Tuesday 3 July 2007

All hail the princess!

With all the expectation around my Metal Slug 3D post everybody seems to have forgotten about that little Japanese gem I talked about a couple of times. Anyway, here I am to remind you all and, of course, write something about that title.

The game in question is Princess Crown, a lovely action-RPG in the vein of Sword of Vermilion (or so I've been told, I've never played that game).


But unlike other games of the same genre, like Legend of Oasis for example, the gameplay of Princess Crown is a bit different. Instead of going from a scenario to another, killing the countless monsters you see in the way, here the battles are way more scarce but each one is much more intense because it all happens in a way that reminds me of a 2D fighter, making for a really unique game in that aspect.



Another highlight of the game are the gorgeous graphics. Believe me, you've never seen anything like this. It's not just the big detailed sprites, it's also the fluid animation and the backgrounds that seem to be hand-painted. Overall Princess Crown's graphics are a sheer example of what the Saturn was capable of in the 2D department. Let a picture demonstrate:

There's one big downside to this game, though. All the text is written in Japanese and since this game as a lot more text than your average action-RPG (it seems almost like a traditional oriental RPG in this aspect, for there is tons of dialogue) it's really difficult for a non-japanese reader to make the most out of this game. Hell, it's even hard to know what to do or where to go next! Of course there are a couple of walkthroughs on the web and there's even a translation page I found (which at some point uses this beautiful expression: "she thinks she's all-that-and-a-sack-of-dreamcasts"), but it's just no the same thing.



Even as it is, if you really like this kind of game s you should definitely pick this game up and in case you don't want to waste your whole bank account on the original Saturn version there's always the more accessible PSP port. And in case you didn't know, there's also some kind of spiritual sequel on the PS2 called Odin Sphere (I'm yet to try this one).



Since I've played little of this game, mainly because I hate when I can't understand what the characters are saying and I hate even more when I have to check my pc for the walkthrough every 5 minutes, here's a better review.

5 comments:

fatherkrishna said...

Crikey! Is there no end to this young man's talents? Barely have we recovered from the rollercoaster ride that was Metal Slug 3D, but before you know it we've got a new import title Princess Crown reviewed! Gasp!

And yes! The graphics do look luscious and vibrant... I to bought a Japanese RPG import for the DC from Play Asia, but was so baffled by the Japanese text, that I only played it for 5 minutes... Evidently, Nebacha is more skilled!

Great post!

NebachadnezzaR said...

More to come, I've been playing my last import title for the time being and I plan on writing a post about it today or maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm not skilled at all, I just played Princess Crown for 10-15 min and since after that time I couldn't find a way to save I just quit. Maybe I'll try again in the future...

gnome said...

Great post indeed!

Unknown said...

never heard of it... now i want it... recently picked up tales of eternia for my psp... never thought id play a cutsy rpg but they have great charm,

Animated AF said...

Wow, are those really the graphics? Looks very much almost on par with Odin Sphere ion the PS2. The Saturn really was a 2D power house.