Sunday, July 1, 2018

A look back at: Sailor Moon: Another Story


Sometimes, an RPG goes on for too long. Other times, it is often too short. This game hits just the right amount of length and somehow, somehow manages to stay fresh.

Right from the get-go I can imagine some anime elitist sulking at the fact I played a game involving Moon and the planetary guardians. But it's not entirely bad. Sure, a turn-based RPG with combo attacks and formations isn't entirely the most unique thing ever, but it manages to be quite a bit charming. However, I will say that many of the characters tend to be of the same type. Think about it. Jupiter, Mars, and Uranus are amazing attackers, but have the lowest possible defense. Jupiter being the most extreme example and having the highest health but the shoddiest defense. On the other side are Saturn, Neptune, and Mercury with very low health and attack power but much better defense. Not a whole lot of uniqueness for the characters. Moon and Venus are jacks of all trades here, while Chibi Moon is actually very fast but very weak. Pluto is the most interesting of all though, having the worst overall stats except she has the ability to stop time for only the opponents, and it works on everything. Yes, even the last bosses. All you really need to do is get Pluto to use this move, get an item to refill her power all the way, then after three turns from the time stop she's ready to go again. And unlike in the Sailor Moon anime or manga she doesn't die or anything like that (although it really would've made more sense to just deplete all her HP instead of magic power then). The same could be said for Saturn's special ability. Still though, it's certainly rather broken.

On the plot sort of thing, it somehow manages to be unique. And for Sailor Moon, I consider that an accomplishment. You have a unique villain and five foils to the five main guardians plotting to, of course, rule things. And to do that, apparently bringing back the dead villains from the first three seasons was the way to go. The game honestly focuses less on Usagi being a ditz for the most part and actually being a heroine, unlike what you may see upon watching a random Moon episode. Whether it's saving Chibiusa or her brother Shingo, she is actually doing things with whichever group she's with. And it doesn't stop there. Chapter 2 of this game is an excellent chapter entirely because you get to play as each of the individual inner senshi on their own quests, with their respective foils trying to stop them. And given the locales and some apparently potential love interests, it was quite interesting. So Faregg apparently was dead all along, which sucks for Mars. That one doctor guy was a creeper to Mercury for god-knows-what reason. And Jupiter apparently was getting two lovebirds together, and found out they were cousins, while Venus being a goddess of love gets more than she would bargain for.

Alright, I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Anshar and Chibiusa's relationship, especially considering his relationship with Sin and her group. But at least it provided something I truly actually enjoyed most about Moon as a whole. And that was the overall length. Five chapters, generally good gameplay that becomes enough of a grind in the later segments. But by then, you don't have a whole lot left. This game had just the right length, not short enough to be boring, but not long enough that even without grinding it felt like a chore. So good job overall.

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