I’m a huge fan of the Persona series. I have spent way too much time analyzing and writing about Be Your True Mind, Innocent Sin, and Eternal Punishment. The latter two tied as the # game in my Top 30 RPG Countdown. Persona is up there with Pokemon and Sakura Taisen as my favorite franchises.

So it might surprise you to learn that I was not that happy with Persona 3 when I first imported it back in 2006. Part of it was the loss of everyone on the dev side that really made the previously Persona games so awesome. Part of it was the different direction the series took. Part of it was the lack of continuity with the previous 3 Persona games. Part of it was that the whole concept behind Persona’s was massively dumbed down. Part of it was the neutering of Igor and the new Mary Sue character in Elizabeth. Part of it was that only the main character could change Persona, again completely missing the point of Personas in the previous games. Part of it was that the story and music was a noticeable step down in quality from the earlier games. Part of it that the game had turned into a quasi Fushigi Dungeon instead of better flowing and more natural game. And so on and so forth. I could go on for pages with what I took issue with. But I won’t.

Around August of 2008, when the US copy of Persona 3 came out, I found I had changed my opinion on the game. The problem wasn’t that Persona 3 was a disappointing game, or even that it was a bad game. The problem was that I was ” Phantasy Star 3‘ing” Persona 3. Like PS3, Persona 3 is actually a very good game with some excellent innovations and new concepts that it brought to the table. It’s just when you look at the game with an eye for continuity to what came before it, it falls apart. I was trying to fit P3 in with the previous games in the same way people had bitched and moaned that the PS2 Devil Summoner had nothing to do with the Sega Saturn Devil Summoner or Soul Hackers. So while everyone else was playing Persona 3 for the first time, I was playing FES and doing my best to not say “Well P2IS did THIS.” And you know what? I had fun with it. A lot of fun with it. It wasn’t as “OMG BESTEST GAME EVAR!” ala Innocent Sin , Eternal Punishment and Valkyrie Profile, but it WAS good enough to be runner up for not only RPG of the year, but runner up for GAME of the year by us here at Diehard Gamefan.

Now we’ve got FES here in the US. For $29.99, you’re getting the full Persona 3 game with not only new items, but an additional RPG half the length of the original featuring the cast and crew. So new stuff AND an entirely new adventure for half the cost of the original? Seems like a no-brainer, right?

Let’s Review

1. Story

We have two games here. The first is the original PS3 or “The Journey.” The second is “The Answer.”
With “Journey”, you are a nameless male protagonist who has recently transferred to the area. Your character gets attacked by Shadows, who inhabit a time beyond time known as “The Dark Hour.” This causes your Persona of Orpheus to awaken and bam, the game is underway. You become a member of SESS aka The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. From then on you’ll be climbing into a tower of doom and fighting monsters, all while maintaining your social life and academic standing.

No, I’m not kidding. Both of those are nearly as important as combat. You’ll have to manage attributes such as Academics, Courage and Charm throughout the course of the game year, each of which has influences several other actions or story events in the game. You can also go shopping, clubbing, or enter the Velvet Room to gain new Personas or fuse them together. There’s a lot to see and do in the game, but unlike most RPG’s that give you all the time in the world to munchkin your way through the game, here you have a limited amount of time before the world, and thus the game ends. Each day gives you a limited amount of actions, so you have to be choosy. You also can’t dawdle in ye olde Tower o’ Doom, as your characters can get tired or sick if they exert themselves too much. There’s a lot of depth to each day, even if the characters and dialogue remain a bit shallow.

With “Journey” you have two possible endings, both of which are lackluster and conclude the game poorly. The “Bad” ending is actually the happier of the two, while the “Good” and correct ending is not just a downer plotwise, but arguably the worst ending I’ve seen in the Megaten franchise.

This was espoused not only by myself, but Persona/Megaten fans back in Japan and is no doubt WHY we now have “The Answer.” Please note that the answer can be played as a standalone game, but if viewed as such, well, it’s pretty crappy as you would need to know events, characters, places and various other things not explained in the game itself. You’d only know these events by playing “The Journey.”

Although I’m glad to see “The Answer” as a bonus, there are several issues I have with the add-on. First is that Answer fails in the same way Shining Force 3, Digital Devil Saga and Persona 2 succeed, in that all members of those families work as standalones as well as tie-ins. We don’t have that here. As well, the protagonist of “Answer” well, to put it bluntly is not a character I really cared about in the first game, as I felt they were forced, trite, and that they were a character that would never have been in a Persona game, had the previous team still been involved. But some people like them, and hey, more power to them. As well, all the things that made Persona 3 a really unique and fun game have been gutted. Mainly the Social and academic aspects of the game. The Persona Compendium is also lost. The story in “Answer” is weak and secondary to a lot of wading through dungeon levels and hacking things. I do mean a LOT. That’s pretty much all the answer is.

As a whole FES is a mixed bag. “The Answer” is weak in pretty much all aspects, but “Journey” has been improved in a lot of different ways with new social options, missions, and so much more. “Journey” is an improvement on P3 in every way (but with the same sucktastic endings), but “Answer” is pretty much dead weight that drags the overall quality down simply because you find yourself wading through it and saying, “This is it?.” I wish I could just review the improvements to “Journey” on its own.

Story Rating: Above Average

2. Graphics

There’s no graphical upgrade in the game. Just some new monsters, personas, and costumes for you to look at. The new costumes are a lot of fun and one of those little fan service touches fans of the game will appreciate.

I really like the character design artwork. It’s also interesting to see Jack Frost and Igor as the last real stadnby’s from the old games, not only in terms of continuity, but character design. Jack Frost is mascot of sorts not only for Megaten, but all of Atlus. You can defintely tell they are both products from long ago, one over a decade old, the other even longer. It’s not really a clash of designs per say, but when you’re seeing the new characters interact with monsters from previous games or with Igor, you can certainly tell the difference.

