Fray CD: Xac Gaiden

Actually, it holds together well

Hipster Nick shines his light on a PC Engine game that no one else on-team has heard of

» PC Engine » 1994 » Micro Cabin

When i’m shopping for import games, if i see a screenshot that looks like Fray CD here, i usually skip right on by. While I know enough Japanese to navigate menus here and there, I certainly don’t have the language skills needed for an RPG. But here’s a case where I was mistaken – despite the presence of gold, a HP reading, treasure chests and a permanently visible inventory, this is no RPG. Fray CD is actually an action spin-off of the Xak series of RPGS.

The titular character Fray is an aspiring sorceress, who wants to develop her powers to become useful to Latok, who rescued her in the original game. To the player, this translates as a top-down run-and-gun – the bulk of the game is spent engaging in shooting and some light platforming, with occasional simple Rpg-style interludes featuring shops and simple puzzles. It’s never quite as intense as the likes of Mercs, but there’s a decent enough challenge there, and lots of upgrade options like elemental rods that allow you to shoot fire and lightning, too.

Fray CD is an attractive game with colourful visuals and plenty of voice acting, which clearly opts for a humorous tone – even I could tell that the second boss was really hacked off when Fray called her “obaasan” (that’d be ‘granny’ over here). I’m sure it’s hilarious if you understand the language, but even to a monolingual blockhead like me there’s enough fun on offer that I’m glad I didn’t trust my first impressions.