Strongly recommending
Quester for blobber lovers (or
Metro Quester as it's known in the recent console ports). This was a game that I really didn't know what to expect from, and it surprised me pleasantly in most every way. It positions itself as a streamlined dungeon RPG which is nonetheless not lacking for mechanical substance, and I think it manages to walk that difficult line very well.
It presents one mega-dungeon which you slowly uncover and map out, clearing away debris tiles, scavenge for materials and food, and find new campsites to begin another day's explorations from, as there's a resource limit on each excursion that ticks down with practically every action within the dungeon. Exploration feels extremely rewarding in terms of itemization and discoveries made, as campsites often unlock new party members (randomized per playthrough past the initial party; to recruit all New Game+ is required), equipment drops via enemies or treasure-containing safes are plentiful and significant, and boosting the level cap beyond the initial max of 20 requires taking on passage-blocking major enemies and bosses, each bumping up the cap by 2. The game loop is well in hand throughout the entire game, and combat itself is also somewhat uniquely positioned in that it's blazingly fast once you set up your actions, and only meant to be adjusted per turn on the rare occasions that a tougher enemy requires more specialized tactics.
Every 10 levels, a character learns a passive or action skill within their class (mostly shared, but the order in which they learn them are different, so characters have some differences especially at lower levels), but most of their available actions come through equipment choices, which are not simply stat sticks but dictate which attacks and skills are available to that character; a weapon is effectively a moveset. This higher impact equipment choices possess than in most other RPGs means you have less of them to fiddle with per character, at two weapons and one accessory slot each, so you do less micro-managing but consider synergies more actively meaningfully--either for the character's own turn actions and AP costs, or how they might play into contributing to the party's stock of combat resources via drugs, batteries, explosives, and so on.
Despite all the complex equations that might occur during battle, there is no post-battle recovery routine, as everyone automatically restores to full health and the relevant resources replenish--all that's expended is a portion of the purifying fuel that's used for exploration, and so you can play recklessly and have characters die in battles, and all you're really punished with is a somewhat shorter duration on an expedition. The meaningful dripfeed of resources never really stops mattering, as the very straightforward upgrade system (a weapon combines with itself into a +1 version, and so forth with higher tiers) keeps every potential drop or treasure relevant all the way through, so fighting in the game did not become wearisome, as some facet of character-building and powering up was always taking place.
I appreciate the game's hands-off approach in storytelling too, as you only get the briefest of narrations and suggestions of a narrative beyond a premise, all the rest to be filled with your own imaginings. Kazushi Hagiwara as
Bastard!!'s author is one of the long-enduring super-perverts of his industry, and I'm somewhat surprised that something this effectively benign apparently came about through his brainspace and creative influence. The character designs range from a kind of hyper-detailed military otakuism to the more expected sexualized angles, but whether framed against his own oeuvre, or this larger genre's, they're actually sort of restrained by comparison (I also assume he isn't the only artist designing the characters, judging from the present art styles). It's a weird and interesting thing to discover in the form presented here.
Quester took me about 18 hours to finish, and whether or not I go for a new loop in New Game+ it stands apart positively in the genre akin to some other briefer-than-standard experiences, like
Dungeon Encounters and
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom. Each of these games have professed a deep and insightful love for the genre, but not in a slavishly authentic way that limited their own particularities and experiments with the form--rather they are confident that the core tenets of their shared love will come across without adhering to a prescribed scripture, and hold fast to a belief that the genre is enduring because it can be so diversely interpreted. For a game that specifically thanks the community manager of the
Wizardry fan club in its credits, I think it speaks to a creative flexibility even as its passion is sourced from the oldest vintage possible.
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