Regular readers of this website will know that whenever a new KEMCO game comes out, it is usually myself that steps forward to review it. I’m not sure how many of their games I have played and reviewed now, but it feels like a lot. Now there is a new one.
Going by the name of Ancient Phantasma, this is yet another retro styled JRPG that has come out of the aforementioned studio, and as such I find myself in the hot seat once again. So, is there anything new about this game, or is it just a case of copying and pasting from an earlier review? Well, the only way to find out is to read on…
Story is something that is vital for these kinds of games, as without a strong narrative pulling you along, it is easy to lose the will to carry on playing. KEMCO games normally come with a decent story attached, and Ancient Phantasma is no different. The story takes place in Sandoria, a land born when the combined force of Sir Sayles, a knight and Sage Roberts defeated the Demon King many years ago. As time goes by, peace becomes the norm in the nation, until suddenly bandits and monsters start to wreak havoc throughout the land.
We play as Dean, the young lord of Sayles, and we must figure out what is going on in the world – and more to the point, put an end to it so the country can be safe again. Of course, along the way we will recruit like-minded fighters to enlarge our squad, and hopefully defeat the enemies.
The presentation of Ancient Phantasma is exactly like most of the other retro styled JRPGs in KEMCO’s stable, but if anything a little more retro. The battle scenes are almost pixel art in style, with our characters and the enemies being nicely designed, if a little blocky. The world map and dungeon screens are the usual kind of fare, viewed from above and showing our character as we walk around, and here is where the first of the issues with the game appears. You see, a while ago, KEMCO games came complete with awful controls that struggled when you were trying to walk about – diagonals were impossible, the ability to walk through narrow gaps or open treasure chests was really restricted, and so on.
Well, sadly, Ancient Phantasma sees us going back to the bad old days, as the control scheme here is diabolical. The amount of time I have spent just trying to walk to my objective is really not even funny, and this is a major turn off for this game. Why play a game when you can’t walk to where you want to be?
Away from that and the audio is, again, very much in line with the usual we have come to expect – decent music linked to the action screen, various battle effects to listen to and that’s about it. There is no dialogue, and all the story is told via the medium of text boxes.
So, we’ve seen that the controls really leave a lot to be desired, what about the rest of the game? Well, if you have played a KEMCO game before, then you know pretty much what to expect, with again one change. See, the random encounters, both in dungeons and in the overworld, have been turned right up to 11, so much so that it is near-on impossible to walk more than 10 paces without triggering a fight, and this gets wearing after a while. I realise that my team have to fight to get stronger, but this seems like overkill. Tie that into the control system where you can spend a lot of steps trying to walk through a narrow gap or around a stone, and you can see that the constant fighting gets a bit dull.
That’s not to say that the actual combat is dull, as there are a couple of new tricks that have been brought in to Ancient Phantasma, as it looks to spice things up. There is a multi attack system, that allows team members to come together to attack, and there is also an “Accel” system that looks great, but I’m not entirely sure what the point of it – you can adjust it on the fly in battle, but I haven’t noticed any real advantage.
The other thing that is new is the Skill Plate system, where skill gems that you find can be equipped to give each character new attacks or support abilities. If you equip more than one of the same gem, the effect of the gem is increased, and in this way you can build your team in a number of different ways. Obviously, certain enemies are weak to different elements, so having the right magic equipped can make your life easier.
For the new ideas, I’ve been left slightly disappointed with Ancient Phantasma. The control system is a throwback to the bad old days, and the sheer amount of random encounters fast starts to grate. Other than these complaints, it is very much business as usual, but sadly even the new features won’t be enough to keep you playing long term.
Ancient Phantasma is not one of the better KEMCO games, I’m afraid.
