- Genre: RPG
- Spoiler Free Review: Definitely spoiling some aspects of the main story. Screenshots also contain spoilers.
- Time Played: 23 Hours
- Too Short/Long: It has a solid playtime for the more miniature RPG it is. Easily could knock off like 5 or so hours if you weren't trying to 100% it.
- Soundtrack: The music has definitely improved over the Witch Spring games, and there are some catchy tunes when they need to be catchy and some exciting ones for the moments that are exciting. It fits the mood, but it's not going to blow anyone away.
- Why I played: It was the last Witch Spring game I haven't played(a version of) so I just couldn't wait for the possibility that they might port 4 to console too.
- Did I cry: I think this might be the least emotional Witch Spring game, but it stirred up some feelings at least a few times later on.
- Jank: R aside, would it be a Witch Spring without jank? There is some here and there such as being able to walk to places you shouldn't, such as passed doors or area transition exits, character running in place during cutscenes, but nothing as game breaking as some prior. Translations are still... really rough, but serviceable as long as you can parse what they meant to say.
- Difficulty: The difficulty of this one swings wildly in every direction. The game is built on power creep. Creep isn't quite the word though, as it happens hard and suddenly. You can always progress the story, but you're not exactly meant to always progress the story straight through. So you hit a wall, and you surmount it via training/grinding/crafting/side missions. Rinse and repeat.
- Recommend to others: As a whole I'd really recommend the Witch Spring series. It's tough to recommend any over Witch Spring R, which is a far more polished game than any of the others, but it's worth getting into the others if you liked what was in that. 4 while improved on many aspects, I feel like is definitely the last of them to play because it ties itself into the others more than the rest do.
Witch Spring 4 starts off toward the end of the events of all the prior games, mostly taking place after it, and while it is it's own story, it's largely a continuation in the fact that so many of the previous games' characters are present.
The first couple chapters aren't too long, but they establish the new characters place and her goals. Moccamori, the main character, is definitely a bit of a change of pace from the prior games' girl with adhd that wants to make friends, girl with ptsd who wants to make friends, and girl with autism that wants to make friends. She's a self-proclaimed queen and kind of a tyrant who starts the game already super powerful. There are some battles in the game you will never have to actually do outside of "quick hunt", which is basically instantly killing any opponent your stats far exceeds. You also start off slaying what were the equivalent of early bosses in prior games.
The first couple chapters aren't too long, but they establish the new characters place and her goals. Moccamori, the main character, is definitely a bit of a change of pace from the prior games' girl with adhd that wants to make friends, girl with ptsd who wants to make friends, and girl with autism that wants to make friends. She's a self-proclaimed queen and kind of a tyrant who starts the game already super powerful. There are some battles in the game you will never have to actually do outside of "quick hunt", which is basically instantly killing any opponent your stats far exceeds. You also start off slaying what were the equivalent of early bosses in prior games.
This sets a precedent not only for the later chapters of the game, but also the mechanics, which are a bit unusual. Your leveling up is basically a multiplier. +100% to all stats each time you level. Between levels, you can periodically train and craft foods to boost your base stats. If this wasn't enough, it only takes a few turns in battle to be able to use super attacks that almost always 1-hit KO your opponent, and if you first doesn't, the 2nd level super attack most assuredly will.
Witch Spring 3 was the first game I played in the series so it's been awhile, but I think maybe a complaint that might have been common, is that with the summoning of things, battles took a little too long, so Witch Spring 4 takes it in the entire opposite direction. Unless you're facing many opponents(and sometimes even then), battles are likely to play out in two turns. Unfortunately that means they're also extremely ruthless if you're encountering an enemy for the first time. Enemies will likely take out half or more of your hit points, if not knock you out in one hit. Now maybe I just focused my stats entirely wrong, but even when I shifted my training strategies I found this to be the case throughout the game. So combat is mostly about balancing your build with not dying the first time you're attacked and knocking out your enemies in one hit with an overwhelming display of power.
Witch Spring 3 was the first game I played in the series so it's been awhile, but I think maybe a complaint that might have been common, is that with the summoning of things, battles took a little too long, so Witch Spring 4 takes it in the entire opposite direction. Unless you're facing many opponents(and sometimes even then), battles are likely to play out in two turns. Unfortunately that means they're also extremely ruthless if you're encountering an enemy for the first time. Enemies will likely take out half or more of your hit points, if not knock you out in one hit. Now maybe I just focused my stats entirely wrong, but even when I shifted my training strategies I found this to be the case throughout the game. So combat is mostly about balancing your build with not dying the first time you're attacked and knocking out your enemies in one hit with an overwhelming display of power.
It does make the pacing a bit odd, since everything/everyone you intend to fight is already very powerful, it's like getting break-checked every little bit where you hit a sudden hard stop and then gotta cruise cautiously.
The story also is a bit more unusual in that it almost requires you played all the other games(or at least R and 3) to know why you know the things you know. It would definitely spoil the events of other games to play this first. It's almost a little unfortunate because this game lacks it's own identity a bit more than the others. I mean R kind of combined the story elements from both the first and 2 which were taking place simultaneously on the same land, but the reveals are otherwise the same for 1, 2, and R. Mostly 3 pretends you didn't play the other ones and don't know what's going on, but 4 relies on it. I'm not saying you can't play 4 without the other games, but I would highly recommend against that.
The story also is a bit more unusual in that it almost requires you played all the other games(or at least R and 3) to know why you know the things you know. It would definitely spoil the events of other games to play this first. It's almost a little unfortunate because this game lacks it's own identity a bit more than the others. I mean R kind of combined the story elements from both the first and 2 which were taking place simultaneously on the same land, but the reveals are otherwise the same for 1, 2, and R. Mostly 3 pretends you didn't play the other ones and don't know what's going on, but 4 relies on it. I'm not saying you can't play 4 without the other games, but I would highly recommend against that.
Otherwise, it's a pretty good culmination of all the things and led for some great moments. Overall, I liked it a lot and I do love this series, so I hope there is more to come. Witch Spring 1-4 only had 1-2 year gaps between them. I imagine R took up a lot more resources, but it's been a couple years since that came out now, and Witch Spring 4 is 6 years old at this point. Supposedly they have 3 games in the works. I just hope that works out.
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