Top Down View Games: 1996 (Resident Evil, Exhumed, Strife, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, The Divide and Tomb Raider are released)
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The Legend of Oasis (SAT, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Other: Platforming
Can enchant weapons temporarily which gives them additional effects, some used for tool/ability gating (fire sword cuts down dead trees, sword of destruction breaks rock pillars and some other objects, air rod moves smaller objects)
The spirits are also used for traversal (For example: Dytto can extinguish fire, freeze regular enemies so you can jump off of them to reach higher places. and freeze fountains so you can walk on them; Efreet melts ice; Brass's sound waves will deactivate sparks for a short time; Airl allows for a hover jump and a double jump during it)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Linkle Liver Story aka Wrinkle River Story (SAT, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure (similar to Zelda with less tool/ability gating and puzzles)
Perspective: TD view
Other: Spiritual sequel to Soleil/Crusader of Centy (also uses a hub maps system - can't move between areas without going to the world map screen and can't visit areas that you can hover over on the world map (which is nearly all of them from the get go) without having learned about them through NPCs and progressing the story), Platforming, Buy/create and upgrade 7 kinds of weapons using the pearls found throughout the game combined with elemental seeds found here and there (four seeds in total - upgrade these by finding smaller seeds and this lets you level up the weapons tied to a seed as well, you do this via a venn diagram of sorts)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (PS1, 1996/PC, 1997)
Subgenre: Zelda-like Action Adventure/Hack 'n Slash (life and stat upgrades (HP via found vials; three MP regeneration speed upgrades via found blood fountains))
Perspective: TD View
Other: Overworld & dungeons split, Play as a vampire and a bad guy, Basic trading - can trade life for sub weapons or other items at certain points (spirit forges) - Can't buy from tavern keepers or smithys, Fight alongside an NPC army at one point (recruit an army to help fight against a monster army, pretty cool scene though the music doesn't quite fit and you're meant to move north rather than fight as enemies and allies keep respawning), Hub map screen (world map) via the options menu or when fast traveling via the bat form - shows where you've been by darkening unvisited areas (good clarity but only marks certain points of interest) - note that you can still travel through most of the world without using it
Playthrough (PC) - Video Review - Mini Review
Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (SNES, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Adventure Hybrid (uses the Zelda 3 engine, examine/P&C mode which pauses gameplay)
Perspective: TD view, Occasionally FP view via the examine mode
Other: Examine mode also lets you talk to people from afar, can be used for tips vs bosses - later used in Metroid Prime, Various mini-games throughout (mashing the button to make the party lift a cauldron, pulling a mouse's nose at the right rhythm to make it give up, football penalty shots, gambling, tug of war, fishing/luring, etc), Escape segment before the ending
Some notable cons:
Playthrough w/ commentary - Video Review - Mini Review
Speris Legacy (CD32, 1996)
Subgenre: Zelda-like Action Adventure
Perspective: TD view
Some tool/ability gating (invisibility cloak, strength potion to move some objects, bomb and titan fist to destroy some obstacles)
Playthrough
Brandish 2 Expert (SNES, 1996)?
Subgenre: ARPG?
Perspective: TD view
Find Playthrough
Corpse Party (PC-98, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Survival Horror
Perspective: TD view
Playthrough
Star Ocean (SNES, 1996)
Subgenre: 2D ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Other: Separate battle encounters, CPU allies
Can use flintstone on gasses to open up some passages
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures (PC, 1996)?
Subgenre: Action Adventure
Perspective: Top Down view
Other: Tile-based movement
Playthrough
Moon Light Saga (MSX, 1996)(Untranslated)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Gameplay
Outliers:
Legends (AMI/PC, 1996) - Zelda-like Action Adventure, TD view, Chapter/level-based (five time periods, large areas), Side quests, Mini-games, No jumping
Native american protagonist
Password save
Map feature (accessed at certain spots only?)
