This Way Madness Lies

This Way Madness Lies Review
Better A Witty Fool, Than A Fool’s Wit

Intro:
I’m not exactly the most read in Shakespeare’s works but I had to slip in a line from one of my favorite stories in the subtitle from Twelfth Night. When I saw the idea that This Way Madness Lies pitched, a team of teenage magical girls based off Shakespeare plays diving into the worlds of said plays to fight evil in classic anime fashion and old school turn based rpg combat I was all for. Such a unique pitch certainly wasn’t I had ever thought of and I found myself eager to see how such an ambition would be realized. With an enticing 10$ price tag I let the curtain rise and watched the transformation sequence as the heroes took their place on stage in this RPG inspired by the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance titles of old.

Story:
Imogen and her team of magical girls, all of whom are named after Shakespeare heroines such as Viola, Beatrice, and the like, work together to fight monsters and dark forces that would destroy these classic works from the inside out and when they’re not up to hero business, the group puts on plays as a drama club. That’s right where the story picks up with the team already assembled and springing to action. Where did these powers come from? How did the teens come together? How did they become aware of the corruption of classic plays? Where are the ‘nightmares’ that plague these play worlds coming from? Most of these questions will go unanswered. This Way Madness Lies is much more interested in maintaining a very brisk pace from event to event, not letting any one moment linger long. Whether saving this play or the next, leading the girls through their swiftly shown school lives, or battling the nightmares as they begin to run into the real world, events come and go at the speed of a car cruising the highway rather than a piece of literature. This breakneck pace combined with the emphasis on the humor element in the dialogue provides for some laughs here and there, but it fails at much else. Magical girl series can work due to their characters being interesting and finding self realization through their fights to save the day; these girls' personalities seem not only decided beforehand, but the player isn’t given much of a view of what that may be. For a story that wanted to pull from two types of stories that are heavy in character, the game isn’t interested in showing it and is more concerned with hurrying along making each world visited, the school life downtime, and the eventual ending, less than memorable when the ingredients on hand had so much potential. I laughed some, but by the end, or even the midway point I felt myself feeling that the experience neither delivered on classic literature or modern magical heroines.

Gameplay:
Classic turn based combat systems have evolved and improved since their retro roots. More options to make unique characters and team compositions in this genre of games has added flair and made various rpgs distinguish themselves. This Way Madness Lies does streamline some staple mechanics of the genre. For instance there are no random encounters and players instead choose to attack enemy groups that wander within the worlds visited, though they may also decide to activate a fight from the pause menu whenever if they wish to grind for experience and levels. Each character of the party gets a set of moves that can be tapped once before needing to guard to refresh their moves and can unlock new moves and attributes to make each feel distinct as the game progresses. By the time players are in the middle or late game this system starts to shine, but early on as the narrative forces certain party compositions the limited abilities and lackluster repertoire of moves can make some sections a slog. Given that the whole game can be beaten in a little more than 10 hours on a first attempt it makes for an unfortunate drag on the experience. This is made more noticeable by the fact that combat encounters are most of the gameplay. There are no puzzles to be solved, no areas to explore in the real or play worlds and NPCs to talk to, no side quests to perhaps give our heroine team more development. Short school life sections that are mostly text scrolling affairs, perhaps a real world threat and battle, into a Shakespeare world, clear the dungeon, repeat. The gameplay works, but Madness leaves a lot of potential on the table.


Sound:
The music of Madness is one area that nails it, sticking the landing fully. Composer Joshua Queen brings a composition of chiptune music and vocalized sections that got me moving and entranced through each new world or section. For a game as brisk as Madness having a soundtrack that kept me engaged was a huge boon for it. The sense the music lends to the game helps keep the pace moving and is the part I would highlight the most. Some notable tracks to give a listen to where one can: Follow Thy Drum, This Way Madness Lies, Every Rose, Boldness Be My Friend. Queen’s music is of such quality that it deserves a listen and support even if players never go on the journey with this company of magical heroines.


Presentation:
Madness takes up the style of classic 16 bit RPGs, using pixel art for character portraits, the monsters and the often shown transformation sequences. The game attempts to set itself up like Sakura Wars, Persona, or other games that allow you to spend time with your party doing less heroic acts, but like everything else, these are quick moments making even the slice of life moments move along at a breakneck pace. To add to the idea of being a magical girl production the girls have transformation scenes before each bout with the forces of evil, but it would have been nice to see some of that flair given to unique attacks or other moments that really fleshed out the team as more than combat functions.


Conclusion:
This Way Madness Lies made an intriguing pitch and has a unique sense of style, but sadly this play ends in too short a time, being more of a flat one act production than a fully realized drama that will endure for years to come. For the price point the game doesn’t offend, but that is almost a statement of the whole game; a title that will read the lines, but fails to leave the impact that its great ideas could have. Fans of both Shakespeare and classic RPG games will have some fun, but will likely look to other experiences to return to after the short run time is done and the curtain is called.

Pros:
Unique ideas to combine the plays of Shakespeare and the magical girl genre
Well done turn based RPG combat
A fantastic soundtrack that mixes chiptune and vocals
Cons:
Story is abridged to the point of making the player feel disconnected
Ideas aren’t given the time or attention to be fully realized
Basic dungeon crawling and combat rounds are the bulk of the game
Combat mechanics only really shine at about the halfway mark

Final Rating:
3 out of 5: A set of charmed ideas falls short of true magic and is over before it has time to really stick with the audience, getting a courteous round of applause rather than the standing ovation it could have earned with more care.