[3DS] Dark Witch's Story - Chronicle 2D Act

[briareos_kerensky]

This one's on the Japanese eShop and has one, yet huge, difference with the games I've written about recently: it's good. I'm also having fun with it, but I think it's a byproduct of the game being good.
Mind you, it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's a nice platformer that you can easily compare to MegaMan, mixed with a bit of...Gradius.

I don't know anything about the story, but there's this witch named Zizou that has to beat other witches. And everyone's a loli. Good enough for me.
Zizou starts off slow, with a simple jump, and a linear shot. Each enemy killed is transformed into "tr?s", black butterflies that gradually fill a powerup bar. The first powerup is a speed up, the second a limited hovering ability after a jump, the third a two-way shot, then more powerful porjectiles; some powers can be increased more than once, but when you're hit you lose a certain number of tr?s, decreasing your power bar. Tr?s are also used as currency between levels, with which you can get extra lives, a longer life bar, increase your attack, or get more tr?s for each kill.

Levels aren't particularly long or complex, but all of them offer multiple paths, some longer, some with more enemies, some that lead to hidden crystal to permanently upgrade so abilities.
At the end of each level, there's the boss encounter, and defeating one witch will grant Zizou a special weapon. I don't really know if certain witches have some specific weaknesses, especially because most special weapons tend to be less flexible than the standard shot.
The game moves at a brisk pace, each level is different enough from the other, and their design favours a run&gun style, though you can hit enemies outside the screen, and certain enemies release projectiles upon death, so sometimes you'll be hit by something you never noticed. Some boss attacks and enviromental hazards are a bit lost in the graphics, and if you know what to collect and upgrade, it can be relatively easy, though the Lunatic game mode will always be a though nut to crack.

Graphics are aboslutely gorgeus, even without 3D effect. As the title implies, the game is completely in 2D, with big, colourful and splendidly animated sprites; the downside is that there isn't much enemy variety, but each level has three or four exclusive bad guys. As with many doujin games, backgrounds tend to be less detailed than sprites, with a couple of levels looking very basic. The game is also fully voiced, and music is rather nice.

All in all, a very pleasant game, though nothing particularly new: I'm enjoying it more than Shovel Knight, probably thanks to DWS' faster rhythm and run and gun style, although I'd say that, overall, Shovel Knight is more carefully crafted. Nevertheless, if you are in the mood for a 16bit style plaftormer, Dark Witch's Story is there for you.

[briareos_kerensky]

The first post was a bit rushed, but my general feelings toward the game haven't changed: I like it, and it has more content that I thought it would have.

I'm still oblivious to the story, but you have Zizou going around beating other witches in order to face the mastermind behind whatever is going on. At first there are only six witches, along with their stages, to tackle, and you get a seventh witch after defeating the first group; defeating the seventh character opens up the final boss' stage, which is nothing more than a battle royale against the first six witches before the final two-stage boss fight.

Zizou starts off slow, with a simple jump, and the usual single-line peashooter. These can be upgraded by collecting tres, black butterflies released by dead enemies or by hitting bosses. Getting hit not only decreases the life meter by one unit, but also releases some of the collected tres, which can result in Zizou losing some of her powers.
Collected tres fill the powerup bar on the bottom of the screen, and as one section of said bar is filled, Zizou gains that upgrade. Upgrades are speed (faster movement speed), wing (allows Zizou to float after a jump), line (diagonal fire added to the existing shot), comet (more powerful projectiles), and power (increases firepower); certain upgrades can be obtained more than once.
In all six stages there are two hidden crystals that further enhace the level that upgrades can be brought to. Permanent powerups can be purchased by spending tres between stages, and this include life bar, lives, firepower, amount of tres collected each kill, and all special powers acquired from defeated witches.
Special powers are not free, they will consume collected tres at each use; I haven't identified any specific weakness in any of the bosses, so I think their usefulness is more dependent on the situation, like level design and boss attack patterns, but except for one occasion, I've always used the standard shot:losing movement speed and longer jumps will put you at a disadvantage against all bosses.

Bosses each have three attack patterns, and with few exceptions, they are rather stationary. They do pose a challenge, as they take a lot of hits to be taken down, but it's nothing that will drive you crazy...at least in normal mode. Easy mode should not be considered, all enemies take one hit to be killed and bosses probably won't last past their third attack; it might be a nice way to get used to the game, but it will be over in a single session. Depleting all lives triggers a game over, but with that you're simply brought back to the stage selection screen, with nothing lost except for the last checkpoint.

Levels are a mostly linear affair, each has some divergent paths, but the style is clearly run & gun, you're swarmed with one-shot enemies and just an hadful of them take more than one shot to be killed; each stage has its own gimmick, but platforming is kept very easy. You can scroll up and down while stationary, to take a peek on where you'll go next, and if a trap or an enemy is ouside the vertical reach of the screen you'll get a nice "warning" sign to avoid unfair damage or deaths. This doesn't cover bottomless pits, so a degree of attention and level knowledge are required.

The game has no 3D effect, but graphics are excellent, at least for characters. All characters, from Zizou, to the enemies and the bosses, are wonderfully crafted an animated, and especially with bosses, given them their definite personality. The design, on the other hand, isn't particularly original, with some bosses seemingly ripped off from Touhou. Great sprites come at a price however: enemy variety isn't particularly great, and a couple of enemies are just reskins, with other being recolours; backgrounds aren't up to the sprites, and are rather generic-looking, if not completely bland.
Music is upbeat and doesn't leave a lasting impression, sound effects do their work without glory or infamy, and boss introductions are voiced, like Zizou's attacks; this can get a bit repetitive over the course of the game, but luckily you won't be paying it much attention when playing. Strangely enough, the ending sequence has not being voiced.
Clearing the game opens up a shop where to buy game options (please please help with translation :P ) and gallery items, which can be pruchased with gems acquire by clearing the game or defeating a boss without getting hit. Last, but not least, you'll have a second character with her own abilities to play with. Unfortunately the game itself doesn't change (except for the hidden crystals in each level) but Zizou and this character are drastically different, so the game is lengthier than I initially thought.

While not a masterpiece (and one of the many unknown platformers available on the 3DS eShop), Dark Witch's Story is a fun game that's keeping the my 3DS busy. Definitely worth its price.

[briareos_kerensky]

Quick note, the game has reached the US eShop as The Legend of Dark Witch.