Light Fairytale Episode 1 is the first game of this series. It’s a turn-based RPG, with a chibi style, cute and deformed, developed on an occupied steampunk city. The protagonist, Haru and his friend, Kuroko, will be involved in major events after a common day.
Exploring the Lower City
The Lower City is a small steampunk city occupied by an evil empire. Asides from the story related places, it has several spots which are worth an exploration. There are some hidden items to get, plus, if you want all in-game achievements, you will have to investigate and interact with all the NPCs. Also, some scenes are missable. All these aspects transmitted me a powerful reminiscence to Midgard, of the classic Final Fantasy VII, especially of the first sectors of that city.
During your exploration, you will count on your special glasses, which help you a lot. They will give you some clues, the location of the interactive NPCs, the location of the areas and the position of the battle areas. Also, there is a tips’ system in-game which is very useful, but in the end, you won’t need it because the goals of the game are very straight.
There are some mini-games, mainly story-related, but you can replay them when you want. Also, if you accomplish certain conditions, you will get some achievements and some extra items.
Battles for survive
Battles are turn-based. You will fight on fixed areas, but they are limited. Each one has a percentage related to the number of the remaining enemies. When you kill all, you clear that location and enemies won’t appear more. This block the option of farming experience or money, but you won’t miss them; recompenses will be enough to advance through the journey. There are several types of enemies, bats, robots, soldiers, among others. Also, you will fight against some bosses.
You can use different commands in battle. You can attack with your weapons (all characters can equip two), use magic if you have the orb for that, defend yourself from enemy attacks and use items. Also, Haru, one of the protagonists, can use a special command called Protect, self-explanatory.
Asides from the health points (HP) and magic points (MP) gauges, there is a bar under the name of the characters, the fury gauge. You will fill it during battles, receiving damage. When you fulfil it, the person will change colours, and you can use his fury ability. In this case, Haru has a healing skill that cures all the team, and Kuroko has a 5-hits combo that deals a large amount of damage to enemies. These fury abilities reminded me of Final Fantasy VII’s limit breaks, especially in the case of Kuroko, which use his punches and kicks as a weapon, like a known character…
On this aspect, I saw a meagre inconvenience in the animations; because the characters attack the air, and not directly to the enemies, and they receive damage. It is not a game-breaking thing, but at the start, it feels a little strange.
To fight, you have your weapons, you can equip one on each space, and orbs, which guarantee you magic effects, or advantages like extra money, after battles. Also, on some equipment pieces, you can equip a couple of them, giving you the option of combining the effects of both. For example, I combined Lighting with All orb, leading to this magic it damages several enemies at once. Also, depending on where you equip them, you can get some effects, like gaining lighting resistance. And, of course, this reminded me of a classic game again. This system looks well and with potential, but you have limited choices to use it properly.
Overall Experience
I enjoyed playing this game. It reminded me of a specific classic title in several aspects. The story, environment, graphics and soundtrack are great, especially this last one. I know that is the first episode of a series, but it is too short; it took me about 3 hours to finish it. Some premises look interesting, like the orbs’ system, but they need a longer game to see their full potential. The only thing that felt strange was the attacks’ animation because you won’t attack directly to the enemies but, I saw this type of animation in other titles in the past. Also, my recommendation is to play it with a controller if you can. You can use the keyboard without problem, but the gameplay felt more comfortable using the controller. Episode 1 caught my interest in the series; I will see you again on the Episode 2 review!
