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The thing about some of the Kemco RPGs that started out as mobile titles is that standard and versions tend to exist. The difference? You can pay to get bonuses from a season , access to some “cheats,” or other extras that might streamline the experience. This is the case of Astrune Academy, which started out in that fashion, before heading to platforms like the Switch for a paid fee. The thing is, these extra optional effects helped me enjoy it more than I expected. 

The premise behind Astrune Academy is that a number of young heroines named Elnatt, Mimosa, and Spica, are attending the academy mentioned in the title to develop their abilities. Because of certain circumstances regarding Elnatt transforming into a demon when she uses magic and instances, ones from different classes are all working together under the supervision of a professor named Sirius. Additional happenstances lead to Snow, another young sorceress, also ing the party. It ends up being a pretty typical JRPG romp. If you enjoy past Kemco and EXE Create RPGs, you know what you’re getting.

What I appreciated was how while the elements you can tell were present in the original free version can be obvious, it is very easy to either take advantage of them or ignore them. I mean, yes, you’ll see the exclamation marks in the in-game menu screaming you have unclaimed rewards or daily roulette spins available, but you don’t have to go for any of them. 

Of course, I did. I’m old. I play multiple games at a time for work. I like an occasional Kemco because they amuse me. I’m not above accepting a bonus if it helps me skip a little level-grinding. I’d take part in the daily roulette, since the bonuses there would help with character growth or would give me Star Stones for the other “paid” or “cheat” elements. When I managed to get the Meteor Prize of 300 Star Stones the first time, I invested in the MP Full Recovery Secret Room item. The second time it came around, I’d gotten enough stones from taking part in battles and accomplishing Missions (things you would normally do in the game) to pay for the . That unlocked bonuses and another Ice Spirit to use as a summon. 

The thing about it is that it also paired well with other quality of life features. You can speed up battles and turn on auto-battle. You can turn up your walking speed. There’s fast travel via standard methods and a “local warping” that lets you set one spot as a designated area. Before you head out into the world map for the first time, you get one pendant that greatly increases the encounter rate and another that eliminates them completely. 

All of this means that Astrune Academy ends up being sort of my convenient Kemco JRPG for when I want something mostly lighthearted and not too complex. I have the option of making it easier on myself, thanks to the Switch paid version offering all these means of taking advantage of past additions. There’s little to no stress on my part, and it makes it easier to enjoy the adventures of magical girls attempting to learn and do their best to help themselves and other people.

Astrune Academy is available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices.

The post I Enjoyed Astrune Academy More Because of the Pay-to-Play Remnants appeared first on Siliconera.

An occasional KEMCO RPG can be a guilty pleasure of mine from time to time, and I’m always pleased when I find one that sometimes stands out a bit. While Knights of Greyfang might most attract attention from one character’s appearance, I appreciate it for its commitment to making its vampires sort of actually act like vampires.

There’s a fight between humans and monsters in Knights of Greyfang, a common theme for KEMCO RPGs. Except this time around, it isn’t ordinary humans fighting back against the monsters. In an attempt to fight back, the king of the humans gained the ability from their god to turn humans into vampires. Those who have that additional strength can tap into blood from other ordinary people to access greater skills. Now, of course that measure means monsters are now resorting to their own new means of escalating things. Which means Princess Leticia sets out alongside her vampire knight Lise and vampire sorcerer Mylene to save the day. 

So here’s the part I found interesting about Knights of Greyfang. The reason all main characters like Lise, Leticia, and Mylene are able to basically do their vampire thing is because the combat system actually lets them be vampires. This is because the other major character Thoma is a type of character called a Blooder. This is represented by a Blood Gauge that shows how his allies can feast on him to use special attacks. There’s still MP and all for regular sorts of skills, but the fact that there is this extra mechanic really enhances the experience.

This is especially evident once you start playing more and really unlock additional bats to improve your vampire characters and their Bloodthirst abilities. So because characters are tapping into Thoma and accepting their vampiric nature, you’re getting this additional wealth of power for attacking enemies. 

Also, I’m genuinely a fan of the character designs. There are a few that fall short, like Thoma’s. But even though the design for Lise is clearly pulling inspiration from Alear from Fire Emblem Engage, I honestly don’t mind the execution. It probably helps that the other primary heroines Leticia and Mylene and antagonists like Pasion and Adelina look more original and have equally strong character designs.

Knights of Greyfang is a typical sort of KEMCO RPG. It isn’t astonishingly different or reinventing the genre. However, it is entertaining and I appreciated how it handled the concept of vampires. Exe Create could have just said, “Everyone is vampires, and that’s how they use spells.” However, made it a practical mechanic that forces you to think, and I appreciate that.

Knights of Greyfang is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices.

The post KEMCO’s Knights of Greyfang Offers an Interesting Take on Vampires appeared first on Siliconera.

Kemco will always have a special place in my heart as developer of one of the strangest Batman games ever made, Batman: Dark Tomorrow. But recently, that little corner of my precious blood-pumper has been expanded. It’s like a full closet now! That’s because Kemco has been pumping out these fun, little JRPGs that are all over the place, but consistently fascinating. The latest of those is Miden Tower, a game that starts with a grim tone and quickly gets weird, to say the least. But while it’s gimmicky, quirky charm does a lot, what’s really neat about Miden Tower is its ives-driven combat system.

