Yggdra Union (GBA)
I finaly picked up this game from gamestop yesterday because not only is it becoming extremely rare (there are only a handful of these available on ebay at one time and compolete copies often sell in the $45 range) but also becuase it is from Atlus and the creators of Riviera (another rare RPG for the GBA which I loved).
I was skeptical on the purchase due to its extremely unique gameplay. It plays out like most tactical RPGs such as fire emblem and FFTactics however there are some crucial changes in the standard formula. For one you use cards which you gradualy earn over the course of the game. Each card has some sort of spell or effect as well as a move number. Whichever card you use for the turn, say you use the blizzard card and it has "Mov. 8" that means throughout ALL of your characters on the field you can only move them a total of 8 spaces. Moving one character 8 times usues up the move space, moving two characters 4 times each has the same effect.
Each battle is like a mini war battle that you watch unfold onscreen with tons of varrying stats and stuff that can alter the outcome.
Another huge change is that characters dont have the typical hp and such, instead they have a "morale" which is sort of like a lifebar but not entirely. Say you lose a battle, your morale will drop accordingly to how bad you were beaten. Even if you were defeated but your morale is not depleted you live on to keep battling with that character.
Theres alot more to the game that I cant possibly explain all of it here, I am also 3 hours into the game and the game has not even introducted to me cards' magic and skills yet (it does a good job in gradualy introducing you to new things)
The game however is quite brutal in its difficulty. Your characters morale does not recover after any of the battles, instead you must use scarce items you gain on the battlefield to restore it instead. Enter a battle with your characters all having low moral and its sure defeat (the battles I have done so far all take upwards to 1 hour each)
If theres one thing simply jaw dropping about the game its the visual quality and presentation. It does seem a bit overcrowded at times with text, bars, and numbers, but its just so damn impressive for a GBA game I have a hard time believing its on the platform in the first place. Huge character portraits rich in detail, and upwards of 12 fully animated sprites on screen at once, it all looks awsome. The grid based battlefeilds themselves look plain and boring but thats often a staple of these types pf games on handhelds.
I reccoemdn this game to tactical rpg fans, anyone into highly anime style RPG's, fans of extremely niche games or anyone into something different. The game might be hard to track down in your area though (the only copy I have seen of this game EVER was in this gamestop) but even if you end up hating the game its a good investment or collectors piece due to its current and future rarity.
(this is only good image I could find on IGN of the tactical map itself, its smaller and in japanese)
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Riviera was a fantastic game, tho, so I might give it a try. Did this just come out?
Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes
