Best Vanillaware Game?

[the_great_cessation]

I have yet to play a Vanillaware title, but I've always wanted to. Basically, I want to know what would be the best game to see if I'll enjoy their games. I'm most interested in ether Odin Sphere, Muramasa or Dragon's Crown but I'm open to other responses as well.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Dragon's Crown are two extremely well done games. The artwork is drop dead gorgeous, immaculate attention to detail, great music, fun and addictive gameplay. And for challenge seekers, both games can definitely stress your skills. You couldn't ask for much more in a game. If you're interested in them, definitely get them. They're very worth it.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I've played Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire. Obviously both have impeccable hand-drawn 2D graphics and the presentation is top notch, you can replay any level you want to improve your score and toggle between the English and the original Japanese OST with subs. Gameplay is fun, novel and challenging. Stories are convoluted in a nice way, with lots of interesting characters crossing paths et al.

Odin Sphere is one of my favorite PS2 games and got nothing against it. You play through 5 intersecting campaigns of the 5 protagonists, consisting of 5 chapters each. Sometimes you'll find it a bit repetitive, but characters act & control differently enough so that gameplay never gets old. The story is nothing to call home about but it's told in a very attractive way as the plot goes back and forth filling in the blanks.

Now about Grimoire: it's an RTS working on 2D and controlling the screen + half a dozen units belonging to several classes can get tricky. There're ways of using hot keys or auto select but it always felt just a bit awkward and impractical. Seeing as missions can last a good hour and beyond that, the lack of mid-mission saving can be frustrating on any difficulty, too. While I liked the missions and the bonus missions you get for every one of them, I also missed the ability to play in randomly-generated scenarios outside story missions.

And in conclusion, I'd love to try Dragon's Crown, mostly for the co-op. Know nothing about Muramasa. But Odin Sphere is a winning choice. Grimoire too but I suspect it's one of those hate-or-love games.

 

[piinyouri]

Just as an aside about Odin Sphere to the OP, I agree with Johnny in that it is quite spectacular in many ways. The aesthetic, the sprite quality of course, even the combat is pretty fun, but you should know it suffers from a great deal of lag whenever a moderate amount of enemies are on screen, and bosses can almost bring the game to a standstill.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Just as an aside about Odin Sphere to the OP, I agree with Johnny in that it is quite spectacular in many ways. The aesthetic, the sprite quality of course, even the combat is pretty fun, but you should know it suffers from a great deal of lag whenever a moderate amount of enemies are on screen, and bosses can almost bring the game to a standstill.

Yeah I'd forgotten about this. I never found it all that game-breaking but Queen Odette is a pain to fight since she spawns these little ghosts and overcrowds the screen while dragging down the frame rate to an almost (never quite reached it though) standstill. Generally speaking Vanillaware Ltd. handles the overcrowding well but as far as the PS2 goes there was some lagging with Odette and some of the dragon bosses.

 

[Tanis]

Odin Sphere is fantastic, a PS2 classic, but I hope you're in the PAL (EURO) region as the NTSC-U version seems to have a LOT more lagging issues.
-I own both copies, because, reasons.
The music is simply amazing.

Muramasa isn't as deep as Odin Sphere when it comes to the RPG/combat, but it's still a damn fine game, a must own for the Wii.

Dragon's Crown is just...amazing.
It's got the most depth out of the lot, at least when it comes to customization and leveling, but it does take a hit on the whole 'there's a LOT of insider references to classic Western High-Fantasy literature/art' and that may put some people off.

I'd also suggest, if you can find it, Princess Crown.
A fantastic game that's worth playing.

 

[Roxas1359]

Odin Sphere is fantastic, a PS2 classic, but I hope you're in the PAL (EURO) region as the NTSC-U version seems to have a LOT more lagging issues.

So would you recommend that I import the game then? I've been meaning to get Odin Sphere, but I don't want to deal with lagging issues much, and my PS2 allows me to play region free games on it (modified it and have a program disc to bypass region coding)

OT: Only Vanillaware game I've played is Dragon's Crown and I simply love it to death. Wish my friends had it too so I could play with them. T^T

 

[Tanis]

@Neronium: If you can, then yes.
The lag is going to be there, it's one of those 'too damn powerful for the system' games.
It's not game breaking, but it can be pretty annoying.

If you've got a decent enough PC I'd suggest running it though your DVD drive on your computer.
For me at least, the NTSC-U and PAL versions, run better for some reason.
-You have to tweak the settings a bit, but it's worth it.

