MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy

I enjoyed Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy in spite of itself. I think the characters can be cute and fun, and I’m a sucker for any Mystery Dungeon style roguelike. The problem is that it really moves at a plodding pace, the combat system’s AOE and range systems get in the way of themselves, and the dungeon exploration feels more boring than challenging. I do think that, if there’s a sequel, a lot of this could be used as a foundation for something better. Trim some of the fat, like gameplay elements that didn’t work, tighten up the story, and adjust things to play more like Sorcery Saga (which was great) or the original first-person dungeon crawlers. I feel like the issue is that what’s here is too easy of a game with too cumbersome of a combat system for folks looking for a new Mystery Dungeon type of roguelike, but perhaps too slow-moving and awkward for those unfamiliar with the genre.