Blog:The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 1: Founding a Legendary Series

PREVIOUS REVIEW: EPISODE 3 ''After reviewing Episode 3, Blad, formerly the Goose, had asked what game to review next in the Dark Witch franchise. The outside force that tortured then-known Zeus decided to not respond. She can be a cruel mistress, sometimes. So after being fed up with Dark Witch 3, Zeus forged his own path. He had picked up the game that started it all. The Legend of Dark Witch: Chronicle 2D Act.''

So, the first game in the franchise. Chronicle 2D Act, also apparently known as Episode 1. Like Episode 2, I love this game. I haven't played it as much as Episode 2, but I still come back to it a lot. I first played 1's demo on the 3DS, and I liked it. Obviously not as much as Dark Witch 2, but it was still a good time. Fast forward to 2019, and I had received $20 in eShop credit, and I had no idea what to do with it. I thought about buying the Dark Witch games, and that's when I found the remaster of this game, confusingly and annoyingly named The Legend of Dark Witch on Nintendo Switch. Fans call it The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation, and so does the Steam version. Aside from that, I played it, and I enjoyed it. Not much else. I eventually moved on, but I got the trilogy on 3DS, and I had picked up Dark Witch 1 again. Now I own the Steam version of both Classic and Renovation, so I have basically all of the ports, minus the PS Vita version. But I'm not investing in a corpse, no thanks.

A lot of fans seem to really hate Episode 1, but I'm not one of those people. Fans often cite the high difficulty as an issue, and many detest the slot system. I disagree with all those statements, and I'll explain why. Personally, I think the game is great, and it's absolutely my second-favorite game in the series. But let's start off with the best part, the music!

Music
Raito went off the walls for this one. Every single song in this game is amazing. Sanctuary, Freesia, Get Justice, Sleeping Rock 'n' Roll, Not Glamorous, Vacations Noisy, Vulgaris, What's Safeguard, Mirror Trap, Or Not to Break, Melody Yasuragi, Blue heat Haze, Good Luck, Blue Heat Haze again, Raito, my guy, it's an obscure 5 dollar eShop game on the 3DS, calm down. Needless to say, the OST is oddly amazing. Seriously, it's criminally underrated. I love all of the tracks, easily one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. It doesn't top 3 or 2, but it deserves some points on the board. And if you haven't listened to it, go and do it. I love it, and you'll love it too. Anyways, onto the game.

Story
The story is simplistic and not really important, but I should still mention it regardless. Riva (the bad guy) secretly stole all the Syega from the Old Islands, and Zizou Olympia goes around the Old islands in search of the culprit. As she travels, she collects information about Syega and the culprit. Eventually, she stumbles upom Verri, a knight protecting Riva's castle. After she has been defeated, we encounter the fugitive, Riva. They duel, and Zizou wins. Riva then taps in to the power of Syega, in a last ditch effort to defeat Zizou. Riva fails again, and she agrees to return all of the Syega. All in all, the story isn't really important, but I think it could've been handled better. I do like the characters here, save for Riva. I've heard a lot of people dislike Riva, one (Dupli) even calling her the worst Dark Witch character of all time. I honestly don't see why she got a bunch of hate. I'm not saying that she's an amazing character, but she doesn't do anything too terrible to deserve all the hate she gets. The worst thing she did is be egotistical, which, while kind of annoying, isn't a big deal. In my opinion, the true villain of 3 is worse than Riva. At least you can love to hate Riva. Simeone is a disappointment.