Totally off topic:
Everyone here should check out Naval Ops: Warship Gunner 2.
I love this game.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

If you have a PS3, get the PSN store version of Odin Sphere in the PS2 section. The framerate issues are a lot better as it plays from the HDD. Alternatively, if you manage to find the disc version for a reasonable price (but should probably be more expensive than PSN) and have a decent PC it's legal to use that disc on a PS2 emulator and jack up the resolution to make it look even more beautiful and run perfect.

That aside, if you have to pick one game it depends on what you're into/how you're playing. Dragon's Crown is probably their best game, but is probably a lesser experience to Odin Sphere if you're playing by yourself. DC shines with some friends/girlfriend/wife on the couch or friends you know online who have it. I personally would put GrimGrimiore in last place, though that's no slight against the game on it's own terms. It's probably because I'm not as much into the RTS/strategy thing, if you like Ogre Tactics or Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, etc. then it should be your first pick if you'd be playing Dragon's Crown alone.

If you have a Vita, definitely get Muramasa on there as opposed to the Wii, but I'd say playing Odin Sphere first is more important as I find it to be the better game.

No matter which choice you make, you'll be treated to absolutely gorgeous 2D artwork, like playing a beautiful cartoon with bright and vibrant colors, as well as depth, length, and an air of passion and love for games as a medium. Great studio.

Side note: If you become crazy over them like I have, note that most of the members of Vanillaware used to be in Atlus before leaving to form Vanillaware. Before leaving Atlus the team made a Sega Saturn exclusive, Japanese exclusive game called Princess Crown that's absolutely worth playing. I just...don't think many people have a modified/Japanese Saturn and Japanese literacy in order to enjoy it.

Sorry if I made your choice more confusing as opposed to easy : )

 

[Roxas1359]

@Neronium: If you can, then yes.
The lag is going to be there, it's one of those 'too damn powerful for the system' games.
It's not game breaking, but it can be pretty annoying.
I love this game.

Well for me I don't like using emulators, although if the need arises then I'll try it since PSX2 is considered legal as long as you get the BIOs from your own PS2 (which I have done). But yeah I just don't want lag mainly since I'm also an LPer and was planning on LPing that game in the future, and framerate drops can get screwy with HD PVRs at times from what I've seen, mainly in that frames suddenly start dropping from the recordings.

I'll do some more research into this though.

 

[infohippie]

Haha. As a PC gamer, I thought this thread was going to be about the best game to play without mods.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Odin Sphere. Odin Sphere, Odin Sphere, Odin Sphere. The game is fantastic. It's beautiful and I love the grandeur and style of the story and the way it all is like a Victorian era play at times. The only complaint I have with the gameplay is one enemy, slimes. Slimes are a pain in the butt to kill if you don't have any items that create fire. Seriously, get Odin Sphere.

 

[Roxas1359]

Haha. As a PC gamer, I thought this thread was going to be about the best game to play without mods.

And the simple answer to that question would be base Fallout games as they have much content. Then after you beat the game once, mod the ever-living sh*t out of it because then it feels like you're playing the game for the first time again. XD

 

[Anthony Wells]

dragons crown or odin sphere, not much I can add from what others have said about them. Odin sphere is a beautiful game, good story line (if a bit hard to follow since it jumps around, if you play it you will see what I mean) and dragons crown is an absolutely amazing game, its very balanced, though a note, you have to beat the first 9 levels before online play opens up (i like it this way, if you can't beat the boss of level 9 alone then you sure as hell can't beat the other bosses, its like a rite of passage and it at least wards off the terrible players. which is very useful in a game where every player makes it harder) and do note, neither of these games are particularly easy, and odin's sphere can get downright nasty sometimes (so can dragons crown which gets particularly unforgiving around the end game bosses)

 

[Cybylt]

Odin Sphere is fantastic, a PS2 classic, but I hope you're in the PAL (EURO) region as the NTSC-U version seems to have a LOT more lagging issues.

So would you recommend that I import the game then? I've been meaning to get Odin Sphere, but I don't want to deal with lagging issues much, and my PS2 allows me to play region free games on it (modified it and have a program disc to bypass region coding)

OT: Only Vanillaware game I've played is Dragon's Crown and I simply love it to death. Wish my friends had it too so I could play with them. T^T

If Dragon's Crown is your first Vanillaware experience you are in for some serious downgrades and disappointments on the gameplay front.

Odin Sphere's combat is kind of butt, to be frank, and every character goes through the exact same stages in a slightly different order. Not that stages really mean anything, they are all a single sidescrolling pathway on an endless loop, so I guess window dressing is more appropriate a term. The pace of battle is slow and uninteresting, hampered by a pretty poorly implemented stamina system that stops you from doing more than a couple of attacks at a time.

