i'm still arguing with myself if i should try it or not. I LOVE the summon night swordcraft story on GBA, but seeing the battle on 3D just doesnt make sell to me compared to the 2D sprite on the gba :(
So the game runs in 30fps, I captured it in 60fps. The gameplay does thins thing where the animations pause for a split second after every impact, which at first looks like the game is hitching or stuttering, but it looks like it's actually a stylistic choice they went for to emphasize the impact. I'm not a huge fan of that, and mistook it for dropped frames in the video... So I suspect this might also be a thing on PS4.
Nice review! Plus I didn’t knew about this game even though i really liked all the 3 swordcraft story games on the gba; will check it out certainly; Plus, another game that i liked a lot on the gba was shining soul, the 2 specifically. Do you know of any spiritual sucessor or something like that for this one?
Hm. Technically, this should be right up my alley, but I really don't vibe with anything I've seen on the footage. Also not sure about the wiggle image bit, I've been so fed up with jiggle physics these days that I might have to look at this game again sometime later xD Anyways, thank you for the review!
1st of all I give you a round of applause for admitting that this game is not your cup of tea as a lot of reviewers don't really put that out there just in case people will start getting angry with them. Secondly I haven't really came across this game before since this is the 1st time I've heard it actually exists and while I do like summon night sword craft story it's mostly the 1st game I like while the second one.....eeh. Plus this game definitely screams of it should have been released on a portable platform especially in terms of the graphic quality that it feels like it was A PS Vita game that was ported on to the switch several years later. I will admit that the art is very nice and hey any game that allowed you to hook up with girls is cool with me but I think I will pass on this one. Soild review!
Thanks! Also just a quick point of clarification, it _looks_ like you could date guys too. Not sure if that's restricted by which protagonist you choose though. :)
@@SuperDerek Just FYI (If anyone cares) I can confirm you can date anyone, regardless of which gender protagonist you choose. Personally I think that's a great thing, and I don't know why more RPGs with dating elements don't allow it, lol.
I am sincerely tired of debating on whether to get a Switch version of an action JRPG and having to be concerned with slowdown or performance hangups and consistently I've been happy with the performance on PS4, so I picked this up on PS4 and am waiting on its delivery soon. This game looks fun and isnt necessarily something I expect to love but something new to try, exactly how I feel about a game like Poison Control. Thanks for checking this out Derek!
I would like to see a review of Robopon 2. That game was a masterpiece that never got attention due to its infamous predecessor and the God Hand'ish "It's not Pokémon!" IGN review.
Many people appear to be saying it's okay but not that great, considering they also said TOArise was the best in the series and I hated it, I can assume I'll like this one. jk I want to give this a go, maybe if I come across it at a discount. Backlog is too large to take chances right now.
Too lighthearted for me. I am looking for emotional impact or thought-provoking plot. The characters and visual novel segments look great. There are people who can enjoy this. Decent video.
I really liked the Swordcraft Story games, but I always felt disappointed that they were so shallow both in and out of combat. From what you've said here, it doesn't sound like the devs learned from those experiences, which is sad, because I would love to play a game like that but with deeper weapon customization/crafting that effects both combat and exploration. Like if Dark Cloud were turned into a Tales of game 🙂
honestly, the VN art style is pretty excellent, but the combat gameplay art style is kinda crap. Really wish the VN style was used throughout, or better yet the combat gameplay used a pixel art style from the Summon Night Swordcraft Story games. And...no weapon durability? Weird, that was a *massive* focus of the original games, as you smack enemies your weapon's durability drains and when it runs out the weapon is ruined until you can repair it. but more than that, against human enemies you could focus on taking out their weapon to get a unique blueprint to craft. It gave an additional layer of tactical depth to what was, admittedly, a fairly simplistic combat system: Axes were slow but hit hard and had a ton of durability, swords were average, spears were powerful and had the best aerial combat but the lowest durability, and drills were slow and short ranged but dealt a larger amount of durability damage than other types.
