review WIP

Star Warriors Remaster leaves a Black Hole of Mediocrity from the Legacy of the Past

When I think of SRPGs, I think of many great titles of the past. Titles like Last Dream, Abyssal Heart, and other notable games moved the industry forward. Being an aficionado that you have all come to know, I find myself baffled seeing that a Lega classic, Star Warrior (or Fantasy Soul for the 'normies') getting a recent remaster for the SPHERE. I could not leave any stone unturned when it comes to ensuring that all SPRGs of my era are given their two cents, and when I remember a fonder time of years behind me, I remember the marketing push for this (at the time) obscure title. So, Gliders in hand, I went to my local game retailer and pre-ordered my copy.

There was a sense of nostalgia I felt when thinking about my upcoming adventures back in that game, so I revisited another timeless classic from that era, Last Dream by Circle Onyx. Hard to believe that such a title was more literal in the sense of the Souen-based studio, however, game developer legend Tenki Kurieita managed to pull it off. So when I heard in his twilight years he was being pulled back by Lega to produce titles, I couldn't help but think he might add more to this remaster, and truly give Fantasy Soul a place among the SPRG greats! Sadly to say, it's much worse than I imagined.

When the day arrived that I booted up my SPHERE, I could already tell this was another Lega cash grab. The beautiful name 'Fantasy Soul' was given its international designation as 'Star Warrior'. I've seen plenty of SRPGs fall into that same pool in an attempt to broaden their horizons, but in my opinion, it shows Lega's utter lack of communion with their real fans. Regardless, a name change shouldn't matter if the gameplay is still intact?

You are introduced as HERO, the titular character to defeat the Cosmic Darkness to save the kingdom. And while this isn't exactly innovative, I can understand following in the design philosophies of master storytellers like those at Circle Onyx, as even they could take the 'hero defeating great darkness' trope and truly make it an amazing experience. HERO (I'm calling him such as the name follows the idea of capitalizing on important things) hasn't had any significant design changes with this remaster, however, I think it's safe to say that even comparing it back to its original release, the look is dated. I can't expect them to be able to overhaul a design that put Star Warrior on the map, but in reality, the lame cow-lick cyan hair is something that can be considered a staple trope.

The gameplay loop goes as follows: You move HERO across a map of several tiles, each time having a random chance for an event to happen, ranging from battling a monster to finding Gliders to spend. And you are going to NEED these Gliders. I'll get into it momentarily, but let's start with combat! Combat is the stereotypical old-school SRPG mechanic of 'tanking hits until you win'. Sadly, such modern add-ons, like dodging percentiles and other actions to make the action more dynamic were not considered for this remaster. Whether this is because they thought that 'remastering' would mean giving an old jalopy a new coat of paint was good enough shows the corners that Lega was willing to cut. Regardless, there is an ebb and flow, as each fight can be nail-biting, as enemies can also crit damage you, making your encounter end in a flash if you didn't prepare. You start with only a standard Autogun (more of a sword guy myself) and can improve with the other dynamic of the game: Towns.

Each map holds a town, which you can rest (for a fee), a shop that sells you one attack upgrade to make the grinding easier as well as spells to change up what you do in combat. And let me tell you here and now, YOU WILL NEED THEM. Each spell is not an optional selection for class variety (something Last Dream would pull off flawlessly) but are mandatory for your success to avoid a Game Over and losing hours of progress. How they thought this was a wise design decision is beyond me, however, when I took the time to replay the classic Fantasy Soul (I had an imported copy from Souen), this is 'as intended'. Remember those Gliders you collect from defeating enemies and randomly finding them on the tiles on the map? Consider these your EXP (a system notoriously missing from an SRPG, so is it even still that?) as you can't progress without ensuring you've bought out the store for the Autogun upgrade as well as the spells (three in total, one per map). The only other thing Gliders are used for is for the inn, as well as the healing items, which can be used to extend the time needed before running back to the town to heal.

What this results in is HERO needing to constantly run out of town, and fight one or two Wisps before retreating to town to take a nap (which I'm sure the Inn Keeper must surely get tired of you), but as the Glider value increases from the surrounding enemies, so do these shop prices (the increase from 50 Gliders to 450 Gliders it outrageous! Does a Karsandan own the second map's inn??) But, your grinding doesn't end there. Oh, no. Lega's ''''innovative'''' strategy goes beyond just the shops and inn. Scattered through the maps, there are 'rare' encounters, which can net you some items NECESSARY to complete the game (they seem optional, but without some of these items, such as an upgrade to the Flow Spell Inferni, are needed to keep up with the damage output the enemies produce).

While I will do my best to avoid spoilers (I am a reviewer, after all) I have to say this game, even in its remastered state, is a fairly short play, as most can complete this title in under 10 hours. And if you're really trying to get all of the items and accomplish the 'true' ending, then you may be pushing twenty. While no slouch compared to other games campaigns (Call of Battle's single-player campaign can run maybe 4-6 hours for a first-person shooter in the recent era, no small feat in my opinion), it is small fry compared to games of the era's own playtime (Last Dream 1 alone was nearly 40 hours of content). This means that for the remaster's current price, I am hesitant to recommend it.

Fantasy Soul, or Star Warrior, was one of the games that put a small company like Lega on the map. It certainly drew them out from obscurity, and taking shots in the dark is what pushed this amazing genre forward. It certainly wasn't an SRPG to make bounds and strides, as Last Dream's colossal legacy continues to push forward today (the 15th installment is slated to come out sometime this holiday season), and perhaps I was merely sparkly-eyed and young when I first played this title. Playing it now, after both doing the original and remaster for this review, I must sadly say, perhaps it should have stayed a gleaming gem in my childhood, as now it's little more than a plastic toy rock from this.

Final Verdict: Get it on sale, and avoid the strategy guide. You can really figure the stuff out on your own.

Rodger "RocketDodger" Anderson is a Journalist for NEET (News. Electronic. Entertainment. Tabloids.) Publication, and has been covering a large variety of Souen and Ales products for 15 years. His dedication to his craft is only surpassed by his impeccable gaming skills.