Gameplay
So The Legend of Dark Witch plays like Mega Man... sorta. You have the buster shot, a slightly stronger buster shot, and all the abilities from the bosses you conquer, excluding Verri. The main appeal of Dark Witch is the slot meter. Killing enemies will increase this meter. The meter will highlight a skill that it will install. You can also skip over this skill by killing more enemies. Once you install a skill, the meter resets, but your stats improve, depending on what skill you install. Getting hit will make you lose part of this meter. I love this system, and it adds risk/reward to the game. Better skills are typically at the end of the meter, but speed is at the beginning. Do you go for speed, or risk it and go for power. And power is pretty overpowered. You can do an insane amount of damage by upgrading power alone. However, for the cost of Power (resetting your meter), it's worth it. One minor annoyance is death. Dying resets your slots. Personally, I'm a fan of this system as it adds to the risk of the system, but when it sucks to lose all your slots due to a missed button input, it REALLY sucks. Renovation removes this in the easy mode, but I'd rather have the player choose whether or not they want the harder version of the game. Think Gunvolt, for example. Personally, I prefer it on, but everyone's different, so I won't speak for you. Another issue is with the weapons. All of the weapons, save for the Liner and Comet shot, aren't worth it. They take away from your enhancement slot, and aren't really good in general. So when I'm playing the game, just stick to Liner. A far cry from Mega Man 2, and even the first Mega Man. Even then, The Legend of Dark Witch is looking pretty good so far, and it gets better in the stages.

Stages
The stages in 1 are pretty good. I love every stage in this game, and they're great for speedrunning. Here's a review of every stage.

Klinsy
I think Klinsy's stage is the best-designed stage in the entire series, bar none. It knows exactly what it wants to do and it does that very well. This is the first stage ever, and most players played this in The Legend of Dark Witch demo. Therefore, it's likely that most players played this stage first. Or, maybe they played the stages in a linear order on their first go. I know I did. The stage starts out very simple, showing how stages transform. Once you get into the main stage, you're on a flat runway. If Players will notice the danger icon on the top, with the books raining from the sky. This gives the player information to look out for. Granted, it's not used in game too many times, but it's still good to know nonetheless. The next section will show the player what to look out for. The elusive Syega. This tells the player that these upgrade your slots and are good to get. The books could be a good tutorial for parrying, which is done here by quickly pressing left. The only bad part of this section is the waterfalls, which slow down the pace. The next section has several pitfalls, which increase the difficulty, but even then, a first time player can easily beat this section. Then you enter the garden, which has several keys that you need to pass through doors. This section is easy and non-life threatening. After another short platforming section, you are offered the first alternative path. Taking this path is risky, however. You have a chance of dying while trying to get the key, as a book rains down pages at certain intervals, over a pit. Timing your moves is essential to getting this path. Getting this path offers a much faster route, along with more Tres (at least I think so), and a Syega Crystal. The final section teaches the player the coyote time mechanic. Normally, you can't get up to the key you need with a regular jump. But if you walk off a platform and quickly jump afterwards, you extend your vertical distance when you jump. If you have 3X Speed, this jump is possible. Many players grabbed the Speed Syega, but if you survive until this point and have 3X speed, you get a Tres bonus. Finally, the level finishes out with an easy platforming section. Overall, this is one of the best Dark Witch levels, and an amazing tutorial. I think this level is genius. 10/10.

Al
Al's stage takes place in an icy land, where buff, fire breathing snowmen exist, and the penguins go way, way too fast. Other than that, it's another really good stage. I don't have much to say about it, other than it's fun, and it has some alternative paths, which are always nice. One bad part is the end, with the slippery ice. It's pretty easy to try and correct your jump, only to slip off and lose a stock. But aside from that cheap death, the stage is great. 8/10.

Papelne
Papelne's stage is a city stage, and you have to switch blocks to proceed. One thing I have a problem with is that the block switching is pretty straightforward. You can easily find your way to the goal most of the time, but other than that, the stage is still pretty fun. It's another nice stage in the game. 8/10.

Blad
Blad's stage takes place in the Twilight Prison, where the deceased roam (at least I'm pretty sure). Anyways, a lot of people really seem to hate Blad's stage, but aside from one knockback kill at the end, and one that's pretty easy to avoid, I don't really see the issue with it, although I will note the stage is a bit hard. There are a lot of pits tbhat ae easy to fall into, and the hedgehogs shoot projectiles at you when you kill them. Other than that, the stage is alright. The thing is, there's just not a lot to do. It's gimmick is these up and down thingies, but they just get you somewhere, so they aren't really that fun. But there's nothing really inherently wrong with it, so I give it a 7/10.

