From my previous reviews it should be clear that I am a fan of the River City Ransom franchise. There is something for everyone here and that means some of the games can be very different. Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!: A River City Ransom Story is one of these different games, and is one of the more unique entries in the series.
Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!: A River City Ransom Story sees you play as Kobayashi who must team with a “time regulator” named Mizoguchi to fight an evil group of time travels and save his friend. On the surface, this is a beat em up but there is more depth to it. There are a variety of powers and new abilities you can use as you go after your foes, but learning how to use them right can take a bit of time. You will have to find objects to power yourself up and spend on new weapons and items, but after a while things do make sense.
The art is well done, but not quite as good as River City Girls. It is nice to see that the series is moving past the 8 bit visual style they have been using for the last few entries though, and it works for what the story is. The music is another story though, as I feel it is some of the weakest in the franchise bar none. It felt like a mix of classic style music and new music, but it just didnt blend well at all. I can forgive bad visuals if the audio is good, but the lacking audio and just okay art brings the presentation down for me.
But how exactly is the game weird besides the story? Well some of the enemies include ufo’s, zombified people, and more. You travel through what can be described as dimensional rifts to get around, and this gives the game a bit of an otherworldly feel. The attacks include magical powers and timing attacks just right, and as I said above, this can take time to figure out. The game also has branching narratives based on your actions throughout the playthrough. This will lead to a variety of different endings, and this can encourage some replay value.
Overall, I just could not get into Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!: A River City Ransom Story. It is a spinoff that is trying something different, but is just a little too off beat for my liking. The action is not as intuitive, and the presentation is a bit lacklustre. Only for hardcore fans of the franchise.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided