Seriously...I could spend a LOT of money on this Steam sale. The SEGA collection alone has so much good shit my head hurts.....

Threw about 6 hours into Rainbow Moon today. The verdict:

Totally worth $15.00!

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I can very easily see this being a DS or 3DS game, me paying $30+ dollars for it and still being satisfied. It's one of those types of games that does nothing especially, mind-bendingly NEW or ASTONISHING, but neither does it do anything OFFENSIVE either. It's middle of the road, vanilla SRPG gaming, but it scratches an inch that's kinda hard to reach these days.

You can just tell by the art alone, this is a very clean, simple, by the numbers type of game... It has SRPG standards like a turn meter to see who is moving next (complete with Haste and Slow attacks to change the order), the grid is in full effect; you've got your defend, attack and skill options... You get skills from reading scrolls; you level these skills by using them more and more. Instead of having Technique points, or turn points, each character's turn is divided into Sub-Turns. The more Sub-Turns you have, the more actions you can take per turn. You earn more and more as you Level up your character.

You have your typical Strength, Speed, Defense, and Luck stats. These are boosted by your weapons and armor. Your weapons and armors base-stats can be boosted by crafting. There's a Strength/Weakness, Rock/Paper/Scissors thing going on in the game... Staffs are better than Swords, Swords are better than Bows, Bows are better than Lances, Lances are better than Slingshots, Slingshots are better than Axes, Axes are better than Staffs... and so on!

Battles happen on the World Map either Randomly, where you can choose to fight enemies or not --OR-- you'll see an Enemy Guarding a particular location and you run into it to initiate the fight. You can run away from ANY fight at ANY time. You only lose the experience you've gained from that fight so far as a penalty. There are dungeons scattered all over the place. So far it seems as if there are Story/Quest Dungeons as well as Optionals you can explore to find better equipment and buffs. Don't be surprised if you see Super-Leveled Monsters roaming about in them though! First dungeon I walked into (at level Two or Three), there was a Level 150 Monster guarding a rather tempting looking treasure chest! The dungeons start out, blackened out on the map and it fills in as you explore. You can also find Complete Maps in chests, as well. You'll rescue Adventurers down in dungeons, run into Healers and Vendors, as well as Savants (they let you spend Rainbow Points to strengthen your Stats) and Scroll Salesmen down there too!

I like how they begin the game. It's got a nice twist to it: You can Choose Normal or Hard difficulty. Hard gives you higher level enemies to deal with and they use a wider variety of Skills of their own --BUT-- what's kind of cooler: You get different starting perks! Do you want the game to be easier? Start the game with a Survival Pack with Potions and Weapons. Feeling Adventurous? Start on 'Adventurous' and you start with nothing but a 'Toy Sword' and you have to earn everything yourself! There were a few other Options as well, but I stuck with Normal and Adventure! I enjoy the grinding aspect of games like this, so I wanted to start bare-handed!

Don't expect Final Fantasy Tactics like drama, or anything too crazy here! I am half expecting a talking Squid boss or to be asked to clear a cellar of rats at any moment, but I am still liking it a lot! I said it before, I'll say it again: Think late generation Genesis or mid-gen Saturn strategy and you'll know what you are getting into. It plays as simply as one of those styles of games, but has an extra bit of depth in there to satisfy modern gamers too.

I've played for a good couple of hours today and haven't even started on the 'What the hell am I doing here and how the Hell do I get off of this moon?' MAIN, MAIN story path yet! From what I hear there's Seven Pieces of... something... (Colors?) to open a gate... somewhere... I read this in a generic description of the game, but haven't had anyone even mention this in the game yet! I estimate 35-40 hours for a moderate play-thru, but I have heard it goes into the HUNDREDS if you want to do every, last Side-Quest! For FIFTEEN DOLLARS?! Need I say more?

**If I do, let me know!**

Only thing I didn't like: There's tons of little DLC things you can buy for the game: Money, Skill Points, Amulets, Eqipment... No Side-Quests or anything yet, and as far as I can tell, you can obtain everything you can purchase in the game yourself... but it's there, if you are too lazy to get it yourself!  

I guess you can. Salmonella infections can linger around your system for a long-ass time, although that almost always goes down as an asymptomatic carrier thing.

Foolz said:

phantom_leo said:

**Edit: Oops! ...and Bar-B-Que and Beer on the night before the 4th!**

Well, there's your problem.

I was already feeling sick to my stomach a few days before the BBQ and Beer though... A *slight* improvement in the way I was feeling prompted me to celebrate and treat myself the night before the 4th...  **which lead me to sitting indoors, mostly on the porcelain throne, on the actual 4th of July...   **

Thanks Leo. That was great feedback! Better than just about anything I've read about it so far. It's a shame you my friend are so damned pretty. If you were a fat ugly son of a bitch you would have made an excellent game reviewer.

edgecrusher said:

How can you waste your time with Sonic with the insane amount of unplayed games you have?