![]() Blood points can also be junctioned to weapons, lending them attributes such as increased damage when you attack with them.Īnother innovation that Black/Matrix presents is in the experience point system. In between battles, you can assign a certain number of blood points to each of your player characters (up to their BP limit), thus determining how much magic each of your characters can use in the next battle. Blood points are obtained by killing your enemies (this can be done by attacking fallen foes), and are basically the equivalent of magic points. Instead, character customization revolves around blood points. Black/Matrix has no job system the way Final Fantasy Tactics does. The similarities end there between the two games, however. Like Final Fantasy Tactics, you can move after you attack, and fallen foes don’t perish immediately after you take them out of the battle. The battles are turn-based, with distinct player/enemy phases, and weapons, magic, and items can be used by your characters. Despite the generally high level of detail in them, some of them really could have used a few more colors to round them out a bit.īlack/Matrix is an isometric strategy RPG that plays somewhat similarly to the aforementioned Final Fantasy Tactics in its battles. The one gripe I have about the graphics is in the backgrounds of the maps. The black-winged masters that you choose from range from an extremely cute little girl-type (Plica) to a sexy dominatrix-type (Praha). The character designs and art are also mostly well above average, particularly those of the black-winged masters that you get to choose from at the beginning. The same goes for the characters, who are also detailed despite their relatively small size.ĭespite its general darkness, the color palette used in the game looks great, as bright colors are used in appropriate places. The maps are all very dark, but are detailed and extremely well drawn. However, Black/Matrix makes a departure from most RPGs in that its theme is darker, and its graphics reflect that theme. Like Final Fantasy Tactics, Black/Matrix is mostly shown from an isometric viewpoint. However, once the game actually starts, the visuals get much better. ![]() It just shows a camera panning over a variety of bland landscapes, while credits roll. Not only is the FMV extremely grainy in appearance and horribly choppy in animation, it’s completely uninteresting in content. From there, it’s up to Abel and his newfound allies (Levrobes, Pilipo, and another prisoner named Gaius) to escape from the dungeon and go rescue his master.īlack/Matrix certainly doesn’t get off to an auspicious start, opening with an FMV so poorly constructed that I wonder why the programmers even bothered including it in the game. The other prisoners see this feat, and a mysterious voice from the shadows proclaims that Abel is the savior of the white-winged slaves. Abel then performs a miracle by transforming Pilipo into a white-winged slave. ![]() Soon after, an unhappy black-winged master named Pilipo comes into the cell to talk to Abel. In his cell, Abel is paired with Levrobes, a ruffian who immediately pounds Abel into submission to establish the dungeon pecking order. Abel’s master is taken away and imprisoned somewhere far off, and Abel is tossed into a dungeon. Conflict is sure to follow this development, since it is forbidden in Black/Matrix’s society for a black-winged master to fall in love (with a slave or otherwise), and it does, as local law enforcement officials discover this crime. During this course of events, it becomes obvious that Abel’s master has fallen in love with him. You play as Abel, a white-winged slave, and you (as the player, not as Abel) get to choose one of 5 different black-winged females to be your master.Īs the game begins, Abel is injured and bed-ridden, with his master nursing him back to health. Long ago, this social structure was determined by an epic battle between the White God and the Black God, with the Black God proving to be victorious. In Black/Matrix’s world, society is divided into two classes: masters, who have black wings, and slaves, who have white wings. However, once I got over my initial disappointment, I came to discover that Black/Matrix is a solid strategy RPG in its own right. Upon receiving this game, however, I was severely disappointed at how different Black/Matrix is from Final Fantasy Tactics, and especially at how it’s not quite as well executed as FFT either. From the early pictures and descriptions of the game, I was expecting an improved version of Square’s Final Fantasy Tactics from Black/Matrix. ![]() When NEC Interchannel’s Black/Matrix was first announced for the Sega Saturn, the accompanying screenshots really impressed me and made me look forward to the release of the game. Note: This review is based on the Japanese version of the game.
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