I also really liked a lot of the boss designs as well. Yes, the game doesn’t push the PS2 to its limits ala some Square-Enix game, but it’s still visually impressive, and most of all original with the art design. Personas though? I’m not really liking any of the default Personas in design. But they do get better. Orpheus was and still is particularly ugly to me, and I remember going, “Man, visually Orpheus looks like it should be the Persona of XXXX” who nicely enough does get said Persona in “Answer.” The designs of the Personas were still interesting and unique, but half the time they seemed to miss the boat on what Personas were originaly meant to be in the game both reference wise and folklore wise.

P3: Fes is a pretty game, but nothing mind blowing or groundbreaking in the visual department. Also, no one has somehow turned black and started dancing crazy in this version.

Graphics Rating: Good

3. Sound

My favorite song from all of gaming is the Velvet Room Operetta from the Persona series. It’s been different each time, but always amazing. It’s sublime and chilling all at once. So obviously, I’m a little biased here.

The rest of the music? Well, you’ll remember me saying there was a sharp decline in quality from the previous Persona games. This is true. P2 (both) were a 10/10 for me, while Persona 3 was a 7/10. So again, as I’ve been saying all along, it’s still GOOD, it’s just not AS good.

FES however adds over a dozen musical tracks to the game, all of which are quite impressive and enjoyable in their own right. The fact Atlus went in and added these tracks was a really nice gift to Persona fans when they good have just easily reused the same music and risked the previous score getting stale.

Voice acting is top notch as always. Atlus did a nice job casting voices to characters. There wasn’t a single character I felt was miscast. I know Atlus has taken some shit in the past for their actor to character meshing. I seemed to be the only one that appreciated a certain character in DDS going Jamaican, but here Atlus USA did a better job than Atlus of Japan did. Oh Shuji, you just did not sound right.

A definite improvement over the first version of Persona 3.

Sound Rating: Classic

4. Control and Gameplay.

I have to really strongly point this out. If you are looking for a game that feels and plays like the previous Persona games,LOOK ELSEWHERE. You can’t dance crazy or brirbe or bully demons. You can’t friends with them or drive them mad with rage either. That was one of my favorite aspects in the previous games. But that’s gone. So let’s suck it up and look at the engine we do have, which is pretty damn solid.

Think of Persona 3 as a life sim game combined with the constant frolicking into a single dungeon that you find in games like Dungeon Hack or Azure Dreams, but without the losing of levels or the randomly generated floors.

During the day you’ll go to classes or join a school team or hang out with your friends. After school you’re feel to wander around town or maybe a special event will occur. During the “Dark Hour”, you can explore the Tartarus dungeon or just go to sleep. There’s no right or wrong here, although some times you are given some pretty concrete goals to reach by a certain date.

The social aspects of the game are by far the most fun part of Persona 3. Mainly because there is always something new each day, and it’s exciting to see what wackiness will happen next.

Exploring dungeons (in either) game is pretty similar to most RPG’s. You wander around, finish a level and then head on over to the next level. Repeated until boss fight, or you need to leave for some reason.

I’m very happy with the lack of random battle. I HATE random batles. Here, you see the monsters coming and you can avoid them or run away if you want. How you come in contact with the monsters determines who, if anyone, has an advantage,

I also really liked the fact you can split your team up to better explore the levels. Sure there might be a risk of a teammate being outnumbered, but it’s a nice option to have.

Oddly enough the game does a bit of plagiarizing as well. I was a little shocked to encounter the Reaper from Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land. Straight up same name, purpose and even a far too similar for my liking physical similarity. If you’re wondering what the reaper does, it does very bad things. Run. Run away. Do not let it touch you or a teammate. I liked the function of the reaper back in TotFL, but it was just a little odd that it was THAT exact with something another game has a legal trademark on.

Let’s talk Personas now. Only the main character can change Personas. Everyone else is stuck with what they have. This is a huge thumbs down from me and again shows the new team missed the point of WHAT Personas are and what they represent. Still, at least someone can switch around, right? Your main character can get new Personas by either receiving them via a luck of the draw at the end of battles, or by fusing old ones together. Every Persona has their own level that is separate from the main characters level, and both level up independent of one another. It’s fun to see what Personas you can make via fusing, and also to see what happens when there is a fusion error.

Battles are similar to most turn based RPG’s. Your stats determine attack order. You can use an item, your persona, make a normal attack, or run away. If you don’t feel like thinking, you can turn on “RUSH” mode and let the game play itself (Not advised). IF you’ve played one RPG, you know the drill by now. Fire attacks on Ice creatures. Water or cold attacks on Fire creatures and so on. The game is pretty much as you would expect in this area.

FES adds a new aspect to the game with the weapon fusing ability. Basically you find materials in the dungeon and bring them to a certain store in the game and you fuse it to your Persona like you fuse two Personas together in the Velvet Room. It adds a new level of gameplay and it’s fun to tinker around with.

Neither the gameplay nor the new additions are revolutionary, but its still a lot of fun. There aren’t a lot of RPG’s in the states that go this deep with a life simulation, and the battle system is simple, but solid.

Controls and Gameplay Rating: Great

5. Replayability

On one hand, the game really falls short in this area due to the lack of customization and branching paths found in the other Persona games. Even with the life sim, little to nothing changes on your second cycle. Everything is still going to happen in the same order on the same days.

On the other,there are many different options within those days. If you did one event your first play throug or spent a lot of time with character A, you’ll find new things open up if you go a different route on your second playthrough. It’s not a huge difference, but there are still nearly limitless combinations that you can play with here.

There’s also multiple difficulty modes (One up from the previous version of P3) and a lot of new things to check out and monkey with, including that second new RPG that will hopefully make up for the endings you get in “The Journey.”

Another thing dragging down replayability is that the game is simply TOO long. Between both games, you’ll be putting in 100 hours of time into a single RPG. If you work 9 to 5 and you put three hours into the game a day, that’s over a month of playing nothing but a single game. That kind of commitment to a single game is hard to do when you have a social life, and thus means picking up FES for a second playthrough when you could fit in another 2-3 RPG’s with better plot in their ENTIRITY is a hard sell.

There’s so much here, but as with games like Makai Kingdom, there’s too much to the point of overload. I respect and appreciate the offering, but Having now played through Persona 3 times in any many years, I can’t see myself ever touching it again. The fact I have played it that many times even though I consider it the weakest Megaten title says something.

