Post by solidbatman on Sept 24, 2012 11:13:25 GMT -5
-Visuals- 7.5/10
Solid, but unimpressive in anyway. The graphics are done through the use of sprites which are well drawn and colorful, and the environments are drawn out very nicely too, albeit, a bit cartoonish. Them being cartoonish is not a bad thing, and fits the mood of the game as a light- hearted economy game. Each individual item is unique looking and the dialogue scenes are done in a visual novel esque way with an anime portrait of a character being displayed with text running at the bottom. As I said, the visuals are solid, but do not really stand out in anyway. This game lacks a visual identity, and while drawn fairly well, it comes off as generic.
-Sound- 7/10
No english dub here, and not every line is voice acted in Japanese. Still, the Japanese voice acting is done well and did not seem out of place. The music is simple, but does it's job and keeps the game up beat which is fitting for the story. There just isn't a whole lot to be said about the sounds of this game.
-Gameplay- 8.5/10
Once again, solid, but how long it manages to hold you until you get bored is the key question. In this game, you run an item shop. So, you have to keep your shelves stocked and try to repay a massive loan by turning out a profit. To keep your shelves stocked, you have to buy items from other sellers and then resell those items. As the game progresses, more and more things to keep up with are added, such as advance orders, arrangement of shelves, the style of walls and flooring in your shop, the world economy, and even item placement. The items that you really want to sell should be placed on the window displays for example. This will bring more customers in to buy. As you level up your merchant rank, more items and options are unlocked. For that reason, failing to meet the loan repayment objective is not always a bad thing. Yes, the game will start over, but the items you have and your merchant level remain unchanged, making it easier to hit the goal you missed. When someone wants to buy an item, a dialogue will open as you haggle about the price. Customers may come in to sell items as well, in which case you must again haggle a price. Finally, the world economy can heavily affect how much you can sell items for. For example, should their be book craze, people will be more willing to buy books for a higher price, but conversely, if their was a huge harvest, food prices will drop and you may end up selling food at a loss. Once the item shop aspect of the game is mastered, it becomes a fairly simple game to play.
There is also a dungeon crawling aspect to the game. You may charter an adventurer to go into dungeons for you. When you do this, you play as the adventurer in a hack and slash action RPG. One button does your main attack, and another does your special. Traps are in the dungeon along with plenty of enemies. Completing dungeons will hopefully bring you essentially free items that you can sell. Time management is important though. The day is divided up into four parts. Exiting your shop to go shopping will cost one part of the day, but it doesn't count until you re-enter your shop. That way you can do all your shopping at once, for just one part of the day. Going into a dungeon though, will cost you two parts of the day. So be careful with how you spend time in this game, as loan repayment deadlines will creep up on you very quickly. The main downside to this game, is that it simply may not hold your attention for very long as it is simple once learned.
Story- 8/10
The story really takes a back seat to the gameplay. You play as Reccete, who's father has gone on an adventure, but seems to have died outside of the town fighting a dragon while standing on the edge of a volcano (the scene is actually comedic somehow, kudos for that). Unfortunately for Reccete, her dad took out a massive loan before leaving, and with his death, the debt transfers to her. A debt collector fairy named Tear comes to collect the loan, but knows Reccete can't pay it off. So she offers to help Reccete run an item shop. What to call this shop though? Reccetear of course! The story and characters are all funny and light hearted, if not strange and eccentric. Early in the game, the antagonist (if their even is one) is caught sneaking into your shop to spy in a top secret disguise that would make Solid Snake proud (in a cardboard box). Expect that sort of humor. It's simply a happy game.
-Overall- 8/10
Reccetear is a fun game, but one that may have trouble holding your attention. It features solid, but generic visuals with gameplay that seems complex, but once learned is simple to play. After paying off the loan, you can continue playing in one of two ways. One way involves difficult profit goals for you to meet, while the other is just a simple free mode, where there are no monetary goals. I picked this game up cheap in a Steam sale, and it was worth the few dollars I paid. Luckily, their is a very good demo on Steam for this game, so if you are unsure about forking over the $20, pick up the free demo and see what you think.
