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"The Anime Lover who can't understand a word of Japanese, but goes ahead and buys PS import games anyway."
The first Japanese RPG that I've ever played would have to be Final Fantasy VII. I didn't care if I understood the game or not, I wanted to play an RPG for the Playstation. With help from a number of sources, I was able to finish my first "Japanese RPG". Using pictures, and gestures and whatever noodle words I could pick out, I followed these clues to the best of my ability. I finished FF7 with a total time of 78:42. Funny thing was... I enjoyed every minute of it. Final Fantasy 7 for a time was fun to play. Rurouni Kenshin is fun to play.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Anime T.V. series "Rurouni Kenshin", allow me to fill you in. The story revolves around an ex-assassin who gave up killing to become a "wanderer", or "rurouni" if you will. The timeline surrounding this period was when Commodore Perry landed in Japan and began to westernize some parts of it. The samurai caste system was ousted in turn for a more modern "people's movement". Samurai gave up their swords and returned to a rural life. But the hands of Himura Kenshin (the protagonist), forever stained by the blood of others, could not force his hands from a sword. Kenshin's sword is unique in the way that it has an "inverted edge". That is, the sword's sharp edge is where the spine of the blade should be. Using this "sakaba-to", Kenshin can only wound his adversaries, instead of killing them. The Rurouni Kenshin saga surrounds him and friends and their life during this new "reconstruction".
You have a choice between two main characters that were unseen in the Anime series. Both are ninja-types, wielding short-swords. The male, is named Hijiri, the female, Hikaru. The storyline is essentially the same for both characters, but gender-related events are well... different.
The entire cast from Rurouni Kenshin are available, even down to it's bad-guys. Including the main character, you can choose up to five others in your party.
Himura Kenshin - The wandering ex-assassin seeking a life of peace Kamiya Kaoru - A female swordsman who owns the Kamiya Dojo
Myojin Yahiko - A student of the Kamiya Dojo, trained by Kaoru herself
Sagara Sanosuke - A brawler from the "bad" side of town
Shinomori Aoshi - A former gang leader seeking retribution for the deaths of his clan
Saito Hajime - A former enemy of "Kenshin's", now drawn together w/ him to stop the foreboding evil
Author's note* (If you've seen the Anime, you know how bad the last two are. They're awesome allies!) Battle System:
All readers should take this out of their minds. "Fight", "Magic", "Summon", "Item" (well... just for this review anyway)
Rurouni Kenshin has a simple battle system. All fights are 2d, "Street Fighter" backgrounds complete with energy-gauges. You have a "high", "mid", "low", and "special" attacks. Of course each special attack you use drains your spirit energy. Special attacks are synonimous with the Anime. Whatever attacks you saw in the Anime, they'll be available for use in the game.
You're given a set of enemy attacks and you have to decide what attack will nullify them. High beats Low Attack. Mid beats High Attack. Low beats Mid Attack. And vice versa, of course. With every battle won, you gain experience for your character, with the occasional "I've found an item" screen. Money is used to purchase new weapons, items...etc...
*** But wait! Before you dismiss this game as just another "RPG", let me show you the better parts of this game.
Graphics:
World Map screen: Gorgeous, hand-drawn backgrounds with careful attention to specific places, flying birds, and clouds. No battles on the World map, but plenty of enemies abound in the stages.
Up-Close and Personal Battle Scenes: No "group" battles, you take 'em on 1 on 1. Switching characters is allowed in battle. EVERYTHING IS HAND DRAWN Fluid movements by your heroes AND the enemy
Towns-Specific Scenery: Towns are authentic to what you may have seen in the Anime, there was a lot of time spent drawing, and detailing the miniscule objects on the screen. Caves are caves, Forests are lush down to the grass that it lays on. Absolutely beautiful.
The wandering screen: 2-D hand drawn background w/ 2-D sprites. Imagine Wild Arms and Suikoden, and you understand what I'm saying.
**THE ANIME CUT-SCENES** Yes, there are cut-scenes in this game. They appear when you're introduced to a new character, and in some other instances. Like if you dispatch your foe with a "special" attack, you get a special cutscene showing the character doing a "pose" or a short "I kicked your butt" speech. There are probably others, but I haven't seen any yet. Oh! Forgot to mention that each character has (3) different Special-finish endings.
Storyline: Nope, don't understand a word of it. But I'm using my imagination as best as I can! I can see what is going on, just finding out exactly what to do next can be difficult.
Difficulty to the "non-Japanese speaking" players out there: Above average to difficult. It's difficult, but it's the kind of difficult that makes you want to keep playing. Gaining a level is fun to acheive. Anime-based games "usually" turn out bad. Rurouni Kenshin RPG IS an exception. It's a quality game. I was drawn into the game, even though I don't understand a word of Japanese.
Enemy Encounters: Definitely more than usual, but if you get your characters to a comfortable level, they become easy prey.
Penny for my thoughts? If you're a Rurouni Kenshin fan, you shouldn't pass this one up so easily. The graphics do look, ahem... "dated", but they're drawn carefully. The battle scenes are fun. It's cool to see you whip the begeezus out of someone with a nice combo. Fighting system also makes you think. "Is he going to immediate follow up with a high strike? Or should I take the initiative and counter low?" Very original...
Should I buy this title? I was quite pleased with what I paid for this game "$54.95". And I believed that this game was well worth my time. I was surprised that this game was as good as the preview told me. Being a fan of "Rurouni Kenshin" also helps too.
Can I expect this title in the U.S.? Possibly! The Rurouni Kenshin franchise is being brought over as "Samurai X". The game is very high-quality with a lot of original ideas. As to the question of this game being "too-Japanese"? Maybe... This game is anything BUT Samurai Spirits RPG.