Looking at the gameplay for a side-scrooler it feels just "slow". Basically, actions takes quite a while to happen if compared with one of the classics everyone used to love "Odin's Sphere". Though Odin's Sphere would be VERY welcome if re-made for nowadays players than just the remaster called Leithrasir(though the lack of slow downs on PS3~4 helps a lot). Basically it's something i'd stop to watch for the scenes as i like the VN style, but play? nah. Too much. Many games starts like this and slowly changes bettering the scenes, voice actors and so, Neptunia is one like this where the very first game was "TRASH" literally. Basically un-playable and fans of the girls design and world made it go ti'll what we got today.
Just bought it and started playing on switch. Tbh it's kinda disappointing. There is no home base elements like fishing and challenge fights. There are also no tool based puzzle elements in exploration. The most of the map looks extremely bland and outdated. Combat is bland, very limited combo available and only 3 type of weapon with very small difference between different gear but same type. Fighting also feel very bad. Hit lag is wayyyy to long and it feels like stuttering. Huge missed potential. Feels like this does not own up to the "spirit successor" since it's missing a lot of key elements.
if swordcraft story can get a spiritual successor... it start to prove a point i have in my mind. You should not pirate old game, instead, you should put your money toward new games that comes out that merit the cash so that future products are made in that way. I know these products are rare, but if even something as obscure as swordcraft story can receive a spiritual successor, theres a high chance a game similar to an old game you are about to pirate exist and you should try to favorise it.
Yep! Spiritual successors are how creative minds get around the bureaucracy of corporations. Bloodstained was Castlevania's, Eiyuden Chronicle will be for Suikoden, and now Maglam Lord succeeds Swordcraft Story. I hope to see even more of this kind of thing in the near future! :)
I remember liking the second Swordcraft Story game on the GBA. I still have it here. So, spiritual successor sounded enticing at first. Buuuuut... visual novel is a pretty big turn off. There have been VNs I enjoyed, but for Swordcraft Story in particular, I played it more for crafting new weapons and exploring the world with the occasional goofy interaction.
Why they make this game's story far from swordcraft story.. Swordcraft story has simple and deep story.., and we can enjoy it multiple times even after story..
![Sword Of Mana Review! (Seiken Densetsu) [GameBoy Advance] The Game Collection!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/N9Z9RpqBxzY/mqdefault.jpg)
"just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you" I wish more Video game reviewers had this open minded mentality instead of just saying a game is bad and nitpicking the smallest things they dislike and then writing off the game entirely.
Well, but that's only if the game is good but they didn't like it. Sometimes, games are just bad.
To be fair most of the reviews you stated are the ones filled to the brim with fricking microtransactions
I LOOOVED the swordcraft story games and this one looks alright. the character designs are quite cool and after you've overcome the clash of visuals between the VN and RPG sections I guess I could find fun in it. I'll keep an eye out for this one
This looks like something I should keep an eye on! I love visual novels, and I do love the Swordcraft Story games. What you said about this not being your thing, but still recommending it to those who who would like it goes nicely with what you said before too.
I agree, I appreciate that kind of approach from reviewers a lot.
Your reviews are absolutely top notch. You lay it down exactly how you see it and you're not judgy at all. Great review.
I finally got to play this the other day and I wanted to thank you for the recommendation! I love the visual novel sections and I couldn't help laughing at times! I've also skipped some voices on accident but I love the scenes though. The fighting may not be that deep, but I was reminded of Swordcraft Story so that's a plus for me!
Sure it's not perfect. But this game is a Peachy Miku game for sure! And this video was the one that convinced me to try it, so thank you!
I'm still mad the they didn't localize the rest of the swordcraft series when I remember it doing well enough.
Thank you Derek for covering this!!! I had me eye on it for a while. I really liked the Summonight swordcraft story games so this looked good. But I'm just like you in the sense dialogue dragging on and on in the visual novel which I'm not the biggest fan of.
Looking good Derek!
Thanks Ircha! :D
one thing that really *Really* catches my eyes is that the hitstop (a frame that freezes the game a little when you hit something, usually to make the hit more satisfying) is unnecessarily humongous for each hits, its a small detail but from what im seeing its to the point that its a little uncomfortable to look at
Yea I had the same feeling within a few seconds of seeing battle footage. A couple of older fighting games have this problem, kinda weird to see it in a game released in 2022.
