Mugen Souls takes you on a unique journey that spans across both land and space to conquer the entire universe. Your only goal in life is to turn everyone into personal peons to do your bidding. This quest doesn’t stop with a single planet; there is no end to what Chou-Chou (the main character) wants to conquer.
The more peons you obtain the stronger you become. Peons can be trained in different jobs that can be used for combat, weapons, and other purposes. Heroes, Demon Lords, and other bosses can be turned into peons and then put to work.
The stronger the enemy, the better chance you have of receiving a rare peon. Any enemy can be turned into a peon by simply using the Moe Kill attack while in combat. You can only active the Moe Kill attack at the beginning of each combat round. Whether this succeeds or fails, you can still attack without losing a turn.
Each enemy has its own mood. Some enemies cannot be charmed and they require different tactics to capture them. Chou-Chou has eight different moods; she can shape shift to persuade different enemies. All enemies have a mood gauge that displays their feelings. If you upset them too much it will be impossible to charm them into being a peon.
Besides the Moe Kill ability, you can link attacks together by having your teammates in close proximity of each other. This will activate a skill called the link ability. This ability allows your team to execute a group attack on a single enemy.
Combat takes place on both land and in outer space. Chou-Chou uses a massive space fortress called the G-Castle to travel through the stars. The combat sequences are very reminiscent of action-based Anime movies. Combat is fast-paced and it’s nothing like the turn-based combat sequences that occur on land. In fact, it resembles a game of rock, paper, scissors.
You have to second-guess what your opponent’s next move will be. While this combat system sounds basic, the sci-fi element really adds to Mugen Souls’ atmosphere. It’s a concept that thinks outside of the box.
Most of Mugen Souls’ story is dubbed in English. The voice acting is some of the best ever heard in a JRPG. The graphics include breathtaking environments and stunning 3D visuals. Chou-Chou and the rest of her party members are fully customizable. You can change their clothing, accessories, and weapons; there isn’t anything in Mugen Souls that you can’t customize.
Mugen Souls has a very exciting story that keeps you interested the entire time you play. The zany humor will keep you in snitches. The story is on par with Disgaea with a little bit of Z.H.P thrown in for good measure.
Mugen Souls is a diamond in the rough. It has incredible voice acting, a wonderful storyline, and a top-notch combat system. As a game, it’s perfect for anyone who enjoys exploring or grinding levels.
All depending on the type of gamer you are, Mugen Souls can have a tremendous amount of replay value. You can never have enough peons, you know? So what’s stopping you from collecting them all? (Think Pokemon.)
Mugen Souls has all the right ingredients to become a cult classic. Its unique combat system and interesting storyline adds a special twist to the JRPG genre. Hardcore JRPG gamers will definitely go crazy over this title. However, you don’t need to be a fan of Japanese role-playing games to appreciate Mugen Souls. But if you’re not a hardcore fan when you start playing, you will be one by the time you finish the game.
James ‘Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3
Developer: Compile Heart / GCrest
Publisher: NIS America
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: $49.99 (Releasing 10/16/2012)
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Beautiful 3D environments that resemble an Anime movie. | |
| Sound | |
| I Superb English voice dubbing. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The game includes two incredible combat systems that seem to fit well into the same game. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Mugen Souls is an outstanding JRPG. The game’s non-linear environment encourages the player to explore. | |
#1
Be warned, consumers. This game has been heavily censored for the English release. Dozens of CG scenes (character artwork) and an entire minigame have been REMOVED from the game entirely.
One of the main character’s personalities has also been altered to “better fit western values” and to tone down the amount of cursing she did.
All in all, it was enough to bring the game down from a CERO-D rating (equivalent to ESRB-M) down to a Teen rating.
If you support this game, be aware that you are supporting censorship. I’m not going to tell you to not buy it, but I want to make sure as many people are aware of the situation surrounding this game as possible.
#2
Yeah they removed some stuff to make the game more pleasing to us westerners. I still love the game tho. Maybe some j-fans hate the idea of things being removed but I don’t care that much about it.