Warp item
Mole Mania (GB, 1996) - Puzzle Action w/ Action Adventure elements (NPCs, non-hostile rooms), TD View, Maze levels, Bonus levels, Bosses, Hub map
-Partially non-linear structure
-Layered world (underground version of each room)
-Creative puzzle mechanics (digging and object interaction)
-Basic map feature (Locator item adds the bonus stage, boss, and Grandpa Hint (npc) to it)
Guardian Heroes (SAT, 1996) - 2.5D Beat 'em up w RPG elements, Tilted View (2 layers gameplay, see Fatal Fury), Co-op, No platforming
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (ARC, 1996/SAT, 1999) - Beat 'em up w/ RPG elements, Co-op
The Chaos Engine 2 (AMI/CD32, 1996) - MP Maze Shooter, 2-player vs., TD view
The Legend of Oasis (SAT, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Other: Platforming
Can enchant weapons temporarily which gives them additional effects, some used for tool/ability gating (fire sword cuts down dead trees, sword of destruction breaks rock pillars and some other objects, air rod moves smaller objects)
The spirits are also used for traversal (For example: Dytto can extinguish fire, freeze regular enemies so you can jump off of them to reach higher places. and freeze fountains so you can walk on them; Efreet melts ice; Brass's sound waves will deactivate sparks for a short time; Airl allows for a hover jump and a double jump during it)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Linkle Liver Story aka Wrinkle River Story (SAT, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure (similar to Zelda with less tool/ability gating and puzzles)
Perspective: TD view
Other: Spiritual sequel to Soleil/Crusader of Centy (also uses a hub maps system - can't move between areas without going to the world map screen and can't visit areas that you can hover over on the world map (which is nearly all of them from the get go) without having learned about them through NPCs and progressing the story), Platforming, Buy/create and upgrade 7 kinds of weapons using the pearls found throughout the game combined with elemental seeds found here and there (four seeds in total - upgrade these by finding smaller seeds and this lets you level up the weapons tied to a seed as well, you do this via a venn diagram of sorts)
- Somewhat non-linear structure (after the intro area and first dungeon (which is very linear) you get to pick between three different areas to explore for a potion making quest, after that the game gets linear again up until the end, several dungeons are pretty much linear)
- Can teleport back to outside of the current dungeon or the beginning of the current area using the cape received near the beginning
- Dash button (could run in Soleil - the spiritual predecessor - by "equipping" a certain animal sidekick)
- Regenerate MP by defeating enemies (encourages an aggressive approach, later used in Hollow Knight, kinda slow here though)
- Ranged charge attack using Puchimuku the pink animal sidekick (its main use is stunning enemies but can also be used to grab armor off of certain enemies as well as bombs from some enemies and a boss)
- Some decent puzzles (lure an stomping enemy to crush some rock obstacles, spatial awareness)
- Can reflect some enemy shots by spinning in place (can't hold a button to stay completely still but it still works ok)
- Gain four magic spells (forward water shot burst, shield that damages enemies, speed boost, fire shockwave/smart bomb) - in addition these have an effect on Puchimuku when it's thrown (wind/lightning (yellow)=grab objects which can be used to grab thrown bombs (Soleil), )
- Save on the world map (one slot per game) - the flashing symbols in the areas are checkpoints that save your current progress temporarily
- HP refill when moving between areas via the world map
- Minor tool/ability gating (grabbing buckets and bombs with the animal sidekick - the latter can be shot back at a boss using the animal, start with running and jumping here and you can't lift and throw objects; can't bounce nor curve nor control in mid-air the animal sidekick when throwing it, no bridge/platform (rio) item)
- Rare health drops from enemies and early on you can't buy health items (some enemies never drop health)
- Item magnet in the animal sidekick however it moves pretty slowly - enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
- Can't switch between weapons within one sub inventory (you gain up to four quick weapon slots from NPCs over the course of the game and within each one you can have 7 different weapons each with a different element attached that you can only switch between in the four seasons area where weapons area created). Would've been better if you could bring up these sub menus on the fly since you might want to switch to a long range one of the same element for a boss or enemy
- Pits barely hurt you (see Zelda 3)
- Some very short areas
- Money is a non-issue after the early game
- Some control/interface issues (no dungeon maps - not a problem at first but eventually gets a bit annoying, can't map attack to A and jump to B w/o emulation, somewhat glitchy hit detection/physics around some objects, kind of slippery running controls, can't jump over most short obstacles (can jump over short hazards), stop running when moving between screens, etc)
- Somewhat slow beginning (forced tutorial, going back and forth between NPCs)
- Some trial & error (the small trees with healing fruit on them aren't explained in-game - check the one in the beginning area and crown village (costs some pearls each time), one missable seed - sky island escape segment, water seed lvl 4, etc)
