mèx
Member
I finally got around playing Xanadu Next, an ARPG made by Nihon Falcom that originally came out in 2005. I was expecting a clunky mess of a game, but it's surprisingly modern with a tight gameplay loop. The game can be described as a mix of Diablo without the loot/grind and a slower paced Ys. It implements a few systems or level design choices that will be popularized later on by the Souls games.
You start the game with some exposition about the world and the reason for why you are setting out towards Harlech, a small village with a few NPCs. After a brief tutorial, the game truly starts.
There are no quest makers or anything of the sort, you just go out and explore. You quickly realize two things: the world is fully interconnected and to progress you need to find items to overcome various obstacles. Additional, you have to buy keys from a shop to open various doors placed across the world, feeding into the whole gameplay loop. Since you will get your ass handed pretty easily, you are going to go back to Harlech pretty soon to heal and upgrade your equipment. Harlech acts as the main hub of the game, and you will find yourself coming back quite often, either by walking back or by teleporting with an item that you should be able to find quite soon.
Basically the gameplay loop is: get out and explore, try to make as much progress as possible, as you are about to die go back to the main hub, buy new equipment, rinse and repeat. While doing so, you should aim to unlock the next shortcut, so you will be able to progress further without having to re-tread the same path. The level design is excellent, there are tons of areas where paths link back together... and in some cases, you will find yourself back to Harlech. I wonder who is going to popularize this later on...
The combat is quite interesting. You don't have any dodge, parry or dash. You can just move around with your character, and smack the enemies by either using the base attack or skills/spells. Hitting enemies from behind grants you extra damage. And yep, that's it. For its simplicity, the combat system is quite tight and addicting. It works surprisingly well, and as soon as you get the hang of it you will start weaving through groups of enemies effortlessly, picking them out one by one. There is also a weapon mastery system similar to ASTLIBRA, so if you liked that kind of gameplay loop, you will enjoy this one too.
The main boss fights are pretty cool! And a major pain in the ass too, you will need to retry them a few times for sure.
The story is conveyed through stone slabs that you find throughout the world, and that you have to bring back to Harlech to translate. They are completely optional, at least from what I've played until now. Details about the world is delivered via NPC dialogue in the hub: after each major story event the dialogues refresh in typical Falcom fashion. There are around a dozen NPCs in the village, so it doesn't take much time to talk to them after each major story event. The villagers will talk about events and places you won't experience in this game, giving the world a solid foundation and making it feel a bit more alive than it actually is. There is an sense of mystery permeating the world, and I find it quite enjoyable to put together the various tidbits of information you obtain throughout the adventure.
The OST is far more restrained than the average Ys game. Music tends towards the atmospheric and eerie, without losing the melodic qualities that are typical of Falcom games. It really fits the game well.
As you can see from the screenshots (all of these are not mine, I've taken them randomly from the net), the graphics are simple and stylized. Honestly, it looks pretty charming, but your mileage may vary.
By the way, the game seems to be made to be played with mouse and keyboard. The gamepad seems to work fine, but it's a pain in the ass to navigate the menu with it. Maybe it's worth trying it on the Steam Deck, since it has trackpads which makes it easier to interact with the menus.
I'm half way through the game currently, and it gets a full recommendation from me. I personally never played a Japanese ARPG in this style (are there others?), it's quite unique in how it plays.
Here are some artworks, because they are cool as hell.
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