Wiseman's World Retry" Review! JALECO's classic RPG with beautiful dots and a spiffy nurturing system [Giving away a copy of the game software].

The town of Wizarest is separated from the outside world by a dangerous dungeon. Klaus, the protagonist of the game, is searching for his missing mentor, and challenges the dungeon in order to find a way to the outside world. He is aided by three homunculi, artificial life forms created by his teacher. He fuses them with the souls of monsters to enhance his strength.

The original "Wiseman's World" was the last home video game released by JALECO, a long-established video game manufacturer, and has long been supported as a hidden masterpiece.

The promotion team did everything in its power to create a buzz on the Internet, and the game's developers were determined to "bring back the RPGs of the past" to the world. Let's take a look back to 2010 and see how "Retry" plays.

Wiseman's World Retry (Switch version)

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A Look Back at Jaleco's Last Home Video Game

Jaleco was an active manufacturer from the dawn of arcade games. It released a number of unique games in game arcades, such as "City Connection," in which cute cars run around, and "Formation Z," in which robots that transform into airplanes fight. It was one of the first third parties to enter the NES market, and developed a wide lineup of games for both console and handheld consoles, including the "Ninja Jajamaru-kun" series, in which a boy ninja plays in various genres, and "Phantasm," a Game Boy port of an action game in which the main character, now a ghost, takes possession of his enemies' bodies to fight them. In 2014, JALECO also began to develop its own business.

JALECO ceased operations in 2014. As a result, "Wiseman's World" was JALECO's last title for home video game consoles.

JALECO was in a difficult situation at the time, and although it released the RPG "Golden Bonds" for the Wii in May 2009, it did not sell well. The game was not well received by users who actually played it.

Under such circumstances, JALECO opened a website titled "Prelude to the Collapse of JALECO Corporation" and started a countdown based on the concept of "valuing our passion for manufacturing as a user-oriented game maker" (from a press release at the time). At the end of the countdown, the company announced "the:rpg (tentative)" as the "JALECO Revitalization Project" and invited the public to submit designs for the monsters that would appear in the game. As astute readers may have noticed, "the:rpg (tentative)" is "Wiseman's World.

The main character, Klaus, challenges the dungeon to find his master and find his way to the outside world.

In the battle, he is sometimes forced to make heavy decisions. The magical power gained from defeating the boss can stop the dungeon from collapsing, but there is a dying person in front of him who cannot be saved without that magical power. Will you take the world or human life?

There was also an open call for monster designs, some of which were actually adopted, and for better or worse, this work became a hot topic among game fans on the Internet.

As the saying goes, "The opposite of love is indifference," and "infamy is better than obscurity." In entertainment, lack of interest is fatal. In order to make the game a hit, all available means were mobilized. This is the sequence of events in the promotion of "Wiseman's World," isn't it?

While "Wiseman's World" attracted a lot of attention with its unconventional promotion, the users' colored glasses caused by these measures must have prevented them from evaluating the game's contents fairly. The remake of "Wiseman's World" is a literal "retry" to eliminate as much of this noise as possible and to create a more pure "Wiseman's World.

Flexible party formation using resources such as "monster souls" and "catalysts

I have already reviewed at length the episodes of this work from the beginning, but now let's talk about the game content. This title combines the standard command-selection + turn-based style with a unique system that includes a homunculus enhancement system, making it a game that combines the royal road with an innovative system. As the copy "RPGs of the past" suggests, this is an authentic RPG that is aimed at games and gamers, and the content gives a different impression from the unconventional promotions.

Monster symbols roam the field, and when they come into contact with you, you are plunged into battle. In most RPGs, the protagonist is the all-powerful attacker and his companions are shields or assistants, but this is not the case in this work. Klaus can use various kinds of magic, but his physical attacks are not that great. On the other hand, the abilities of the homunculus are determined by which monster they are fused with. In other words, this is an elaborate system for RPG fans, in which the entire battle is constructed by fusing homunculus together.

