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Video Game Taste Test: Oreshika
Ever play a game that piqued your interest or curiosity, and turns out to be a really good game, but just not your flavor. And yet you appreciate the game's existence, and wouldn't even mind spreading the word to others who actually might enjoy it in ways you can't?
This happened to me over the weekend. I was browsing PSN on my VitaTV and stumbled across a game, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines. It's rare to see a VitaTV compatible demo on PSN. So I gave it a shot. They said it was an RPG where you play as a clan in feudal Japan with a curse in your lineage and you must pair your characters selectively with deities to produce the strongest genes for future generations and work towards breaking the curse
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines
You start out by making a starting character, and though the graphics are simple and watercolored cell shading, there is a surprisingly extensive character creation mechanic.You build your starting character to be head of your clan, choosing gender, facial features, hair styles and color, there's even a job system similar to those used in a handful of Final Fantasy titles (Archer, Dancer, Lancer, etc.) where you choose your character's "trade". Then you choose the trade of two other characters who will join you in your clan's beginnings as your siblings. Their looks are auto-generated, but so are everyone else's in the game, and it ends up being part of the charm
Once you're all set naming your characters you're introduced through a long and surprisingly well made animated cut scene setting up the plot regarding the tradedies that befell Kyoto in ancient days and all the things that went wrong during a domino effect that was eventually blamed on your clan. And as punishment the clan that would be your ancestors was put to execution; exterminated and cursed
The game opens up with a benevolent god coming down after the chaos and offering to restart your clan's life and let you rebuild and work towards revenge and breaking the curse through gaining abilities, power, and stats by exploring dungeons and selective unions with other deities (even the guy who helped you is an optional husband / breeding partner)
The game plays through two modes. A good portion of the game will be spent wandering dungeons, unlocking paths and chests, discovering secrets, building up your characters through quick, humorous, and intense battles with demons wandering around, and working on little missions within the dungeons
The other mode, and arguably the meat of the game is done within the clan, working out monthly plans with the advice of your pet ferret (who magically turns into a human for these portions), getting equipment for your party members, funding your town, meeting with varieties of important NPCs who want to help or hinder your progress, wooing a surprisingly large list of gods to help produce a better lineage, and everything else that's needed to make a strong clan
The battles are quick and fun, and tend not to get tedious. They play out on a separate screen just like most JRPGs, but in here they play out on a stage with props and backgrounds and confetti all spinning and floating around. It's hard to capture the feel in words, but suffice it to say it's both amusing and beautiful
During the town preparation segments, the game's gimmick is pairing up with gods and making strong children to pass on your traits, skills, and items you've built up thus far. Each generation starts fresh, but with this added bonus of getting stronger genes, and stronger equipment previously acquired, you don't actually start out weak, and are stronger every time. Your characters also level up in the feild. They don't actually have number levels, but still their stats gets upgraded for each consecutive threshold of glory (xp) reached
But sadly, due to the curses on your clan, generations don't last forever. They're not short, and they're not long for this world. They're generally "just right". Long enough for you to get comfortable with characters and build a bond with them, but not so long as to make it a chore to lose them and have to build up someone else. And when the time comes for their souls to move on, everyone gets to go with some final parting words; accompanied by the understandably sad music. Depending on how invested you are in your characters, and how long they've managed to survive, this can be surprisngly sad for such a simple character set-up. And its treated with respect and dignity in game. You play as each generation's designated leader, and are tasked with either performing the funeral rights, or choosing a successor when its your current character's time to go
This game was not for me, but I absolutely love it. After an hour or so of dinking around myself one night, I introduced it to my girlfriend the next morning. And she immediately fell in love with it. Her interest was first captured by character creation (this is one of her favorite things in game), but all the other simulation, exploration, fun addictive battles and "selective breeding" was all very entertaining to her. She honestly could not put the game down the first day and I think I sat through her playing a 9 hour session, and she's been devoted to it ever since
We haven't beaten it yet, but its such an interesting and unique game. For only $20 and super limited distribution it could probably sure use some extra love. I wasn't sure how to go about this, and it's not the first time I've come across a game I liked but couldn't get into that I thought could use some more exposure. So for once I decided to do something about it. Because I know there would be at least a couple of people on this site who would enjoy it
I've never done a review or anything, but hopefully I've made a strong enough case for this game. Though it's hard to obtain, at least for the Vita TV. There was a physical release (at least in America), but I've been told it's not worth the effort to hunt down. Fortunately there is a digital option. But for some reason when you look it up on PSN through the VitaTV you are only presented with the demo (which I would urge anyone to try who's curious about the game, it's very extensive, and your save file can be transferred to the actual game, if you decide you like it)
We ended up having to look it up on the PS3 and buying it on there, and then getting it on the Vita through the purchase history. Which is a weird set-up. But at least it works and we were able to obtain the game. The developers got their money, and the game got some much deserved (and likely needed) love
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading
