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By Manuel  Players: 1 Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (via Steam) This Way Madness Lies is a retro-inspired RPG by way of Zeboyd Games (Creators of Cthulhu Saves The World & Cosmic Star Heroine) that's just arrived on the Nintendo Switch, following an earlier release on Steam. This isn't your standard RPG (or JRPG as it were) though as it in mixes the world of Shakespeare, magical girls, eldritch horrors, theatre, and more. It's quite the eclectic game and the unique mix of topics mean that it might not be for everyone. Is it for you though? Or is it for us at A-to-J even? Well, read on to find out! Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! This Way Madness Lies places you into the shoes of Imogen, a magical girl and leader of the Stratford-Upon-Avon High Drama Society. Her Drama Society friends Paulina, Viola, Rosalind, Miranda, Beatrice, and eventually Kate, are all magical girls also of course. Together they use their powers to both bring Shakespeare's words to life on the stage, and also to defend them against the evil of the Nightmares that are plaguing them for reasons at first unknown. These worlds often contain alternate versions of the girls themselves (they are all named after Shakespeare characters after all) and they partner with Imogen and friends to save their respective worlds. In-between these adventures the girls also perform plays, often with their own twists that come about due to the usual amount of anime-inspired nonsense. If you're wondering the origin of their magical powers, and why they have a special link to the world of Shakespeare, you won't find it here as the game seems barely concerned about what happens before it starts. Despite the girls best efforts, Nightmares eventually begin to spill into the real world and the battle comes to a head when they learn the secret behind what's causing the Nightmares' appearances in the first place. It's actually a great story, complete with laughs, funny asides, plot twists, bad jokes, and more to keep one interested. There's even a (totally accurate) Ye Olde English translator for any of the dialogue that needs it. Seeing as the story is one of the best elements of the game, its twists and turns are best found out by players themselves. If you're a theatre kid that loves Shakespeare, JRPGs, and magical girls, then this is really going to be for you. If you're a fan of just one of those things though, it's definitely still worth checking out just for the wacky story alone! I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it!
Random battles are the meat and potatoes of any JRPG and they're quite different here. First of all, they're not random. All enemies are visible on the map and they don't respawn. If you want to fight more battles though, perhaps to level grind, you can do so from the party menu. Battles take place between your party (usually four) and as many as seven enemies, which can occupy the front and back row. Standard JRPG actions like "attack", "defend", and "run away" are not present here, and are replaced by things like "skill" and "unite". Skills are actions that can attack, heal, and buff/debuff, and can be used a pre-determined amount of times per battles. Items work in a similar way, and are never "used" completely. If you somehow hit the limit of a certain action/skill before the battle is over, you can select "rest" to reset them. Unite skills are more powerful actions that are done in conjunction with another party member. These do not take up the second member's turn, but they cost the full current charge meters of both of them. These charges are built up over time by taking actions, and can turn the tide in longer battles. I mention longer battles as this unique system actually does keep fighting from growing stale, while also ensuring that just about every encounter goes beyond the "mash attack until all enemies are defeated in a turn or two" type of gameplay. The slight downside to this system is that you can often find yourself without things like attacks that hit all enemies, skills that heal when you need them, or even a character build that feels "right" to you. You often have to just work with what you're given at certain points. This is only really an issue at the start of the game when you're given pre-determined parties and have few skills or items, but this all gets easier to manage by the end. In short though, this combat system is quite fun and pretty much the stuff as dreams are made on.