Replayability Rating: Above Average

6. Balance

This is the most noticeable area of change in the game. To say the original version of Persona 3 was met with criticism about how unbalanced it was would be an understatement. Okay, well in Japan. In the US, every reviewer was trying to show how “HARDCORE” they were with this game even though they hadn’t played any of the other Persona games (and some, not a single Megaten game) that they somehow missed the one constant Japanese critics had with the game.

Events that gave you a ton of stuff for little effort have now take more time in order to balance things out, Both super easy and super hard questions have been removed to balance things out, and for some reason the game decided to make it easier to max out social links.

Combat though is still pretty damn easy. Nyx remains not only the easiest end boss I’ve faced in a Megaten game, but one of the easiest endbosses I’ve played in a turn based RPG PERIOD. On the other hand is the “Ultimate” opponent in Elizabeth that is insanely overpowered and cheap. It’s not that there is any strategy to beating her, it’s find the one possible combination of moves and Personas that will allow you to win. It’s just the worst case of trial and error there is.

If you’re looking for a challenge, you really won’t find one on either Normal or Easy difficulty settings, FES has added a new Hard setting, but all it does is increase the damage you take and the amount given out. The actual AI hasn’t changed at all, meaning you just heal more. “The Answer” is definitely the harder of the two games, but that’s not saying much.

The game is enjoyable, but ultimately disappointing with the lack of challenge contained therein, especially compared to the previous Persona games. Part of it comes from the lack of experimenting with different Persona in this game. Instead of managing a full team of “What does this one do?”, you only have the protagonist to monkey with. It’s “Baby’s First Megaten Game” and it shows.

Balance Rating: Mediocre

7. Originality

Again, the game is fun and it is a nice departure from the earlier games, but it doesn’t really do anything that highly innovative. Innovative for Megaten or Persona games, YES, but for a standard RPG, not so much. It’s a combination of multiple gaming genres into one well made disc. But everything else, from the Reaper to the Personas themselves have come from games that only only did it first, but did it better.

In the end, Persona 3 is more a well made but generic JRPG than a true Megaten game, as each Shin Megami Tensei game that came before it really did something wildly different or innovative, be it storywise or gameplay wise.

Originality Rating: Mediocre

8. Appeal Factor

Even taking into account Persona 3’s lack of difficulty, this is probably the first Megaten game with true mass appeal. It’s not super intricate storywise. There’s not some huge metaphorical point the game is trying to make. You don’t have to know great deals of legend and lore to get the full comprehension of what is going on. Persona experimenting is limited to a single character so you don’t spend dozens of hours grinding simply to see what happens only to learn you wasted a lot of time. What the series has lost in innovation, depth, and elitism, it’s more than made up for by being gamer friendly, and accessible to all. It’s that perfect bridge game between the casual gamer and the “hardcore” gamer. Persona 3 is this decades Final Fantasy VII where a huge explosion of American gamers will be introduced to a franchise that is huge in Japan but has merely been a cult hit stateside. Of course, like FF7, a decade later everyone will be saying how it hasn’t aged well and how the older games in the series were so much better and how the casual gamer ruined the franchise and so on and so forth.

Really, whether you’re new to RPG’s or just curious why this series is held in such high regard by the creepy kid in your college that spends all day in the computer lab on some message board with the handle “Philemon,” this is your gateway into Megaten. The only people that won’t have fun with this are people who can’t take the length, or people that dislike the game because it is SO different from the previous Persona games.

Appeal Factor: Good

9. Addictiveness

Persona 3 is very easily to get into. The story is tight, if not simplistic and the gameplay is solid, if easy. What really draws you in are the little collectibles. The costumes, the collecting Personas, the social links, the quizzes, and all the other outside of battle activities. It’s not the first game to do this, but it’s arguably the best life sim style RPG to hit US shores in a very long time. Just because the game play is simple and easy to learn doesn’t make it a bad game. In fact, it’s what makes it so inviting and entertaining. The end game drags a bit, and it really is about 10-15 hours too long (Not even counting “The Answer”), but it was P3 was definitely one of the best RPG’s released in the US last year, and FES is one of the best this year. If you’re looking for a solid quality RPG released in 2008 that ISN’t a fushigi dungeon, this is it.

Addictiveness Rating: Good

10. Miscellaneous

I could sit here and talk about how FES to the first release of Persona 3 is a gigantic dropped ball compared to the dualism of Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment, but there’s no point seeing as US gamers will never get Innocent Sin.

Instead I’m going to say this: For 30 bucks, you will not find a better deal for your PS2. “The Journey” is a huge improvement in every way over the original PS3, except in the areas they didn’t really bother to change like graphics and story. “The Answer” is a nice bit of fan service, even if it is a Monty Haul at best. With all the new added bits to the game, it shows that Atlus of Japan listened to its pretty fanatical Persona fanbase and made corrections where both the players and developers felt they needed to be, and threw in an extra RPG to make up for the endings. If only US gamers had discovered Megaten a decade ago, we could have had Atlus USA doing something like this for Be Your True Mind which was HEAVILY edited and/or had both Persona 2’s released on US shores.

This is a perfect example of a video game company giving fans a combination of fan service and apology and with the price FES is going for, there’s no reason every gamer reading this shouldn’t go and pick it up. It’s a GOOD game, and the best thing is the earlier entries in the series are even better. Except that Be Your True Mind is pretty fugly by todays standards…

Miscellaneous Rating: Unparalleled

The Scores
Story: Above Average
Graphics: Good
Sound: Classic
Control and Gameplay: Great
Replayability: Above Average
Balance: Mediocre
Originality: Mediocre
Addictiveness: Good
Appeal Factor: Good
Miscellaneous: Unparalleled
FINAL SCORE: GOOD GAME

Short Attention Span Summary
Persona 3: FES is a solid RPG through and through and a definite contender for best Remake/Re-Release of the year, as well as best PS2 game. There’s a huge drop in quality with story and gameplay compared to the two Persona 2 titles, but that’s like saying having your weight in silver isn’t as awesome as having your weight in gold. You’ll be hard pressed to mind a better $30 title released this year.

