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Ends of the Earth 2 vs. Shadowiii
Ends of the Earth 2 Battles contain a wide variety of characters, skills, weapons, and enemies. More fun then a barrel of monkeys!
Valkayree
Download: 2.43 MB
V.S.
Shadowiii
Play Time: 3-6 hours and 0 minutes
Review # 47 for Shadowiii Battles contain a wide variety of characters, skills, weapons, and enemies. More fun then a barrel of monkeys!
Them's Fightin' Words
    Centaurus has proven victorious over the evil centaur Caramawn. He and his comrades have fought through many battles and many adventures on their quest to defeat the monster that wished to bring about the ends of the earth. After achieving victory with the help of an unknown shadow ninja, Centaurus retires from the hero business and slips into legend.

One thousand years later, a boy named Billy is told this story by his grandfather. But all in the world is not right. Five wizards, bent on the destruction of the world, wish to revive the beast Caramawn in hopes he will bring to pass the ends of the earth. The boy, Billy, now renamed Atoch, must now face his destiny and try to thwart the evil wizard's plans...before is all is lost.

Enter Ends of the Earth 2, Valkayree Production's last release, and without a doubt their finest. After the fame that their group gained after creating and release the original Ends of the Earth, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that a sequel was on the way. But would it meet up to the expectations? Sequels rarely manage to be adequate follow-ups for the games that preceded them. Could Valkaryee and company pull it off again?

The answer is yes. Oh, most certainly yes. Ends of the Earth 2 is a landmark OHR game. It beautifully combines mythology (though not as much as the original Ends of the Earth), music, graphics, and characters into an entertaining game that will undoubtedly stand the test of time. Unlike its predecessor, Ends of the Earth 2 still plays just as well as it did when it was first released. The game, though it has its flaws, is still a very impressive OHR game by any standard, and will certainly be remembered.





Graphics
    The graphics in Ends of the Earth 2 are a major step up from Ends of the Earth, maptiles especially. The style still remains somewhat the same. That is, the authors still like to use the airbrush tool a bit too much, and the npc animations aren't perfectly smooth. However, graphically, this game is very good. Though I can certainly think of games that have better graphics (Fenrir and Orchard's games come to mind), the graphics are still very, very good.

Another great thing about the graphics is how well they fit each setting, and how they work so well with music to fit the mood. Dungeons really feel dark, with their flickering torches and marks and writing on the walls. The 3D castles also look FANTASTIC, with their stone npcs as well as boiling lava. The castles also have an incredible amount of detail. For example, when you walk out onto an overhang, you can see the landscape behind the castle. Little touches like this really make this game beautiful, and the detail put in it still amazes me.

Now take the battle backdrops. Unlike the majority of OHR games where the backdrops are redrawn landscapes, Ends of the Earth 2 uses a style later adopted by Fantasy Under a Blue Moon X, among others. This style is to take the actual npcs of whatever map the battle occurs on, and alter them to work as a battle backdrop. This technique is far from perfected in Ends of the Earth 2 (that is, the backdrops seem somewhat stretched and you can see the pixels from the original maptiles, now enlarged). However, I think this technique is actually quite nice (though it was done FAR better in FUBMX). It adds the feeling that you are actually fighting where you are fighting...which is certainly a good thing.

The final comment before specifics is on the fact that all the graphics blend together perfectly. This is something few RPG games manage to achieve. What I mean by this is that all the graphics are drawn in a similar style, so that the game looks like one big graphical piece rather then a bunch of separate ones for NPC or Maps or Heroes or whatever. This game is probably the best graphically blended game I've played yet. The authors kept the art style very consistent. It looks fantastic.

Overall, beautiful, to say the least.

NPCs

NPCs are...ok. I really am surprised that Valkayree and co. changed their npc style from their semi-realistic style from EotE to what appears to be npcs based off of Final Fantasy 5 sprites. However, they do a good job, and actually look quite good with the maptiles. Granted, there is a bit of palette swapping (The red and blue castles come to mind), which is unfortunate but actually works out because the two castles represent two opposites, so the color scheme works rather well. There are also LOTS of different npcs all over, and they all are drawn similarly. Because of this, the world flows together in a way better then the original EotE (where the uniqueness of each npc was nice, but the drastic differences messed up the game. Not only that, there were some npcs that weren't even recognizable as to what they were supposed to be!). There are also some instances where some npcs seem to be in a different style then others. Reyna and Shadow's npcs, for instance, seem a little...off. However, they still seem to fit the general art style and therefore look decent. All in all, there is a huge npc variety, and they all look quite good. Can't go wrong here (though some of the coloring is a bit off for some of the npcs when they walk...)

