Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/70420/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Developer: Easy Game Station
Publisher: Carpe Fulgur LLC
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: Jul 29, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG, Hack-n-Slash
Pros:
-Fast-paced and to-the-point Action
-Challenging gameplay (Classic games level challenging)
-Story, art style, and dialogues are light-hearted and humorous
-Lots of secrets and bonus content
-Controller Compatible
Cons:
-You will die a lot; it might be discouraging for some players
-Boss battles aren't very straight-forward and figuring out their patterns may require dying
-Did I mention you will die a lot?
Possibly the most entertaining game I have played on Steam this past half year, Chantelise delivers a simple yet exciting Action-RPG experience with its challenging gameplay, light-hearted humor, and easy going tunes. As a fairy-turned human and sword-wielding warrior sister duo, the player guides them in search of the so-called "witch" that turned Chante into a fairy. The game plays much like a hack-n-slash, but manages to keep the game fresh all the way through with the utilization of special equipment and elemental gems. The controls are tight, the pseudo 3D anime graphics really work with the light-hearted theme they're going for, and the bosses are pretty memorable (or at least the fights against them were). The story isn't very heavy, but it's there and provides the basis of the events in the game. So the game leans more towards Action Hack-n-Slash more than an RPG. Those who like a challenge in their game should definitely check out Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters.
Aesthetics
One of the first things that caught my eye was the pseudo 3D graphics. It uses 3D models and 2D sprites much the same way Ragnarok Online did for their games where the environment was 3D but character sprites were 2D images with different angles for a full 360 degree view. Having a female dominant cast of characters in an animé fashion might not please some or a lot of gamers, but those already accustomed to doujin games (indie games in Japan) or modern animé pop culture will have no problem with the theme and atmosphere of the game. The characters all have their distinct personalities and there are some moments in the game's dialogue where you'll get a genuine laugh out of it. A lot of the enemies are repeated with different colors, but it made it easier to define what kind of enemy type they are. The level designs are pretty creative and really easy to navigate through. I kind of wish that the camera could've been tilted on the y axis as well as the x axis as platforming was sometimes tricky on such a horizontal plane or when there's an enemy below/above you. The music is what you'd expect from a Japanese indie game (doujin games) where it's simple, sounds MIDI-ish, catchy, and easy going. All in all, the aesthetics worked really well for the game. Aesthetics: 9/10
Buttons
One of the faults that a lot of ambitious indie games have is making it very complex. Chantelise kept the controls of the game very simple and made the gameplay itself challenging to compensate the simplistic mechanics. Essentially, the controls are movement, attack, jump, and magic. There is a button to lock-on targets and the ability to move the camera around with buttons or analog stick. The game is evidently developed with the gamepad in mind. I can't imagine playing this game on keyboard when moving the camera around is incredibly important. I played the game with a PS2 controller and it worked incredibly well. Attacks are generally 3-hit combos with the sword, 5-hit combos with the wind Crystal, and charged up strikes with certain crystals. The jump button is used to dodge enemy attack, get to higher grounds, lunge in with a jump attack, or pressed together with the attack button to do an evasive side dodge. The magic button is held down to consume 1-4 elemental gems to unleash a spell. Movement, attacks, evasion, jumping and spell casting are very instantaneous seamless with one another. Having the camera pan for the x-axis (horizontal view) set on my right analog stick was pivotal in a lot of battles and made the gameplay much easier to handle. Still, I wished that y-axis could've been manipulated, though I can understand through a design choice why it wasn't implemented (would have caused a lot of problems for camera angling and obstruction to the player's view). The controls were simplistic, but well designed for the game and made for a very fun experience. Buttons: 9/10
Concept and Content
The game plays much like other Action-RPGs such as Shining Soul where the player is presented with a world map and chooses which level to run through. Each room is blocked until all the enemies are defeated by the player killing them with their sword and picking up elemental gems to cast spells for more devastating attacks. At the end of every level is a boss. Should the player be defeated, they are sent back to town. Luckily, the player doesn't have to fight all the enemies all over again to unlock the room as completed rooms are cleared and grants access to the next area. The character growth is steady and fair which keeps the difficulty of the game really high. The player would have to grind long and hard before the game would ever become too easy, and that's not the aim of the game. If a player has reached an area in a level they can't beat but don't want to walk through the entire level again to figure out a strategy (such as a boss battle), the player can select that specific area and practice. With the limited amount of equipment slots, the player can experiment what combination of items is best for certain situations. The gem system to cast spells feels gimmicky in the beginning, but there's a sense of uncertainty and requires the player to improvise based on what they're fighting and what they get. Even though the combo attack never changes throughout the entire game, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes out of defeating an enemy and see them explode in loud and flashy glory. Other than the main game, there's also a survival cavern, a special cavern, a fishing mini-game on the side to acquire special items, and treasure hidden in every area of every level in the game. For a simplistic, indie game, the experience was entertaining and provided a good amount of content. It's essentially a straight up Hack-n-Slash with RPG elements; however, it's the enemy AI and level design that made the game vary itself and stay fresh to the very end. Concept and Content: 10/10
Duration
Originally, I had planned to rush through the game and beat it as quickly as possible. What took the most time were the 2nd boss battle and the very last one. I had died at least 30-50 times throughout the game mainly from those two bosses. The last one in particular was just too hard and so I decided to farm for gold and look for treasure. In the end, I was glad I took the extra time to play through the game as it added to the experience. The flow of the game is much like traditional games where it leads the player from one event or level to the next. It never bothered with becoming too complicated, but it also didn't lack depth either. The entire playthrough took about 16 hours when I could've beaten it in about 7 if I could've just beaten the last boss. Still, those extra 9 hours was worth it. Although I was replaying the levels, it felt different each time since I had different items on or got different gems. The fishing mini-game is a bit too much for me as items require a bit a fishes before you can get them; however, the survival dungeon really added to the replay value. I've only run through the dungeon once and spent 48 minutes in it before I died. Survival was a lot of fun and will be the prime reason why I'm leaving Chantelise on my Steam list to play again. Duration: 10/10
Fun
In the very beginning, I thought it was somewhat interesting but feared that it might have lacked depth. I was essentially just hacking away at enemies with spells just doing more damage while equipment only altered my stats by a little. When I got into the meat of the game and found how difficult it can be, I realized how much more the game had to offer. The equipment combinations can be multi-equipped and they're kind of like builds to the type of playstyle you're looking for a strategy to plan to execute in a certain situation. The gems became significantly more important as certain enemies are better killed by elements than physical damage. It was mainly the challenge and having to die over and over to learn a boss' pattern or find a strategy to get through a room that made it so involving. It's the same type of feeling I got when I played games from the NES era where learning came from failing a lot and learning to be precise as well as experimenting with equipment combinations. I felt very satisfied at the end and didn't have any lingering emotions that affected my opinion about the game. It was very conclusive and made me feel really good about the game. If all of Easy Game Station's games are like this, I hope we get to see more brought over. Fun: 10/10
Overall
I knew I'd be interested in the game, but I didn't know how much I would like it. Chantelise was a surprising game that provided a decent hack-n-slash experience to an Action-RPG and made it really fun as most hack-n-slash games are generally considered repetitive and boring. I liked the Animé style drawings, the pseudo 3D graphics, the light-hearted humor, the easy going music, the challenging bosses, the flashy effects, and the satisfying combat that came out of this game. I would highly recommend anyone who like Action games or seeking a decent challenge to give Chantelise a try. Overall: 9.6/10
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