Witch and Hero

Another simple 3DS game like Fairune, same company publishing so that may be why. Got this after testing the demo, not maybe for the gameplay which is very basic, run into monsters to collect monster blood to allow the witch to blast every monster with magic. No, the reason was the storytelling, which truth be told is also basic, but somehow it felt strong. Basically the witch and hero set out to fight the Medusa... but they fail and the witch turns to stone. The hero drags the witch away and protects her until they meet a wizard or something that turn her back to normal and they lived happily ever after... until she turns back to stone 5 seconds later, prompting the hero to fight Medusa once again and save the witch. This is what was the best part of old NES games with limited story, but clear cut goals and context. Either you made up your own story (if there was none or if you couldn't read the text in english... either due to me not learnt it yet or a really bad translations) or as in this case you made up more to fill the gaps. Fantasy at its best.

Now, the review I linked wasn't so favorable, and many things I would agree with the simplicity and such, but other things are rather nitpicky. For example the constant throwback that the hero is too stupid to use his sword? Ys don't have sword swings and that is a rater good game. Really, I think Fairune got a better grade and you don't swing a sword there either, that was even worse cause the strategy was running into the monsters, didn't matter which way, here that actually matters. You still take damage, but you can clearly see the pros in attacking from behind or such. Gameplay is a bit repetetive, enter a stage, fight monsters and collect gold and exp. Afterwards upgrade your different skills and go on until you can't progress and grind for more gold and exp. It's isn't longer than a couple of hour, and I might not recommend it on full price, but if it's on sale it's a fun little diversion.