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Warsong

aka: Langrisser, Langrisser: Hikari no Matsuei
Moby ID: 13692

Genesis version

The most enjoyable gem I've ever played. Period.

The Good
This turn-based RPG had 20 missions; all of which had different criteria to meet for victory. The delicate balance of how to attack an enemy (terrain advantages) and with which character always made things challenging and suspenseful. Plus, when your guys would level up to a new class, you'd receive a host of new spells and abilities. A wide variety of enemies and locales kept things interesting.
Extremely catchy music, and awesome sound effects (ie. death screams). I just loved it when your lord would launch a rolling fireball at an enemy boss, and watch his HP tick down to 0 in like a second; powerful! The characters, although somewhat underdeveloped, were still awesome. If you lost one of them in a battle, you'd NEVER get them back for the rest of the game, so you became quite attached to them and their performance throughout the missions. You could also save your game halfway through a mission, which was a plus.

The Bad
The fact that the sequels didn't come out in the US (although I have played ported ROMs of Langrisser II, which is just as awesome)! The music, though good, could be repetitive at times. The sprites are tiny compared to other games of the time like Shining Force, although this was probably a good thing since they looked more realistic and not like cartoon characters (of course the character pics are total anime).

The Bottom Line
This game was relatively unheard of in the Genesis community, which is a real shame. I've played Shining Force, and although I enjoyed it, it didn't hold a candle to Warsong. I know that virtually all games today are in real-time, but there was something about turn-based games that I enjoyed more. Probably since I had time to pause and strategise, I could take what was going on all in, rather than just hack and slash like a first person shooter drone. Definitely pick this game up; you won't be disappointed!

by lado (25) on February 17, 2005

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