I can count on one hand the number of video game franchises I consider myself a devoted fan of. We’ve got Pokemon, Persona , Sakura Taisen, Gradius, and games with Terry Bogard in them.

My love for SNK is pretty obvious. Generally when SNK has a new game or a remake anthology out, I’ve snatched up the claim to review it before my staff even realizes a new game is coming. It’s one of the perks of being editor in chief. If you take a look at my avatar artwork, it’s a combination of Terry Bogard and Ash Ketchum. Suffice to say, at least once a week you can hear me going “ARE YOU OKAY?”or “Busta Wolf!” from my game room because I’ve got my old Neo Geo hooked up and am busting out a triple geyser or two.

Of course when Fatal Fury Battle Archives 2 was announced I was excited. Well, as excited as I could be for a fighting game released on a Sony system. Pretty much every dead serious fighting fan knows Sony’s joysticks are the worst out there for the genre. But where else am I going to get three games that used to retail for $250 EACH for 14.99. How can one not pass up that deal. Hell, I had my retail copy in hand had this review half written the same day Bebito announced our review copy from SNK was on its way (They’re a little slow).

For those of you who don’t know this is the 5th through 7th games in the Fatal Fury series. However, the packaging on the game calls this the “FINAL” trilogy in the Fatal Fury series, meaning SNK is probably not going to package Dominated Mind, Wild Ambition, or Mark of the Wolves together as volume three. I can accept this, as Wild Ambition is an awful game, but Dominated Mind was an excellent rehash of Real Bout Special and Mark of the Wolves is easily the best looking SNK game ever made as well as the best game in the Fatal Fury series. It’d be nice to see a new generation of gamers getting to experience, but I shudder at how it would play on the PS2 compared to the Neo Geo or Dreamcast. Maybe SNK should look at porting these games to the 360 or Wii seeing as how much better the older games run on them than the PS2.

But now I’m getting on my soapbox and preaching the hardcore elitist fighting gamer fan boy stuff the majority of my readers don’t care about. So I’ve said my piece, and I’ll get on with the review.

Let’s Review

1. Story
With other fighting compilations, I’d include Modes in with the story section, but as this is a bare bones compilation without any extras other than training mode, there’s no real point.

Real Bout Fatal Fury is the climax of the series, even though it is the midway point of the series. This is because this is the final battle between Terry Bogard and South Town leader Geese Howard. This is also the official death of Geese in SNK canon, as he plummets to his death. However, as Geese does have all three of the secret scrolls, Geese’s later appearances (such as in the other two games in this compilation) are either considered fan service or that through the scrolls, Geese truly did find the secret to immortality and now can never die. Personally, I prefer the latter. Although there is little in the way of scripting or characterization, the game plays off what you already know about the characters and the ending where Geese choose

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special features the return of Fatal Fury Special boss Wolfgang Krauser, along with three other characters not in Real Bout Fatal Fury. There’s not much of a plot here, but the game can’t be considered a straight rehash ala Street Fighter 2 into Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Here begins the real descent of the Fatal Fury series storywise, as this is just your generic “Beat ‘em all up until you get to the boss” plot. This is probably a good thing, as the game is not considered canon storywise. It just exists to get some ass kicking in.

Finally we have Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers. Again this is pretty much devoid of plot and not considered canonical for the series. Here we just have two new characters added, neither of who ever amounted to much in the SNK universe, and we have a hidden boss in Alfred who, like Geese in RBFFS, is crazy hard to get to, and was rarely seen again compared to the other SNK bosses who showed up far more frequently in the KoF games. We don’t even have ring quotes here which is a bummer.

So basically you have arguably THE most important story in the entire SNK universe, as it is here the King of Fighters tournament is no longer in the control of Geese and stops being a 1 on 1 competition after his death. Then you have two games absolutely devoid of plot whatsoever. As I have to grade the package as a whole, I have to say I wish we’d have gotten Dominated Mind thrown in as the first archive had four games and it would have helped a great deal in plot (Think Alex from Clockwork Orange vs. Terry). Instead the two dream match games, while fun to play, drag the overall story/plot quality down due to an nigh absolute lack of any. There’s more plot in Street Fighter 2.

Story Rating: BAD

2. Graphics

You know, usually we bash SNK for having pretty poor graphics due to the Neo Geo technology. These three games though? They’re pretty good looking. Sure they’re not going to be on par with games specifically designed for the PS2, but I’m amazed at how well these games hold up visually.
Real Bout Fatal Fury is obviously the worst of the three, but it’s full character designs in the select mode are nice, and although they are jaggie, the in game graphics and cut scenes were pretty god for its day and still look passable for a modern day audience. The ending cinematics are well done too.

RBFFS is bright and colourful. Characters are more fluid and animated, and the character sprites have all been completely redrawn. This is one of the better looking SNK games and I’d certainly say the visuals are on par with Street Fighter III

RB2 has similar graphics but highly improved vs. Screens that have the best headshots I’ve seen in an SNK game. They actually look like anime characters rather than just graphics. In game graphics are still vibrant and well animated.

If you really wanted to prove to a skeptic that SNK could release pretty games, not only ten years ago, but games that still hold up in 2008, then this compilation might help you with that. The latter two games in the compilation look MUCH better than Final Fantasy VII’s in game graphics (certainly not the cut scenes) and that’s saying something.

Graphics Rating: ABOVE AVERAGE

3. Sound

SNK really does a great job with their sound and limited voice acting. Even the game’s announcer differs from game to game. RBFF’s announcer has a severe Japanese accent slurring his English while RB2’s announcer is a bit spastic.

Musically all of the games are excellent. Each stage’s music is unique and dynamic, and enjoyable. The best of the three is RBFFS as either completely new music or funky remixed tracks for each stage. The music is faster paced and far cheerier than in previous games and it really helps to set a more upbeat and enjoyable playing session.

The quality of the tracks in Fatal Fury Battle Archives 2 really can’t be understated. Within this one disc is not only some of the best music ever heard from the fighting genre, but in all of arcade gaming. If you’re a huge audio buff, just playing this game might inspire you to track down some of the old soundtracks on Ebay.

