Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God review

Most players will attest to the visual superiority of Compile Heart’s dialog sequences. Across an array of titles such as Record of Agarest War, Hyperdimension Neptunia, and Mugen Souls character portraits are painstakingly drawn and astonishingly animated- showcasing elements like strikingly sinuous hair and a beguiling amount of breast jiggle. However, look beyond these meticulously crafted sections and you’ll discover other elements of each game that don’t demonstrate the same level craftsmanship. Combat, one of the key components of a role-playing game, occasionally is a bit lifeless across Compile Heart’s output, habitably testing the patience of players with repetitive, routine battles. The aesthetics outside of conversations often don’t measure up either, with unexceptional overworlds marred by low framerates.

As such, I headed into the original Vita version of Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God with muted expectations. Although it wasn’t surprising to find Compile Hearts providing sumptuous-looking character portraits, what was remarkable was that the rest of the game is nearly as polished. Across the studio’s twelve-year legacy, it’s often seemed as if the subsidiary has aimed to ape the whimsy and grace of the Nippon Ichi Software team. But with Curry God, Compile Heart finally came within striking distance of the Disgaea developers, by dexterously fusing plot and gameplay. A protracted five year span after the release of the Vita iteration, Steam players are privy to a proficient PC port.

Undeniably, the game’s narrative echoes the eccentric personalities, referential allusions, and goofy non-sequitur-jammed plot of a N1 title. We first meet the game’s affable protagonist, Pupuru, as she frets about an upcoming final exam. Through the help of a magic pencil, the resilient student is able to ace the test, thereby earning the privilege to skulk the school’s adjacent Magic Tower and retrieve a magic orb that’s located on the top floor.

Unfortunately, the enchanted object in nowhere to be found and the only notable element in the immediate vicinity is a cute creature with a limited linguistic capability. When Pupuru names the being, “Kuu” after its persistent verbal response, it becomes clear that Curry God, is parodying Pokémon. As players dig deeper, they’ll discover that the allusion isn’t limited to merely poking fun at Pikachu. In essence, Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God duplicates the mechanics and feel of Chunsoft’s Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, albeit with a storyline strewed with whimsy, double entendres, and a consequential scenario that pits the owner of a mom-and-pop curry house against the owner of a cutthroat conglomeration that’s poised to dominate the industry.

While often funny, the game’s dialog isn’t consistently sharp- there are often protracted interludes which don’t deliver much of a payoff. That said, Aksys’ original localization efforts are to be commended. Curry God retains the flavor of the original title by keeping the title’s original Japanese voiceover, while supplying subtitles which express the title’s wit and irrelevance. For those who aren’t charmed by the endeavors of Pupuru, Kuu, and a cast of comical characters, the game allows players to skip past the conversations.

Beyond the game’s conversational interludes, players will also spend a large proportion of their time skulking the game’s dungeons. Replicating the tenets of a Rogue-like, movement is turn-based, with survival hinging on prudent inventory management and conscientious combat tactic. Like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, moving through each milieu is a gratifying experience with the burden of persistence softened by HP regeneration as well as Kuu’s increasing skill set. Outside of offering assistance during battles, your companion provides a number of key abilities, such as augmenting weapons and armor through a straightforward crafting system. Beyond those powers, scrolls provide Pururu with the ability to learn magic spells. Like weapons, these skills improve with use, ensuring players use a diversified routine of attacks.

The use of this capability is imperative, as once Pupuru leaves a dungeon, she forgoes her experience level, keeping only her gear and currency. Naturally, Curry God stays true to its Rogue-like roots, with death robbing you of your earthly possessions and any money you haven’t farsightedly bankrolled. However, the title is one of the far less punishing entries in the genre; prudent players should be able to get through the condensed campaign with only a fatality or three. Clearly, the biggest challenge is managing an undersized inventory in environments filled with loot. The answer is to avoid squirreling away loot, using found items to refill and level up Kuu, or using useless items as projectiles to injure enemies. Cleverly, Curry God has its share of red herrings- from ineffective elixirs identified by their knock-off naming to scrap with little positive capability.

Playtime is lengthened by a side quest component which emerges during the course of the campaign, as well as collecting rare items which can be exchanged back in town for supplemental conversional bits. For completionists, hunting these articles down will undoubtedly extend Curry God’s playtime, but might also downgrade the enjoyable dungeon prowling into tedium. Expectedly, the game arrives with the obligatory DLC package, extending twenty-eight clothing items for an evenhanded five-dollar price.

Visually, Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God exhibits stunning portraits of the game’s personalities as well as proficient renders for in-game characters. Dungeon environments are varied, vibrantly hued, and flaunt a pleasing amount of detail. Pleasingly, Ghostlight’s porting is capable, eliminating the bit of input lag that would arise during boss battles on the Vita version. With options for windowed, borderless, and fullscreen output, a multitude of screen resolutions, as well as the ability to remap controls, there’s a health amount of options. Aurally, the title is exceedingly enjoyable- extending a variety of catchy tracks, including a handful with vocalization.

Typically, Rogue-likes deliver playability while forgoing plot. Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God offers a commendable balance of both components, giving an engaging impetus for exploration across the pre-formulated and randomly generated environments. While gamers who aren’t enthusiastic about visual-novel style conversation or turn-based dungeon crawling might want to approach the title with caution, fans of both features will find Curry God’s recipe delectable. Hopefully, Compile Heart delivers a second helping.

Sorcery Saga Curse of the Great Curry God was played
on the PC with review code provided by the publisher.

Sorcery Saga Curse of the Great Curry God
Platform:
PC
Developer:
Idea Factory
Publisher: Ghostlight LTD
Release date:
June 4th, 2018
Price: 
$19.99 via Steam
Most players will attest to the visual superiority of Compile Heart’s dialog sequences. Across an array of titles such as Record of Agarest War, Hyperdimension Neptunia, and Mugen Souls character portraits are painstakingly drawn and astonishingly animated- showcasing elements like strikingly sinuous hair and a beguiling amount of breast jiggle. However, look beyond these meticulously crafted sections and you’ll discover other elements of each game that don’t demonstrate the same level craftsmanship. Combat, one of the key components of a role-playing game, occasionally is a bit lifeless across Compile Heart’s output, habitably testing the patience of players with repetitive, routine…

Review Overview

Gameplay - 85%
Story - 80%
Aesthetics - 85%
Content - 80%
Acceptability - 80%
Innovation - 80%

82%

GOOD

Summary : Mixing a heaping helping of moe-flavored characters with an equal part of Rogue exploration, Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God is a tempting title- albeit one with an acquired taste.

User Rating: 4.7 ( 2 votes)

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

6 comments

  1. So any additions over the Vita version?

  2. Graphics looks sharper. Did they go back and get higher res images or are they just up-ressing things?

  3. No launch sale? :p

  4. Moe rogue-like? I’m in.

    Good review. Better than most outlets.

  5. The dungeons are randomized right? Are there difficulty levels? I’m not so good at these kinds of games.