Comfort junk
You should know I'm someone who enjoys playing junky games sometimes. I don't actively seek them, but... a series I really like has one game that isn't very well recieved? Time to play Drakengard! A game seems involuntarily hilarious? Let's play Stranger of Paradise! A game has elements I really resonate with even if it looks very lacking on other departments? That's how I came into contact with Reynatis. Baited by Yoko Shimomura and the "Final Fantasy Versus XIII we never had" vibes. And, what can I say? I was so hooked, I considered picking it up when it came out. In the end, I waited and snatched a copy on sale at a price that for the quality of the soundtrack alone felt honestly right.
Remember Square Enix PSP games? Small maps, simple gameplay with a twist, models in game that looks totally different from the prerendered cutscenes or portraits. Reynatis is just like that. Except it was released in 2024 and it has more NPC around the city than Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. And it felt oddly nostalgic.
And I'm not gonna lie, after the end of the game I still find the in game models pretty ugly, but there's a lot of stuff I ended up considering endearing. Take the battle system: it's action based and fairly simple. You have a magic gauge. When it's Active, you can attack and use your skills, but it depletes with time and skill use. When it's empty it starts charging with time, but you can speed the process evading attacks. The gauge instantly fills up when you do a perfect dodge, near the enemy, holding a button for a set period of time (measured by a circle that appears on the screen when the first two conditions are met). It feels a bit clunky at first, BUT when you start mastering the perfect dodge it feels quite satisfying.
The story is also flawed and starts very slow, introducing all the characters and worldbuilding. It consists in 33 chapters and up until chapter 11 or so felt like prologue to me. It's nothing incredible and sometimes it's narrated in a clumsy way. And yet, by the end, I felt compelled by the narrative. I enjoyed the main party, despite their very simple personalities. Except Marin, the protagonist.
You look at Marin and you can probably tell who the inspirations were: FFXV's Noctis or KH3's Yozora. On the outside, at least. On the inside, he's definitely another kind of Nomura child1: super strong, only cares about being strong, he's abrasive and by the end of the story, beside aknowledging his team mates, still thinks the most important thing is being powerful 2. And yet, he's kept with the highest regards by all his party members. Teen Jack Garland here, everyone!
It's not a game that will cater to all gamers and I'm definitely not recommending it to anyone. Unless you got a mad attraction for it as I do. I'm just happy these kind of games exist. I hope you find your comfort junky game as well.
Despite not actually being a Nomura kid. He's probably a Nojima kid but I'm not sure how much he worked on characters being the scenario writer↩
Spoiling the game for those who don't care: what do you mean, he's the only one who keeps the ability to use magic (something you can only do keeping with you a very limited object) just because "It's ok if Marin keeps it, he wants to be the strongest after all!"↩