Sound Rating: UNPARALLELED

4. Control and Gameplay

If you’ve never played a Fatal Fury game, then you might have a bit of trouble getting used to the very different control scheme for this series. Yes, it is a 2-D fighter, but you won’t find three punch buttons and three kick buttons here. Nor will you find straight out 2-D fighting gameplay like you’re used to> Each game plays differently, but the two main things to remember are that you’ve got only a single button each for punching and kicking, and also a little something called “Sway Switching.”

I’m going to focus on sway switching because it’s just not done anymore. Think of the game as not being 2-D for a second. You have a foreground and a background in addition to the middle plane most of the game takes place on. By pressing the O button, you can switch planes and dodge or attack from the new plane. Your character will eventually shift back to the middle plane, but it adds a whole new dynamic to 2-D gaming.

In RBFF you have have “Ring Outs” which means you can throw or push your opponent out of the match area and get an automatic win over them this way. It’s a bit cheap, but the animations for when this happen are always amusing, and it’s a good tactic to use if you’re not used to the games…or SNK’s difficulty settings.

In RBFF, you can do things like a mid-air twist to your jumping attack, special move fakes where you don’t really do them, Guard Cancels, Super Special Moves, and Hidden Abilities. All of these takes pieces of your Power Gauge. Build up your guage by using attacks, special moves, and successfully blocking.

With RBFFS there are a few changes made. Ring outs, as mentioned earlier, are gone, and attack recovery is now severely limited. Combos are bigger and easier to pull off, but most importantly, the three planes for fighting are dropped down to two. Now you can not only move freely between them, but you can attack across planes, which really makes the game flow faster and is more accessible to people new to the series.

With RB2, there is very little changed gameplay wise from RPFFS. You can now recover from a knockdown and shift planes at the same time, and you can counter attack by hitting Square and X at the exact moment an opponent strikes you. It’s very precise but the result is powerful.

Out of the three games, RBFFS remains the best of the three for actual gameplay dynamics and options. Plus I love the damn panda.

Actually playing the games on a PS2 though? Well there is a noticeable decrease in quality from the original Neo Geo versions I have. The Dual Shock 2 just isn’t as responsive as a Neo Geo controller. There’s a degree of lag and the occasional refusal to recognize a combo or Super Special/Break Shot/Hidden Ability. It’s not as bad as some of the KoF ports that hit the PS1 or 2 in years past, but you can really notice it in Real Bout Fatal Fury which makes fighting Geese all the more profanity inducing. Honestly, I’d recommend the Sega Saturn version of RBFF over this port, as it feel almost like it’s a port of the PSX version rather than the Neo Geo game, which as long time SNK fans know is NOT a good comparison to make.

With Real Bout Special and RB2, the controls are more responsive, but it’s still not the quality you’d find on the Neo Geo, but only due to controller issues. If you have one of the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat fighting controller for the PS2, you’ll notice a dramatic improvement. Even the oversized Street Fighter Arcade stick works wonders.

In all, these three Fatal Fury games have interesting and unique gameplay that sets them apart from all other 2-D fighters, regardless of developers. I was disappointed in the controls for RBFF, but the other two games play pretty well and are some of the best fighters I’ve seen ported over to the PS2. I strongly prefer the Saturn and Neo Geo versions of these games, so if you have the cash and the retro obsession, you might find that a little extra cash equals a stronger gaming experience.

Control and Gameplay Rating: VERY GOOD

5. Replayability

Wow. Three fighters on one disc, each with hidden characters, special hidden endings, and a ton of characters playable from the start that will take you a long time to master. RBSS2 also has EX characters and good old NIGHTMARE GEESE which is a lot of fun. If you’re playing for story, it’s sadly tied to the game with the worst gameplay, and you can only get the true ending by playing with one of the Bogard brothers.

For actual fun and quality gaming, you’ll find yourself going back to RBFFS the most. The selection of characters is the widest (thanks to EX) and the music and graphics are the best overall of the three. RB2 adds some new playable characters and you don’t have to go through the hell that is trying to unlock Geese, but the EX guys are removed.

Overall, there is a lot of replay value in these three games. They’re pretty (for SNK games), well designed and the plane shift makes all three games feeel fresh and original as it’s been a decade since this practice has really seen use.

Replayability Rating: GOOD

6. Balance

We’re talking about games with Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser people – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BALANCE. As with all SNK games I do have to give the caveat of “SNK Boss Syndrome” where the last character in the game (Hidden or normal)’s AI is off the charts in term of power, blocking and just being a cruel son of a bitch. It’s part of the fun of beating the games, as when you see the end credits roll, you know you’ve earned that win, but that doesn’t make the game any less grueling.

All three of these games have characters that are well known for being terrible hard. RB2 has the horror of Yamazaki, Geese AND Krauser. Force that on someone new to fighting gamers and watch them develop a deep seated phobia of ever playing an SNK game again.

Thankfully though RB2 and Real Bout Special aren’t up to the usual level of SNK difficulty. If you’ve played a lot of SNK games, you’ll notice a definite drop in the amount of PAIN you’re used to. I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad, but it can’t hurt getting this game into the hands of a more casual audience. The games are still tough though, so don’t think you’ll be knocking out Krauser your first play through with an S rating in each round. Most gamers will be frustrated by how overpowered and unbalanced some characters are.

Balance Rating: POOR

7. Originality

This is an anthology, so obviously these are not truly “original” games. One could probably talk about the plane shifting, but these are the 5th to 7th games in the series after all.

Even back in the mid to late 1990’s when these games came out, they were mostly carbon copies of the earlier SNK games. The graphics and music are some of the best in the series, or out of all SNK games, but there’s just very little variety or originality here. This was the tail end of the fighter genre as we once knew it, where games were just being churned out because they could make money and developers were smelling the end of an era. Fun games but utterly devoid of innovation at this point.

Originality Rating: WORTHLESS

8. Addictiveness

Short and sweet – long time SNK fans will be plowing though this and playing it constantly. Younger gamers who want to see what the fuss is about will probably give it a whirl and either really like it or have disdain for the graphics and difficulty level. People who didn’t care back when these games first came out probably won’t care here either.

