Chantelise - First Impression

Shanghai Alice said:

First impression:

This game is hard.
I die. A lot. Argh.

Click to expand...

That pretty much sums it up.

Okay, so I downloaded Chantelise today, thinking "Well, I didn't really plan to, but it's only $8, so why not?"

...

...

. . .

Yeah.

This game is painful.

See, I've already played Recettear. I loved Recettear. It was an awesome game, and I'm pretty sure it was more-or-less directly responsible for me missing several questions on my exams. I mean, it was a cute game about a girl who ran an item shop, and did cute things. What's not to love, right?

So, naturally, the next game (that was, incidentally, released in Japan earlier), Chantelise, should be just as fun, right?

Well, yes.. And a lot more frustrating.

See, Recettear may have been challenging in the shopkeeping aspect, but the dungeons were absurdly easy, unless Louie was like, level 1. Eventually, it got to the point where being taken down by a boss really meant something. Charme, for instance, was a shock to me because I had to face the threat of almost dying.

Yeah. I considered Charme hard because I was level 20, and I almost died.

I now consider a level in Chantelise easy if I'm not running from corner to corner desperately taking potshots at enemies in hopes that one of them will drop a health recovery item to make me not die.

Chantelise is really hard, yo.

But still. Chantelise is incredibly cute, and incredibly enjoyable. The magic system is fun, the enemies (Same as the ones in Recettear... or, you know, it's the other way around) are fun, and the music is amazing.

Oh, and the shop makes you understand why EGS made Recettear in the first place. Ana is a capitalist demon in human form. It almost makes me want to overthrow the town and set up a Communist regime.

But still.

Chantelise is out, and I'm playing like mad, because I need to, because I suck.

Buy it now. Or, you know, get the demo. Just... play it.

But don't pirate it.

Yes, that's right, I just said not to pirate a game. Because Carpe Fulgur is totally awesome, and they deserve every penny they get.

And Chante will cave your shins in, according to the demo.

Well, that actually sounds like it would be worth a look.