Levelling up is important too, and I don't think I've played another JRPG where characters themselves don't level up, but the entire party does. This obviously means that no character falls behind, especially important as you're made to use every character at least once, sometimes randomly. It does perhaps edge towards being overly simplistic, but it's different enough to not bother me too much. Simplistic or not, there is another aspect that keeps it unique: character traits. Each character has three slots for traits and they gain more of traits as they level up. These offer bonuses like powering up skills and the like, but most importantly they greatly increase attributes and HP. If you ever find that your party feels a bit too weak for the current set of monsters, check their traits, chances are they're in need of some upgrades. Also, some skills get stronger themselves through level-ups, so be sure to check their descriptions too from time to time. Speaking of skills, you have eight slots for them and you gain far more than that as you level up. This means that you'll eventually have to pick and choose which best fit your play style. Oh, remember items? Well, those also have eight slots also, and you have items that do everything from healing, curing ailments, or even attacking using various elements. Item slots are a bit different though as while eight is the maximum you can equip, you might have less if you do not find all the upgrades within the game. This might all sound a little complicated, but it honestly can be as deep or simple as you want it to be, it's intuitive enough that you can just ignore it if you aren't feeling up to the job of fully customizing seven characters. Also, there are several difficulties to choose from, with easy actually being chosen by default, so you can adjust accordingly if you just want to get through the story instead. After all, the course of true love never did run smooth.
Now, I have to repeat that fans of anime, JRPGs, theatre, and Shakespeare will probably find the most fun out of this. There are so many references here that I can't even begin to name them all. The game actually has a cold open of sorts, the one that doesn't tell you any backstory of the characters, which brings you to the world of Romeo & Juliet. The problem is that this lovely, well-known play is being plagued by a giant plant; a giant plant reminiscent of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. There's tons of anime references, tons of gaming references (even to Zeboyd's other titles), and several tropes from all the above to deal with throughout the game. There's also lots of fourth wall breaking as the characters directly speak to the player, even asking for advice on some Shakespeare pop quizzes. It's all a bit much at times, but the game's story moves at a very brisk pace. One of the bullet points in the game's press releases mentions that it does not waste your time, and there has never been a more true statement. It's as if the game went through several rounds of editing to shake out all the unnecessary bits. That isn't to say that there isn't anything fun and extra, just that the game doesn't dwell on unnecessary bits too much. Also, even though the options to translate the Shakespearean dialogue is always there, I wonder what it would be like to play the entire thing in one mode or another. Oh, speaking of that last part, this game taught me that the classic saying is actually "All that glisters is not gold" and not "all that glitters is not gold". I actually was kind of taken out the game and was about to note that it had a typo in a very early scene before I looked it up. I guess you learn something new every day, even if it's from a video game. All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players after all. I think it's better to temper one's expectations when playing the game. If you want a serious JRPG, with a deep combat system, then you're only going to find one of those here. If you don't like self-referential, pun-filled humor, then maybe you'll want to check out a different game. One's enjoyment really depends on what type of game they're planning to get into, and even still you can probably be surprised by this game as it's just that good. It would clearly be a totally different game, but I wonder what it would be like to see these characters in a totally original setting. Actually, it almost makes me wish that Zeboyd dove into the rather empty sea of edutainment JRPGs with the Stratford-Upon-Avon High Drama Society taking on all sorts of other literary worlds. We probably won't see that any time soon though, but I can hope. Perhaps I'll reach out to them with the request even if they are not bound to please me with their answer.
Graphics are interesting to discuss when it comes to This Way Madness Lies as there is an odd quirk that will probably make or break it for some people: The entire active game area takes place on a strip of the screen that acts as a sort of "stage". I put stage in quotations, but that's really what it is, complete with curtains that mark the opening and closing of scenes. This means that a lot of the screen real estate is taken up with space reserved for menus and dialogue boxes. This was probably less noticeable on PC, but it's a bit jarring to get into on the Switch. Before I played the game I thought that screenshots looked weird for reasons I couldn't put my finger on, and I wasn't sure I'd like the game area being so small once I booted it up. Size isn't everything though, and there's a lot of detail in this staged world. The character designs are all perfect, and I'd definitely buy a Miranda figure if it ever dropped. There's even some cool transformation sequences (Which we do not skip in this house!) and monster designs to shake things up a bit. Actually, the monster designs are probably the most interesting aspect of the game's visuals as they feel like they come out of the eldritch nightmares of the Lovecraftian Mythos. It makes for quite the juxtaposition, and offers some unique villains to dispose of. If you can get past the narrow field of view though, you'll get one of the best retro-inspired, 16-Bit (ish) games out there. To thine old self be true, but don't let that keep you from this game!
