Black/Matrix II [ブラックマトリクスII] Game Sample - Playstation 2

Black/Matrix II is the only "true" sequel within the Black/Matrix franchise, comprised of a series of gothic SRPGs with religious undertones. The first game, "Black/Matrix", was released for Sega Saturn and later ported to Playstation as "Black/Matrix Cross" and Dreamcast as "Black/Matrix AD" (the definitive version of the original game). Another game, "Black/Matrix Zero" was released for Game Boy Advance and is a prequel to the original game. Black/Matrix Zero was later upgraded for Playstation in Japan (under the name "Black/Matrix 00" and was one of the final games released for the system in 2004). "Black/Matrix II", while released in 2002, is the only game to move the story forward in time and the only game in the series to use 3D polygon graphics. It is also the most obscure title... but that's okay, because it's (in my opinion) the worst in the series anyway. The game screams lazy like many early PS2 titles, but this one just abandons too many aspects that made the original game(s) interesting and adds in some new elements that just don't make sense. First, let's talk about what this game DOESN'T have on its predecessors. The game no longer allows you to choose heroines (or the one hidden male), the game doesn't have the mini-games or basic breeding aspects during the game's introduction, the game has NO cutscenes or FMVs and ALMOST NO SPOKEN DIALOGUE (only the main character narrates between the game's few short chapters), you can't navigate around towns and chat with NPCs, the game ditched the strategic high/low magic system (where different turns/phases benefitted magic differently), the enchanted armor summoning system is gone, and the way battles and character growth functions has been completely reworked (primarily for the worse). If the game made all those changes, then what DOES it have to offer? Well, first there's the story. While not flat-out terrible, it lacks in emphasizing the struggle between the races but there is a lot of dialogue to wade through and a different approach to branching paths and romancing heroines. With good and bad ends, the game does possess quite a few endings and some replayability... but so did the original. The story of the game deals with the realms of the Angels of Heaven, Humans of Earth, and Devils of Hell. After the events in Black/Matrix, the three groups had went their seperate ways and lived independently from each other for years without any major conflict, but were still suspicious of each other. However, persuaded by the angels, humans soon begin to distrust the devils and work with the angels to invade Hell. Ruled by the compassionate and beautiful Jenarose, she reluctantly addresses her minions and the "Fear Quartet" to stop the invasion. The "Fear Quartet" is comprised of some of the greatest warriors in Hell, with the main protagonist (Rage, nicknamed "General Tempest") rumored to be the strongest. While the Devils thwart the invasion, Rage is killed (later explained) and revived with no memory of his prior life to stop another invasion. During the process, he has to battle with enemies and his emotions while trying to recover his lost memories. The game still posseses many of the core aspects of B/M (shops, blood system, etc.) but differs in two key ways. First, the game has removed turn/phase order with just turn order in battle. In the original B/M, one team did all their actions and then the other. In B/M2 however, characters have a speed stat, weight, and different actions require more "time" to execute which could push a character's turn back accordingly based on stats and actions. While it doesn't sound bad, most enemies usually have the advantage in said category and increasing stats like strength and vitality add to your weight and lower speed. Every action adds to your "Current Turn" which is used to rank how well you do in battles time-wise. The other primary change is that characters now have weapon proficiency. Weapon proficiency determines what skills characters can use and what weapon ranks they can wear. For example, a character who uses Rapiers long enough can upgrade to Spears. This is a good idea, but since the game is short, it's more a ploy to artificially extend the life of the game as enemies usually have the blood and skill level required to perform actions and skill levels raise slowly. The visuals are, in a word, mediocre. While the game itself looks basic enough with low-res polygon characters/stages and basic uses for things like transparencies, the game eliminated almost all the effects for melee skills and doesn't have as much in the ways of magic without the armor summons. The few spells there are look decent, but kinda samey. The music isn't as outright weird as the original game, but is more generic and the game has a very limited score. B/M2 isn't a particularly great game, but is probably worth firing up every once in a while when you're really bored. This is a video of basic and advanced gameplay.