(10/3/2015 - 10/9/2015) Game of the Week: Fray CD: Xak Gaiden

[SamIAm]

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October 3 - October 9: Fray CD: Xak Gaiden
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(submission and blurb by Nulltard)

I must admit: Prior to this week, I had never played Fray CD: Xak Gaiden.  It is one that I have been wanting to play for quite some time, though, and GOTW provides the perfect motivation to experience new games.

I was drawn to this title because it seems to represent a somewhat neglected genre in the PCE library. There aren't a lot of run 'n guns... especially with RPG elements. The production quality is outstanding, as is the attention to little unexpected details. For instance, if you watch the title screen long enough, poor Fray trips and falls right on her DoxPhiles. At the end of the 2nd boss fight, the boss's bikini top falls off and exposes her supple DoxPhiles. PSG pervades the title's soundtrack, allowing for seamless inclusion of voice for most NPCs/encounters- this game would shine with a translation as the presentation is truly top notch despite not knowing WTF anyone is saying. The story unfolds at a steady pace with nice unique sprite animations to accompany each plot point.

All of the aforementioned niceties offset the sometimes horrid controls. I've found that, so far, it is incredibly rewarding to persevere through each overly taxing platforming sequence just to see what charming spectacle lies ahead.

Please join me in exploring this title for the coming week. And if you make it further than i do, which you probably will (I suck), please let me know if there are any other bare DoxPhiles to look forward to during the course of this adventure.

brought to you by tig old DoxPhiles.com

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GOTW Schedule:
1. 8/22/2015 - 8/28/2015: Override (lukester)
2. 8/29/2015 - 9/4/2015: Rondo of Blood (o.pwuaioc)
3. 9/5/2015 - 9/11/2015: Street Fighter 2 (Nec.Game.head)
4. 9/12/2015 - 9/18/2015: Bloody Wolf (Gentlegamer)
5. 9/19/2015 - 9/25/2015: Kabuki Itoryodan (Sadler)
6. 9/26/2015 - 10/2/2015: R-Type (crazydean)
7. 10/3/2015 - 10/9/2015: Fray CD: Xak Gaiden (Nulltard)
8. 10/10/2015 - 10/16/2015: Wizardry 3&4 (BigusSchmuck)
9. 10/17/2015 - 10/23/2015: Lords of Thunder (SamIAm)
10. 10/24/2015 - 10/30/2015: TV Sports Hockey (gredler)
11. 10/31/2015 - 11/6/2015: Blazing Lazers (escarioth)
12. 11/7/2015 - 11/13/2015: Genpei Toumaden (VenomMacbeth)
13. 11/14/2015 - 11/20/2015: Hyper Wars (JoshTurboTrollX-16)
14. 11/21/2015 - 11/27/2015: Drop Off (turboswimbz)
15. 11/28/2015 - 12/4/2015: World Court Tennis (grolt)
16. 12/5/2015 - 12/11/2015: Atlantean (jtucci331)
17. OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Rules:
-All members are allowed one submission. When there are no further submissions, we will have a reset and everyone will be able to submit another game.
-Each game may only be submitted once.
-If you wish to retract your submission, please do so at least two weeks before your game is due. Your next submission will go to the back of the cue.
-Please don't submit games that have a high language barrier or will take too long to complete (particularly RPGs).

[esteban]

This is a cute little game.

Play it.

Now.

[ClodBusted]

Some sounds like the e.g. the jumps remind me a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog on Master System / Game Gear.

Cute indeed. The use of colours make it look like an SNES game, which is a nice touch.

[deubeul]

No more bare DoxPhiles, IIRC   

[crazydean]

I tried playing this game a few months ago and barely got past the first level. I found it to be quite difficult and stopped playing. I figured I would try it again since its GOTW, but now it won't load past the title screen 

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, this game is pretty good.  Unfortunately I've only played it emulated, I don't have the disc yet.  It's too bad, I wish i did.  I did get the Game Gear Fray game, Fray Shuugyouhen, a few years ago, though, because I'd liked the TCD game in emulation and had a chance to get a cheap copy of the GG game... it's alright, for a GG shooter, but the TCD game is far better.   It's an entirely different game from the TCD game, and predates it by a few years I believe.  The slowdown is HORRENDOUS and the game is fairly short, but it was amusing while it lasted, for a GG game... though that's not saying all that much, really. 

As for the TCD game, though, it's been a while since I played it, since I rarely play emulated games now that I have a lot of games for the real systems... maybe I should try it again though, I certainly remember it being good.   Good graphics, some amusing comedy, solid gameplay... the only issue I had was that figuring out what to do in some of the towns is a bit tricky if you don't know the language; you do need to talk to people and such in the towns, it's not just a linear shooter like its GG predecessor is.

[NecroPhile]

'Tis cute as hell, very colorful, sports interesting bosses, and has some nice shewty sections, but the jump controls are just crap.  The falling logs null mentioned above are the worst, where the only strategy is to keep trying over and over again until you luck out.

[deubeul]

There's a walkthrough on youtube which can be helpfull to get the jump timing on some platforming segments, but even with that, it's still die and retry:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=FRAY+CD+%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E5%A4%96%E4%BC%9D+%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88

Can be helpfull too for a tricky passage in a village later in the game,  if you don't know japanese (damn kanjis...)

[SplatterTrigger]

Thanks for the walk through.
And I had to edit because the link is not working?