- Some arbitrary invisible walls (when trying to jump down from a higher platform for example)
- Some tedious aspects (somewhat slow screen transitions (about 6 seconds), some dead space, chests take 3 hits to destroy, can't cancel creating a weapon, some slow in-game cutscenes - unskippable, kinda slow and very easy turtle escort segment, etc)
- Sometimes overly easy bosses (machine head boss and sky island boss, caterpillar, thunder ruins and coral island bosses, )
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (PS1, 1996/PC, 1997)
Subgenre: Zelda-like Action Adventure/Hack 'n Slash (life and stat upgrades (HP via found vials; three MP regeneration speed upgrades via found blood fountains))
Perspective: TD View
Other: Overworld & dungeons split, Play as a vampire and a bad guy, Basic trading - can trade life for sub weapons or other items at certain points (spirit forges) - Can't buy from tavern keepers or smithys, Fight alongside an NPC army at one point (recruit an army to help fight against a monster army, pretty cool scene though the music doesn't quite fit and you're meant to move north rather than fight as enemies and allies keep respawning), Hub map screen (world map) via the options menu or when fast traveling via the bat form - shows where you've been by darkening unvisited areas (good clarity but only marks certain points of interest) - note that you can still travel through most of the world without using it
- Mostly linear structure (optional mini-dungeons here and there, various optional hidden items to backtrack for with gained abilities (100 secrets in total), partially non-linear nuprator's keep dungeon and lava area dungeon - most non-boss dungeons are pretty much linear, maze-like cave area before the forest dungeon)
- Can teleport back to the beginning mausoleum at any point with a spell you gain there, Can also teleport to certain visited points in the world as well as to the main dungeons after spotting them from certain points while outside via the bat form
- Control config (not the shoulder buttons though)
- Save points (15 slots per card, only shows time taken according to the in-game clock)
- Can drain life from stunned human enemies - means you generally have a way to restore your health nearby, Resurrection and healing item in one in the heart of darkness item (Zelda 3 fairy) - can't carry vials of blood placed here and there with you for later use however
- MP regen (overly slow before upgrading it three times though and even then it's kinda slow)
- Map feature which shows the entirety of the current area as well as your position (somewhat spoils the exploration aspect when reaching a new area, doesn't mark items/points of interest/exits nor boulders and rock pillars/statues, it being a a very zoomed out and pixelated view of the whole current area also makes it harder to read than a simple map a la Zelda 3; can't place map markers, can't view the full map of an area (only the current room/sub area))
- Transformations (wolf form - can jump and moves faster but can't cast spells, mist form - fly over larger bodies of water+spike floors+swamp+through certain locked doors and crevices, peasant disguise/nobility disguise - talk to villagers/talk to nobility after upgrading it - latter lets you stay in vampire form but you'll get noticed if you attack) - these drain MP while used
- Day/night cycle and moon phase with some gameplay effects (take damage from sunlight, also take damage from rain and water pools - the former seems to happen randomly, wraith armor works at night only, moon gates only open when it's full moon however these locations are optional)
- Stats screen (options/select menu, kills, meals (how many you've drained the life of), mutilations, secrets (shows how many you've currently found and how many there are in total), time played, prestige/title - similar to Pirates)
- The blood fountains also give you abilities and protections: three strength upgrades for pushing larger and larger boulders, rain protection, snow protection, nobility disguise
- Some interesting spells and sub weapons (slow time for everyone but yourself (doesn't affect traps though and doesn't last that long), Font of Putrescence - projectile that leaves an acid pool which melts enemies, Pentaliche of Tarot - random death to multiple enemies, light - temporarily light up a whole dungeon, inspire hate - enemies attack each other for the duration of the spell, control mind - possess a human enemy, area of effect life drain, spirit death - kill most nearby enemies, lightning - hits all enemies (outdoors only), spirit wrack - possess any non-boss enemy, repel - shield that also reverts enemy projectiles back towards them)
- Some interesting gear (bone armor makes weaker undead enemies ignore you, chaos armor - enemies take as much damage as they deal to you, flesh armor - auto-drains blood, wraith armor - 50% of damage taken is dealt to your MP meter instead, spiked mace - stuns some enemies and breaks some obstacles but has a shorter combo and is weaker overall, flame sword - burns enemies (can't feed on them if you use this though) and sets hay floors on fire, soul reaver - enemies explode in one hit but can't use spells or items while it's equipped+it drains MP, flay - homing projectile)
- Plenty of VA and it's pretty good (monologues by Kain while the game shows some artwork when entering some new rooms or areas though these are generally done better in Soul Reaver)
- Some decent puzzles (switch combinations, timing puzzles, mind control)
