Roniu's Tale - Gameplay Review and First Impressions (NES 2021)
9My first impression of Roniu's Tale, focused mostly on gameplay. I will guide you through my first 60minutes of this Puzzle-Action Adventure for the NES. We will be puzzled, we will make mistakes, but we will push through to explore the depths of the magical dungeon.
This is an adorable puzzle game with remarkably simple mechanics. Don't be fooled though, they offer lots of possibilities and the level designers make good use of it. The puzzles are actually challenging, you will have to stop and think, plan a path. Dodging enemies can require some fairly precise movement and tight timing, the action side too is tricky stuff. Couple that with a one hit kill system and a seriously limited stock of lives, and you've got some classic NES difficulty at your fingertips.
Plotwise Roniu is a bored chap, and so to combat this he throws himself deep into a dangerous dungeon where a single misstep results in his death. Ah to be young again, such spirit. We guide Roniu past the dangers safely utilising a few choice powers as more gradually unlock, thereby increasing the complexity of the puzzles. A mini review can be found at the end of the video sharing some of my immediate thoughts after playing for roughly an hour.
Recapturing the charm of retro systems Roniu's Tale shows us that even in 2021 there are still dedicated individuals producing new content for classic games consoles. Roniu's Tale is available as a physical cartridge for use in an actual Nintendo Entertainment System, it is part of the retro console renaissance sweeping over a certain breed of gamers right now. If you're like me then you grew up with 8 and 16bit consoles, those were my era. Games like Roniu's Tale give me a sense of nostalgia, which is odd considering it's a brand new game, but it still invokes something inside me that takes me back to a simpler time. I have always loved retro gaming, as I'm sure frequenters of this channel can attest to, and so I'm grateful that new content is still being produced for it.
Look at me, I started rambling in my description. Nevermind, we're not here to read, we're here to game. On with the video!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:17 Gameplay
55:05 Review
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On this channel I make a variety of gaming content. Sometimes we're reviewing up and coming indie games, sometimes we're revisiting retro classics for a Let's Play. The only consistent factor is that it's all gaming, and it's all accompanied by sarcastic commentary. If that's your thing then I have links:
Current Long-Form Let's Play
Tiberian Sun: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNTVa-GeoDfnUeiVeRciIM4OlOSBikl-
Short, Single Video Let's Plays
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNTVa-GeoDezmO3uEvmsVTddqvAsQtwu
A Short Review Series (Indie game reviews approx. 5-10mins)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNTVa-GeoDduBiahGykCqg6InPRlfmM4
Hopefully you'll join me for those, and I shall see you then.
I always try to be as fair and objective as possible when making my review videos, giving some honest feedback and a bit of criticsm here and there. Remember that games these days are always subject to change so many of the things mentioned here may no longer be true depending on how old this video is.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions about this video, or suggestions for future videos. I'm always open to hearing what you guys have to say.
Thanks again for watching and please, enjoy.