Sola
Sola's stage takes place in the Chelsea School, who has a big monster problem for an academy. The fake blocks are pretty easy to see coming, but they are a bit difficult to avoid. I also like the difficulty progression in this stage. In the first part, you have the fake blocks over a floor. Then you have a straight line of fake blocks over a pit, again, and then the hardest part, where fake blocks are scattered everywhere, with tight jumps. That's smart design! Overall, a 9/10. Also, this song slaps.

Stoj
Stoj's stage is alright. First, you start at a beach, with raining enemies, which are easy enough to kill. You have a bit of a leap of faith, but if you pan the camera, you can make the jump easily. Then you get to the second half. There are a couple of torches which you put out with rain. After that, it's pretty much a straight shot to the finish, with some enemies on the way. So a good stage. but it's not that noteworthy. 7/10.

Verri
Arguably one of the hardest stages in the entire series, Verri's stage is also one of the most controversial. A lot of people loath the stage, but I really think its issues are overblown. I think there's really only one part that's unfair for a first time player. The first part is your typical Dark Witch stage, but once you teleport, it gets hard. The first section has the On/Off blocks over alarge pit, but with simple timing, you can clear it with no effort. The next section is the only really unfair part. There are tornadoes which move up and down, and you have to avoid them. However, there is a pit in front of you, and if you don't know to hold right, you die, and you lose a bit of progress. You can't even pan the camera down because of the tornadoes, which will most likely hit you. It's pretty frustrating, but hold right and you're good. After a small section without many gimmicks, you enter the dark room, and really, there's not a lot wrong here. Sure, the area is dark, but you can still see enemies, so you should be good. The pits are also easily avoidable, but I don't know why they used Blad's up/down things for the pits. There's no way to get a jump mid-air, so I don't know why they put it here if you die either way. Anyways, you leave the dark area for by far the hardest section in the game. Penguins will travel at the spped of light, slimes will create more slimes, and birds will shoot at you, which can easily make you die and reset. But if you make it to the very end, and reach Riva's castle, avoiding the enemies guarding the castle, you feel awesome. Honestly, I love this stage, and it gets way too much hate from everyone. Aside from one unfair kill, I think it gets an 9/10 from me. If you've reached this point, you're ready to fight Riva, Princess of Rasil. And, unfortunately, this is where the game really falters.

Riva
Riva's stage is a boss rush, followed by the final boss. I don't mind boss rushes, but what I do mind is the boss itself, Riva. Riva's first form is nigh impossible on harder difficulties, but what really kills the fight is phase 2. Phase 2 is so easy, it's not even funny. Riva floats above your head, out of your reach. She doesn't even have a hitbox, so you can't hit her. She shoots bullets at you, but that's not the issue. She spawns enemies for 3 minutes straight, and more often than not, you can shoot them in one hit. So what do you do? Turn around repeatedly for the entire fight. Oh, isn't that not heart attack-inducing enough? Use Blad's rings to cheese the entire fight without a hitch. Maybe the hedgehogs will catch you by surprise, but as long as you have at least 2 hearts, you're fine. So needless to say, this fight is awful.

Bosses
I decided to review all of the bosses in one go, as unlike the stages, there's not a lot to say. I thought all of them were pretty good, but they really just blend in. Half of them don't even move an inch from their spawning point. So all they really do is launch bullets at you. And that's not to say they're bad, but it gives them less variety. And that's all I have to say about the main game, so what about the post-game?

Post-game
Post-game Dark Witch is typically the best part of any Dark Witch game (at least in my opinion). So let's go over that!

Lunatic
First, you unlock Lunatic mode, which significantly boosts enemy health, you lose your entire slot progress upon taking a hit, and there's a lot less Tres. I think this mode is alright, however it can be terribly frustrating at times, particularly with the girl who shall not be named. I find Dark Witch hard enough on easy, so while I appreciate the effort here, I ultimately didn't end up beating it, as the final boss was just too hard (see boss section for more info), and I'm not playing with the girl who shall not be named.

Riva
Second, you unlock the girl who shall not be named. She's godawful. Her weapons are even worse than the other skills. Cobalt Fire is way too weak at default to ever be useful. And don't even get me started on Sword Rain. She also has a dash, and while that seems good, if you dash midair, you might as well die because you can't cancel dash midair. Thankfully, 2 fixed this, but annoyingly, 3 removed the dash. She also fights Zizou as her final boss, who is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too hard, even on Easy mode. She's so terrible, that she made Klinsy one of the hardest fights in the game. In short, Riva is ultimately not worth it, don't even bother unless you hate yourself, or you're going for 100%.

