Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Hello
everyone and welcome to a new flavour of KEMCO rpg! Today we will be looking at
Fortuna Magus, a bit of a shorter title with a more straight-laced JRPG
gameplay.
Fortuna
Magus tells the tale of Amane and Tia, whose father disappeared a number of
years ago and their sister left to go find him. They are drawn into a struggle
against the kingdom when they defend a magus, a person capable of using magic,
that the kingdom has deemed a threat to the peace. Now put on the wanted list
for defending a discriminated against group, Amane and Tia embark on a journey
with Rett, the magus they helped, in order to learn the truth behind why their
father went missing and what their sister has gotten herself into.
In this
KEMCO release, we’ve gone back a little in terms of how the game plays. A
traditional JRPG style with random encounters while walking around field areas
and a pretty basic structure compared to some of their other titles, Fortuna
Magus tends to play it more straight than adding some of the gimmicks or
mechanics that have been a part of similar styled titles. All the tried and
true combat is there: turn-based battles with turn order based on unit speed,
normal attacks, skills that use MP, special moves that can be used when you
fill a gauge similar to a limit break, defence and item commands, and different
elements and attack types to play with.
What is a
bit more of an underused trait in most RPGs is how you learn new skills. By
meeting certain level and element requirements and performing certain actions
in battle you can learn new skills. These could be improved versions of your
current skills, a new special move, or maybe even a combo attack. This is
labelled as the Revelation System in the game, and it can seem a little random
at times, but it is pretty fun to use one move and then get a chain of other
moves that completely wipe all the enemies off the screen. You don’t see this
done very often, so it’s a neat addition to keep the game from feeling too
lacking in interesting mechanics while still holding true to the retro spirit.
Those of
you familiar with KEMCO titles should also have guessed that there is a point
shop, however this one is significantly less game breaking than pretty much any
other point shop in a KEMCO title. While there are equipment pieces that reduce
damage taken or confer passive bonuses, items that can raise stats, and items
that can raise element levels, they are largely inexpensive. But the game seems
to be built around the assumption you’ll be using the shop. Seriously, some of
the bosses can be pretty big bullies, so unless you spend some time grinding
monsters for points to buy stat increases and earning exp to level with, you’re
probably going to get hurt a decent amount.
Another
interesting aspect of Fortuna Magus is that there isn’t a world map to roam
around like you’ve probably gotten used to in these KEMCO titles. Instead you
have a map with red and blue dots representing fields/dungeons and towns, where
you will instantly go to when selecting. Add onto that the fact most fields are
about three fairly small areas, and the game isn’t very long story wise, and
you’ll end up with a much shorter title than what you’d probably expect. That
being said it isn’t bad, just be prepared to get through half the story in a
handful of hours pretty easily.
There are
some sidequests available for you to participate in as you play through the
game, and titles to earn that can be equipped like any other gear. So it’s not
as if Fortuna Magus is particularly lacking in content for what it’s worth,
despite how short it is. The story is surprisingly engaging and full of more plot
turns than I was honestly expecting, so that’s also a nice bonus. On the other
hand, you’ll probably be quick to notice that the assets are pretty much all
very generic looking. While I can’t confirm 100% if they used an RPG maker
style engine for the game, I’m pretty confident they did. Not saying this is
bad, just don’t go expecting any fancy unique and flourishing artwork or
designs.
Overall I
have to say that Fortuna Magus was a bit of a pleasant surprise. While
definitely shorter than I was expecting, the story was engaging and the
characters were pretty varied. The Revelation aspect is an underused mechanic,
although it tends to be hit and miss with whether you will enjoy learning
skills a little more randomly than pure level requirements. If you’re
interested in a quick nostalgia trip, definitely keep Fortuna Magus on your
radar!
Score: 8 / 10
