STARTLING ODYSSEY II
スタートリングオデッセイⅡ・魔境戦争

MAKER: RAY FORCE
RELEASE DATE: 21 OCTOBER 1994
STYLE: ROLE-PLAYING
FORMAT: SUPER CD-ROM
RATING: UNRATED

 

Overview
Fantasy role-playing sequel.

You say...
First off, Startling Odyssey II is a big improvement over the first game in terms of graphics and pacing. The encounter rate is not as high as in the first game and the game uses less palette swaps. It's also nice to be able to see your own party's sprites in battle, which not many PCE JRPGs seem to do. The game still plumbs the depths of mediocrity as far as JRPGs of the time go.

Graphics are colourful both in and out of battle. No fancy graphical tricks anywhere but the spell effects in battle are a nice touch. The chiptune OST is alright but mostly forgettable. The voice acting and cutscenes are excellent and you can tell the voice actors brought their 'A' game. Unfortunately there are quite a few cut-scenes focusing on lewd humour and let's just say you they're not exactly SFW...too many for my taste and the fact that every female character seems intent on jumping the main character's bones when they meet him undermines the seriousness of the plot a bit.

Combat is standard fare and the early game encounters can be resolved by mashing attack with the occasional heal. Encounters and boss fights do get more challenging as the game goes on with you having to take elemental weaknesses, healing and buffing up your party into account. The plot really starts up around the halfway point. Up to that point you really don't have much of a clue who the big bad is and are mostly following the town-dungeon-boss format. Once the plot gets going it manages to be fairly interesting. That being said, the game takes about 30 hours to complete. There's even a secret super boss way tougher than the actual final boss to sink your teeth into.

The game gets a recommendation because it's one of the few JRPGs for the system fan-translated to English. It's a far cry from the likes of Tengai Makyo or Gulliver Boy. The game doesn't do anything wrong but doesn't stand out from the crowd in any way.
Marco Wolken

 

 

Screens

 

Images
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