Yesterday (July 14th, 2022) a fan translation patch for a PSX game titled Baroque- Yuganda Musou has been released; this is a fan translation I was very excited for, because I actually really like the remake of the game, which was released for PS2 and Wii in 2008 and simply titled Baroque. I thought that a great way to get my blog legs back would be to talk about my thoughts as I go through both versions.
Now, there are technically four versions of Baroque: the original, on Sega Saturn, released in 1998; an enhanced port for PSX the following year, in 1999; and then the PS2 and Wii versions, both released in 2007 in Japan, and in 2008 in North America. For the duration of this series of posts, I will be playing Plisskin's translation of the PSX version, and the official North American localization of the Wii version. For transparency I'll also say I'm emulating both games; I'll be using DuckStation for the PSX version, and Dolphin for the Wii version. I will be referring to each version henceforth as [the] Original and [the] Remake. For sources, I'll mostly be playing by ear, but I'll also be consulting THE NERVE TOWER, a site that was, for a very long time, the only real resource for English speakers about the original game. I'll do my best to cite NERVE TOWER whenever applicable and appropriate, with hyperlinks. I want to be as thorough as I can when talking about this game (these games?), mostly because I'm a freak who likes doing this. I miss the WEIRDEST things about academia sometimes. Any video I use will of course be hyperlinked rather than embedded directly, so you can just click the link and see where I got the video
I want to get a few huge, obvious changes that cover the entirety of the game out of the way first:
The biggest things that differentiate Original from Remake are the graphics, the art style, and the fact that Original is played from a first person perspective, whereas Remake is played from a third person perspective.
Now, I have seen some people complain about Remake's art style, saying that it doesn't hold the same tension as Original's art style, which is... as realistic as Saturn/PSX graphics were going to get at the time, opting for simplistic 3D geometry, with detailed textures and sprites doing the legwork. Those sprites are in fact, completely gorgeous, please do check out NERVE TOWER and take a look yourself.
Meanwhile, Remake opts not only for full 3D, but also adopts somewhat controversially an anime art style. Now, Original's art style did stray into anime territory, I think that's true beyond any doubt, but this is far less noticeable if you don't take a look at the concept; meanwhile, Remake is far more overt in its artistic stylings, which can be seen clear as day in the game's cinematic intro, and which contrasts pretty greatly with the PSX version's intro. Laying my cards on the table here, while I do agree that generally speaking the Original's graphics and art style are much better at conveying horror, I would be lying if I didn't say that Remake's style makes me nostalgic for when I was an edgy teenager discovering anime for the first time
Before I wrap up this inagural post I want to share some cool stuff, specifically, art. Video games, as anyone who found this blog is likely to know, are chock full of art; concept art, character art, promotional art, etc etc. Well, after the Baroque remake came out, every year Sting (the game's developer) puts out a special, limited time wallpaper on the remake's website, on May 14th, a reference to an event that happened in Baroque's universe on May 14th, 2032. I missed this year's, which I'm actually really upset about, because this year is ten years until then, and the art is always intresting
I want to show off some of these pieces from previous years, though:
I'm in EST so tomorrow is the anniversary date of the Great Blaze for me. Also I misremembered the year (switched the 2 and 3) and in game it's actually 5/14/2032! Nine years until then! This year is also Mother's Day, so I'll be doing both things. I have to get a few things tonight for tomorrow for it. Hopefully it's also nice outside.
There's an unofficial even I'm debating on joining... I don't know a lot of Japanese, hardly enough to get by... I kinda wanna just do it, but also... I don't know... It'd be cool if I did and met someone to help teach me the language, but also I have social anxiety about it because not only strangers, but foreign language and possible language barrier...