Galerians: Ash

"What have we here?"

What is this game? Well... that's a tough one. The most important thing to keep in mind when reviewing a game is probably the game's genre, so let's try to figure out what we're looking at, here.

Role Playing Game?
What makes an RPG an RPG? That's been in debate for quite some time, but I'd say that to qualify as an RPG a game must have either many diologue options or a real level up system. This game has neither. I guess it's not an RPG.

Action?
Tons of enemies on screen, bullets flying everywhere... To have a chance against your many foes you must master a wide variety of weapons, ranging from your standard machine gun to the devestating flamethrower. Wait, that's Contra. This game.. doesn't have any weapons, and enemies are few and far between.

Flight Simulator?
Uhh... no, definately not.

Survival Horror?
Uhh... I guess this must be it. The atmosphere is definately creepy, and your hero is pretty weak compared to, say, Overlord Laharl or Demon Hunter Dante or even Megaman. Ok, so we've got a survival horror game. Now that we've got the genre clear, on with the review!

Story - 3/10
Sorry... This game goes beyond weird. To reveal too much would be a spoiler, but let's just say that there is a whole lot of wierdness in this game. Lots. Take Metal Gear Solid 2's plot twist, combine Earthbound's general weirdness and make the hero some kid in ugly red plastic pants who must shoot up with mind altering drugs to save the world. Except that maybe the whole game is just a dream in a virtual reality session in a lost computer that exists in a time loop in the fifth dimension. Or not.

Gameplay 2/10
Not good here, either. I found the combat system to be rather akward, and there are very few ''spells'' to chose from. The bosses are pattern based, but the main character is not really quick enough for anything to get really hectic.

Graphics, Sound 5/10
Not bad, but not great, either.

Atmosphere 8/10
I'm not a big fan of the atmosphere to be found in most survival horror games. I fell asleep during Silent Hill 2. But this game actually ''feels'' pretty cool. Again, it's hard not to spoil anything, but you will most likely enjoy the atmosphere of this game, if you can forget about gameplay and story.. which is kind of hard to do.

Buy or Rent?
You might consider renting this if nothing else catches your eye. You certainly shouldn't buy it, however.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/03