Thanks for covering this, I love summon knight GBA games
yooo great review derek! i was keeping an eye on this game from the time it got announced but didnt even know an english version was on the way. Def gonna pick it up :D
I love the Summon Night Swordcraft Story games so I'll be trying this one someday, despite not looking that incredible
Thank you for your insight SuperDerek
Of course! And thanks for watching!
It's probably not your kind of game since its still heavy on the visual novel aspect but the Rance series by Alicesoft is famous for being an eroge with great story and often amazing gameplay too. Both traditional RPG stuff and even strategy gameplay in the gase of Sengoku Rance.
As someone with a ton of nostalgia for Swordcraft Story 2, I am very much excited to give this one a try. It honestly feels like it's a "what if the PSP/Vita got a Swordcraft Story 3" and that sounds right up my alley xD
Just FYI there is also a fan-translation of the ACTUAL Swordcraft Story 3, if you can access it. This game is definitely a love-letter to that series, and is similar in a LOT of ways.
@@zoozbuh Oh wow, I hear of Swordcraft Story 3 in previews, but I always thought it was cancelled,even in Japan!
I'll check it out
Even as someone who loved all the Summon Night games (and loves visual novels) I appreciate your honesty about this game's flaws. I still picked it up myself, and I'm enjoying it, but I can definitely see what you're talking about. Also, thanks for covering it and giving it some attention, because I know a lot of UA-camrs didn't bother! Great job. :)
I pre ordered it but iam still waiting on game stop to get it in
06 sec into the video and you answered the one question I had for the last 6months regarding Maglam Lord! I own Summon Night Twin Age and tried other summon night games; did not like them at all... Therefore, this game probably not for me(my backlog already huge anyways). Thank you! for the straight, simple, concise review!
Thank you for the wonderful review 🙂👍
Looks great but the VN aspect doesnt really seem appealing to me. Watched Erick Landon's quick playthrough of this game and the battle system and pacing looks similar to Tales of Legendia on PS2. Won't pick it up at full price but looks great to get you'd ever find it on sale.
Looked interesting enough to check out if there was a demo on the Switch or PS4, but I'm not much into visual novels as well. Great video though!👍
I played this for Switch recently. I wanted to like it, but the low framerate during battles made it unplayable. The overworld map was little too zoomed in. Better off watching a compilation video for the story.
Endangered Species!? Hahaha I like this episode! It feels like or may not be my cup of tea. Usually I’m quite surprised what games actually hit me pretty well these days. Overall, Personally, I’m not the biggest visual novel guy but I am interested
Thank you Derek
It's definitely the kind of game you can sit down and turn off your brain, relax, kill some enemies and grind some levels, and laugh at some silly jokes in between. :)
@@SuperDerek hahaha, good to know
I did like Tales of Destiny back in the day, so I'll put this in the maybe category. Not too sure about the visual novel approach, but then I did like the new Sakura Wars, so who knows. What's really got me on the fence is that jerky combat motion. If that's just the lag then maybe the PS4 version will fix it.
At first I thought it was frame drops, but o that jerky combat you're talking about seems like maybe it is intentional? Seems to happen at each registered impact when fighting enemies. Itmight be a good idea to check some PS4 gameplay too.
I cut my teeth on NES jRPGs where the only cutscenes were text boxes outside battles. Combined with my status as a bibliophile, I have developed a high tolerance for "Visual Novel" segments in otherwise unrelated games. Also, I can't seem to find this on Steam. Is it Switch exclusive?
It's not exclusive, the game is also available on PS4 :)
@@SuperDerek Fair enough. Would have preferred getting it on PC too, but only getting it on Switch is better for my bank account. 🐱💻
seems like it´s right up my alley
i'm still arguing with myself if i should try it or not. I LOVE the summon night swordcraft story on GBA, but seeing the battle on 3D just doesnt make sell to me compared to the 2D sprite on the gba :(
If you come for battle then don't
The combat in this game suck so much
Is the gameplay that cluncky or is it the framerate of the game?