Addictiveness Rating: MEDIOCRE

9. Appeal Factor

Here’s the thing: If you’re an SNK fan, you’ll play this a LOT. RB2 has never been on a non Neo Geo home system before, and RBFF is the most significant game in the series story wise, while RBFFS is the best overall game in the series until Mark of the Wolves came out. It’s hard to put the controller down when you’re reliving some classic gaming like these titles.

For non-SNK fanboys, you’ll probably be wondering what all the hype is about or why people rave about the Fatal Fury franchise. They’ll be fun but not foaming at the mouth intense as we make the series out to be. Who knows, maybe the interesting gameplay and simplified controls will hook you where other fighters have left one cold. Fatal Fury games are definitely more open to the casual gamer than King of Fighters.

There’s a lot of Nostalgia here, but also quality gaming at an unheard of price. This makes Fatal Fury Battle Archives 2 a game worthy of trying if you’re SNK or 2-D fighter curious. It’s also a “WHY DON’T YOU HAVE THIS ALREADY?” if you have fond memories of the series or characters.

Appeal Factor: MEDIOCRE

10. Miscellaneous

With most games I’d crow about the lack of extras, but if you keep things in perspective, this compilation is huge. Do you have any idea how much MVS or AES games used to cost? One of these games used to cast as much as a brand new Wii! Now you’re getting them for five bucks EACH. Fifteen dollars for this compilation is insane and I have no idea how SNK is making money of it, but holy hell and thank you very much for this SNK Playmore. Even admitted SNK zealots probably haven’t gotten to touch RB2 that much, and RBFFS is a hard find as well. Looking at my stack of my Neo Geo games really helps me to appreciate the surreality of this anthology and brings back a lot of nostalgia for gaming, SNK, and arcades in general.

So you know what? Highest possible marks here. These are rare hard to find games being re-released at a price we should all be on our hands and knees thanking SNK for being brought back to life like a last minute quarter be slipped into an arcade console. I might prefer these games on the real thing or the Saturn versions, but the fact that millions of gamers have been given a chance to play as the Lone Wolf and smack Geese or Krauser or Alfred with a crack shot or Burning Knuckle or a Power Wave makes me love this compilation far more than my usual highly objective and critical self would. Neo Geo games for five bucks a pop. My how times have changed…

Miscellaneous Rating: UNPARALLELED

The Scores
Story: BAD
Graphics: ABOVE AVERAGE
Sound: UNPARALLELED
Control and Gameplay: VERY GOOD
Replayability: GOOD
Balance: POOR
Originality: WORTHLESS
Addictiveness: MEDIOCRE
Appeal Factor: MEDIOCRE
Miscellaneous: UNPARALLELED
FINAL SCORE: ENJOYABLE GAME

Short Attention Span Summary
I won’t deny that I’m a huge fan of the Fatal Fury series. There’s some issues with the ports the more anal SNK fans like myself will take issue with, but other gamers won’t even notice. You’re getting $750 in games for $15 bucks and tax (and shipping for some of you). You can’t pick up both Battle Archives for $30 dollars off Amazon, and unless you totally hating fighting games, there is no reason not to you. You owe it to yourselves to experience one of the biggest franchises in all of classic gaming, along with some of the most popular and memorable characters in the history of this form of entertainment. Like all SNK games, and especially their ports there are some issues that only the ardent fans of the company can overlook. Still, at this price, buying these games is a nice little thank you for the decade and a half of Fatal Fury SNK has given us.

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, goddammit?

In case you’ve not had the pleasure, let me try and enlighten you as best I am able. The film is centered on what could more bluntly be described as “a complete jackhole” as he ventures to the hamlet of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania to provide coverage of the annual “Groundhog Day” event that occurs there. While there, he is cast into a time loop where, no matter what endeavors he opts to undertake, he’s forced to relive that very goddamn day. It doesn’t matter if he lives or dies, who he talks to, what he says, or what he does; every day is functionally the same for him, until he eventually figures out the way to escape, of which he is never enlightened and only manages to accomplish by a random and seemingly arbitrary stroke of goddamn luck.

Baroque is a lot like that.

But that’s not all the goddamn game either draws parallels to or influences from; one is able to best describe Baroque as displaying elements culled directly or indirectly from Groundhog Day, Jacob’s Ladder, Shadow Tower and the Fushigi Dungeon series of games, only to force them into a blender and frappe them into a rich, thick paste that is only going to be palatable to the most plot-motivated and self-loathing of gamers. That Baroque would be given the Maken X treatment (making the transition from a first person action role playing game on a defunct Sega console to a third person action role playing game on the Playstation 2) is understandable; both titles sold fairly well in Japan and have cult followings. But to see Baroque then translated and released in the United States? Baroque, more than any other localized game released prior, is so absolutely difficult to appropriately define that it’s nearly impossible to determine what the target audience is intended to be, goddammit.

But let us undertake the goddamn labor of attempting to qualify what it is that makes Baroque just so perplexing and puzzling, goddammit.

[Don’t go crazy]

There’s virtually an absence of things that can be explained in regards to the story of Baroque that won’t completely ruin the entirety of the goddamn experience, so let us attempt to provide the absolute most information possible with the least enlightment: the world is horribly devastated in the wake of a horrible cataclysmic event, and you, the nameless protagonist, are tasked with venturing into the nadir of the goddamn Neuro Tower and using the “Angelic Rifle” to purify God, partially because “there is purpose in you using it”, and partially because you feel the specific need to atone for a sin you cannot recall. Of course, there’s a good deal more to it than that, goddammit, but the whole point of playing the game is to unearth what the “more to it” is, exactly, so let us not spoil that, goddammit.

