Langrisser II (MD, 1994)
Graphics-8 Sound-9.5 Control-8 Challenge-7.5 Story-7
Level Design-8 Frustration-8 Fun-9 Originality-7
Overall Score-9
+
Great customization options for your characters (diverse 5 tier/step class tree with the option to class change using a certain item, expanded class trees compared to L1; shows stat gains you'll get from leveling up through a class, which troops will be available and which spells will be available (the 5th tier is hidden until you get to tier 4 however), )
Relatively deep combat system (terrain effects, morality boost fields, elemental and status spells and attacks, summons)
Secret battles and hidden items
Improved AI (though less aggressive and still very predictable - for example units won't gang up on a much stronger unit (though there are a few exceptions) and there are still pathfinding problems when using orders)
Good length
Pretty good dialogue (occasionally funny)
More strategic than shining force as you get to choose who to bring
Hire different troops
Buy equipment and survey each battle and deploy before they begin
Good art direction and use of colour (sometimes displaying more than 64 colours at once)
Some fun level gimmicks/events during scenarios (spreading fire, capture the flag, time limited scenarios, surprise reinforcements, missions like protect X NPC, )
Characters no longer stay dead when beaten in battle (you only lose the exp accumulated in the current scenario)
Skippable battle animations
Button config and menu color config, Game speed options, Hold B to scroll faster
Separate quick save slot for battles
Can mix troop types within a squad (Ogre Battle) - Not included in the SNES ver.
+/-
Water units have situational use
-
Some trial & error (character building (some info in the manual?), surprise reinforcements)
Somewhat unbalanced characters
Game speed is pretty slow even on max speed (emulate)
Repetitive in longer sessions (no actual gameplay in between battles besides shopping for and organizing your army)
No more zoomed out view or battle map overview during battle
You can't retreat and replay a battle to build levels (the game gets much harder if you don't know how to build your characters beforehand so you need to be careful about getting all exp you can from each battle - however there is a level select code to help with this if you're stuck)
It's tedious to use the rune stones without level skipping (you'll have to be super economical about exp)
Somewhat unbalanced difficulty curve (gets much easier towards the end if you've built your characters well and didn't miss much exp)
Final boss is a pansy (can be put to sleep)
Most summons aren't quite worth the effort (the best one can actually be bought in the first secret level)
The sound test is more limited (you have to stay in the menu to keep listening to the selected track)
Comment:
An excellent sequel to the already solid first game of the series (Warsong). New features include a completely overhauled level system, new enemy types, summons, hidden items and levels (with some very... interesting scenarios). The soundtrack is as catchy as ever and now much more varied than before since every general has his/her own theme song. It should be noted that this is pretty much the same game as Der Langrisser for SNES except for a few noteworthy differences. This one has a more cutesy visual style, a higher difficulty, and the option to equip each general with different enemy types. The SNES one on the other hand begins with an Ogre Battle-style character builder (a set of moral choices) and lets you choose between branching paths that affect the story's outcome. It also features a few more music tracks (though not exactly in the best quality for the console). I highly recommend Langrisser II to anyone remotely interested in turn based strategy or jRPG as it is easy to get into while offering more depth than many of its peers.
Alt:
When it comes to SRPGs I think this is as good as it gets for the MD, and it outshines the original (Warsong) in every meaningful way. Very challenging (dead characters stay dead), huge battles, character customization with cool classes like Summoner and Dragon Knight, a decent story with a lot of humour and twists, and excellent music. Only playable in English on an emulator AFAIK, but that's a good thing because you'll want to be able to fastforward after a few battles anyway. Also: Chou Aniki cameo.
Level Design-8 Frustration-8 Fun-9 Originality-7
Overall Score-9
+
Great customization options for your characters (diverse 5 tier/step class tree with the option to class change using a certain item, expanded class trees compared to L1; shows stat gains you'll get from leveling up through a class, which troops will be available and which spells will be available (the 5th tier is hidden until you get to tier 4 however), )
Relatively deep combat system (terrain effects, morality boost fields, elemental and status spells and attacks, summons)
Secret battles and hidden items
Improved AI (though less aggressive and still very predictable - for example units won't gang up on a much stronger unit (though there are a few exceptions) and there are still pathfinding problems when using orders)
Good length
Pretty good dialogue (occasionally funny)
More strategic than shining force as you get to choose who to bring
Hire different troops
Buy equipment and survey each battle and deploy before they begin
Good art direction and use of colour (sometimes displaying more than 64 colours at once)
Some fun level gimmicks/events during scenarios (spreading fire, capture the flag, time limited scenarios, surprise reinforcements, missions like protect X NPC, )
Characters no longer stay dead when beaten in battle (you only lose the exp accumulated in the current scenario)
Skippable battle animations
Button config and menu color config, Game speed options, Hold B to scroll faster
Separate quick save slot for battles
Can mix troop types within a squad (Ogre Battle) - Not included in the SNES ver.
+/-
Water units have situational use
-
Some trial & error (character building (some info in the manual?), surprise reinforcements)
Somewhat unbalanced characters
Game speed is pretty slow even on max speed (emulate)
Repetitive in longer sessions (no actual gameplay in between battles besides shopping for and organizing your army)
No more zoomed out view or battle map overview during battle
You can't retreat and replay a battle to build levels (the game gets much harder if you don't know how to build your characters beforehand so you need to be careful about getting all exp you can from each battle - however there is a level select code to help with this if you're stuck)
It's tedious to use the rune stones without level skipping (you'll have to be super economical about exp)
Somewhat unbalanced difficulty curve (gets much easier towards the end if you've built your characters well and didn't miss much exp)
Final boss is a pansy (can be put to sleep)
Most summons aren't quite worth the effort (the best one can actually be bought in the first secret level)
The sound test is more limited (you have to stay in the menu to keep listening to the selected track)
Comment:
An excellent sequel to the already solid first game of the series (Warsong). New features include a completely overhauled level system, new enemy types, summons, hidden items and levels (with some very... interesting scenarios). The soundtrack is as catchy as ever and now much more varied than before since every general has his/her own theme song. It should be noted that this is pretty much the same game as Der Langrisser for SNES except for a few noteworthy differences. This one has a more cutesy visual style, a higher difficulty, and the option to equip each general with different enemy types. The SNES one on the other hand begins with an Ogre Battle-style character builder (a set of moral choices) and lets you choose between branching paths that affect the story's outcome. It also features a few more music tracks (though not exactly in the best quality for the console). I highly recommend Langrisser II to anyone remotely interested in turn based strategy or jRPG as it is easy to get into while offering more depth than many of its peers.
Alt:
When it comes to SRPGs I think this is as good as it gets for the MD, and it outshines the original (Warsong) in every meaningful way. Very challenging (dead characters stay dead), huge battles, character customization with cool classes like Summoner and Dragon Knight, a decent story with a lot of humour and twists, and excellent music. Only playable in English on an emulator AFAIK, but that's a good thing because you'll want to be able to fastforward after a few battles anyway. Also: Chou Aniki cameo.