Maptiles

Wow. Just...wow. Wow. The castles in this game are probably the best I've seen in my life (I heard rumors they were partially ripped from Final Fantasy 5, but I haven't found any proof yet). The maptiles look simply FANTASTIC. The castles bend in and out and have such details as windows with lights inside that flicker, even on maps where you don't really need it. Not only that,
when

you walk outside of each castle, you don't just to back to the world map. You get a stunning outside view of the castle as you walk away from it onto the world map. Incredible. Another detail that I found simply incredible (and I already mentioned it above but it deserves mention again) was the fact that when you walked outside on a balcony of the castle when you are high up, you can see not only the castle above and below you, but the landscape out in the distance. This touch makes the scene quite breathless (which I've never really seen again until recently in Crescent Dream when you are standing on the cliff and can look over into the shadowed valley below). The world map tiles are also very, very good. The mountains especially look incredible, as do the forests and the majority of cities. The larger castles do have that gradient thing going on, which makes them look a bit out of place, but overall they still look fine. Dungeons also look great, with dirt floors and walls with various blood marks and writing on their rough surface. The detail put into these maptiles is beyond belief. Everything you could think would be there is accounted for. There isn't a detail missing. Very, very impressive.

Battle

Battle graphics are probably the ones that took the biggest toll in terms of aging. When I first played it a long time ago I remember being simply blown away by them. The first think you'll note is that there are TONS of enemies, TONS of heroes, and there are only two (you and the first hero you find) that are palette swapped to some degree. This is a lot of graphics! Another great thing is how, though some palette swapping occurs in enemies, it isn't overdone. For example, during one point in the story you are asked to decide between a blue or red army to take sides with. Depending on whom you choose, the other side will now be your enemy, and you can storm their castle if you so desire. The npcs are, obviously, palette swapped. The great thing is that the enemies AREN'T. It would've been very simple to simply palette swap the red enemies into the blue castle, and no one would've ever been the wiser (unless they bothered to replay). But the enemies are very, very different. Not only do they look different; they have a completely differently drawn boss! I found this to be quite impressive.

The down side is that the enemies still suffer a bit from what the original Ends of the Earth enemies suffered from. That is, they look flat, and the creators loved that airbrush tool. Though a few enemies look 3D enough to be convincing, most of them still have that "flatness" problem to them. However, even in today's OHR standards, the enemies still look quite good.

Heroes are also well drawn (with the exception of Reyna...why is she so...small?). There are a rather large number of heroes you can get in this game (many of which are optional or you have to decide between one or the other). I'm pleased that the authors escaped the bane of palette swapping (except for ONE time. Atoch and Tronas' graphics are palette swapped, with Tronas' very slightly modified. This alone was an AWFUL mistake. Why on earth, after drawing so many hero graphics, did they just give up for these guys? It makes no sense. Ah well, back to the review). A thing I really enjoyed about the hero graphics was how well the weapons fit with the hands. Usually the weapons end up above, below, or all over the hero graphic because most people are either too lazy to bother positioning the weapon, or they don't want to draw their hero to the specifications that make weapons work. Well, no worries here. Weapons (and there are a TON of these too, holy cow) look fantastic, and work flawlessly with all the heroes. Pity more OHRers don’t bother making sure the weapons were lined up with their heroes, the effect is quite nice.

Cutscenes

There really aren't any, besides characte r por
traits. These are drawn very well, in fact. The overall quality of the cutscenes is great, and they all are imported quite well. The art is fitting with the npcs (though not as much so with the hero graphics, which aren't super-deformed in any way, unlike the npcs and cutscene graphics), and it is colored and drawn well. They are nice tidbits for this game.

