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Message: [QUOTE="diapered, post: 315656, member: 143752"] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="545px" alt="01_cover_image_final.jpg"]107208[/ATTACH][/CENTER] So you think you have what it takes to fight for the glory of the moon? Well, board your einhander (German, referring to a one handed sword) spacecraft and face the numerous enemies of the earth colony Sodom, as you begin a raid of their capital city[1]. Square delivers an incredibly ambitious shmup from a developer known for primarily rpgs. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="02_mooninitesMoon.jpg"]107209[/ATTACH] [B]Some would say the earth is our moon, but that would belittle the name of our moon. Now, go forth and terrorize the capital of earth, show them our advanced ways. Don't question it![/B][/CENTER] To start 1997 (in Japan), Final Fantasy 7 was released. Say what you want about FF7, but you would think that would be enough success for a single year for any developer. Then that SAME YEAR Square released Final Fantasy Tactics (my favorite of all time) and more! [2] There was no stopping this rpg developing behemoth in 1997! Then towards the end of 1997 they release einhander?! A shmup? Were these rpg titans drunk on success and thought they could do no wrong in 1997? Or they knew they were a powerhouse that was seriously cooking and could break through any genre? Let's take a look at Einhander. And as you can see from the box, I played the NA release. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="342px" alt="03_game_cover.jpg"]107210[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2]Gameplay[/HEADING] Full disclosure, I am not the biggest shmup fan, nor that good at them. Silpheed on the sega CD is my favorite and I have played plenty of others, but it is not something I "go to", so feel free to correct me on my valuations of schmup mechanics. That said, I do think the mechanics are really innovative for the genre and makes this game shine! [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="462px" alt="04_gameplay_Einhaender (USA) 2025-08-30-22-40-53.jpg"]107211[/ATTACH] [B]Your "one hand" is able to use a variety of gunpods. Shown is a grenade gunpod firing backward by changing arm position to pound this dino tank stage boss into oblivion.[/B] [/CENTER] Why the name einhander? Your "one hand" functions like the grappler arms from Outlaw Star and is incredibly cool! You pick up weapons (gunpods) from destroyed enemies and switch between them. On top of that, you are able to change the position of the arm which changes if the weapon is held on top or below your ship. Just like on the enemies, gunpods take damage so this can be a way to block attacks (your gunpod will be destroyed, not you). This also changes the attack direction of the gunpod: some are able to fire backwards when position is changed, for example. Another major control you have is the speed of your ship: accelerating to move fast, and decelerating in situations when you need finer control, for example in tighter spaces more treacherous to maneuver. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="448px" alt="Einhaender (USA) 2025-08-09-22-44-03.jpg"]107213[/ATTACH] [B]An example where slowing down for finer control would have saved me >_< Or maybe I should have been going fast?[/B][/CENTER] Altogether, it makes for a varied and intense shmup experience. You are constantly looking out for gunpods you want, switching around gunpods based on situation, and changing speeds. However, all this doesn't feel overwhelming even under the pressure of numerous enemies, a nice balance. Wonderful gameplay design! [HEADING=2]Atmosphere(Graphics, Music, Story)[/HEADING] The graphics are great for psx and are very memorable. It's really cool when the camera moves at times. Some call this a 2.5D shmup due to that, but it is not like you gain an extra axis or plane of movement, so I would still call this a 2D shooter (again, maybe my ignorance of this genre). Anyway, I don't see how anyone could complain about the look/feel/presentation of this game, and the cut scenes are great too! Not much more to really say. The story is not that impressive, but it is interesting, so I think it is pretty good for a shmup. No deductions for any of those aspects. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="476px" alt="Einhaender (USA) 2025-08-30-00-42-50.jpg"]107215[/ATTACH] [B]Sadly, the only stage with music that really stood out to me :( But the music is still very good![/B] [/CENTER] I do have a problem with the music (sfx are great). Reading other commentators, you will see this aspect praised a lot. And yes, it is good, but I find the music underwhelming, maybe just me? To bring up silpheed again, most tracks are fire and I could just sit and listen through. For einhander? I really like the song during the penultimate boss encounter, but that is about all that is memorable as a single track, for me. I guess the music direction was going for a more overall ambient/synth feel, and that does work! I got serious Akira vibes during one section, and that is all well and good... But idk, for a shmup, I want more bangers :( [HEADING=2]Experience[/HEADING] Despite my slight music gripe, the atmosphere blends perfect with the gameplay: this is a well oiled machine! An incredibly intense and engaging experience. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="480px" alt="06_hard_section_Einhaender (USA) 2025-08-30-22-51-51.jpg"]107216[/ATTACH] [B]Get ready to burn some lives here...[/B] [/CENTER] Now we get to my significant problem and deduction which is something that always pisses me off: difficulty spikes for the purpose of "padding" the play time. The game is very short in terms of content. I don't think anyone would dispute that. I can't help but think two sections (even on easy, and they are not a boss!) are purposely there to eat lives and continues. It's one thing to lose lives as you proceed through a game and maybe a last stage or boss is impossible, but a single "road block" in the middle of the game is infuriating... It's especially frustrating as both of those sections have no real quick gunpod pickup at the start to help out, while many other difficult sections do (one of the reasons that makes me think this was an intentional choice to pad the play time). Why do this to me Square? I wanted to have fun :( The penultimate boss fight is a nightmare, but that is understandable as you are getting toward the end. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="871px" alt="scale_lazy_crop.jpg"]107218[/ATTACH] [B]My rubric, for reference :P[/B] [/CENTER] That's my main problem with this game. I don't have a problem with games that are short on content, but developers should know that expectations then get raised: you better be packing tons of fun and memories in those few hours! You can't just unnecessarily ramp up the difficulty in a few sections to pad the completion time! For the record, I spent +40 hours on this game and still needed save states for extra retries on those two SAME sections on easy; all the bosses I can handle (satellite one is still kind of hard for me). I feel bad being hard on only this aspect, but it is a serious problem imo. Did square think people would complain if easy was too short? Combine that with music I don't think is memorable enough for the short length (don't shmup fans want an intense soundtrack while blasting away enemies?) and I judge this a "flawed classic" (see above scale). But I give it a 0.5 bump: this game still does so much right! If you like schumps, give it a try! Even if you're just a Square rpg fan like me, go for it! Just be ready to get your ass kicked >_> [HEADING=2]Nostalgia Society Love and Citations[/HEADING] Shout out to all my friends in the nostalgia society thread for the month! <3 y'all and as much as this pissed me off it was fun! [URL unfurl="true"]https://retrogametalk.com/threads/rgt-nostalgia-society-3-einhander.12986/[/URL] [1] Wikipedia entry for Einhander [2] Wikipedia entry for "List of Square games" [/QUOTE]

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