indigozeal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
indigozeal) wrote2011-10-11 08:19 pm
indigozeal) wrote2011-10-11 08:19 pm
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Neo Angelique playlog part 1
I decided finally to crack open the copy of Neo Angelique I'd gotten oh so long ago so I'd have it played by the time Maren no Rokukishi or Roku Kishi or whatever rolled around. I haven't played very far, but it's made a fairly positive first impression so far. I must say I'm impressed with the speed through which it rolled through the preliminaries - I was afraid it was going to take a while to reel off the boarding school/parents died/meet Rayne/stash him in closet/meet Nyx/Purifier/Thanatos business, but it actually dispensed with everything fairly swiftly yet effectively. Rayne's even had time for Engrish - "sankyu," "bingo," and "AMEJINGU!" so far.
The small size of the character portraits, of all things, bothers me - you do get zooms on occasion, but perhaps they should have accounted better for the PSP's smaller screen. (The portraits also could use some shading.) I was also disappointed at the early Thanatos battle that consisted only of distressed character reaction shots and cheap swirling CG (i.e., no actual Thanatos shown) - that seemed needlessly cheap.
Storywise, I was surprised at the amount of acrimony Rayne displays toward Nyx - he obviously doesn't trust him and is predisposed to think ill of him. But they put more of an emphasis on Nyx being duplicitous - he promises to prove to Ange the existence of her purifying power, only to lead deliberately lead her into a surprise Thanatos battle (in which he's correctly confident that he can protect her, but still). He's not maliciously duplicitous, of course, but you can understand Rayne's frustration and caution, and it's an interesting angle to take on the Nyx character in contrast with his introduction in the anime, which lays the foundation for his inspirational effect on Ange instead of his double life.
Anyhow, in the end, I surprisingly elected to go with Rayne to perform further investigations in a nearby town rather than head back with Nyx straightaway, which led to my first "love love flash" or whatever you want to call it between Ange & Rayne. Will I join the legions of Rayne fans yet? Stay tuned!
.
The small size of the character portraits, of all things, bothers me - you do get zooms on occasion, but perhaps they should have accounted better for the PSP's smaller screen. (The portraits also could use some shading.) I was also disappointed at the early Thanatos battle that consisted only of distressed character reaction shots and cheap swirling CG (i.e., no actual Thanatos shown) - that seemed needlessly cheap.
Storywise, I was surprised at the amount of acrimony Rayne displays toward Nyx - he obviously doesn't trust him and is predisposed to think ill of him. But they put more of an emphasis on Nyx being duplicitous - he promises to prove to Ange the existence of her purifying power, only to lead deliberately lead her into a surprise Thanatos battle (in which he's correctly confident that he can protect her, but still). He's not maliciously duplicitous, of course, but you can understand Rayne's frustration and caution, and it's an interesting angle to take on the Nyx character in contrast with his introduction in the anime, which lays the foundation for his inspirational effect on Ange instead of his double life.
Anyhow, in the end, I surprisingly elected to go with Rayne to perform further investigations in a nearby town rather than head back with Nyx straightaway, which led to my first "love love flash" or whatever you want to call it between Ange & Rayne. Will I join the legions of Rayne fans yet? Stay tuned!
.