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From now on I'm gonna include the box art for the games I'm reviewing too.
This
game is one of my top games of all time and I'm so sad that there are only
like 50 people on this planet who talks about this game.
Also
once again, talking about a sequel without reviewing the first game.
The game does a good job on making sure you understand what you need to
know.
This may be the longest review yet.
Gameplay(9/10):
Caligula
Effect 2 has such a unique combat type where it's not just your regular
turn based RPG, it has a very special mechanic called "Prediction
engine".
Once combat is initiated, the player
is moved into an arena. Now you might be wondering, "arena? I thought
this was a turn based RPG" and you'd still be correct. The Caligula
Effect is a turn based RPG where you can actually move around the arena
to make you can position yourself so your AOE attacks can land on
multiple enemies or literally just walk out of a foe's attack range when
they're charging up their attacks. This type of combat is very reminiscent of "Resonance of Fate" which has a similar combat type.
Every
single action has a set amount of start lag, where you have to wait a
certain amount of time for the action to start, movement time which is
the time it takes for your character to get into position to attack(walk
in to range), the time it takes the actually commit the action(hold
long the guard is up for, how long the attack animation is etc.) and end
lag where you have to wait before being able to pick a new action.
This
seems very inconvenient since with such long action start timers, you
can very well miss enemies by inches because it takes so long. For
example, you can attack an enemy but just as your character reaches and
starts the attack animation, the enemy runs towards another teammate to
attack them, thus making you miss your attack. This is where "Prediction
Engine" comes into play.
While choosing your action, you have a little timer on the bottom right of the screen that shows when your skill will be cast. As you watch the timer, it also acts out how everything is gonna happen by showing where your characters will move, how much damage they will deal and how the enemy will move. This connects to the problem I proposed in the last paragraph. If you see that the enemy moves out of range just as you attack them, you can use the prediction engine to delay your attack further, thus your character runs up to the enemy and attacks them after they're done moving.
It's a really cool mechanic that helps you strategize even further.
Story(8/10):
Caligula Effect 2's story is on surface, a simple matrix scenario where characters are stuck in a fake reality and are trying to escape. While the premise seems overdone, the way it's executed with virtual idols and musicians with a core concept of regret makes it significantly more exciting than your average matrix story.
The characters you meet in the game are also very unique with each of them having fun and interesting personalities along with great backstories. Every single important character, be it villain or ally are very well written and it's clear that they all received equal amount of love from the developers.
Only "eh" part of the story is that the characters sometimes throw in some modern slang and it did make me scrunch my face in cringe every time they did it. But other than the occasional usage of modern slang, dialogue is wonderfully done with me getting a good laugh from it multiple times.
All of this is accompanied by an amazing ending that god me teary eyes. Truly is a well written game.
Music(11/10):
Okay, remember in my previous reviews how I praised NieR and TWEWY music so much?
This game's sound track puts both of those to shame to the point where you can just pay for the game and be satisfied just with the soundtrack without playing the game.
Since your main ally and the main antagonist in the story are virtual idols, they both have their own songs that try to dominate each other as you play and both of the singers do an amazing job with the song composition also being heavenly. This is also why Regret had 4 songs of choice in my IDOLS!!! PART 2 blog rather than the regular one song per person. I couldn't choose just one and I originally planned to actually put 6.
Overall(9/10):
Caligula Effect 2 is an unknown gem in a sea of uninteresting JRPGs. It's gameplay, music and story are absolutely top tier with the game having a decent amount of replayability too with the addition of an extra dungeon on NG+ runs that explain characters even deeper as you keep going. Not only is it a source of more content, it's also a decent challenge.
The game is has some slow parts, especially increasing your friendship level with your teammates to see their character episodes is pretty tedious, but it's all worth it in the end.
I would totally recommend this game to everyone, it deserves so much more recognition that it currently has.
Just a warning, if you want to play this game then be prepared to get disappointed at it's non-existent fan base since there's absolutely no fan content online. I will die mad about this.
Thank you for reading once again, idk what I'll review next so let's hope inspiration strikes me at some point.
I'm gonna pretend to be a cool youtuber and say like and subscribe except like, give kudos and subscribe to my blogs ig. Doesn't sound as cool.
Comments
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YAN!!!!!!!!
Gonna be honest I only played this game for a couple hours on a switch emulator right when it came out and didn't get into it at all. Even though the first game was written by the same writer as persona 2 and digital devil saga I was bored out of my mind trying out both of these games. They just feel like those cheap uninspired vita rpgs you see all the time. I may be missing out here but that's just something I can't get off my mind so it's really hard to play them for me
the start of the game is a lil slow so that may be it. It feels a lot more lively and interesting as the main party starts filling up
by Nehiri; ; Report
Slip_Moth
I completely forgot to read this! I remembered because of that funny bulletin about your brother. Very good though, have my kudos and my subscription!
lolol, hope you enjoy it
by Nehiri; ; Report