There are times when everything is going so great in a game that I overlook the music until a total banger comes on. This describes most of my experience with the music of This Way Madness Lies. I was actually very impressed by how awesome the music was straight from the intro. I actually complained earlier about how the game has a cold open that didn't exactly draw me in, but the music really saved the day there. It set a tone that the rest of the game delivered on. The music is well done with all the themes and tonal changes one would expect from A JRPG like this. There's cheery upbeat themes for the intermission scenes, suspenseful dungeon themes, and pulse-pounding monster encounter and boss themes. Everything is well done and it's no wonder that the soundtrack is available to purchase alongside the Steam version; something I'll probably pick up after I'm done with this review. There were even some vocal tracks that really added to the atmosphere and gave off vibes of "The Power of Love" from the Sailor Moon R movie. I'm not sure if this last part was intentional, but it was one of my favorite parts of the game and I wish that there were a couple more vocal tracks to go with it. Also, while there isn't full voice acting, there are lots of vocal quips for attacks and stuff and these felt like they'd be right at home with the Sailor Moon RPG for the Super Famicom. In short, I have nothing bad at all to say about the music. It's as close to perfect as a game could get in my opinion. If music be the food of love, play on!
Not every game needs to have immense replay value and I feel that This Way Madness Lies offers the perfect gaming experience at a neat trim 6-8 hours. With that said, there are definitely ways to get more out it. There's the normal RPG stuff like making sure you get everything, max level, try out different party builds, and even mess with difficulty, but there's a bit more to discuss here thankfully. Small choices in gameplay affect dialogue (nothing major just in case this worries one-time players) and you can go for a perfect Shakespeare questionnaire, try out a different pet, and so on. There's even a New Game+ that has extra story scenes, harder monsters, and the ability to get to Level 99. So there's easily 12+ hours of gameplay for those who are looking for the "full" experience. At just $9.99 this is a steal and you'll definitely get your money out of this one, with very little fluff to pad out the experience. So I tell you all: Once more unto the break, dear friends, once more!
I can't recommend This Way Madness Lies enough. If you haven't bought it yet, stop reading and do so now, it's that important. I will admit that some players’ mileage with it may vary if you're not a fan of Magical Girls, Shakespeare, or theatre in general, but the gameplay and humor will probably make it so you don't regret the purchase at the very least. Zeboyd Games aren't exactly a developer that dabbles in sequels, but I would love to see one for this. I guess I'll have to give their other games a chance in the meantime. Until then, parting is such sweet sorrow... For More Information on This Way Madness Lies: http://zeboyd.com/2023/04/06/this-way-madness-lies/ Check Out This Way Madness Lies on Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/this-way-madness-lies-switch/ Story: A Gameplay: A Graphics: A Music/Sound: A+ Value: A+ Overall: A+ Pros: + Captures a classic JRPG feel while also adding in a theatrical feel, complete with opening and closing curtains. + Music is excellent and even features some vocal tracks reminiscent of 90s anime like Sailor Moon. + Breaks up common JRPG tropes by changing up how items and attacks are used in battles. + Lot of humor in the story that keeps everything moving fast and cheekily. + Difficulty setting can be adjusted at any time, and there is a cool New Game+, to add variety to the game. Cons: - While it is entertaining throughout, the game is something of a short experience. - Has a pretty weak opening with little to no backstory. - There aren't many traditional JRPG elements like inventory management, fleeing battles, or even a standard attack command. - Since humor is subjective, it's possible that other's enjoyment of the wacky dialogue may vary. A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.  See you in the next one! #ThisWayMadnessLies
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