- Some interesting enemies (enemies that summon zombies, enemies that bounce you across slippery surfaces, zombies that need to be blown up to stop them from resurrecting, enemies that teleport behind you as you walk up to them)
- New gear shows on your avatar (Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Hydlide III, Faxanadu, Dragon Crystal, Diablo)
- Skippable cutscenes (but not spoken dialogue or staff roll)
- Two different endings (get to choose whether to damn or save the world right after beating the final boss - the "good" ending sucks though and both are rather short)
- Hunger mechanic (very slow draining of HP if you don't feed on blood)
- Camera zoom feature (two levels, see below however)
- Enemies and prisoners respawn when re-entering dungeon areas, Soldiers in towns respawn when entering buildings
- Weird how enemies can only be drained of life the first time you're in a dungeon area and then only of MP when revisiting it - in overworld areas you always get HP. The game also isn't consistent about this
- Gore (can make enemies explode into bits)
- Marked points that you can walk onto to examine something next to it or trigger a comment about the general area/situation - fairly detailed but mostly non-interactive environments otherwise
- Can't talk to or free prisoners (only kill or drain the life from them (which also kills them)), Gain the ability to talk to NPCs once you gain the disguise a few dungeons into the game, Can't manually talk to story relevant NPCs such as the tavernkeeper or the spirit at the pillars (can't talk to the former at all after being turned into a vampire), Can't talk to some NPCs and various NPCs say the same thing
- Can't attack certain NPCs
- Can't replay voice messages/dialogue - no message log (can review certain cutscenes via the dark diary feature)
- No subtitles
- No wait command for skipping ahead to full moon or a non-rainy day
- Odd delay to the camera when starting to move in a direction and it moves too far ahead so it'll keep jerking back and forth if moving back and forth and not giving a good general overview (see Global Gladiators for example) - this and how zoomed in the default view is means a zoomed out view plays better in terms of visibility but the graphics become rather pixelated and there are slowdowns
- can't bind a sub weapon and a spell to a face button at the same time - R1 could've been used to bind both and then X and R2 to use them (you should've also been able to bind more than 4 spells or items to a quick item slot since going in and out of the pause menu is slow)
- Can't skip dialogue lines - they also have to play out fully before you can exit the room that the NPC you talked to is in
- Sometimes can't jump for seemingly no reason (also can't jump diagonally)
- Somewhat slow movement in vampire form - can't upgrade it or gain a run move so you have to transform into wolf form to go faster (even slower in spirit form)
- 4-6 seconds of loading when going in and out of the inventory menu, About 2 seconds of loading when transforming, Frequent loading when moving between rooms or sub areas
- Slowdown issues when playing in zoomed out view (particularly bad in certain areas like Nachtholm)
- Point of no return after traveling back to the past (northeastern castle) - can't go back and go into the moongates or the lost city area
- Villagers don't react to someone near them being killed nor do they run away when you're in wolf form
Playthrough (PC) - Video Review - Mini Review
Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (SNES, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Adventure Hybrid (uses the Zelda 3 engine, examine/P&C mode which pauses gameplay)
Perspective: TD view, Occasionally FP view via the examine mode
Other: Examine mode also lets you talk to people from afar, can be used for tips vs bosses - later used in Metroid Prime, Various mini-games throughout (mashing the button to make the party lift a cauldron, pulling a mouse's nose at the right rhythm to make it give up, football penalty shots, gambling, tug of war, fishing/luring, etc), Escape segment before the ending
- Linear structure (chapter-based, optional mini-boss in chapter 2, mostly non-linear final dungeon (ch. 5))
- Save anywhere (three slots, if you save during the escape segment it puts you at the beginning of it when loading), One checkpoint per chapter if you die
- Control a party of three kids via an assigned leader which can be switched on the fly (you can use a whistle to make them come to you and they'll stay in place where you left them if you didn't which is used for various puzzles - kinda similar to Zelda: Four Swords, Lost Vikings and Abe's Oddysee as well as an evolution of Where Time Stood Still (1988), different characters can use different items such as only Jack being able to use the jump boots and fishing rod and, Dion being able to use the dash shoes and get into small spaces and Max being able to use the drill and the soccer shoes)
- Some good puzzles ("locker" switch puzzle, some later remote robot moving (after the first one you get to program their movement but need to input a set number of commands each time, final dungeon's spatial awareness puzzle), making a bridge of mice with the fishing rod) and some decent (spatial awareness, logic puzzles, using pits to bounce you around in the desert, time travel puzzles in chapter 2, sound recording puzzles in ch. 3, )
- Pretty good hint system - can buy hints from the bird at any point with collect money/rocks (sometimes useless though)
- Can haggle at one point (digging machine) - Ys 1?