In battle, the order of command input rotates in order of speed, so that both sides are fighting each other. A "chain" bonus is triggered when allies are able to hit with consecutive attacks. Depending on the combination of attacks, special effects such as increased attack power and drop rates can be obtained. The key point is that "as long as the attack is hit," so even if allies are in consecutive order of action, the chain bonus will be interrupted if a recovery is interrupted in the middle of the action. While keeping a close eye on the action order of the allies and the enemy, the player can construct a unique tactic, such as pushing too hard to attack for a chain bonus at times, and at other times, focusing on recovery. Enemies, especially bosses, tend to behave in a certain way, and it is possible to predict to some extent how much damage they will inflict on you. Boss battles, in which players must balance damage and recovery in a long-term battle and decide what to do several turns ahead of time, are a must for command-choice RPG enthusiasts.

A "chain" bonus is triggered if you hit with consecutive attacks.

When the battle is over, the HP of Klaus and the homunculus, as well as the MP required for Klaus to use magic, are all restored, and even if you have been killed, you can revive with no penalty. No matter how battered and bruised they may be, as long as they are not completely wiped out, they win the battle. As a result, players can concentrate on the battle.

On the other hand, SP for homunculus skills cannot be recovered without returning to the city. If you want to explore dungeons, you need a fusion that can withstand a series of battles with small fry without relying too much on skills, which emphasizes the concept of this title of building battles around the homunculus.

If multiple monster symbols are successfully grouped together to enter battle, a "series of battles" will occur. This means fighting multiple enemy parties in succession. When this "continuous battle" occurs, the experience value and drop rate available to you will also increase. It is interesting to find yourself in an unexpected series of battles where the symbols are moving violently, but you are able to win the battle in reverse and level up.

Normally, the player recovers after each battle, but in "continuous battle," the player must fight without recovery.

Another major feature of this title is the system for fusing homunculus and monster souls. Homunculus cannot fight as it is, but must be fused with the souls that drop when a monster is defeated. If the homunculus is fused with the soul of a so-called "brain-muscle" monster with high HP and attack power, the homunculus will also become a brain-muscle monster, and the monster's troublesome skills will also become its own. This is why we look forward to fusing new monsters every time they are released. The fact that souls are consumed each time you fuse monsters and that you don't always get souls even if you kill monsters is what makes RPGs so appealing. Fighting for rare drops is one of the pleasures of RPGs, but in this game, the souls are directly related to strengthening the party, so you find yourself praying "Souls, souls ......" every time a battle is over.

Monster souls are so-called drop items. Whether or not you can get them depends on luck, and you may not always have the required number. With "~Retry," there is no longer a limit to the number of souls you can possess.

Of special note is the unique strategy involved in the fusion of souls. There is a limit to the number of souls that can be fused together to strengthen or inherit skills. Here, the influence of the attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind is significant in battle, souls are consumable, and you are free to choose which skills to inherit, which means that you must think in terms of constructing a solid party.

To make a homunculus stronger, it must be fused with the souls of one strong monster after another. The parameters of the homunculus will be overwritten by those of the souls fused later. In other words, it is like being reborn as a fused monster. For example, if a homunculus is fused with the soul of a strong monster, but then fused with the soul of a small fry, the homunculus' abilities will become those of the small fry.

Conversely, as long as you can obtain the soul of a strong monster, you can become stronger all at once, which gives you more motivation when fighting strong enemies. Monsters in this game have the attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind, and there are affinities such as "fire is strong against wind but weak against water. This effect extends to the homunculus, which is a fusion of souls. Homunculus can level up by accumulating experience, but the effects of their attributes are significant. The role of a homunculus in battle, such as healer or attacker, is determined by which souls are fused and which skills they inherit. The number of skills that can be inherited is determined at the time of fusion. In other words, you have to think about attributes and roles.

No matter how many skills you have, the number of skills you can inherit after fusion is limited. This is a headache!

The importance and fun of such a system is expressed in the boss battles. The bosses in this title are extremely tough and fast, and it is common for them to attack in full force. If you fight a boss with a disadvantageous attribute, your party will be destroyed in an instant, but if it is the same attribute, you may be able to withstand the attack with a little time to spare. Therefore, it is necessary to fuse monsters with attributes that can withstand the attack, while inheriting skills that can attack the weak attribute from somewhere else. In other words, the fusion must be carried out systematically, once to inherit skills, and once to create a body that will not die even if attacked.

