Sometimes I yearn for something that recreates the magic PlayStation Games I grew up with. I can't help it! My memories of late 90's games are filled with an experience unlike anything I have today. I have a vision of mystery games filled with secrets that weren't afraid to be dumb and let me get lost. Each game was very different from the ones I had played before, inventing entirely new ideas that I discovered and mastered. There was nothing like that.
But the older I get, the more I realize that my picture of the past is not entirely reliable. I was a dumb kid who didn't have easy access to step-by-step tutorials. Of course, everything seemed confusing and secret. And all these unique games? I just didn't play much, except for a few games that I rented from Blockbuster from time to time. The reality is that while PS1 games did differ due to the limitations of technology and developers pioneering real-time genres, some of the games I love aren't that different from the ones I play today. How can a modern game actually convey something that might be a false memory?
Angelina Era argues that this can only be achieved through creativity. Latest game from Anodine developer Analgesic Productions, Angelina Era doesn't just look like a long-lost PS1 game: it feels like one. It's a highly inventive hybrid of puzzle, RPG and adventure that takes notes from classic RPGs without trying too hard to recreate them. The result is a rare “retro” game that actually looks like how I remember the old games, even though it doesn't look like them at all.
Filled with blocky polygons and religious overtones. Angelina Era sounds vaguely like something you might have played in the 90s. You play as a hero named Tets, who comes to the continent with a mission to collect crystal-like MacGuffins (Twocorns) and save the world. If you look at a few screenshots, you'll probably think you have a good idea of ​​how it all works, including the Final Fantasy-style RPG world – but you'd be very wrong.
Angelina Era It's not a turn-based RPG, but rather a non-linear adventure game where you have to navigate. Once I land on the continent, I learn that there are no dungeons or destinations marked in the overworld. I have to look for them myself by walking up to suspicious tiles and holding down the search button. If I do this in the right place, I'll find an entrance to an area that I can only access after completing a quick first-person obstacle course that looks like it was taken from an old-school computer game. I won't get far until I learn how to observe the world, telegraph search points, and begin to internalize the game's visual language.
Once I'm inside the area, I need to learn one more trick: hitting the bumps. To attack enemies, I just need to crash into them and hit them. I also have a pistol that I can use too, but it always fires and it has limited ammo that can only be replenished by hitting it. Each area requires me to master these dynamics if I'm going to survive the maze of rooms and end up with the bar I need to level up.
Searching and stumbling combine to create something that's unlike anything else, yet somehow reminiscent of an old PlayStation game. Of course, part of it is aesthetics. Angeline Era aims to use washed-out textures and Casio brass to create something authentically reminiscent of the era. (This makes any modern touches, like DeviantArtcore character portraits popping up during dialogue, feel completely out of place.) It feels like a close relative Crow Countryanother throwback to the PS1 that respects the features that defined the console.
But it's not these elements that take me back to the games I played as a child. Instead, it's the discovery of it all. When I first pick it up, I have no idea what I'm doing. How should I get around? Why are these boss fights so difficult? What am I even doing? I have to search for answers to this question by poking and prodding as much as I can—literally. It's a game about getting physically in touch with the digital world, deconstructing every tile and poking at everything you can hit just to see what happens. In this sense, it is more like Final Fantasy than Final Fantasy, although upon closer inspection it bears no resemblance to it.
I'm still working on it Angelina Era. Just like the games I played as a kid, I want to take my time with them. I don't want to have to find any places to look to help me speed things up or bookmark a handy map that shows me where all the bicorns are. I'm just glad to trust a game that believes in me as much. Angelina Era believes that I can save the day without her help. I won't let you down.
