xananeko scene 2

4 Minimalism almost never hurts.
I struggled to rate this game because it wasn’t fun enough to give a four, but it has oodles of style. If I could have given it a 3.5 I would have, but I rounded up instead.

What is great about the game in my eyes is that everything it offers is right there in front of you. And that says something as the game packs a lot of game into a small accessible space.

The gameplay is inspired by the early Ys series games. To attack you simply bump into the enemy. If you attack when they are facing you, in their attack motion, or otherwise not vulnerable you’ll take damage. It follows the tone of the perfectly.

To say this game is hard is an understatement, but this is expected from a Japanese developer. As the description says more than anything you’ll need patience if you hope to finish (a hope I’ve given up on). That’s not a big minus though, it’s simply traditional Japanese game design. At least he offers a save limited save feature (think RE1 ink ribbons). There is a very real RPG element to the game. Level grinding is a must if you want to be forgiven for even your smallest mistake.

The visual style is great, I love the monotone low-contrast graphics. They don’t interfere at all and add a lot of charm to the game.

It would have been nice if there was a difficulty setting. It would have made the game much more accessible to wimps like me; I would love to finish it. Another big problem is the lack of documentation or any explanation of the game whatsoever. I’m sure many people started, were confused (where is the attack button?) and gave up.

Overall it is a very good game for the determined gamer looking for a challenge.