Hey, wait a second!

Syega shop
The Syega Shop is a quintessential part of any Dark Witch game, and it started here. You can buy upgrades (which don't hamper achievements, so have fun in Lunatic), cosmetics, and museum stuff (ex. soundtrack), and it's nice. There's not really much else to say about the shop, so I'll leave it at that.

Overall, I give the postgame a 7/10. It has it's frustrations, but I think I enjoyed it. I haven't 100%ed it yet, so we'll see.

Renovation
Before closing out this review, I want to talk about the remaster, The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation. Some of you may know I have my Legend of Dark Witch RESERVATIONS about this game, but I want to explain myself. I do not think The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation is a bad game. It has some nice features that make the game a bit better, and for the most part, all of it's changes were good. The new attacks are hard, but they're really fun. You don't lose your slots when you die (i think it's better when you lose them, but I guess this is fine enough), which is good for newcomers. There are a couple of minigames now, don't really care. You have the Capacity Gauge, which would be a great addition if the weapons didn't suck so much. Comet is buffed, that's cool, but I never install Comet. And there's a new artstyle. Yeah, not really a fan of it. I think they smoothed out the pixels to give it a hand-drawn look (at least I think that's the case for most of them? Zizou looks pretty good, and some enemies actually look hand-drawn), but it just doesn't work. Seriously, I don't know why game companies love to use XBRZ in pixel based games (COUGH COUGH CAPCOM). In my opinion, it's an automatic failure whenever it's done. It just never looks good. So just play with the original graphics, right? Well, you can't... kinda. Reverting the graphics reverts all of the good changes Renovation brings, so you might as well not even bother with Renovation at that point. And that sucks, because Renovation's changes, while small, make the game a tiny bit better. And that leads me into my second issue. I feel like Renovation didn't do enough to justify costing $2 more. Now, I love The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 1, but I'll be damned to admit it's perfect. And honestly, if you want to get into DW, don't start with Renovation, even with it's new features. Some of you may consider this hypocritical, as I didn't really knock 2 for this. But 2 had a bunch of new stuff for the Steam port when it really didn't need to. Plus, 2 was already worth $10. 1 is a bit more debatable in this regard, as it's one of the shortest entries in the series (and, as much as I love Episode 1, one of the more flawed).

Overall, Renovation is an alright remaster. I'd say get it if you've never owned 1, but stick to Classic if you already have that.

One more thing; Classic now costs the extra $2 on Steam, even without the Renovation features. Come on, NAN-A. That's extremely scummy. I know you aren't the greatest game dev in the world (personally Inti Creates is my favorite), but this is not good, and my favorite video game franchise doesn't get a pass from that.

Conclusion
Episode 1 is an amazing game, and one I often revisit. While it does have some minor issues, the game is still great. It's indefinitely replayable, one tough game, but more importantly, a fun one. I can easily recommend it to newcomers, although I still think Episode 2 is a fair bit better. As for Renovation, it's a good way to play the game, but I wouldn't recommend it to returning players. Where it lacks in graphics, it makes up for with some additions that, while aren't completely necessary to fully enjoy the game, make the experience better as a whole. It just needed more features to justify the higher price tag.

Anyways, longtime readers know what's coming up, but here's a couple words from me. Yeah, this review took a long time to come out, and I apologize for that. I think I got a little burnt out from doing 2 big reviews in 1 week, but I finally got over that burnout, and here I am. Hopefully the next review will be a lot shorter, because we're doing the side games, so I don't have to review every stage and get a carpal tunnel. I will note that the next games aren't as close to me as well, so be warned that I won't talk much about how I first saw them. Anyways, without further ado, here is the poll. Thanks for reading till the end, and see you next time!

''The mistress woke from her slumber and picked a game. She was pretty brave when picking it. But that's a story for another time...''

NEXT REVIEW: BRAVE DUNGEON