Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten Reviews

TLDR: Definitely recommend to all fans of the Utawarerumono series if they don't mind JRPGs. Despite being the developers' first JRPG, it is overall pretty well designed and fun. The production values are not really great but the storytelling still feels like Utawarerumono, although in a limited format due to being a prequel and no longer being a VN like the previous entries. Now if you're not a fan of the series, I can't say whether I recommend Monochrome Mobius. A lot of the enjoyment of the story comes from being connected to the larger narrative of the series and since I played through all of it before playing this game, I can't judge how it would feel to a player unfamiliar with the previous 3 titles without being biased. ====== With this title being the newest entry in a series of visual novel/SRPG hybrids that suddenly switched to JRPGs, I went in expecting a very bare-bones experience when it comes to the gameplay. And while these expectations may have been partially met, mainly in the production values department, I have to say, Monochrome Mobius has been a lot more of a "complete" experience than I had anticipated. Overall I feel like the developers handled the shift from a visual novel structure to a JRPG structure pretty well if you overlook the production scale/budget limitations. But these constraints are visible throughout the entire game. There is pretty much no "non-main story" content outside of 30 very basic side quests and a few missable/optional slice of life VN-style scenes (plus a few superbosses in the endgame). The environments don't look that bad compared to standard JRPGs, but lack variety and unique assets. The character models are pretty low quality outside of important characters, and even those don't look especially expressive either. That includes their quite stiff animations, both in combat as well as cutscenes. But with these mostly production value related complaints, I can safely say that this has been a very enjoyable experience. The gameplay itself is actually very well designed compared to an average JRPG. The balance feels really good on Hard (first game in a while that actually made me spent points on Defense stats rather than going unga bunga). The combat has its own unique core mechanic when it comes to the turn order system that's interesting. The playable characters have well designed and unique abilities, kits and mechanics that make them feel different form each other. The gear you find has somewhat varied and interesting effects, especially towards endgame. The upgrade systems feel impactful, both the ACL passive bonuses as well as upgrading shops/gear enhancements. The resources and requirements for these upgrades are gathered via exploration and side quests, making both feel relevant. I really wouldn't expect a series of visual novels to get a lot of these things right to this extent on their first try of making an RPG. But the SPRG portions of the previous games were pretty fun and well designed too, so I guess it's not that big of a surprise. But where you can definitely see the visual novel influence is the storytelling, in a good way. The game is very dialogue heavy with many long cutscenes - mostly relatively static 3D scenes with a VN style textbox & portrait. The pacing of the "overall game" might seem off to someone because the story is often given higher priority over having a more regular game-like structure. Resulting in sometimes long periods of mostly cutscenes with 0 gameplay. I prefer this approach and am glad that this part of the VN influence remains. As for the story itself, I've overall enjoyed it quite a bit and I'd say it's worthy of being part of the Utawarerumono series. I would personally rank it below both Mask games, but above the original Prelude to the Fallen. My main issues would be the shift to being a JRPG, thus limiting the freedom of the script compared to a VN, as well as being a prequel, thus limiting where the story could actually go since we already know the end result. Being a prequel also makes many new elements of the story give that feeling of "Where was this event/character/place in the previous story? Why was it never mentioned?". Also, while I enjoyed the party due to only having 4 main characters and therefore more interactions, again, due to being a prequel, these are the younger versions of the characters you know. They don't have influence or positions of power yet, and as they are just upstarts making a name for themselves, some parts might feel a bit shounen-y, rather than the epic war drama feel of for example the previous title, Mask of Truth. Due to all these constraints that come moreso from what this setting/entry is rather than how it is written, it didn't reach the peaks of the series for me that were in Mask of Truth. However, it still had its both fun and exciting moments, making my enjoyment feel only closely behind Mask of Deception. It still feels like a game from the same universe by the same authors, just with a fresh coat of paint, so I'd call it a worthy addition to the Utawarerumono series.

Love the story, tolerated the gameplay. I would have liked the turn based combat if it made itself stand out more. Other than the turn wheel, there isn't anything that makes the combat stand out from a generic RPG system. The story was what drove me to keep going and I am glad that I finished it, but I did take month long breaks because I found the combat to be so boring. I might have liked it better if your position on the turn wheel changed more often. Good story, not as good as the Utawarerumono games but I had lots of fun with it. This game is for fans of the series, not newcomers.