                                                                                                                                       [Don’t go crazy]

Instead, let us discuss what is done and how well it is accomplished. The characters are generally all quite convincing overall, as their dialogue is often well written and conveys the appropriate information about the characters to enlighten the player as to what sort of people they are. The actual portrayal of the story is very surreal in many cases, and characters often speak in riddles wrapped in enigmas and give out incomplete pieces of information that make the experience quite engaging, goddammit. However, the story itself is trying exceptionally overmuch to present itself as Kafka when it more closely resembles something from King (which is by no means an insult, but even so); once you mentally assemble the pieces of the story into the expected storyline tapestry, the events come together in a fashion that the player wholly understands, but doesn’t particularly take much away from, goddammit. The plot makes sense, but not to a point where one can nod and go “Oh, I see what you did there”, and most of the goddamn story is really only going to appeal to those looking for some sort of high concept storytelling; it’s marvelous in its own way, but many people aren’t going to mentally absorb anything stupendous from it. There are several different “endings” to the game as well, but since the game never actually reaches any sort of conclusion after you earn an ending they’re not so much endings as they are a recreation of getting to a conclusion in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book and holding the page prior so that when the axe-wielding psychopath brained you for dodging left instead of right you could go back and dodge right instead… only, with about two hours between each page turn, goddammit.

                                                       [Don’t go crazy]

Now as a remake of a Saturn game, this is the part where the observation is expected to be something to the effect of “Baroque on the PS2 has dramatically improved production values, goddammit”, but there was something to be said for the grainy pixilated sprites of the original, as they somewhat helped to strengthen the atmosphere. Here, the visuals are clean and the various character models and monsters are quite acceptable looking, but the character models are kind of… a little too Persona 3 when something more Nocturne would have been ideal. Also, there are a lot of outstanding visual themes and elements throughout the different floors of the tower, with all sorts of amusingly well-rendered monsters and interesting industrialized environments, but then you see the same levels and re-colored monsters as you progress further into the bowels of the tower and you stop and think to yourself, “What the hell was that, goddammit?” It’s quite disruptive. On the positive side, the voice acting is, for the most part, quite well performed, the sounds are pleasantly morose, and the music is really, really, REALLY atmospherically appropriate and exceptionally well done, and is vaguely reminiscent of the score to the film Dreamscape… or, to a lesser extent, Silent Hill.

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It is most unfortunate, then, that for all of the exceptional production values of Baroque, it is undone as a product by the mechanics of its gameplay. Which is by no means to say that the game plays poorly; whether you choose to play the game from first or third person perspective, the game plays acceptably (first person play has a tendency to be more friendly in most respects; as the original title was a first person title, this is understandable, but for those who prefer a third person experience, you’ll find this fits the bill), if not exceptionally. You’re offered two attacks, light and heavy, with which you may deal damage to those who would seek to impede your progress, as well various normal and arcane objects, each with various different functions. Swords and coats act as melee weapons and armor, respectively, and their functions are, I would imagine, obvious; “Torturers” are iron maiden shaped stones which are activated as area of effect assaults, each of which carries one of a plethora of interesting effects ranging from elemental damage to status ailments to assaulting your adversaries with rotting foodstuffs; Disks, which effectively act as traps one may place so as to lure unsuspecting foes to their demise, or alternatively, in some cases can be used to aid your protagonist; Bones, which can be used for beneficial effects or as ranged assault tools; Meats, which replenish health (which also regenerates over time) and Hearts (which replenish vitality, IE hunger, which decreases over time and, if it is depleted, will then begin to deplete your health)… these are amongst your tools for this excursion, and they are both quite unique and pleasantly familiar, goddammit. Indeed, the experience as a whole is very much familiar, which is goddamn refreshing considering how surreal the game presents itself to be; upon arriving on a tower floor, all one is expected to do is meander about, slaughtering everything one sees until one has found the portal to the next floor, whereupon one may progress further into the tower. Simple, yes?

                                                                                                                                                                       [Don’t go crazy]

So it’s rather a shame to note that, despite the simplicity of the concept and execution, Baroque’s simplistic design conceals mechanics whose inaccessibility are matched only by their draconic expectations; quite literally, one secretly believes that Sting as a development house is secretly contemptuous of each and every person who would purchase their product, so truly punishing is its design, goddammit.

                                                          [Don’t go crazy]

Every time you complete a circuit of the tower or meet your demise, you are reduced to level one and your entire inventory is callously stripped from you; this is explained in storyline terms, but is still a goddamn hideous breach of expectations to the average gamer, and even those players who are versed in Rogue-like experiences will find themselves confused when their inventory is stripped from them and deposited into a cosmic dumpster because they were successful. Now, in fairness, one can send items out of the tower or brand items so that they return to the first floor upon death or success, and in all honesty, most of the items one can locate will not appeal to one’s style of play, so this is more of an irritation than an actual hindrance after the first hour or so.

Unfortunately, this is further compounded by the fact that one cannot actually “complete” the goddamn experience in any meaningful way without making multiple circuits of the tower, each time facing the exact same foes and traversing the exact same floors; literally, in your first several excursions into the tower, you will

1.) venture to the bottom of the goddamn tower,

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2.) deal with the goddamn Absolute God as expected,

                                             [Don’t go crazy]

3.) venture to the goddamn bottom of the tower,

                                                                                        [Don’t go crazy]

4.) deal with the Absolute God as goddamn expected,

                               [Don’t go crazy]

5.) venture to the bottom of the tower, goddammit,

                                                                                                                                                  [Don’t go crazy]

6.) I believe you understand the goddamn point.

                     [Don’t go crazy]

Unfortunately, to experience all of the “endings” to your quest, you will literally have to traverse the first sixteen floors of the tower approximately twelve to fifteen times, assuming you do not meet your demise at some point along the way. “Tedious” is simply not a strong enough word to describe this experience; it is quite literally a Sisyphus simulator, as nothing you do will drastically impact the product in any significant way, and no matter what you accomplish, after completing whatever task you’ve opted to undertake, your boulder will roll back down the hill, leaving you essentially where you started.