Kemco’s JRPG line is obviously low-budget, but what these games all lack in polish and pretense, they more than make up for in strangeness and systemic curiosity. Each game seems to take familiar concepts such as monster collecting or job systems, then ask questions about those frameworks. That’s exactly the case here with Exe-Create’s Miden Tower, a relatively straightforward JRPG experience. While you as a player don’t have a remarkable influence in moment-to-moment combat, you do get to build a library of ive skills that ricochet off each other in a way that’s weirdly satisfying.

Also yes, there’s a wall lady. We covered this when Miden Tower was announced, but the most surface level weirdness is its character who is literally a section of castle wall with stubby limbs and cute anime girl eyes. I ended up a bit disappointed there, because what could have been a really great bit ended up taking a backseat to almost everything else, and the wall lady immediately transformed into a more proper waifu-maiden type. There are a few good ongoing gags (she forgets to transform into waifu mode and falls over a lot), but the wall stuff really only comes into meaningful play in combat. And that’s part of what makes the ive systems work so well.

The ive skills you use in Miden Tower are almost SaGa-like in some ways, namely that a lot of them trigger seemingly at random (although most have specific unlock conditions), and after that they grow stronger with use. While many of them are just things like “more fire damage,” several of them end up being synergistic follow-up attacks that can start really chaining together once you get enough for them to ping-pong off each other. What’s especially helpful is Leila’s power set, which sees her summon little mini wall golems to help the party.

Since everyone in your group stands on a 3x3 grid, you can choose how to place everyone and make use of things like AoE buffs to turn your standard motley JRPG crew into a small army of anime weirdos and sentient brick people. Once all the ives start popping off, even simple attack commands can turn into big chain combos with all kinds of numbers and characters flying around the screen. You don’t have a ton of direct control over this stuff either, so you never quite have a full grasp of how much activity will follow each choice you make. It’s super novel!

Even when Kemco and its stable of renegade JRPG developers get weird, it doesn’t end up being that weird. Miden Tower is presented as a game with a literal wall for a ing heroine, but it’s taken more at face value than you might expect in the actual story. But while you can’t shake off the generic-feeling JRPG tone vibe, these games never fail to have some intriguing, novel mechanical quirks. Miden Tower is pretty straightforward, but it has a peculiar interest in synergy through ive skills that make each combat encounter feel exciting. While the menus and information tied to this stuff can be fumbly and awkward, seeing things bounce around and connect together after you make your standard turn-based tactical choices is a lot of fun. Miden Tower isn’t as visually impressive as the previous Kemco romp, but it still manages to make its mark among its many siblings.

Miden Tower is currently available on the Xbox One and the PC.

The post Miden Tower Is a Strange JRPG Driven by ive Skills appeared first on Siliconera.

The next Kemco RPG to head to the Xbox One and PC has been revealed, and it seems like it has some really strong structures in place. Miden Tower will head to both platforms, following its mobile debut, on April 30, 2020. Get ready to build up some bonds, literally, as its lead heroine is literally a wall.

In Miden Tower, one of the characters players will meet is Leila. She’s a Magika and dubbed a “Wall Maiden.” This means that part of the time, she’ll be an anthropomorphic wall with eyes, a mouth, arms, and legs. She exists because the lead character, Valen, summons her to save his life.

The official page for the latest Kemco RPG shows what life is like for Leila as a wall. In battles, she can protect players and summon little baby walls, called Brickettes, as allies. If you equip her with new bricks, she’ll gain new abilities and skills. There will also be times when she can merge with walls in other buildings to spy and advance the plot. A screenshot shows her blending in seamlessly, with only her eyes giving her location away.

Here’s, well, a screenshot showing how you actually manage to equip a character who is a wall in a game. The two bricks shown here give her the Impel and Twin Ray abilities, and you can see the range of these two spells when you equip them.

Here’s a trailer for this Kemco RPG. As you can see in multiple gameplay clips, Leila is really, 100%, totally a wall. (Oh, and there are other, normal characters too.)

Other recent Kemco RPGs include Monster Viator, which draws inspiration from Dragon Quest Monsters sorts of games, and Frane: Dragon’s Odyssey.

Miden Tower will come to the Xbox One and PC on April 30, 2020 for $14.99. It is immediately available on Android and Apple iOS devices for $7.99.

The post The New Kemco RPG’s Lead Heroine Is a Wall appeared first on Siliconera.

Tsumuji, Darksiders, 3D Dot Game Heroes... there have been a fair few games that have, one way or another, drawn inspiration from the Zelda franchise in the last few months. Action RPG Across Age from Japanese developer EXE-Create seems to be the next in line.

Across Age's in-game art style and overall design is an attempt to "rekindle the golden 16-bit era." It even involves time-travel. Unlike Zelda, however, you can play as two characters, both of whom you'll need to switch between, in order to get through the game's puzzles. One is a swordsman named Ales and the other is a magician, Ceska. FDG Entertainment, the game’s co-publisher, says Across Age has fifteen hours of playtime including anime cutscenes.

Across Age has been submitted for approval to iTunes, and is expected to appear on the App Store "very soon" for $6.99.

The post Across Age To “Rekindle The Golden 16-Bit Era” On iPhone appeared first on Siliconera.