Mostly Involving Robots

[JSH357]

This game has two problems that I'll focus on separately in a bit: bad tutorial and insufficient pace. I realize that the limitations of the contest made this impossible to make truly good, mind. I don't think I'd go for the idea anyway, personally, but I want to say that in the game's defense.

First, this game has bad tutorial, which is a good transition from my previous review. The game presents all of the information to you in one series of giant text boxes and then immediately throws you to the wolves. I didn't read any of it, and I doubt many did. Final Fantasy XIII has gotten a lot of flack for its infamous first 30 hours of a linear path, but I want to argue that the first 30 hours of Final Fantasy XIII are (mostly) composed of great tutorial. The game introduces battle concepts to you gradually, such that at the end of it you have mastered or begun to master its combat.

That brings us to the second problem with Momoka's game: the length is insufficient for having a good learning curve in the first place. Since everything has to be learned at once and is then immediately tested, you... either know it or reset because you don't. That's lame. RMSephy's game, Arms Race, wasn't that hot but had much better pacing in that it introduces once concept at a time in its battles. Momoka might have done better to design similarly.

Rating: 1 Pile of Scrap Metal out of 10