Bosses frequently cause the game to dip into single digit framerates and have far too much health to have been made by someone aware of the other systems at play.

Time not spent in combat is spent in alchemy on the same lifeless plains you walk across and the tutorial for it sometimes bugs out and you simply can't complete it. You plant seeds on the map and they grow as you defeat enemies, you get experience to level with this as well but the game has far greater rewards if you hold onto food to make into potions or give to a cafe later on.

The only thing really holding it together at all is the artwork.

Odin Sphere is okay as a three or four hour game, but it is unbearable since it stretches and pads and pads and stretches itself into a forty hour game.

There's enjoyment to be had in there somewhere, but it is the grandest of slogs to get to it.

Muramasa was a massive improvement because it added things like platforming and combat with combos and dodges and guard breaks. But still kind of hampered by a ton of backtracking where you find a locked gate at one end of a region, the key is on the other end of the next region, and there is no quick travel for the most part.

 

[Roxas1359]

snip

Eh, I think I'll manage.
I mean heck, I actually went through Shadow the Hedgehog for 100% completion before, and if any game is a war for attrition, it's that game. Especially since it forces you to replay it do many times just to get the actual ending.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I have only played Grim Grimoire, Odins Sphere and Dragons Crown and out of those three I would say Dragons Crown is the easily the best.

Grim Grimoire is fun but the fights go on for too long for my liking and it can get very annoying and fiddly in some games I just found I wasnt having fun anymore after a certain point and so stopped playing.

Odins Sphere looks amazing although it can take some time to get into I actually had 3 goes at it before I got anywhere but I have never managed to finish it the game just felt too repetitive for me and I gave up last time during the shadow knights campaign. The game puts a lot of emphasis on items and seeds and the levels are pretty weird although calling them levels is maybe a bit misleading as they are just spheres (like in the name) that you just keep travelling around until you defeat all the enemies. The combat is ok but hardly exceptional and wasnt enough to hold my interest however the game looks amazing and some of the bosses are great. I think the game is a very acquired taste and certainly isnt for a lot of people.

Dragons Crown like Odins sphere looks amazing but I found the gameplay and levels to be far superior. It does like Odin Sphere suffer from repetition later on but does a better job of making it passable imo the bosses are also amazing killer rabbit ftw! This game is basically an old school dungeon crawler game like Golden Axe but redone from a more modern perspective and it does it amazingly well if you hate these types of games you wont find anything to like here but otherwise its definitely worth playing as its the best Golden Axe type game ever made imo (that I have played, obv ).

 

[Cybylt]

snip

Eh, I think I'll manage.
I mean heck, I actually went through Shadow the Hedgehog for 100% completion before, and if any game is a war for attrition, it's that game. Especially since it forces you to replay it do many times just to get the actual ending.

Alright yeah, if you could do Shadow the Hedgehog which was both a boring slog and had nothing really worthwhile to reach for, you'll be okay with Odin Sphere.

Dragon's Crown is by far the best game of it's type, though I cannot watch the sorceress in motion. It's just gross.

 

[Roxas1359]

snip

Eh, I think I'll manage.
I mean heck, I actually went through Shadow the Hedgehog for 100% completion before, and if any game is a war for attrition, it's that game. Especially since it forces you to replay it do many times just to get the actual ending.

Alright yeah, if you could do Shadow the Hedgehog which was both a boring slog and had nothing really worthwhile to reach for, you'll be okay with Odin Sphere.

Dragon's Crown is by far the best game of it's type, though I cannot watch the sorceress in motion. It's just gross.

Believe me, I was emotionally dead after attempting it, and only managed to get about 75% done with full 100%. I did labor through the game to get all the endings and then the "true" final story. I didn't know what was worse, the fact that I sat through the game for so long, or the fact that I had actually preordered the game and had the commemorative beanie come with it. Still have the beanie too.
Really though I'm sure Odin Sphere will be fine for me, especially since I've also been recording Sonic Heroes lately...>.>

 

[Candidus]

I'd like to throw my pennies in for Odin Sphere, with Dragon's Crown an extremely close second. Use a PS2 emulator on your PC if your PC is any good. No lag issues that way.

It's the best game on the PS2. The only blemish on it would be the English voice acting, but it's dual audio (and the JP voice actors are fantastic), so I can't even hold that against it!

Dragon's Crown is by far the best game of it's type, though I cannot watch the sorceress in motion. It's just gross.

Awh.. You're missing out! Even if you don't think she's hot as hell, even if you don't love her fulsome funbags, her gameplay is second in awesome only to the Amazon's.