 
Storyline
    Story

The story for Ends of the Earth 2 is very simple. Five evil wizards want to revive Caramawn, who has been dead for the last one-thousand years. You, Atoch (formerly known as Billy, the boy listening to his grandfather's story in Ends of the Earth), are the chosen warrior who must journey and stop said wizards before the world is destroyed. Pretty simple. However, things get complicated fast. You run into old friends from Ends of the Earth (that weakling Areolys, and Shadow, and many more), some of which turn out to be your mortal enemies, others who join you on your journey to once again destroy Caramawn, or at least stop the wizards trying to summon him. There are a variety of twists including a betrayal, a moral choice regarding the lesser of two evils, and the return to Concorde, the city in the clouds that you visited in the original Ends of the Earth. The story in itself is interesting enough to keep you going. Though there aren't enough twists to really keep a plot nut like me appeased, there are certainly more then in the majority of most OHR games (even the good ones). The story also introduces new characters, one after the other. This really keeps stuff interesting. Unfortunately, it means that few characters actually get any development (the only ones who really get the royal treatment are the main hero, Atoch, Areolys, and Shadow). However, there is one thing that I enjoyed that very few OHR games ever do. Remember Final Fantasy 4, how Goblez just kept showing up at the wrong times? Stuff like that happens in Ends of the Earth 2 as well. Warlocks you beat before who escaped ACTUALLY COME BACK. Can you believe it? That almost never happens in OHR games (unless you beat them only about a minute ago, and they simply are back to prove they didn't die the first time). Though the story really isn't too thrilling to be considered professional, it is certainly better then the original Ends of the Earth's, and it also manages to stay interesting all the way until the end. The fact that it ended on a cliffhanger is very annoying, because it makes this game seem more like a halfway demo then a completed game. Pity Valkayree's computer ate his potential update...we are now left forever on an incredible twist with nowhere to go. Ah well, you never know, maybe Valkayree will show up someday with the completed game.

Dialogue

Actually, this is probably the single worst thing in this game. The only reason I say this is because of one thing: parts are unnecessarily cheesy. Atoch's opening speech is nice, but there are parts in it where you are thinking "man, this is corny!" When you meet Areolys, with his priests in mid summoning, they make some amazingly stupid joke about resurrecting Elvis that is so out of place that it hurts. There is a blatant Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference, not to mention the best weapon isn't even capitalized correctly (the "god" sword). I was actually pretty let down when I replayed it and actually read each text box in detail, only to find my perceived perfect game had a major flaw. However, you can still rest assured. Though there are some cheesy parts now and then, the dialogue by majority is actually quite good. Though the "Old English" style of writing that presided in Ends of the Earth is gone, the dialogue for each character is fitting. Its major downfall, however, still lies in both the cheesy parts and the incredible lack of character development.
 
Gameplay
    A main problem with OHR-RPGs is how poorly designed they are. There are certainly great games, with great parts. The problem is that in order for one part to be great, another suffers. Games that have fantastic battles tend to have linear maps. Games that have large variety of spells tend to be unbalanced in terms of money and experience gained. This is a trend that follows through many, many OHR games. Though some parts are incredible, others take a fall. It is almost an inevitable trend.

Gameplay is where Ends of the Earth 2 shines above all the rest. It is an amazing exception to this pitfall the majority of OHR games tend to stumble into. Ends of the Earth 2 is different from other OHR games in a simple, yet incredible way. It plays like a commercial game. In truth, very few OHR games manages to get that feel that just oozes from the game's many cracks screaming "professionalism!" Unlike most other categories, where you can get partials on different things (that is, average graphics, ok battles), a game either plays like a commercial game or it doesn't. Black and white, right and wrong, professional feel or not. There is no gray area. In my opinion, making a game play like it is professional is probably the single hardest thing to get by when designing and then creating a game.

Ends of the Earth 2 pulls it of. And how so.

The game is nearly perfectly balanced. Battles are not space bar smashers, nor are they overly difficult or require too much thought (contrary to too little). The wide range of spells you get are actually worth the time and effort to learn and cast. Experience and money is given at near flawless rates. Bosses are very, very difficult, but not impossible to an RPGer who plays this game like they'd play Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger. The maps are ingenious displays of professionalism. They contain an uncountable number of secrets, including secret passages that lead to new weapons, hidden characters, and even such things as rocks and sticks you find just by walking around that you can use as weapons. The game is very, very polished. Even now, after playing so many other OHR games, every time I play this one I am surprised at how polished it is. It is simply incredible.

Everying fits well. You can save anywhere on the world map, but in dungeons you'll need to meet the character that swaps party members (and also doubles as a save point). The maps are well planned and have an ideal number of random battles. Bosses are hard and interesting to fight, and require actual strategy to beat. And, of course, the 3D castles are just so awesome they'll take your breath away.

