Cosmic Fantasy 1 is a terrible game

[Lochlan]

The cut-scenes are very well done.  I have to admit that I really like the title song as well, I listened to it three times before even beginning lol.  Everything else about this game is absolutely awful.

After clearing Cosmic Fantasy 2, which itself sports a pretty mediocre engine, I wasn't expecting much--but I was actually impressed at how awful the first game is.  If I was playing it in 1989 as-intended I probably would have been so blown away by the cut-scenes that nothing else would have mattered.  But it is one of the most primitive JRPGs I have ever played.  The menus are clunky beyond belief.  It is on-par with or worse than Dragon Quest 1.  I'm also shocked that somebody managed to release a game with such impressive cut-scenes paired with such crappy tiles and character sprites.  And the load times, good God!  I got ten minutes in and just couldn't take it any more.

I have higher expectations for later titles.

[VestCunt]

What's wrong with Dragon Warrior I? You probably don't like Hydlide either.

[CrackTiger]

Were you actually playing games in 1989, or are you just theorizing what RPGs were like back then? I loved RPGs at the time and played through everything I could get my hands on, but even taking into account the imports I am now familiar with, I can't think of a long list of gorgeous RPGs up till that point that would have distilled the commonly agreed upon opinion of that generation: RPGs have very basic in-game graphics and are a very niche and unpopular genre. Take a look at the insanely popular Dragon Quest V on SFC, from 3 years in the future.

Are you a fan of Square-style "system"-based RPGs or something? Do you need a superfluous management system with which to overpower characters in a game which would already be too easy without constant juggling?

You should have put the disclaimer at the beginning of your post instead of the end.

If it makes you feel any better, Cosmic Fantasy 4's look like more colorful versions of the some of the most legendary late SNES RPGs and feature lots of Mode 7 effects.



Crappy for a 1989 RPG <--------------------> Most popular game of 1993

[Opethian]

^

[Bernie]

Not a damn thing wrong with Dragon Quest...    My favorite series of all time actually.

[NecroPhile]

The only thing CF1 does worse than CF2 is excessive loading.  Everything else is on equal footing, except for the nice battle backgrounds that disappeared in CF2.

Lochlan is clearly a cunt.

[Arkhan Asylum]

COSMIC FANTASY 1 IS FUCKING AWESOME AND SHUT UP IF YOU DON'T LIKE HYDLIDE.

[VestCunt]

Bravo Black Tiger!

[wildfruit]

I need to learn moon runes so I can play CF1 and know WTF is going on and have an opinion to chime in with, but it doesn't look -too- bad.  I don't mind simple combat systems and whatnot, though I do like a little variation to keep things fresh.

Oh, and Lochlan, since this is fighting street: Your halitosis is exceeded only by your B.O.  (and your penmanship is atrocious)

Good luck to you sir. Hiragana and katakana are simple enough. Now I'm trying to get to grips with the language itself.
Struggling to make head or tail of kanji though

[InfraMan]

I was raised on Ultima IV, Bard's Tale, Wizardry, etc., so Dragon Warrior seemed outdated to me even when it was brand new... but I still loved it.

I think archaic RPGs have a certain charm that's difficult to pin down. They're like video game comfort food.

[CrackTiger]

I made it most of the way through CF1 in Cosmic Fantasy Stories in 1997, before trading my Mega-CD (with the save file) for a better TurboDuo. My Japanese language skills were much more limited back then and there was nothing online to help me. It should be no problem for most people to play through.

[Lochlan]

All of you cosmic fantasy 1 lovers are terrible people with no redeeming qualities.

[Lochlan]

Also, nothing is wrong with Dragon Quest 1.  I can appreciate that earlier games are more archaic, nobody expects Pong to comparable with PS4 games or whatever.  But DQ1 came out in 1986, Cosmic Fantasy 1 is an embarrassing effort considering how much later it was released.  It's just so clunky and generally poor, although hot damn do I like the title song.  It's not even the production values of one particular thing, it's just the lack of polish on the overall package that ruins it for me personally.  I liked #2 quite a bit (despite it also having so-so tile work) and bought the first title expecting to have at least a decent time, but was pretty disappointed with my brief attempt to enjoy it.

And Black Tiger, those screenshots you posted are just proof that DQV is kind of shitty too.  Despite being heavily-loved by DQ fans (or so I understand) it's one of my personally least-favorite JRPGs, it's another one I just couldn't get into.  CF1 has really crappy tiles, putting it next to other below-average tile work isn't making a case for CF1 being non-terribad.

