It only took a few minutes to notice that GetsuFumaDen: Immortal MoonThe welcome revival of GetsuFumaDen, Konami’s Famicom-exclusive role-playing/action title, is the frustrating closing act of the once respected publisher. Dead cells‘Excellent’ action roguelite gameplay.
There is an open room that contains a visual record of every weapon unlocked so far. There is a cooldown timer of the secondary weapon. There is a choice of portals that lead to the next randomly generated landscape. There are limited health potions, special weapon attributes, a mix of permanent and exclusive upgrades for everything ensuring every attempt is just a little easier than last time, high bosses swoon, damage double jump… You can find the DNA of the old favorite more in every aspect of Undying Moon’s gameplay. It was an understandable but unwise move, sadly not entirely in favor of this new release, every new mechanic and item introduced only invites comparison to an original and complete alternative. more features.
It all started on a positive note. No doubt this game is a treat for eyeballs, every demon and ragged brushstrokes make it feel like you’re fighting your way to a living ukiyo-e print. The background music – if any – is even better, with crazy drum beats running underneath biwa strings and creepy vocals.
Fuma himself is very agile in handling, and the weapons he can come across all have a designated niche to fill; the contrast between the lightning-fast omnidirectional combination of a metal fan, the giant arc of a spear, the raw weight of a stone staff, the long reach of a whip and more is always evident and clearly. Enemies, with their overwhelming presence, also had well-defined roles: archer, bruiser, static chaser that did nothing but enhance the abilities of the enemies. Demons around to the point of danger, sneaks tend to disappear in a short time. With time, you begin to learn the manners of some of them, and thanks to that you last longer than before.
And so for the first ten minutes, the game was fantastic – unfortunately every moment after that was plagued with minor problems that quickly turned snowballing into a major headache.
From the very first level, you will encounter enemies that will not only be able to shoot at you from off-screen, but also go straight through what should be is an impenetrable solid scene, which often results in you taking unfair damage in a game where every precious rating counts. Massive monsters with great swing abilities are often found on solitary platforms where there isn’t enough room to do more than jump on them and hope for the best or carefully pick them up from afar ( assuming you have selected the correct secondary weapon for the Job). The camera can be rotated a bit around with the right lever, but it’s never far enough to let you know you’re about to jump lower or into the thin air before it’s too late.
The actual game is groaning under the weight of a variety of consumables, but just mentioning what you have in a few awkward menus makes it hard to tell if you’ve finally gathered enough materials to raise Level up your favorite upgrades with weapons; This takes away much of the fun of collecting and providing the energy that lies at the heart of the genre. Some menus even betray the game’s PC roots when it comes to non-existent pointers or make you swap between pointless ‘before’ and ‘after’ weapons.
Mechanically important kanji pop up to let you know when you’re successfully performing a Break, Flash, or other special attack that doesn’t translate at all, creating an avoidable barrier between English readers and the game they are trying to play . And too many actions are tied to the right button, which means you’ll often find yourself switching to another weapon when you’re just trying to pick up something or futilely re-reading a stele instead of collecting. gather documents nearby (and be vulnerable while you are doing so).
Take your Switch with you and you’ll soon find those print-inspired stunning vistas have been replaced by their own grainy atmosphere-damaging versions that look even worse than any other. whenever the screen is busy thanks to some dynamically adjusted resolution scaling. Is this automatic solution better than having the game stop whenever a boss casts a powerful spell? Sure. But stylish as it is, you’d never believe that the graphical load on the hardware – especially when compared to other more impressive games on the system – is heavy enough to warrant a harsh drop ( if temporary) so. Handheld compromises are inevitable with most games but in Undying Moon you’ll see new sights with the Switch in hand and your first thought will be ‘I hope next time I’ll see this docked’.
Strength overcomes these problems and you’ll encounter a brief promise in Getsu Renge, a fearsome mid-ranger who, when defeated, becomes a permanent ally. She is a faster and less resilient playable alternative to the main hero, which can form the basis of an extreme challenge mode. Sadly, she’s just weaker and faster, and you still have to upgrade her (via her own upgrade menu) exactly the same way you would with Fuma – the Fuma you’ve been through so many times. present to successfully enhance into a reliable warrior. Renge exists, but you have no compelling reason to use her.
Inference
Many of the avoidable bugs in GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon were addressed by its predecessors in the same genre long before the game was announced. There’s no doubt that in a few patches this could be a great game – but that’s if Konami, which hasn’t been in many good gamer books for a long time, really lets the development team go. develop the time and money to do it. Because it’s a game maybe ending is something special, the point is other similar Switch titles was.