The only downer is that the maps could use more puzzles. Sure there are TONS of secret passages through walls, around the backs of stores, to secret rooms, etc. It is just that the game could use more tricky puzzles besides the "push the blocks" puzzles that seem to show up EVERYWHERE. The lack of these puzzles didn't degrade from the game at all, in fact their absence wasn't even noticeable while playing, it wasn't until after the game was over that I really noticed that "hey...the dungeons didn't have very many puzzles!" Disappointing? Perhaps. But the game survived fine without them.

All in all, the gameplay for Ends of the Earth 2 is very, very impressive. From the fantastic and incredibly well balanced battles, to the ingeniously simple yet surprisingly challenging maps, to the simply huge array of secrets that litter the entire game (including a secret experience monster and a cheat menu), the game simply has it all, and it executes what it has brilliantly.





 
  Battle
    Battles are near perfect in every aspect. Each hero has a separate element, except Atoch (who has multiple elements) and Tronas (who has no element, rather, he has Pummel abilities). Spells are easily bought at the different towns. But don't expect an easy time about it. Unlike most OHR games, where the spells are either way too expensive (Final Fantasy H) or too cheap (majority of newbie games), the ratio of money : spell cost is near perfect. The same goes for equipment. Harder enemies give more money, and just enough to get the newest weapons if you fight enough battles. XP is similar in terms of balance. As the game progresses, it seems the xp increase goes up just the right amount.

Another great thing is that almost all the characters have secondary abilities besides their spells (think the secondary abilities in Final Fantasy 6, except more of them). This really helps eliminate the "spacebar smasher" aspect that haunts so many OHR games. Sure, you could hold the space bar, but battles would be much more difficult. Like Final Fantasy 6, Ends of the Earth 2 requires that you actually USE the abilities if you want the battles to go faster and not be as hard. This is very good. Why? It means the game has strategy, which is something few OHR games ever manage to pull off.

The only annoying part was that the spells aren't all THAT wonderful. Sure, they by majority are better then attacking, but overall you won't use them much. I really only found myself busting out the spells on the bosses. This is probably because they are in the style of Final Fantasy 1, which means you can't use items to restore lost spell points. However, the fact that you have the secondary abilities more then makes up for the not-perfect spells. Plus, the spells aren't nearly as bad as they are in most unbalanced OHR games. They still work out just fine.

The battles are very fun, what can I say? Add the catchy battle and boss music, and you'll be enjoying every battle. You actually feel like you are gaining decent experience. Leveling isn't slow nor is it fast. Money doesn't come easily but it doesn't come hard either. We have a word for this. Perfection.





 
  Map Design
    Maps in Ends of the Earth 2 are as good as they get. From dark underground dungeons, to the flying city of Concorde, all the maps are just full to the brim with secrets. This is incredible! Rarely have I seen maps with so much detail and so many secrets in them! For example, to get a secret character at one point you'll need to think outside the box as to how to get into her house. Many cities have secret passages behind bookshelves or through back alleyways. In order to get to an isolated house, you may have to take a passage belowground. How many OHR games put stuff like this in, just on a whim? It is important to understand that things like this aren't overdone or blasting out in your face like the author is saying "LOOOK! I MADE A SECRET!! AREN'T I COOL?!" Rather, they are subtly hidden for YOU to find, not for the game author to tell you where to go get them. This is really a high level of professionalism.

Overall, every map serves its purpose well. Villages range from small to large, and are all quite easy to navigate. Castles, though huge, are actually quite simple to figure out after only one walkthrough. Dungeons (ranging from forests to underground passages to a side view 3D castle) are beautifully planned out with lots of secrets and a certain maze like quality that isn't too difficult, but isn't very easy either. That was actually the thing that made up for the lack of puzzles. The dungeon maps, though they don't have tons of puzzles or whatnot, have a certain maze-like quality wherein if you want to find all the secrets, you'll have to explore! The same aspect applies to almost every map. The only map that was frustrating was Concorde, but that was just because the place was so BIG. The world map works out great also.

There is one downside, an aspect that seemed to carry through from Ends of the Earth. There are certain parts where you go somewhere "to never return." That is, you can't backtrack to a previous spot. Though this isn't as frequent as in the first Ends of the Earth, it is still somewhat annoying. However, it does force you to level a bit (just in case) before moving on, so I suppose it works out fine in the end.





 
  Balance
    Ends of the Earth 2 is the best-balanced game I have ever played on the OHR, bar none. Let me explain how I can claim this fact.

