Nadia Was Here

Initially I liked the game a decent amount, but the game tends to get rather repetitive and stretched out. The dialogue and story isn't very interesting, but it's not bad. The combat is unique, but it doesn't have much depth most of the time. There are seemingly a lot of options, but 95% of the attacks and spells and items are pretty useless. You can super micromanage the fights in order to make them go faster, but there is generally 0 chance of dying if you just leave your mage on casting the heal spell, which ends up trivializing the combat and makes it kind of boring. The dungeons are very big, but the size often isn't justified. And it is very frustrating that most of the extra chests that you have to go out of your way to get just have potions. Overall not a bad game, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I've reviewed about 5% of the games I own. These reviews usually only happen when a game stands out amongst others of its kind, which I mean primarily in a positive manner. That said, Nadia Was Here fits the bill, and the lack of good reviews present at this time is criminal. I've yet to complete the game, but I know enough about it to tell you that Nadia Was Here is a fantastic take on the RPG's of old: It's not the same old 90's RPG you've played before, especially in terms of the turn-based battle mechanics. Rather than pressing the "attack" command over and over again as fast as you can, or timing a button press with the action on screen, each encounter represents a unique, strategic, and frantic series of movements and actions. Each of the 3 members of your party have their own strengths, but you as a player are responsible for determining how effective those strengths will be. There's a demo on steam for you to see what I mean, though I never tried it myself! The main idea here is that each of the characters will only use their ability on the enemy they are across from in battle (for the most part). As an example, I'll describe a battle. You come across an enemy that is invulnerable to magic, which means your magic user will be useless if he's positioned against that enemy. However, that same enemy may have a new spell that you've yet to aquire (because in this game that's the primary way of aquiring new abilities. Think the "Enemy Skill" materia from FF7.) and so you want to keep the magic user positioned there for a chance to learn it. But, uh oh, the enemy that your thief character is trying to steal a useful item from is about to knock her out, and your magic user has all the healing power - but you can't change his spell right now, because he's trying to aquire that new spell! The enemy's attack bar is almost full, and you've got only a second to decide. (You can pause the battle if you wish, but I prefer not to !) Better pull up that item menu and use a potion before that happens! Okay, so you stole the item and healed the thief with a potion, but now that same monster is about to attack again, and you're out of potions. The magic user failed to aquire that spell though, and you really need it, so he can't heal the thief. Better switch the defender and thief's battle positions so the defender can tank the damage... And that's how every battle is going to go. Even if you encounter the same enemies more than once, each time feels like a chance to perfect your strategy against that enemy. It never feels like a grind - because there is no grinding. Like I said, aquiring new skills is up to you. You have to keep an eye out for enemy skills or weapons you don't have yet. No leveling up in sight - strength comes with time and new abilities. *** Okay, that's enough about the battles, but that's the main draw here. The story of the game is interesting enough, but nothing mind blowing. That's not to discredit it at all - it's a well written story from what I've seen, I just haven't completed it. Lastly, the time you don't spend battling will be spent exploring the world, and puzzling. A LOT of puzzling. These puzzles aren't your typical press a switch to open a gate type of thing either. Honestly, some are on par with Ocarina of Time's water temple in terms of difficulty, but without the awful water everywhere to slow your progress. Definitely go into this expecting a challenge, is what I'm saying. But most of all, give Nadia Was Here a chance! It's well worth the money, and you'll enjoy it a lot if you like the old Final Fantasy titles, Legend of Zelda series, and the rest of the 90's classics. You even get the game's soundtrack free, which is pretty good in its own right!