Awesome Games You Should Know About: RosenkreuzStilette
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, 03-11-2016 at 08:10 PM (6674 Views)
Sometimes I realize the amusing state of the Mega Man franchise, where the company doesn't particularly care about it, but fans and other developers (or the original dev) still do. It has created a franchise where fans are making better unofficial releases than Capcom is official ones, and, I have to say, I'm pretty okay with that. In fact, I'm so okay with it that I want to share one of these fan games with all of you today:
ROSENKREUZSTILETTE
Released back in 2007, RKS isn't actually a Mega Man fan game per se, so much as a title that draws so much from Capcom's series mechanically that it cannot realistically be mistaken for anything else. Classic Mega Man staples such as the slide and charge buster are present, new weapons are earned from defeating bosses, items 1-3 are present, and even 'Beat' is unlockable if you can find a hidden item in one of the stages. Additionally, upon completing the game the player is given a password that unlocks one of the bosses as a playable character (with her own storyline), who plays like Zero from the MMX series, complete with a saber, dashing, and wall jumping. It adds a great mesh of old and new styles to the game and increases replayability in a way few of the Capcom titles have.
Inspiration for the game isn't limited exclusively to the Mega Man franchise however (though the largest amount of it is), and the game does pull in ideas from other places, most obviously the Castlevania series, with several stages, especially later on, really pulling in that Gothic feel, and several famous MM bosses being redesigned to fit that aesthetic more. There's also a good chance some famous faces from the CV franchise make an appearance as well.
And while general inspiration from other titles does tend to stop here, references to other series do not -- in fact, it seems clear the developers had a lot of fun making this game, and their love for classic gaming in general is shown in numerous other places throughout the title. One of the weapons, for instance, are Bomberman bombs, complete with chain reactions; there are random Mario coins in one of the levels, and a pathway across the top of the screen; and every single stage has a unique game over screen that references the bygone era of gaming, often quite humorously. It's the little things like this that add so much enjoyment to the game if you grew up in an era when they were relevant.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention what most people seem to notice the most about this game -- its almost entirely female cast. Though there are a few male characters to be found in the game, the main character, her 'beat' replacement Lilli, the 8 magi, and the final boss (who I absolutely adore, by the by) are all female. It's ultimately not that important in the grand scheme of things, but it does add a unique quirk to the game not many others lay claim to, and it is a thing I know some people will appreciate.
Changing gears and speaking specifically to the game's difficulty, as I know that can be an offputting point to people new to the Mega Man series, RKS leans a little on the harder side of things, but I'd ultimately put it middle of the road for a MM title. Several of the stages offer a decent challenge, but most of the difficulty will come from bosses themselves, and tackling them with the appropriate weapon makes most of the fights trivial. It'll provide a good challenge to new players, but nothing impossible.
Probably more than anything else when recommending this game to people, I think it should be known that the title doesn't offer, outside of its unique story (which there is a translation patch for) and female cast, anything extremely NEW to the Mega Man formula. More than anything else, I feel this game is a love letter to the classic franchise and gaming, a happy recollection of all the best things the developer remembers. To some, this might make the title too samey or too referential -- some might even find it boring because of this. And I have no counter argument for that; the game is what it is, a fresh coat of paint on an old concept. But it is a fine coat of paint, and if you can look past that, or if you are new to this kind of game in general and want a good diving in point, I still feel this is a fantastic title and, absolutely, an
Awesome Game You Should Know About