I might pick that one up if it goes on sale......
So the game runs in 30fps, I captured it in 60fps. The gameplay does thins thing where the animations pause for a split second after every impact, which at first looks like the game is hitching or stuttering, but it looks like it's actually a stylistic choice they went for to emphasize the impact. I'm not a huge fan of that, and mistook it for dropped frames in the video... So I suspect this might also be a thing on PS4.
@@SuperDerek Thank you for your answer ^^
I want a FF7 Remake style of remake for SN Swordcraft Story. Full 3d environment with breaking weapon mechanics and same story as the original.
I saw the game in a gamestop and bought it on a whim.
Nice review! Plus I didn’t knew about this game even though i really liked all the 3 swordcraft story games on the gba; will check it out certainly;
Plus, another game that i liked a lot on the gba was shining soul, the 2 specifically. Do you know of any spiritual sucessor or something like that for this one?
Shining Resonance Refrain
Hm. Technically, this should be right up my alley, but I really don't vibe with anything I've seen on the footage. Also not sure about the wiggle image bit, I've been so fed up with jiggle physics these days that I might have to look at this game again sometime later xD
Anyways, thank you for the review!
1st of all I give you a round of applause for admitting that this game is not your cup of tea as a lot of reviewers don't really put that out there just in case people will start getting angry with them. Secondly I haven't really came across this game before since this is the 1st time I've heard it actually exists and while I do like summon night sword craft story it's mostly the 1st game I like while the second one.....eeh. Plus this game definitely screams of it should have been released on a portable platform especially in terms of the graphic quality that it feels like it was A PS Vita game that was ported on to the switch several years later. I will admit that the art is very nice and hey any game that allowed you to hook up with girls is cool with me but I think I will pass on this one. Soild review!
Thanks! Also just a quick point of clarification, it _looks_ like you could date guys too. Not sure if that's restricted by which protagonist you choose though. :)
@@SuperDerek Just FYI (If anyone cares) I can confirm you can date anyone, regardless of which gender protagonist you choose. Personally I think that's a great thing, and I don't know why more RPGs with dating elements don't allow it, lol.
I am sincerely tired of debating on whether to get a Switch version of an action JRPG and having to be concerned with slowdown or performance hangups and consistently I've been happy with the performance on PS4, so I picked this up on PS4 and am waiting on its delivery soon. This game looks fun and isnt necessarily something I expect to love but something new to try, exactly how I feel about a game like Poison Control. Thanks for checking this out Derek!
I would like to see a review of Robopon 2. That game was a masterpiece that never got attention due to its infamous predecessor and the God Hand'ish "It's not Pokémon!" IGN review.
Many people appear to be saying it's okay but not that great, considering they also said TOArise was the best in the series and I hated it, I can assume I'll like this one.
jk
I want to give this a go, maybe if I come across it at a discount.
Backlog is too large to take chances right now.
What console is this
It's on PS4 and Switch, gameplay featured comes from the Switch.
Looks like the gba summon night
Too lighthearted for me. I am looking for emotional impact or thought-provoking plot. The characters and visual novel segments look great. There are people who can enjoy this. Decent video.
the three gameboy advance titles were for me the best in the franchise
Looks kinda cool
Is it not dubbed?
No English dub, Japanese speech only. :)
@@SuperDerek Ok, guess I'm not buying then.
Watching an LP it is.
It's hard for me to think NM of a modern jrpg without vn elements. FINAL DANTASY and nicer maybe
Hi SD,
I love to hear you talk about things you love, which is why I didn't enjoy this so much.
Best wishes my friend
Totally understandable! I prefer to talk about the games I love too. Luckily I have a review of one such game just around the corner. :)
@@SuperDerek thanks and keep up the great work
I really liked the Swordcraft Story games, but I always felt disappointed that they were so shallow both in and out of combat.
From what you've said here, it doesn't sound like the devs learned from those experiences, which is sad, because I would love to play a game like that but with deeper weapon customization/crafting that effects both combat and exploration.
