Koto Battle is as wonderfully complex as it is simple. While the game has many traditional roleplaying elements, the game is a card game at its core, so if you like
games like Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, etc., then you'll feel right at home here once you learn the rudimentary elements of battle and navigation. It's just one more of those games that a
dreamer like myself wishes to see translated into English. Anyway, since I DO know some Japanese, let me tell you all a little bit about one of the Gameboy's Japan-Only gems.
In Koto Battle, you assume the role of a nameless protagonist who, with the aid of his special partner Kanae (a godlike wolf), must maintain the order of the world and protect the
secrets of what lie beyond the heavens. However, he is just a guardian in training by the great Tachibana-sama, and still has much to learn, so to gain experience, he must travel the world
challenging other people gifted in the way of the tarot. As you might expect, there are many who are gifted and skilled in the art, so you must train well. Everything seems good...until you meet
Jin, a ruthless fiend who wishes to steal your powerful ally Kanae, as well as break the seals of the holy shrine, which lady Hijiri protects with her life! If he succeeds, calamity will befall
man and you will know the true meaning of hell on Earth.
Unlike many card-based RPGs, Koto Battle doesn't set you in a boring or limited environment. ALPHADREAM did an excellent job with the character design and artistic area design. The game is so colorful that it makes me believe that ALPHADREAM wanted to use every last color that the Game Boy Color could display and then some. The animation is also fairly decent and while the graphics aren't necessarily the focus of the game, there are a number of cool special effects associated with the various different cards. The game is still one of the prettiest Game Boy (or GBC) RPGs I've ever played, despite the fact that there are no backgrounds when you fight battles. The music is a somewhat different story. It has an acquired taste, though the game does offer a lot of variety as far as # of BGMs. You can even listen to them in the options mode. The music is quite unique...something that (in a small way) resembles some of the classic Japanese style music from the 1930's and 40's...yet it is more modern day with different instruments. It's rather classy in some ways and I find it very satisfying, though the sound effects are generally average fare.
As you explore the colorful world, you will be aided by Tachibana and Ren (who is another powerful Koto Battler) and you will learn many things. The game is cool because you have your typical
cards, but you can summon the monsters on them and bring them into battle to protect your top, bottom or center (which will shield your own personal Hp). A neat factor to the game is that
you can only have a deck of 20 cards, all of which are monsters. However, you can play a card in one of three different ways: An Attacker, Enhancer, or Spell. The Attackers take hits for
you and dish out their own tough melee attacks. Enhancers upgrade a monster on your field with numerous assist abilities. A spell card can assist you, your monsters, attack the enemy, etc.
and all have their uses. You can also combine monsters to make more powerful ones. In all, the game has over 300 different cards to discover and use to your advantage.
As such, you can cook up thousands of different battle strategies, and no matter how perfect you may think a strategy seems, it can always be beaten by an even
more clever strategy! Picking the most powerful cards isn't always the best thing either. Why? Because this game uses an ATB gauge system of sorts, similar to games like some Final
Fantasy games (FF6, 7, etc.). Stronger monsters tend to have a longer wait time, but can still be beaten by weak monsters if the trainer's level is high enough. It all sounds confusing now,
but it's not. Drop me a line if you need some help, and I might be able to tell ya more. Anyway, Koto Battle is a solid (dare I say...groundbreaking?) RPG with very vibrant graphics, an interesting musical score, and a deep and engrossing gameplay system. I give it two thumbs up!
- Written by Vyse the determined - |
