~ candy fangs ~

Introduction

Well, I figured I might as well do a review for this game seeing as how I decided to do another Let's Play for this game in order to cover a few Halloween themed games for the upcoming holiday. So at least I'm coming into this review after just playing this game instead of trying to base it off of my memories from over three years ago. At any rate, "~ candy fangs ~" was an entry in the All Hallows Event.

Story

"~ candy fangs ~" features rather brief and absurd story about a bunch of kids and adults facing-off against monsters with the power of candy. I know candy has the power to rot your teeth, but I never thought I'd see the day it was used to get rid of demons summoned from the depths of hell itself. Though, I suppose it's about as sensible a weapon as you'd expect from a comedy game based on the season. After all, it's not like your meant to take the plot seriously or anything.

Gameplay

On the face-off it, "~ candy fangs ~" features a rather standard turn-based combat system with each of your pieces of candy being split into three unique categories. At first glance, you'd think this game would be pretty easy. Which isn't entirely inaccurate, but you really need to carefully consider how and when you'll use your various pieces of candy. This is because the candy you'll receive from each villager as well as the bags and boxes you pick up from defeating the various bosses in this game are entirely random. As such, you really have to way the value of using a powerful piece of candy on a regular enemy or saving it for one of the three bosses you need to deal with in this game. After all, it doesn't matter if you take out all of the minor minions in the game if you don't have the candy you'll need to take down the final boss. And you'll definitely need to have a lot of options on the table in order to deal with his three forms.

On the downside, the random nature of what candies you'll pick up over the course of this game can be really frustrating. After all, certain candies are meant to combine together, but you may find yourself unable to do that. After all, during my last run I came across about half a dozen candies meant to deliver a powerful attack on sleeping enemies, but only got my hands on two or three candies that can induce this status condition. As such, I only got to take advantage of nightmare once, and never had a use for the other pieces.

Graphics

I'll be up front in admitting that I really don't care for the title screen for this game. After all, it's merely a black background with the words ~ candy fangs ~ plastered at the top. And while I can understand that this was likely done as a means of saving time for other things. It still would have been nice if the title screen included pieces of candy setup to look like a jaw about to bite down onto the name of the game. Or at the vary least throw in few pieces of candy corn to form some apparent teeth or something.

Outside of that, the game is largely comprised of the default assets that come with RPG Maker VX Ace, as well as includes a few DS sprites and faces. So while the game isn't entirely based on the RTP. Enough of the game is based on it to make this game really struggle to form an identity of its own.

Conclusion

"~ candy fangs ~" is a game that I'm not entirely sure I want to recommend. On one hand, I find the concept itself rather interesting. On the other hand, I'm not the biggest fan of the RNG elements at the heart of this game. After all, I really don't like it when the game gives pieces of candy that I'll never be able to use. On the other hand, this issue only really crops up when it comes to one specific piece of candy while other strategies are largely tied into support items that may prove useful or useless to the player depending on when they decide to deploy them. As such, the game has a real focus on proper item management as well as on the player knowing when to use their items in order to maximize their effectiveness. Which really adds a strategic edge to the game. With all that being said, I'd only suggest playing this game if your intrigued by the idea of throwing candies at your enemies. Other wise, I'd suggest staying away.