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Hope for a full version of Notes on the Second Mellynd War reignited.

It's been far too long since I've heard of Notes on the Second Mellynd War (probably four years? maybe) and the last thing I've heard about it is that it was being revised from ground up in RMXP, which is a telltale sign of "yep, it's never being finished." Eike did announce somewhere that he was working on a prequel game about the Edgosian Crisis, only to recently release it here as Notes on the Edgosian Crisis. Being a huge fan of NotSMW I gave it a go and realized why I love these games so much.

Now, NotEC is nowhere near as deep or engaging as NotSMW, for those few who've played it. NotSMW managed to grab me on an impressive emotional scale and I could not let go. Indeed, the storytelling, character development, writing, etc in that game is superb, probably some of the best I've -EVER- seen. I'd go as far as to call it as The Wire of indie gaming. If a full version ever comes out I'm going to shit bricks. With the release of NotEC, this could be likely.

So I realize I'm shamelessly promoting a four-year old game (which, by the way, I replayed after playing NotEC), back to Notes on the Edgosian Crisis. This is a prequel to the aforementioned game, this time taking place in the country of Edgos in a parallel Europe-like continent. The game stars Orson E Rockefeller, a loser who comes back to his hometown only to find his house burnt down. Seeking insurance from the mayor of the town he finds out the mayor was responsible for the act, because he hates Orson and wants him out. So begins Orson's tale of pure revenge and hatred. As Orson, you will travel all over Edgos, gathering allies and partaking in certain deeds to overthrow his archnemesis.

This sounds ridiculous. It really does. But remember that Eike is an A-list writer so every little part of the story is handled exceptionally well. The character development, in particular, is on its own scale. You will meet a handful of rather colorful, goofy character who join Orson for little to no reason. There's the insane Mark Van Doorn who makes very little sense in anything he says, a guy that thinks he's a cyborg, a nice-guy criminal, etc. They all make a lasting impression and continue to develop as quirky yet loveable characters throughout. You can even talk to them in your house to find out more about them. However the standout character is Orson himself, who is a complete idiot, but fun to follow nevertheless. I wanted to keep playing just to find out what craziness he was going to get into next.

NotEC is a very wordy game and there will be periods of nothing but dialogue, but the writing holds its own, as this is one of those games that requires you to read in order to enjoy it. I also can't forget to mention that Eike's dialogue can be pretty witty and funny, as I actually laughed a few times. This isn't a pure comedy game, as there's political intrigue, immoral experiments, etc going on but Eike is able to insert these moments gracefully.

Much of the gameplay involves travelling around the country and going from one plot point to the next, however the entire map is available to you at a certain point and you can partake in sidequests such as recruiting more characters. I believe there are 12 recruits, but only 8 spots open, so multiple playthroughs may be required if you want to see everything. The plot itself is fairly short, and the game will take roughly 4 hours to complete, maybe one or two more for completions' sake. Also, the level cap is 10, which is likely reached before the final dungeon.

The game uses standard RM2K3 DBS and buying/selling/etc. You can buy "manuals" in the shops that teach you a certain set of skills. Again, battles are standard DBS, however they avoid the "amateur" trap in that, enemies and bosses are NOT cheap and overpowered with lots of hit points and require grinding or some other ridiculous thing. Battles can be won rather easily, but you'll still need to leave dungeons to go and recover your MP/restock for some bosses. I can see why people are going to be bothered by DBS, but I honestly didn't mind much, and that's probably because Eike seems to avoid obvious mistakes I mentioned earlier. Still, RM2K3's technicalities prohibit me from enjoying it more.

Visually, the game is an improvement over NotSMW (well, it has been several years...) and it mostly shows. NotSMW contained graphics from FFVI and Suikoden 2 which are drastically different styles and do not fit in together. NotEC, however, is more contained. The mapping is pretty good, not great, but enough to fit the bill (Ultima187 helped with some of the better looking maps which is nice). Aurally, there are some songs I recognize and most I don't. It was fine.

I'm giving the game 4.5 stars because I found it honestly very enjoyable and charming. It's not "exceptionally great" but it's a fun ride. Accolades go to great writing, character development, and overall game design. Basically, NotEC knows what it tries to accomplish and doesn't do any more than that - a simple little RPG that tells a simple story (again, written amazingly well).

Now, NotSMW can't be that far behind, can it...? :)

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Haha, I have yet to watch The Wire, but from what I gather, 'The Wire of indie gaming' is... quite the compliment. Thank you very much for the review, in any case! Again, I can promise very little on the NotSMW front - glad you enjoyed this one, though. :)
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