First off, the battles are neither too hard nor too easy. Though many OHRers seem to enjoy making games with somewhat difficult battles (Wingedmene, Fantasy Under a Blue Moon X), I honestly don't think this is balance. Balanced battles should be enjoyable from beginning to end, and while you are fighting the battles you shouldn't think "I'm doing all this for not nearly enough xp." Another important aspect is that the battle speed is sped up to a decent speed. Too many OHR games put the meter really, really slow. I don't know why they do this. It is supposed to give you time to think? Sorry, it just makes the battles slow and tedious. Ends of the Earth 2 does what a lot of great OHR games do...has a fast battle speed. This makes the battles exciting, as you try to figure out what to do while your other characters are now waiting for you (and the enemies are attacking you). This sound familiar? Like all the good Final Fantasy games? Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking.

So, we have a balance of experience and money, and we also have a decent battle speed. Why else are the battles so great? Well, enemies actually do decent damage, yet have a decent amount of hit points in return. Another simply incredible thing is how as you progress though the game, enemies actually get harder in proportion to your levels. That's right. They don’t suddenly get harder, or get harder way too slow, they go up perfectly with your levels. This means that every time you enter a new area, you know the battles will be hard, but not impossible (unlike Dragon Warrior I...). Remember when you sped through Final Fantasy 6, not leveling enough on purpose just because you wanted the challenge? You could actually do something like this in Ends of the Earth 2. The balance is PERFECT between damage given and damage taken.

Finally, healing items. They are also very excellent. They are just as useful at the end as in the beginning (though at the beginning you'll have a few and use them in battle, while at the end you'll have a lot of lesser potions and use them en masse outside battle). Again, can't say much more besides they work wonderfully. They get better and better as the battles get harder and harder, and you get more and more hit points (and lose more and more hit points each fight :P). Very well done.

The only downside was the lack of healing spells. There really aren't very many (Atoch gets a few, as do a few other characters, but there isn't really a primary healer). This actually works out just fine, as it makes you rely more on items, using healing spells as a last resort. The point is that even though there aren't healing spells, the game is still very well balanced without them. How many OHR games can you say that about?





 
Music
    Ends of the Earth 2 has a fantastic collection of tunes. First off, they are all original. This alone is great. If one is ever serious about making a good OHR game, they really need to get their hands on original music. It makes SUCH a difference! Now, when I boot up some midis from Ends of the Earth 2 (which I luckily manage to find :D), I am reminded about this game. Could you say the same if the tunes had been replaced with Final Fantasy songs? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't think of Ends of the Earth 2, I'd think about Final Fantasy 6 or whatever. Original songs make SUCH a difference in OHR games you really can't compare it's importance.

Luckily, Ends of the Earth 2 not only has all original songs, but they are all beautiful. The world map is catchy and upbeat. The castles sound great. The dungeons are the only downside...one song would work better if it were updated to the modern version of the OHR where dungeon songs continue even after the battles. Oh yes, the battle songs. The battle song is REALLY catchy. The boss songs (there are two...one for normal bosses and one for really hard bosses) are also quite good. The victory theme is a bit...slow. However, it works out great, because the death theme is a variation of the victory theme! How original is that? It's almost like saying to the player: "You died, but don't worry, you can always reload! You know you want too!" And, I should defiantly say this, the town song. Wow. Just...wow. Even though it is incredibly simple, the song is beautiful. Probably the single best town song I've heard to date. Peaceful and melodic. I loved it.

Overall, the songs are downright fantastic. They really make this game an enjoyable experience.





 
Enjoyment
    This was actually around the third or fourth OHR game I had ever played. What a great start to the OHR! The game is quite fun to play. I played it shortly after playing Final Fantasy 4 and 6 for the first time, and this game was really what convinced me that you could make games in the OHR at the same caliber as those professional games. The game is not only fun, it also plays well. This is something few OHR games actually manage to pull off: a game that continues to entertain from beginning to end. There are quite a few specific things I enjoyed, so I'll point them out now.

First, the maps. The maps are amazing! There is so much to do and find on each map, you'll never get bored! There are also so many secrets you'll probably overlook quite a bit of them before the game is over. From trying to find all the characters, then trying to find all of their little "profile books," to finding the secret items and passages to different areas...it is really just great fun. Every OHR game should have this many subtle secrets. You know, the secrets you never expect anyone to find, but they do. (I hate games where they have basic mazes that lead to treasure chests. How simple is that?)

