Langrisser I & II Review Part 1 – The Remaster

Langrisser I & II Review

<p>Have you ever heard of Langrisser&quest; It’s very likely that you haven’t but this was a really good series of games in the Tactical RPG genre&period; The original title was making its rounds back in 1991 known as Warsong in the west&period; Back then&comma; this was one of the biggest competitors to Fire Emblem that you could ever hear about&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; that doesn’t mean much nowadays since Langrisser faded into obscurity&period; However&comma; the increasing popularity of Tactical RPGs has brought back some interest in this game&period; Leave it to NIS America to distribute a remaster of the first two games on PC&comma; PS4&comma; and Nintendo Switch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This Langrisser I &amp&semi; II review will be a bit unusual compared to my other reviews&period; In fact&comma; it will be divided in several parts&period; In this part&comma; I’ll be taking a close look at the changes that the remaster has brought&period; I will also provide short looks at both Langrisser games and a general impression on both&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Afterward&comma; I’ll be looking at both Langrisser I and Langrisser II in depth&period; In those reviews&comma; I’ll be grading both games and dive deeper into their overarching plots&comma; mechanics&comma; and overall structure&period; I believe that both games deserve a thorough review&period; Unfortunately&comma; such will take a bit of a long time since both games are massive RPGs with multiple endings and ample mechanics&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So&comma; without further ado&period; Here’s our review of Langrisser I &amp&semi; II&colon; The Remaster&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-154956" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;03&sol;10172758&sol;20200302233749&lowbar;1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Improvements All-Around<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The very first thing players will notice is the changes to the art direction overall&period; The illustrations made by Satoshi Urushihara have been replaced by new character portraits and CG Scenes to adorn the game’s cutscenes and dialogue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Even more surprising&comma; the soundtrack of Langrisser I &amp&semi; II has been remastered&period; So&comma; prepare to hear tunes that still have hints of that classic &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Genesis twang” that everyone knows and loves&period; I honestly was in love with the new soundtrack choices&period; The compositions of old haven’t aged that well in comparison during the heat of battle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; I also have to thank the freedom to choose between old and new for that as well&period; Yes&comma; Langrisser I &amp&semi; II lets players choose between the old and remastered artwork and soundtrack at will&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What this means is that if you love the artwork from Satoshi Urushihara but also want to jam at the new songs&comma; you can easily do so at a push of a button&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Fight&comma; Ledin&excl;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Everyone knows how much of a sucker I am for video game soundtracks&comma; so I’ll keep my raving to a minimum&period; But if I were to describe this game with one song&comma; I would pick Langrisser I’s remake <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;7uybiJGJflI">of the song &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Friendly Fight”<&sol;a>&period; This song downright reminds me of the times I was playing <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;project-x-zone-smashing-onto-north-american-3ds-this-summer&sol;">Project X Zone<&sol;a>&period; It made every single skirmish against enemies more addicting&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; there are other highlights that keep players invested in the battles or in the cutscenes themselves&period; Langrisser I &amp&semi; II delivers in the music department and compositions are incredible to hear&period; Unfortunately&comma; it’s also a shame that the soundtracks can be a bit repetitive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Was this a budgeted move&quest; Perhaps&period; I did notice that some tracks were being repeated between stages&period; In some cases&comma; I kind of wished that there was a bit more variety to the songs I was listening to&period; It’s not that the songs are bad&comma; it’s just that they are repeated way too much on their respective games&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">On the Subject of Cuts…<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Something that struck me as odd from Langrisser I &amp&semi; II’s remastered art is the fact that players who stick with the old style will have a… Disadvantage&period; See&comma; when playing games with the original artwork by Urushihara-san&comma; you’ll have to also forfeit the CG illustration cutscenes&period; Not only that&comma; but you also must bear with the fact that the sprite work is quite limited in this remaster&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>See&comma; sprites themselves take a bit of a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Chibi” approach to things&period; They aren’t as bad as the original sprites… But&comma; I certainly wouldn’t like to see character models smiling all the time while warring against other factions and enemies&period; It simply doesn’t look natural&comma; you know&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Langrisser I &amp&semi; II’s sprites themselves could’ve gone for a bit of an overhaul&period; However&comma; I understand that this can be a matter of preference&period; Perhaps I’m spoiled by the way games like Fire Emblem&colon; Binding Blade has done their sprite work&period; However&comma; Fire Emblem games keep action 1 on 1 while in Langrisser you have skirmishes with armies of soldiers against each other&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Honestly&comma; this part is a bit of a matter of preference&period; While I think that the visual department is a bit weak&semi; the sound design and music more than make up for it&period; So&comma; I believe that this game will look pleasing for anyone looking for an SRPG&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But what’s the kind of game you’re