In a Nutshell
Cthulhu woke up from his sleep and finds his powers sealed. He has to become a true hero to gain them back and does so in typical RPG fashion.
Story
The story is, obviously, typical retro RPG fare, and it certainly is typical on purpose. As Cthulhu, you go through the world, recruit allies, fight monsters and save the world a few time in order to become a true hero. The story is actually well told, with cut-scenes and humorous dialogue, it's even got a few plot twists, but the story here is really underdeveloped. It's not such a bad thing, however, because the narrative isn't really the main point of this game.
The writing itself is humorous and surprisingly good, mixing Lovecraftian characters and old-school JRPG cliches rather well. Characters aren't particularly well developed, but they're certainly more developed than those from Breath of Death VII. The humor is also better than in Breath of Death, being closer to actual humor rather than simply referencing cliches and games in scenes. It's still not my cup of tea, but this game is, all-around, an improvement from Breath of Death VII, and Story is no exception.
Gameplay
This is obviously using old school 8-bit RPGs such as Dragon Warrior as a starting point, but it adds a few twists to make it modern. The main differences between this and, say, Final Fantasy is that you regain all your HP and some MP after each battle, monsters get stronger as battles go on and there is a limited number of encounters per area. Sadly, aside from the insanity mechanic which didn't seem to add a whole lot, the game plays pretty much exactly like Breath of Death VII.
An interesting new thing is that in this one, there are more than 4 characters meaning you do get to change your party around, which is a welcome change.The level design is very labyrinthine, with side paths leading to dead ends of treasure pretty much everywhere. This game still lacks a true inventory, but manages to give interesting objects to find that translate into permanent stat-ups for every member. The level design is very reminiscent of older games, and it's a welcome change of pace from more recent releases which have dungeons that consist of, well, corridors that are skinned to look like caves or bases.
The game also has more replayability, adding a few bonus modes allowing you to replay through the game differently such as using only one character per battles or removing several characters from the game, to keep things interesting. it's a welcome change of pace and an interesting idea. Additionally, the balance seems a bit better in this than Breath of Death VII. however, it doesn't add a whole lot to the game, this plays basically exactly like Breath of Death VII with just a few added perks that don't really add that much to the experience. This is where the game least improved upon it's predecessor.
Presentation
Graphically and musically, this game looks straight out of the late 80s and early 90s. Some may find it endearing, I do find that there is a missed opportunity here. The opportunity to make a game that plays like a game from the 90s but looks like a recent game, with hand-drawn visuals and such. Still aside from that detail, everything about the game looks like it would fit right in the time frame they set out to emulate. Environments are varied and look distinct, the art style is very consistent with itself, never presenting you anything that looks particularly off for the game and the cut-scene art fits very well, embracing cliches and poking fun at the melodrama. The music fits just as well as the graphics do, and even is rather catchy at times. All in all, the presentation is top notch and the inclusion of cut-scenes is a welcome addition to the "series", if you can call it one. The graphics and music are both better than in Breath of Death VII, so if you enjoyed the presentation in that first game, you should love it in Cthulhu Saves the World
Verdict
Though it was not my cup of tea and didn't really find the humor right for me, i can honestly say i enjoyed the game a lot. At it's particularly low price of 2.99 when bundled with Breath of Death VII, i'd say you might want to get this quite entertaining game. if you liked old school JRPGs, you'll probably enjoy this game, and if you don't, it's not a big loss for your wallet.
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