Circle Entertainment has brought a lot of unique titles to the 3DS eshop so far. My favorites have been Mercenaries Saga 2 and Fairune. Still, anything the publisher brings to the eshop seems to be worth a look at least.
One title I never played that Circle Entertainment brought to the 3DS was The Legend of Dark Witch. I had no idea what it was about and there wasn’t much hype surrounding it. So, when I got a review code for The Legend of Dark Witch 2, I had no idea what to expect but thought that since it was from Circle Entertainment it couldn’t be told bad…right? Here’s what I thought.
STORY
The Legend of Dark Witch 2 has a very anime/manga inspired storyline. So how much you enjoy the story depends on how much you like anime/manga. I’m not really a fan of either, so I didn’t like the story that much. I thought the dialogue was corny too. I also have no idea how the story connects up with the first game. Dark Witch 2 doesn’t have the worst story I’ve ever seen though. I’m sure some people will like it.
GAMEPLAY
There are many similarity’s between The Legend of Dark Witch 2 and Mega Man. Much like the aforementioned game, you’ll run, jump, shoot enemies, and fight bosses that’ll end up giving you their powers. Dark Witch also allows you to pick which boss area you want to go to. That said, there are some differences between the two games.
The Legend of Dark Witch 2 isn’t just a copycat game. Dark Witch is a lot more anime/manga inspired than other action platformers out there. The Japanese influence on the game is more pronounced and you’ll either like that or not. I wasn’t a big fan of the anime influence, but it didn’t ruin the game for me. I had some fun with this game and one of the reasons was because Dark Witch has a lot of customization options.
One of my favorite elements in Dark Witch 2 is how you can go to the in-game shop and upgrade your character’s speed, jump, the various powers you obtain for the enemies, and more. Plus you can buy extras that’ll help you through the levels. And all of these upgrades not only improve your character, but they make the game more fun too. I thought the character’s movement felt very stiff at first, but once I upgraded my character, I found that the stiff movement had been on purpose. Dark Witch’s controls work really well and that becomes very clear once you upgrade your character. The customization for Dark Witch doesn’t stop there though.
Dark Witch 2 also gives you a lot of options for the way the game controls, such as changing button layout, how long you hold a button, changing if you hear the game’s music and voice, and many other options too. I found myself actually using some of these options to help make my experience with the game more enjoyable. The way you can change Dark Witch 2 to your liking is a very cool feature. Though, I have to say, I was disappointed when it came to The Legend of Dark Witch’s use of the 3DS’s unique features.
Dark Witch doesn’t do a good job supporting the 3DS. The game doesn’t have 3D at all (see the graphics section for more about this) and while it does have touch screen support, its not really needed. The game’s button controls are perfect for switching weapons, firing, and anything else you need. The second screen does show your weapons but I wish it had been used for a map or something else instead. Despite these issues, The Legend of Dark Witch 2 is a good game.
Dark Witch is definitely a game for fans of action platformers. You’ll also get even more enjoyment out of it if you like anime/manga. And while the game is short, especially if you play on Very Easy mode, there are plenty of extras to make you want to play the game again. I didn’t love The Legend of Dark Witch, but I think there will be some people who do.
GRAPHICS
Dark Witch’s graphics are pretty simple, but the backgrounds in each level are visually interesting and so are the game’s enemies. Though I do wish there was a bigger variety in enemies. And I have to say, I was excited to see how the game looked in 3D until I found out there was no 3D.
I think this game would have looked amazing in 3D. It’s a shame the feature wasn’t used. The backgrounds for Dark Witch 2, especially, looked like they would have lent themselves well to this game.
Overall, The Legend of Dark Witch’s graphics are good, but we’ve certainly seen better from Circle Entertainment. Check out Mercenaries Saga 2 and Fairune!
SOUND
The soundtrack in Dark Witch ranges from annoying to perfectly fine. In the end, I didn’t care for the game’s music that much. I thought the game’s sound effects were pretty good though.
One thing I don’t understand about Dark Witch is why the game had Japanese voice acting only. Why wasn’t the voice acting translated to English too? I realize there are some people who like Japanese voice acting and don’t want it to be changed. I guess if you understand Japanese, that’s fine. But I never really understood why anyone who didn’t understand the language would want it. Thankfully, you can shut the game’s voice acting off completely and it becomes a non-issue. Still, I would’ve liked to have seen English voice acting here.
CONCLUSION
The Legend of the Dark Witch 2 is good game, especially if you like action platformers and anime/manga. The game provides plenty of customization in controls and sound output. There are also a lot of extras to unlock once you beat the game, which adds a ton of replay. However, I do wish the game had made better use of the 3DS, especially the 3D and second screen. There were a few other things that I wish had been different about the game, but none of its problems are game breaking. I’m sure there will be many people who love The Legend of Dark Witch 2.
If you are a fan of action platformers, then you should definitely give The Legend of Dark Witch 2 a look. The game is currently available on the 3DS eshop.
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All of the above pictures were taken from here on google
Wow, are you this racist in real life? Just because Dark Witch 2 is a Japanese-styled game with Japanese voice acting does not mean it is automatically worse than a game with a Western art style or presentation. Also, English voice acting costs a fair amount of money, and Circle Entertainment is a low-budget localization company that cannot possibly afford to hire English vocal talent; even non-union sessions tend to cost $65/hour per actor, per character. You seem to be the sort of person stuck in the Middle Ages when everybody else is embracing a global, unified society. It’s a very troubling opinion, one I sincerely hope you’ll change in the near future. Not everything needs to cater to your tiny subsection of the world, “bro.”