Inindo: Way of the Ninja

"Inindo: Way of the Ninja, RPG w/some strategy, by none other than Koei."

TTLTF=Total Time While Still Fun to Play
exact rounded

Graphics: 5.5 (6)

Music: 7.4 (7) Music Range: 5-9.8

Challenge:8.0 (8) (not included in the overall rating)

Story: 7.0 (7)

Battles: 6.5/7.5 (7/8)(overall based on the 7.5 rating)

TTLTF: 7.0 (7)

Overall: 6.9 (7)





Controls: The controls do what I want them to do. The only imperfections, if that's what they are, are that it takes about .75 seconds for the menu screen to come up, rather than virtually instantaneously. This would cause some people to impatiently press the button more than once, thinking it isn’t responding. The other thing is when moving the cursor. Rather than it moving three spaces down if you quickly tap it three times, it will not obey that. Instead, it is set up so that if you want to hold the button down, it will scroll down. If you do tap, it will not accept more than one tap per ½ second. This method is preferred to the hold the button down to scroll people, but not to the quick tappers. I have had experience with both kinds of controls, which is probably why I had to concentrate hard to find a “flaw” in the controls in Inindo.



Graphics: 5.5, because though they are about a 4 at start, they do increase to about a 6, and because of the texture and shading discussed under ''The Battles''.



Music: 7.4, because we start off with the three fantastic opening musics (the second 2 can only be heard in their entirety w/tricks, and you'll have to ask me these if you are interested), the 1st of which sounds like it is coming directly off of a CD in full Redbook quality. We then have a mixture of below to above average musics for the 1st third of Inindo or so. Probably the worst musics are the cave music, which I give a 3.5, and the battle music, which I give a 4.5, or a 7 (when I sing my song with it). The over world music is OK, but that's only the training period over world music (should this info. have been placed here, or put into the ''spoiler review'' section?). Just like Destiny of an Emperor, the initial over world music is not the same as what you hear later on as everything starts to come together. A variety of truly inspired musics come along as you progress through the later 1/2 of Inindo, and these are mostly what I'd like to record. If anyone out there has these in some format, please email me at omray@yahoo.com. Thanks.

One final note; if the opening musics did not impress you, then you are probably not going to be impressed with the musics that come about later on. I include this info. so that you can use this review from your own perspective, rather than only my own perspective. All too often reviews are overly one sided, an do not include info, which allows a person to determine how much they will or will not like the ''good stuff''.



Challenge:

Overall, Inindo is fairly challenging, and do not expect to beat this one in a day. Do expect that as you gain power, you'll better defeat your enemies, but there is a good amount of balance to keep the it from getting too easy.



Story: 7.0, because like most of the best stories I have read, a lot of time is spent giving background info. In fact, our Inindo hero spends the 1st 1/3 of the IAVE training how to be a ninja, and the amount of story involved here is just OK. What clues are there that it will all come together to excite both the history lover and the ''average Joe''? Really the only clue is in the opening, which briefly goes over that which is yet to come. Avenging Nobunaga's crimes, learning, comradery, and love are all shown in words and pictures in the opening, but it will be a bit of time before one can see all this unfold. Probably the most brilliant part about the story (though this is precisely what turns some people off) is how the creators allow the director to experience the difficulties of training to be a ninja. Long, uneventful caves where you'll be running and fighting are the most basic of training, teaching fighting and endurance in difficult conditions are the beginning. Once well trained in this, you will gain enough experience to be able to start doing what a skilled ninja does (to be discussed in the spoiler review [will be placed in geocities.com/omray at some point), as you get hired to do jobs for warlords. It is because of the difficulty in becoming a true ninja that this IAVE shines through in simulating the agony of ninja training but just like real life, only can those who endure this will move on. And those who move on will experience the fruits of their labor. And sweet fruits they are, as Inindo rewards the agony with far more pleasure than one may ever anticipate.



The Battles: 6.5, because they are very average in many ways, but have some rather appreciable aspects to them. The 7.5 rating is the rating for the battles when including the spoiler info. I know, but am being nice enough not to share, however I a link to the spoiler reviews (reviews that spoils some major surprises) will be created one day. I want to keep those reviews separate so that people like me can get a detailed review on IAVEs, WITHOUT being told any major surprises.

In Inindo, you have a ranged and close attack, thus increasing the strategies possible in Inindo. This is somewhat like Final Fantasy 3e, in which you have front and back rows, except that they have more positions. You can select your formation before the battles, as well as change it during.

The worst thing about the enemies in battle is that they are fairly small, but on the other hand the artwork done on them is quite interesting, as the shading, and especially the visual texture has a special quality to it (probably not so noticeable on a computer, due to the non-interlaced pixels, or on a TV using an RF adapter due to the blurring caused by that method of connection to a TV). And in viewing these graphics, an art appreciator may be quite amazed, but like all art, one man's treasure is another's garbage. It would be quite interesting for me to one day be able to converse w/art appreciators about these graphics (while looking at them as they appear w/a video or s-video cable).

The enemies do have some aspects to appreciate for certain folks, in addition to the above. The enemies do have more than one frame of animation (more frames the further on you get in Inindo w/the later bosses, if memory serves), which is unusual for an RPG, except for the rendered ones like FFVII, but as you may already know, that animation is done by creating a 3D image, and then having the computer do the rest of the work. Another thing about the enemies, is that in addition to monsters, there are also various classes of Japanese warriors, which the non-discriminate (or Japanese) history lover may go gaga over.