Like if Dark Cloud were turned into a Tales of game 🙂
hell yeah..
The game reminds me of tales of destiny.
honestly, the VN art style is pretty excellent, but the combat gameplay art style is kinda crap. Really wish the VN style was used throughout, or better yet the combat gameplay used a pixel art style from the Summon Night Swordcraft Story games.
And...no weapon durability? Weird, that was a *massive* focus of the original games, as you smack enemies your weapon's durability drains and when it runs out the weapon is ruined until you can repair it. but more than that, against human enemies you could focus on taking out their weapon to get a unique blueprint to craft. It gave an additional layer of tactical depth to what was, admittedly, a fairly simplistic combat system: Axes were slow but hit hard and had a ton of durability, swords were average, spears were powerful and had the best aerial combat but the lowest durability, and drills were slow and short ranged but dealt a larger amount of durability damage than other types.
Looking at the gameplay for a side-scrooler it feels just "slow". Basically, actions takes quite a while to happen if compared with one of the classics everyone used to love "Odin's Sphere". Though Odin's Sphere would be VERY welcome if re-made for nowadays players than just the remaster called Leithrasir(though the lack of slow downs on PS3~4 helps a lot). Basically it's something i'd stop to watch for the scenes as i like the VN style, but play? nah. Too much. Many games starts like this and slowly changes bettering the scenes, voice actors and so, Neptunia is one like this where the very first game was "TRASH" literally. Basically un-playable and fans of the girls design and world made it go ti'll what we got today.
To me it seems really underwhelming. I just don't think it's a high quality project.
Just bought it and started playing on switch. Tbh it's kinda disappointing. There is no home base elements like fishing and challenge fights. There are also no tool based puzzle elements in exploration. The most of the map looks extremely bland and outdated. Combat is bland, very limited combo available and only 3 type of weapon with very small difference between different gear but same type. Fighting also feel very bad. Hit lag is wayyyy to long and it feels like stuttering. Huge missed potential. Feels like this does not own up to the "spirit successor" since it's missing a lot of key elements.
if swordcraft story can get a spiritual successor... it start to prove a point i have in my mind. You should not pirate old game, instead, you should put your money toward new games that comes out that merit the cash so that future products are made in that way. I know these products are rare, but if even something as obscure as swordcraft story can receive a spiritual successor, theres a high chance a game similar to an old game you are about to pirate exist and you should try to favorise it.
Yep! Spiritual successors are how creative minds get around the bureaucracy of corporations. Bloodstained was Castlevania's, Eiyuden Chronicle will be for Suikoden, and now Maglam Lord succeeds Swordcraft Story. I hope to see even more of this kind of thing in the near future! :)
@@SuperDerek lets not forget that even if not all old fans of old mario paper liked Bug fables, Bug fable is still a very good game worth the try.
But if I didn't pirate i Swordcraft story in the first place I wouldn't even be interested in its spiritual successor...
@@Ristyo1992 Well, you could have started with that new game. You pirate old game on recommendation too, so how about playing a new on recommendation.
@@charlestrudel8308
Nope randomly stumbled upon it.
Even If it was from a recommendation. How would you even sell me on such a niche game.
I remember liking the second Swordcraft Story game on the GBA. I still have it here. So, spiritual successor sounded enticing at first.
Buuuuut... visual novel is a pretty big turn off. There have been VNs I enjoyed, but for Swordcraft Story in particular, I played it more for crafting new weapons and exploring the world with the occasional goofy interaction.
I loved the GBA swordcraft games. the art for this looks a little more...horny compared the more cutesy summon night. IDK how I feel about that.
I don't like the playable female characters designs, they're so simple compared to the male ones, no spice.
combat look like 5 fps frame drop
yeah it doesn't look very fun
It's deliberate.
It makes it look more impactfull
@@Ristyo1992 yeah this is probably true
Why they make this game's story far from swordcraft story.. Swordcraft story has simple and deep story.., and we can enjoy it multiple times even after story..
This game looks terrible not interested