Edit: I was definitely not playing JRPGs in 1989, I didn't pick up any until like ~92ish.  I am looking into the historical context more and I concede that I'm mis-evaluating how relatively primitive it is in context--to an extent.  I am not giving it enough credit, but there are Famicom JRPGs I enjoy way more that came out the same year or even earlier.

I had so many moments playing CF1 where I felt "oh wow that's shitty."  The Mayor's son (???) in the first town who magically appears, the treasure chests you have to open via a menu that don't have an "opened" graphic, THE HORRENDOUS LOAD TIMES (when I stumbled upon the menu that lets the green bike guy talk it and it took like 30 seconds I wanted to shoot myself), etc.  They clearly spent a lot of money making the cutscenes amazing and put not enough time into developing the engine.

/Serious discussion

CF1 IZ DUM IF U LIK IT U R DUM 2 LOL

[Ray]

I honestly can't think of any 1984-1989 RPGs that had much better tilework than CF1, apart from maybe Phantasy Star II and Tengai Makyou Ziria. It was pretty much industry standard for Japanese RPGs back then.

As for load times, keep in mind this was the very early years of CD games, they were still working out the kinks and had far less memory to work with compared to later SCD RPGs. In hindsight, it would have been better to use PSG audio for battles, but CD audio was one of the biggest selling points in early CD games.

[CrackTiger]

I honestly can't think of any 1984-1989 RPGs that had much better tilework than CF1, apart from maybe Phantasy Star II and Tengai Makyou Ziria. It was pretty much industry standard for Japanese RPGs back then.

As for load times, keep in mind this was the very early years of CD games, they were still working out the kinks and had far less memory to work with compared to later SCD RPGs. In hindsight, it would have been better to use PSG audio for battles, but CD audio was one of the biggest selling points in early CD games.

Although some PCE CD games allow you to switch some bgms to chip tunes, CD music doesn't introduce noticeable load times. And Cosmic Fantasy actually uses chip tunes for towns, the overworld and battles.

The reason it needs to load in and out of battles is because it features battle background art, which was still something special at the time. Even many Super CD RPGs (like Dragon Slayers, TMII and Neo Metal Fantasy) don't use battle background art and also cart games, like Phantasy Star II, which came out within a few months of CF1.

The load times in CF1 are actually very good. It's only when exiting a battle that there is a noticeable delay and the laser can sometimes gets lost, but as with Mysterious Song, you encounter it more frequently than other games simply because there is much more frequent loading than something like a side scroller.

[Ray]

The reason it needs to load in and out of battles is because it features battle background art, which was still something special at the time. Even many Super CD RPGs (like Dragon Slayers, TMII and Neo Metal Fantasy) don't use battle background art and also cart games, like Phantasy Star II, which came out within a few months of CF1.

The load times in CF1 are actually very good. It's only when exiting a battle that there is a noticeable delay and the laser can sometimes gets lost, but as with Mysterious Song, you encounter it more frequently than other games simply because there is much more frequent loading than something like a side scroller.

Oooh, so THAT's why they removed these in CF2 and Manjimaru! I guess that makes a lot more sense.

I've always found The Legend of Xanadu to be really impressive as far as loading time goes. That game stores an entire multiple-hour-long chapter onto the RAM and doesn't request a disc read until the sidescrolling stages.

[CrackTiger]

The reason it needs to load in and out of battles is because it features battle background art, which was still something special at the time. Even many Super CD RPGs (like Dragon Slayers, TMII and Neo Metal Fantasy) don't use battle background art and also cart games, like Phantasy Star II, which came out within a few months of CF1.

The load times in CF1 are actually very good. It's only when exiting a battle that there is a noticeable delay and the laser can sometimes gets lost, but as with Mysterious Song, you encounter it more frequently than other games simply because there is much more frequent loading than something like a side scroller.

Oooh, so THAT's why they removed these in CF2 and Manjimaru! I guess that makes a lot more sense.

I've always found The Legend of Xanadu to be really impressive as far as loading time goes. That game stores an entire multiple-hour-long chapter onto the RAM and doesn't request a disc read until the sidescrolling stages.

It might even do a bit of streaming, like Tenchi Wo Kurau. Fatal Fury Special is the most impressive PCE game for me, as far as load time proportionate to the amount being loaded. But many games are designed extremely well to mask loading. CF1 tries with the music starting early, but half the time it only draws attention to the wait time.