      [Don’t go crazy]

Many of the elements of the experience also seem as if they were specifically designed as a form of psychological torture against the player rather than any sort of goddamn game impediment. Status effects, for example: poison is quite reasonable, and blindness can be negotiated without too much difficulty, but “Lethargy” (which afflicts the player with slowness that converts a tedious experience into a terminally boring one), “Confusion” (most games simply reverse the default control schema; Baroque opts to make the protagonist stumble around as if drunk), and oh sweet merciful Jesus, “Lust” (a status effect that turns EVERYTHING into scantily-clad goddamn inflatable dolls; this effect, quite literally, does absolutely nothing to hinder the actual game experience for the protagonist, but by the twentieth time you have either bumbled into an adversary or absently swung your sword at an item, you will find yourself unconsciously grinding your teeth so as to keep from screaming in frustration as your eye keeps twitching and it won’t stop) seem as if they were conceived by the mind of a sadist and inflicted upon the player in a fit of hostility. This is then further compounded by, as an example, forcing the player to face monsters who pilfer your wares (even the weaponry and armor off of your very back) before expediently dashing off into the level, often leaving you to punch your way through several other foes to retrieve your purloined blade. Or, alternatively, one might stumble over a goddamn “Food” trap only to stare, mouth agape, as the item you required to complete a task further in the tower was just converted into a hunk of meat.

                                                                                                              [Don’t go crazy]

Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not note that part of the reason the experience is so incredibly surreal is because nothing is explained to any sort of significant satisfaction in the game. With item usage and inventory management, this is not wholly insurmountable; the manual provides enough information to make do, and tutorials exist to explain the basics (though one is not given access to these explanatory play sessions until after one is dumped, kicking and screaming, into the goddamn deep end with nary an expository word… and, oh yes, assuming one is willing to poke around the town and deduce that Coffin Guy, the gentleman responsible for designing the tutorial dungeons, is in fact said proprietor of the tutorial dungeon). But insofar as discovering what needs to be done to complete more of the actual storyline, forget about it; while a few of the events are explained, many more require trial and error and the exploration of every nook and cranny in the tower to further advance the story, which is rather… off-putting, to be honest; many, many times, you’re left to stare at the screen, dumbfounded, uttering little more than “What am I doing? What am I trying to do?” to yourself, goddammit.

                                                                            [Don’t go crazy]

Of course, truly, none of these complaints would be wholly insurmountable if the product offered you some type of long-term reason to complete it, but save for viewing all of the cinematics and collecting all of the item, sound, Baroque and character list entries, the experience is quite barren insofar as “offering up a sense of accomplishment” is concerned, goddammit. Collecting all of the things mentioned prior accomplishes, effectively, nothing of note and, unless you are the sort of person who enjoys the act of collecting things more than the specific appreciation of the thing being collected, you’ll find no joy in collecting each and every item from the depths of the tower. There is also a one hundred floor dungeon to traverse upon unlocking the “best” goddamn ending for the game, and assuming you’ve not been stricken with insanity by your numerous trips into the normal tower, this may hold your interest, but otherwise, upon unlocking the “best” ending, you’ll have no desire or reason to place the game into your console again. More’s the pity; despite some incredibly unfriendly mechanics and unappealing design elements, Baroque is an interesting remake of an exceptionally originally designed Saturn title that most have never heard of; as such, despite being a “remake” it’s possibly one of the most uniquely presented goddamn titles to come to the US in years.

                                                                                                                                                                  [Don’t go crazy]

Despite all of the listed complaints and design issues, make no mistake: if you are the sort of gamer who can derive pleasure from such an experience, Baroque comes fully goddamn recommended. I honestly found a significantly large amount of joy in playing through the game to its completion, though I cannot even begin to imagine the sort of person who would otherwise derive joy from the experience; fans of Atlus’ other localized works will find Baroque to be punishing and sadistic, and those who are fans of punishing and sadistic games will find the inability to retain much of anything from one excursion to the next and the inability to actually affect much to be a touch disappointing. For those who are appropriately able or willing to tolerate or perhaps even embrace these designs, however, Baroque presents an interesting and artistically pleasant story, strong aural direction, and an exceptional amount of originality, goddammit.

                                                                                                      [Don’t go crazy]

The Scores:
Story: ABOVE AVERAGE
Graphics: ABOVE AVERAGE
Sound: CLASSIC
Control/Gameplay: ABOVE AVERAGE
Replayability: POOR
Balance: MEDIOCRE
Originality: GOOD
Addictiveness: POOR
Appeal: BAD
Miscellaneous: GREAT

Final Score: ABOVE AVERAGE.

Short Attention Span Summary:
Baroque is an ambitions undertaking of epic proportions whose most appealing facets are ultimately undermined by its often viciously punishing mechanics. The presentation is atmospherically stunning and artistically sound, but only the most patient and stalwart of gamers will ultimately have the fortitude necessary to traverse the product. Those who are capable of accepting this process will realize that, in this world, there will be times where you lose sight of what you are supposed to do, but do not worry; this world is changing ever so slightly. The flow is moving. As you are killed, as you die, you will slowly understand.

                                                         [Don’t go crazy]
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[Don’t go crazy]
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Talk about your rare titles. Heavenly Guardian was so under-produced it took a month for me to get my copy of this game directly from the source itself. So if you don’t have the title already (and I think only fellow DHGF staffer Mark B. falls under that category), be prepared to spend a long time looking for this one if you don’t want to Ebay it.

I originally agreed to check out Heavenly Guardian because everything was saying it was a side-scrolling shooter. Gamefaqs, Gamerankings, Gamespot – they all listed this game as such. Unless you’re new to my writing or the site, you know I’m a bit of a shoot ‘em up aficionado, and for $19.99, I was of course going to do what it took to get my hands on this little gem.

So imagine my surprise when the game wasn’t a shooter AT ALL. It was actual a 2-D action game that pretty much followed the layout and gameplay of the old NES “classic,” Fester’s Quest. Just more proof that you can’t trust any of the aforementioned sites for quality journalism. Especially as Ufo Interactive;s own website lists the game as an ACTION title. Idiots.

As there are no reviews of this game anywhere on the web, it’s our job at DHGF to ensure you get educated about indie publishers and obscure titles. God knows the larger websites only care about the larger publishers as that’s who pays their bills.

So how is Heavenly Guardian? Is it a quality budget title appearing in these death throes of the PS2, or did I waste a lot of time and energy tracking this sucker down?

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