Light Magic 2 Review
Light Magic 2 is the first (known) game ever released by Kanao. There isn't much information surrounding this title in terms of its origins, but it was released sometime in 2005. This game is essentially a predecessor to the Towelket series, and although it is not considered an official entry, many elements that would later become staples of the series originate from this game. And yes, this is Light Magic 2. According to Kanao (who appears in this game), there was a Light Magic 1, but it was never released on the Internet. Whatever the case, there doesn't seem to be much context needed from that game to understand this one, making it similarly standalone as most Towelket games.
The story is as follows: A young elementary school boy named Pucchi accidentally oversleeps on a field trip and has to take the train home with another classmate who was left behind. But when he gets home, he soon realizes that all the adults in the world, including his own mother, have become extremely aggressive and are now out for child blood.
The premise of this game is somewhat reminiscent of earlier Towelket games, in that it sounds like something straight out of a children's book. Surprisingly, though, it plays itself incredibly straight. There are no big twists or a deeper story underneath its juvenile exterior, it is really just a game about these kids in a very wacky situation. And for what it is, the story is immensely entertaining in its own weird way. It's definitely not some kind of masterpiece, in fact it's very obvious that the author is just making things up as they go along. But the result is something so surreal and yet strangely earnest that I can't help but find it incredibly charming. It also helps that the events of the story are moderately well paced, at least enough so that no particular part felt like it was massively overstaying its welcome. There was never really a point where I felt that the story was dragging its feet for the sake of padding out the time.
Though there were times when it felt like certain storylines would end just as quickly as they began, with no definitive conclusion to what happened. However, because this game is so inherently silly, it's not like you're missing out on some kind of epic untapped potential. At worst, it's a little jarring, but it feels appropriate for a game like this.
The gameplay is definitely the worst aspect of Light Magic 2 and is where the jankiness shows up the most. For starters, all the maps in the game are gigantic for no apparent reason. They're like labyrinths filled with completely meaningless buildings and rooms that you have to venture through to complete a single objective. Many areas look exactly the same, and this becomes especially painful when the specific thing you're looking for isn't clearly marked. You'll find yourself running back and forth to many of the same areas, which can feel incredibly tedious. And it doesn't help that enemies in this game will persistently chase you at a speed much faster than your character. It's not uncommon to find yourself suddenly being swarmed by enemies and forced into multiple unskippable battles.
This game has timed combat, and it just makes what should be relatively simple gameplay drag on a little longer than it needs to. But all the character skills have unique animations that are genuinely hilarious to watch, so that alone made it worthwhile for me. The only time I found myself getting irritated was mostly due to an oversight where you could get a game over outside of combat if you let a certain teammate die during one of the boss fights. This actually happened to me twice due to some horrendous RNG on my end.
Now, if there's one thing I can unironically give this game credit for, it's the fact that the kid characters actually act like kids. I know that's kind of a weird thing to praise the game for, but it's really uncanny how much these characters behave like actual children. Now, how interesting that actually makes them as characters is debatable, but for the most part it fits perfectly with the nostalgic charm Light Magic 2 oozes. But this game does have a problem with quickly discarding any character that isn't part of the main cast. After the first half, we're introduced to a couple of new characters who even join your party and everything, but each time they only stick around for a good 10 minutes before being left behind for some arbitrary reason. It kind of felt like there were plans to make them main characters, but for whatever reason, the writer didn't like their dynamic with the rest of the cast and quickly pushed them aside and tried to create another character to fill that role.
Now...Light Magic 2. Would I actually recommend this game to anyone? Probably not. While I personally enjoyed it for the most part, I can't imagine anyone actually finding it interesting enough to look past all the jank like I did. Unless you're someone who's already a super Towelket fan, or you just happen to really enjoy old jank rpgmaker games, I can't imagine the average person getting much out of this title. Although I can't even say this game is bad. Incredibly amateurish? Yes, definitely. But still, there's obviously a lot of passion put into it, and there's a lot of amusement to be found in its jankiness, even if it's in a purely ironic way. So if any of this sounds interesting to you and you have nothing better to do, I suggest maybe giving Light Magic 2 a try.
I rate this game 2.5/5 Towels