playing&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-154955" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;03&sol;10172556&sol;20200304120237&lowbar;1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Langrisser I &amp&semi; II Review" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Fighting&comma; Bonding&comma; and Changing<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Langrisser I &amp&semi; II takes a similar gameplay structure in both games&period; In them&comma; you take charge of commanders and mercenaries in a strategic environment where careful planning is key to victory&period; Commanders are the strongest units you’ll have by your side&comma; of course&period; Meanwhile&comma; Mercenaries can be just as strong depending on the buffs you apply to them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Otherwise&comma; they pretty much become fodder of the greatest kind or the best decoys you could ever ask for&period; I’m not kidding&comma; there were A LOT of times where I used mercenaries as a distraction for enemy units so I could continue accomplishing the objective&period; It’s rather funny seeing enemy commanders wailing on enemies while I basically destroy their forces from other angles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Turning the Tide<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>As mentioned before&comma; both games bring multiple endings&period; These endings are derived from different branching paths in the narrative and depend purely on your actions&period; Yes&comma; some decisions you make in the gameplay will make an impact on the story overall&period; From sparing an enemy unit while accomplishing an objective to completing other additional objectives&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This aspect is more prominent in Langrisser II where even your allegiances take an important role&period; However&comma; in Langrisser I you’ll see some alternate scenarios branching from your choices&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you aren’t happy with the current path you’re taking&comma; you can also jump back in the story to make different choices&period; Additionally&comma; you bring back all your character progression &lpar;EXP&comma; Lv&period;&comma; Money&comma; etc&period;&rpar; alongside you&period; This makes progression tailor to the player’s wishes rather than forcing them on a set path&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not only that&comma; but the Chapters are presented in a flow chart manner&period; This lets players know which parts of the story include important decisions and where the story branches out&period; Langrisser I &amp&semi; II definitely provides in the narrative department as well&period; Both games bring some interesting stories that have variety and a good deal of character interactions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Growing as a Commander<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>In both games&comma; you’re allowed to grow your Commander depending on their Lv&period; and CP&period; You can use CP to change your Commander’s class which brings passive abilities and choices&period; These aren’t mere upgrades&comma; though&period; Langrisser uses a Rock-Paper-Scissors approach to combat where certain classes are stronger than others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; you can change your Commander to fit your playstyle&period; In fact&comma; I believe that Langrisser I &amp&semi; II gives players complete freedom to work on their characters&period; There are sections where you’ll only be able to play as a certain number of commanders while others are set as Reserves&period; However&comma; you can replay these scenarios to get the EXP for the next stage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I’ve had a lot of fun playing as the main characters&period; However&comma; other commanders like the Mage Jessica went to become a big favorite of mine&period; Magic in this game can be devastating and a lifesaver when used correctly&period; Unfortunately&comma; it also eats a turn per use and you have a certain range to cast spells&period; So&comma; making sure that mages can deal a lot of damage and stay out of danger is very important as well&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-154957" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;03&sol;10172852&sol;20200307172423&lowbar;1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Overall Thoughts<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Regardless of such&comma; Langrisser I &amp&semi; II is an amazing game compilation that should be in any SRPG fan’s collection&period; I’ll go deeper into my thoughts when addressing each game individually&period; However&comma; I believe that this compilation is rather strong and offers a ton of hours of entertainment for its price&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While the graphical aspect isn’t as strong as many other games of its kind&semi; the gameplay can offer the perfect amount of depth that will make players addicted&period; Of course&comma; we can’t also forget the music which also brings back memories of games like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;grandia-2-anniversary-edition-released-steam-gog&sol;">Grandia<&sol;a> and can become a joy to listen to even outside of gameplay&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I’d definitely recommend this game to RPG fans and fans of games like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;fire-emblem-warriors-dlc-schedule-revealed&sol;">Fire Emblem<&sol;a> and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;intelligent-systems-advance-wars-game&sol;">Advance Wars<&sol;a>&period; Although&comma; I believe that the Switch version would fit better since this kind of game can be enjoyed more on the go rather than on a dedicated gaming system like on PC&period; Of course&comma; that choice is up to the player themselves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What did you think about our Langrisser I &amp&semi; II First Impressions&quest; Are you going to get the game on <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;review-steinsgate-my-darlings-embrace-nintendo-switch&sol;">Switch<&sol;a> or <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wizardry-labyrinth-of-lost-souls-pc-review&sol;">PC<&sol;a>&quest; Are you a fan of Tactical RPGs&quest; Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>This review is based on a review key provided by the publisher<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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