Another fun part of this game is the battles. This game is one of the few where I actually enjoyed playing the default OHR battle engine. Though this game really introduces nothing new to the default engine, it proves you don't have to. So many games are concerned with having their battle systems be different from everyone else’s, they abandon the most important part: balance. Ends of the Earth 2 is a beautifully balanced game. It is, in fact, so well balanced that the battles are actually (get this) FUN. Yes, it is true. The battles are a blast! The music is great, the bosses are hard yet not too hard, and the experience you get makes the battles seem worthwhile. You'll find yourself power leveling like you did in Final Fantasy 6. Rockin!

Overall, I enjoyed almost every minute of this game. Though it did have down parts, as a whole the entire game was great fun. I also enjoyed the overuse of blood, but that is a different story. ;)





 
Final Blows
    Ends of the Earth 2. A somewhat legendary OHR game. And for a very good reason. Ends of the Earth 2 has great graphics, paired with a professional level of gameplay and completely beautiful music. One could, however, argue that these aspects of the game have aged, and thus aren't as good as the "better" and "modern" OHR games. I'd argue against that. Why? Ends of the Earth 2 doesn't have as good graphics as modern day games. It doesn't have the widest variety of spells (it doesn't even have the traditional healer!). It doesn't have the longest, most professional story. But it does have one thing that keeps pulling me back in to play it over and over. The game is just fun. Sure there are down parts and up parts, but when you beat the game you have the feeling of accomplishment, and that you've enjoyed the past few hours playing this game. And that's all that really matters in game design, isn't it?

I've been wanting to review Ends of the Earth 2 as soon as I discovered Castle Paradox and found that it had the ability to add reviews to games. At long last, after almost a year and a half, I can finally get around to doing it. But why do I want to review this game so much? What motivates this game especially above others? Well, it is quite simple. This game proves that the OHR can indeed be used to make fun, professional level games.

And I love that feeling.





Just a small taste of the second 3D castle. Yes, there are TWO of them. Wow.

Just a small taste of the second 3D castle. Yes, there are TWO of them. Wow.
Final Scores
Graphics: 9.5/10.0
They aren't the best in the OHR, I'll say that much. However, they do look amazingly fantastic, and there is just so much detail in everything I am still very much amazed. The maptiles are simply beautiful, the npcs work well, the cutscenes are a nice addition, and the battle graphics (though somewhat bland now), still look just great. The game's graphics don't need to be better then everyone else's to still be good. They just need to blend well and generally look good. Which these most certainly do.
Storyline: 6/10.0
There are a few pitfalls here. First, the dialogue has some stupid parts (though generally it works out fine). Also, the game is technically a demo. Sure, it is a longer and more rewarding experience then most OHR games out there, but it technically isn't over yet. Sadly, it probably never will be, which is very frustrating. But it still contains a good deal of plot twists and more characters you can shake a stick at. It isn't perfect, but it works out just fine. Story: 3.0/5 Dialogue: 3.0/5
Gameplay: 10/10.0
Despite a few flaws, they don't get this game down. Maps are ingeniously designed. They seem to be just the right length, with the right amount of secrets and the right number of enemies. Battles are probably the most polished that I've seen in the OHR to date. You get the exact right amount of xp and money after a fight, and as the game progresses enemies get harder, but not impossibly harder. It makes you level like you are playing Final Fantasy 6 all over again, and this is most certainly a good thing. The only downside would be that the spells are just a tad weak, but by majority they work out fine, so no real complaints. Oh, did I mention the HUGE array of weapons and armor you can get? The gameplay stands as the best I've played to date. I'm still amazed at how polished it is.
Music: 10/10.0
Currently, it stands as my favorite OHR soundtrack to date (with Time Flies coming in a close second and Bliss a close third). Kain (who I'm guessing is Aaron Waltz?) wrote some VERY good songs for this. The battle tune is especially catchy, and the town music is probably the most beautiful town music I've heard both in OHR games and in commercial games. The world map tune is also quite fantastic. This game could be worth it for the soundtrack alone.
Enjoyment: 10/10.0
Great fun. I enjoyed it at much replaying it as I did the first time. Unlike Ends of the Earth, this sequel has actually aged quite well. Between the entertaining battles, the great soundtrack, the perfectly blended graphics, and the decent story make this game a winner that'll outlast many other OHR games. And this one certainly has...it was on the OHR Top 30 for a long period of time, and is still considered one of the best OHR games released. Anyone who enjoys SNES and NES RPGs will certainly love this game. Play it!
Overall Grade: A+
Final Thoughts
    This is quite possibly the greatest OHR-RPG of all time. Get it, and see that the OHR can indeed be used to make professional quality games.  


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