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Marica: Shinjitsu no Sekai [マリか~真実の世界～] Game Sample - Sega Saturn

4,347 views · Published 1 September 2018 · 1:12:23 · Indexed 30 October 2026

Channel: Vysethedetermined2 · 2018 · Gaming

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"Marica: Shinjitsu no Sekai" is a contemporary JRPG for the Sega Saturn by short-lived developer, Feycraft, Shoujirou Endo, and published by Victor Interactive Software in 1997. At a glance, it uses the top-down visual stylings of works like "Mouryou Senki Madara 2" with combat reminiscent to "Tengai Makyou: The Apocalypse IV", and throws an all-girl main cast into it. That would be a decent comparison at face value, but unlike the TM franchise or Madara 2, this game is not as good. Feycraft tried; the game is ambitious for two main reasons. One, the game uses high-res art for all major characters and enemies that take up almost the entire screen (similarly to TM:TA4). Two, the game is almost completely voiced -- More than 90% of the (unskippable) dialogue is voiced, sounds good, and is integrated almost seamlessly. If this game was an adv. title or v-novel, it would stand with some of the better games of said genres, but there's the whole RPG aspect tacked on to it.

The story involves Marica Kanzaki, a pretty normal high school girl from a middle-class home who is simply running errands when her groceries are stolen by a dog. Having the incredible foresight to go after this dog (I would've just got some more, that thing is scary) leads her to the town's abandoned factory. In here resides a wounded mutant who happens to be a former terrorist. He is from a secret organization experimenting on humans to bring them to a new stage of evolution and his dog deliberately lured her here so he could pass off vital info on the company's secrets (but not before getting attacked and narrowly escaping). While deciding what to do, the terrorist group wastes no time putting a hit out on her and everyone she loves, backing her into a corner where she manifests psychic powers! After fending off her initial attackers, she decides to bring the fight to them while her family takes a trip to Egypt during Japan's Golden Week.

There are two other girls, Akira (the dark, metal chick) and Kaname (the high-society girl of Todo Group), who have their own short story and reason for joining Marica in her fight and specialize in different abilities (Akira has teleportation and Kaname has telepathy). After their quests, they make the "Full Metal Cafe" their base of operations. Akira is cool from a story standpoint, but her abilities are severely under-developed compared to the other two. Marica is OP and Kaname can more than fend for herself.

The problem with the game is that it starts out strong (you even wait to cross streets!), but it's not balanced at all and extremely linear. Even with no knowledge of Japanese, there should only be one or two instances where you need help, as the game usually takes you where you need to go automatically or things are easily implied and obvious. Talking to NPCs isn't required except for three or four times in the whole game, and half of them literally just say "What do you want?". After a certain point, the devs stopped trying to connect the areas in a logical fashion and said every Japanese town must look the same, so you just teleport to single screens of buildings (with only two exceptions where the town looks different in a meaningful way), diminishing any aspect of a believable modern city.

There are quite a few items hidden around that make buying things almost useless, not to mention you don't even need to change your starting equipment until near the end of the game (heck, you can find Kaname's ultimate armor around halfway through). The game also has a few "combination attacks" that usually involve low-cost skills to deal massive damage (usually killing everything) or healing all characters fully. Even without them, enemies don't put up much of a fight, though seeing them on the field is nice. Speaking of skills, if they don't deal damage or heal, they're pretty much useless.

The battle graphics are nice, but there's little variety in combat; many stills are re-used for other skills with no difference whatsoever and don't expect animation outside of a few effects, but they are still serviceable. The soundtrack is pretty good and it fits the theme. The game is naturally pretty short... the game has tons of spoken audio and high-res illustrations after all. You can clear the game in about ten hours, and the ending isn't worthwhile, so you probably won't go back when you're done... there are a few choices throughout the game that make scenes play out a little different, but they don't impact the story in any real way. This probably explains why the "sequel" was done in novel form, taking place seven years after the original with a new cast. Makes sense.

The game is decent, but there are better games with a contemporary theme. This one isn't much fun to play. This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.

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