NES Ninja
EXP - The Excellent Potato
- (359)
- 1996
- Publisher/Maker: Sofnet / Open Production
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With veteran designer Lee Sanghun directing, Open tried their first RPG. EXP was originally conceived for the Mega Drive, but Open soon also announced a PC port, followed by the cancellation of the Mega Drive version.
The game takes place in the future world of 2765. Earth has been damaged by the constant pollution, and mankind seeks to migrate to new worlds. They hire mechanic species of the Destragon, who lack a homeworld themselves, to make a new planet inhabitable for human life, while promising them their own land as a reward. However, the Destragon betray their former employers, and war among the Destragon and the human Mathik breaks out, leading to the occupation of earth. But not enough, also the Hydra, descendants of the humans lost in the failed colonization project, appear on the scene, so the known space is split up among three factions who are constantly at war with each other. And yes, also the eponymous Potato fits into the whole mess.
The hero Nix crashes with his plane in the territory of the currently neutral Hydra, so he has to find a way to repair his ship and return to earth. Of course, that turns out easier said than done...
Despite the inventive story, the gameplay is pretty much standard (J)RPG fare with the all to familiar menu based combat. There are no random encounters, though, all enemies are visible on the world map. Avoiding the very mobile enemies is not an easy task, though.
The battles surprise with a lot of interesting visual effects, but pay for this with a very slow pace. The graphics on the field look very unique, as well, with their strange not-quite-SD style. Even the scrolling is weird, but it feels very natural for some reason.
EXP, like almost all other Korean RPGs, has never been localized. However, it is the most playable for people not able to understand Korean, as all menus and item names are written in English. Only the story remains hidden in that case, and of course the hints as to what to do next. But the game suffers a bit from lack of direction, anyway, at least from a spoiled modern RPG gamer's perspective.