Inindo allows the player to do all the usual RPG commands such as fight, run, magic, etc. It also has skills, in addition to magic, adding yet more variety to the battles.

One of the greatest parts about Inindo battles are the encounters with humans in battle. It is true that unlike in a regular battle, you are not fighting for exp. or gp., but instead you are fighting for honor (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that when you beat these people, they gain more respect for you, which can affect your relations w/people in Inindo), and you are fighting for something far more valuable than just honor, when no longer training (if memory serves). Each person is unique, so unlike fighting monsters, where all ''Megahand'' monsters have similar stats, each person you face has his own unique stats, just as each of your companions do. What's furthermore impressive about fighting the unique humans is that when you beat them, you get to view their stats, and then you have the option to enlist them (yes the can join you!, but I can imagine today's typical SNES gamer with his/her emulator becoming baffled by the whole experience of fighting these people just to gain little or nothing during the training period, and then becoming frustrated and annoyed because he/she is simply not informed about the real reason for these encounters all because they have no instructions). {I don't remember if it was necessary to be at a certain level in order to enlist those you have defeated, but the instruction booklet does go over such topics/issues}. Do note that while training, it is difficult to defeat some of these warriors, so do not be too proud to run!

It is important that the IAVE director realizes that the battles will become more and more interesting over time, like in FF2e. Consider FF2e: You start w/2 characters, and can do very few kinds of attacks. And the 1st enemies are both small and not as detailed as the later enemies. As you get further, you end up w/more characters and abilities. In the end, you have call spells, black magic, w. magic, and many abilities. Inindo is similar in most all of these respects, though the graphics never reach quite the enormity off FF2e. The main problem for the impatient ''gamer'' is that Inindo does not do what FF2e does, which is to start you off at a level of experience other than 1. Before FF2e, most IAVES started you off at level 1, and that usually meant that a bit of time had to be spent increasing your power before you could venture far. Dragon Warrior, is an excellent example, but so is Final Fantasy (1). FF2e did not give you a lot of abilities at 1st, but it wasn't too long before they trickled in. Consider that it isn't too long until you meet Tellah, who has many spells to behold. Because Inindo is arranged so that you are training for about the 1st third of the IAVE, you will not get beyond the basics during that 1st third, while FF2e essentially skips that entire training period, though for Cecil alone, it is a training period because he's a black knight w/no abilities but attack, item, etc. So, in directing Inindo, if you are impatient, and/or do not appreciate what it has to offer during the training period, then you will surely grow weary of it. However, if you are like me, and are either appreciative of even the little things, or one who loves to earn the right to experience ''THE POWER'' (explained in the next paragraph), rather than just starting off with, or quickly getting it, then Inindo Battles are for you!

We have now seen a parallel between Inindo and FF2e when comparing Cecil and our team in Inindo, as explained above, but here I will elaborate on this point, as well as explain ''THE POWER''. As Cecil becomes a dramatically more powerful character, both in abilities and in depth, our Inindo hero also does the same, except that he does not change form. What I mean by ''THE POWER'' is this: Approximately one decade ago, I was directing the NES IAVE The Guardian Legend. I was thoroughly impressed by it, and wanted to have my IAVE watching (he directs them, too) friend, Eric of the Five Tigers, watch it. I remember that he was not impressed. Like in Inindo, there are very few abilities during the first third or so. The middle third has quite a few, and the final third has absolutely amazing power. Eric ended up not only liking TGL, but also he and I fondly remember it for ''THE POWER''. To my other friend, Steve of the Five Tigers (though strangely distant currently), I recommended TGL, and as he and I have similar feelings about that genre, I was very surprised when one day he told me that my loan of it to him was in vain, because the 1st third (he got about 27% done w/it) wasn't fun enough for him. Be it a strength or weakness, some IAVEs are just too slow to start for many people, and I think that's why the FF series discontinued their old ways of starting people off at lv. 1, and now they get you right into the action. If a sequel to TGL or Inindo ever came out, I would expect that they would follow in this same new style, as far too many people will not tough it out during a period of not enough battle fun in order to enjoy things to come. Me? Well, I like both. I do like to have as much fun as possible the whole time (modern RPGs), but then again, I enjoy earning ''THE POWER'', as that way feels more rewarding to me. This is just as almost any good thing in life is most enjoyed when there's bad to contrast it with. Drinking a cup of water is normally not particularly fun, but doing so after a strenuous workout, well then that water just tastes good. Then again this doesn't meant that I'm always going to want to do a work out just so the water tastes good. ;)



Total Time While Still Fun to Play: 7.0, because it starts off below average, but later on it gets very very interesting (told in the spoiler review). You do spend a most of the time having a good amount of fun, and the total time spent in fun is well above average.



Overall: 6.9, because overall I liked Inindo. It was not as good as many of the FFs, but it did have a lot of good points.



The controls do what I want them to do. The only imperfections, if that's what they are, are that it takes about .75 seconds for the menu screen to come up, rather than virtually instantaneously. This would cause some people to impatiently press the button more than once, thinking it isn’t responding. The other thing is when moving the cursor. Rather than it moving three spaces down if you quickly tap it three times, it will not obey that. Instead, it is set up so that if you want to hold the button down, it will scroll down. If you do tap, it will not accept more than one tap per ½ second. This method is preferred to the hold the button down to scroll people, but not to the quick tappers. I have had experience with both kinds of controls, which is probably why I had to concentrate hard to find a “flaw” in the controls in Inindo.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/22/01, Updated 05/22/01