For example, a certain boss has a strong physical attack. If you fuse the souls of monsters that have "very high defense but are weak against magic attacks," the battle becomes much easier. Although it requires a certain amount of souls, it is possible to create an extreme configuration in which all three homunculus are fused together, or to fuse the same kind of soul as the one currently fused to raise its parameters. As the game progresses, in addition to monster souls, "catalyst" items that increase parameters can also be fused together.
Whether to enhance the strengths or compensate for the weaknesses is up to the player's judgment, but catalysts are also consumable and require money to fuse. The more powerful the catalyst, the higher the cost, so if you are looking for strength, you will always be short of money. It is very interesting to think about how to decide between souls, catalyst inventory, and your wallet. Should I use magic defense? What skills to give them? Do I give them to the two homunculi or concentrate on one of them? Should I spend the money on buying Klaus' equipment or on catalyst fusion? Should I go hunting and aim for the ideal rather than making a compromised party now ......? It is fun to work it out. At the same time, you may be thinking, "I want monster souls, catalysts, money, everything!" It's just like the "RPGs" of those days, which is exactly what the copy of the game claims to be.

The bosses are tough, fast, and powerful enemies that commonly use full attacks.

The combination of these systems makes the game a positive experience. No matter how much damage you take, you can recover fully after the battle, allowing you to be aggressive. Returning to town does not cost anything, and you can return to your bed at home with a single command. There are checkpoints at key points in the dungeon, and you can start from there when entering the dungeon again. In addition, "~Retry" allows you to save anywhere. In short, the system and the surrounding environment are designed to allow players to fight monsters to earn souls, catalysts, and money, and to think about fusions and party compositions, making the game enjoyable to play.

What is also worth mentioning is the attention to dot art. When a monster's soul is fused with a homunculus, the homunculus's appearance becomes associated with that monster (or perhaps it is easier to understand if we describe it as the personification of a monster). In other words, there are as many homunculus forms as there are monsters. The design of the monster and the design of the homunculus after fusion, each with its own moving animation, is one of the most radical directions. The creator's desire to "create a cool monster! I want to create an intermediate form between monsters and people! I want to express the way they fight in an RPG! I want to express the way they fight in an RPG!

Cerberus" in the left front row of the screen is a three-headed beast.

When the soul of "Cerberus" is fused with a homunculus, it takes on a form halfway between a monster and a human.

By fusing the souls, the homunculus' appearance changes in various ways.

This title aims to "bring back the RPGs of the past," combining a traditional command-selection, turn-based style with a unique system for enhancing the homunculus. The process of aggressive battles evokes a thirst for strength and the joy of building it up. It is no wonder that this game has been loved as a hidden masterpiece since its release in 2010.

In "~Retry," the character designs have been refined and the dot art has been made more beautiful in HD. In addition to being able to save anywhere, the number of save slots has been increased, and the limit on the number of items you can possess, including souls, has been removed. You can rematch monsters you have fought before, or play a new game with the saved data you have cleared. The elimination of the item possession limit and the save anywhere feature are especially beneficial, and first-time players should be able to get used to the system easily by dividing their save data and experimenting with it.

Wiseman's World Retry (PS5 version)

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When this game was first released, JALECO was surely trying to rebuild the company, and there was no doubt that there was a lot of thought put into the promotion of the game. However, the 14 years that have passed since the release of the game may have created a situation in which the developers' intention to create a work that would reintroduce the fun of RPGs to gamers was conveyed in a straightforward manner. The title of the game, "~Retry (Retry)," seems to reveal the thoughts of the creators behind the title. This title suggests that the creator's intention was to create a straight story that would be a "retry," and that those who have played the Nintendo DS version, as well as those who enjoy command-based RPGs, will enjoy the appeal of this title to the fullest.

(Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)

Title Information

■Wiseman's World Retry
Compatibility: PS5/PS4/Switch *Xbox One, Steam 2024 release planned

Maker：City Connection

Release date: 2024/5/30

Genre: RPG

Price: 4,950 yen for packaged version (tax included)

Switch download version: 3,980 yen (including tax), PS5/PS4 download version: 3,960 yen (including tax)

Present Campaign Outline

One lucky winner will receive a copy of "Wiseman's World Retry" for Switch!