- Few bosses and enemies overall (second half of ch. 3 is an exception)
- Some tool/ability gating (jump boots, dash boots - work like in Zelda 3 except you can turn while running and run diagonally here (thankfully your party follows along), fishing rod (fishing is a bit simpler than in Link's Awakening however it's also used to trigger switches from afar and to lure an animal), diving goggles to be able to reach for items underwater - more like a key since there's no timing or aiming challenge involved, hammer (see Zelda 3, more like a key), dynamite however it's a temporary tool only used once)
- No alternate solutions to puzzles/quests (can't have a party member run below the shutter door while it's temporarily open, can't grab rocks/money with the fishing rod unless it's on the same level as you, can't stand on each others' heads to reach the rope when it looks like it should be possible, etc.)
- Non-interactive dialogue (means you can't question random NPCs for clues - the bird helps but not always)
- Minor collectathon element (money/rock quotas for firing up the ship's engine - never an issue; get a basic ranking after the end based on your rock collection percentage)
- No weapon/armor upgrades and no life bar upgrades
Some notable cons:
- No area maps unlike in Zelda 3 (only a vague overworld map of the first island which you can only view at certain signs+a map of the final dungeon accessed in the same way)
- Control/interface issues (so-so pathfinding for your party members when using the whistle to make them come to you - if on a different screen or beyond a wall but with a valid path to the player they could've teleported instead (also if you call them and move to a different room but they didn't get close enough yet they won't follow), sometimes party members also just stop following you for no apparent reason, can't use L to cycle through inventory items without going into the inventory menu first, the keys aren't in a shared inventory so you have to go into the examine mode>select item>select the right char>use the key to open something locked (this is repeated with some other interactions as well - a step back from Zelda 3), etc.)
- Some tedious aspects (some dead space and pointless dead ends (canal near beginning), using the remote control on the robot in the cave N of the ship is kinda tedious since you have to go into a separate menu over and over and clearing a path through the boxes is basically just a guessing game, etc.)
- Some trial & error (see the review)
Playthrough w/ commentary - Video Review - Mini Review
Speris Legacy (CD32, 1996)
Subgenre: Zelda-like Action Adventure
Perspective: TD view
Some tool/ability gating (invisibility cloak, strength potion to move some objects, bomb and titan fist to destroy some obstacles)
Playthrough
Brandish 2 Expert (SNES, 1996)?
Subgenre: ARPG?
Perspective: TD view
Find Playthrough
Corpse Party (PC-98, 1996)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Survival Horror
Perspective: TD view
Playthrough
Star Ocean (SNES, 1996)
Subgenre: 2D ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Other: Separate battle encounters, CPU allies
Can use flintstone on gasses to open up some passages
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures (PC, 1996)?
Subgenre: Action Adventure
Perspective: Top Down view
Other: Tile-based movement
Playthrough
Moon Light Saga (MSX, 1996)(Untranslated)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: TD view
Gameplay
Outliers:
Legends (AMI/PC, 1996) - Zelda-like Action Adventure, TD view, Chapter/level-based (five time periods, large areas), Side quests, Mini-games, No jumping
Native american protagonist
Password save
Map feature (accessed at certain spots only?)
Warp item
Mole Mania (GB, 1996) - Puzzle Action w/ Action Adventure elements (NPCs, non-hostile rooms), TD View, Maze levels, Bonus levels, Bosses, Hub map
-Partially non-linear structure
-Layered world (underground version of each room)
-Creative puzzle mechanics (digging and object interaction)
-Basic map feature (Locator item adds the bonus stage, boss, and Grandpa Hint (npc) to it)
Guardian Heroes (SAT, 1996) - 2.5D Beat 'em up w RPG elements, Tilted View (2 layers gameplay, see Fatal Fury), Co-op, No platforming
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (ARC, 1996/SAT, 1999) - Beat 'em up w/ RPG elements, Co-op
The Chaos Engine 2 (AMI/CD32, 1996) - MP Maze Shooter, 2-player vs., TD view