Faria A World of Mystery and Danger for NES - Review | hungrygoriya 

You are too kind! I try to keep my reviews more on the personal side and that has really helped me to keep the "formula" the same even though I don't really have any specific structure I follow... it's just my experience and things I liked, and hoping that other people can relate or might take those opinions as worth something. Thank you so much for saying that. It really makes the video editing feel worth it! Merry Christmas to you as well. All the best in the new year!

I can totally understand not being able to get through a few spots without one. The cave maze and the last tower are nightmares if you don't know where to go or what to do. Congratulations on finally making it through! It sounds like you'd have an interesting video series if you ever chose to go that route, haha

My patience is never-ending. I don't know why I like the nitty gritty stuff like dungeon mapping, but I just have that curse I guess. If the music had been better, it would've been a lot more tolerable. I put that part about Golden Axe Warrior in just for you, haha... that footage was from my first few minutes into the game, getting obliterated. Thanks for all of the continued support!

I just tried this game for the first time today. I definitely think the progression of dungeon size is FAR too harsh, it took me 2 hours of making a map on a piece of paper to get through the first tower. I think this first tower has 70~80ish rooms? The original LoZ for example has a dungeon 1 of 17 rooms, which is a much much better "level 1". Level 9 of LoZ is 8x8 with some rooms missing so maybe in the 50s which is fair for a final dungeon. Level 1 of a similar type of game shouldn't be bigger than Level 9 of Zelda imo... In saying that, I just spent 4+ hours straight playing this game and I think it's one of the best games on the NES (I've played over 200). I'd still rather go through a long dungeon where I'm controlling my character than going through a long cave with turn based battles (I'm currently playing Dragon Warrior II, nearing the end and a cave can take 3+ hours sometimes to figure out where to go and the battles are far less engaging). Super impressed with this game so far, a solid 8/10 from my 1 day of playing, lol.

It's called GameFAQs, the dungeons of this game are beyond atrocious and the bosses are anticlimatic, but it IS a good game at it core. You are right about the towers and it's music, those are torture.

@@richardgallimore5976 LoZ actually had dungeons designed well enough you did not need a walkthrough to play them, because all the rooms had character. Even the rooms that most people would see burn the pits of hell for all eternity (Shutter room in Level 6 with 3 Blue Wizrobes, 3 Yellow Wizrorbes, and 3 Like Likes and 2 Bubbles, I'm looking straight at you) have character. The Dark Forest in Secret of Evermore had character. You can be a scrappy level with a scrappy dungeon as long as you have a memeworthy experience. Faria's dungeon are essentially spaghetti code and needed to stop and look a the map every room with nothing that stands out is rediculous.

@@shirenthewanderer4770 After playing more of Faria I take back my 8/10, haha. I ended up only playing through the 1 dungeon & walking around to the next portion of the game & had my first encounters with invisible enemies. It's a solid 7/10 imo, but yes I agree LoZ has more character & better design, imo LoZ is more like a 9/10 for the NES.

Glad you found me here! The channel will be going for 8 years in a few months.

I don't have a ton of experience with anime except for maybe watching the English dub of Sailor Moon as a kid, but more modern anime-based video games don't draw me in as much as these older games do. The older ones are incredibly charming in a way I can't quite put my finger on.

Agreed

yeah a lot of older jrpgs have a more medieval art direction and sometimes tolkenish. though i don't mind an early anime art direction like say loddoss war.

If you look at the whole era of retro anime, it is no less conveyer belt than what we have now. The only difference is the sheer amount of products now compared to what used to be.

The art was really impressive. There's a whole really beautiful outro to the game over the credits that I only showed one image from so that I didn't spoil too much. If you're into it and want to see what else the game has to offer, definitely look up the ending sequence too. It's adorable. Definitely some of my favourite art in an 8-bit game here.

Eccentric design, a forte of manga artist Yoshitoe Asari, who've done basic character design for this game. I can't believe that he've done many works for edutational mangas on the other side of spectrum.

I love showing off the manuals, especially when they're good ones that do the job well. Thank you for hanging out here and also during the streams. I can't say enough how much your support means to me!

I forget where I first learned about Faria but I was immediately intrigued as well. I hope you can play it sometime if you want to. It was definitely a lot of fun even if I felt like muting my TV once in a while.

@@hungrygoriya It seems like this one would be a good candidate for Switch Online. If it ever pops up there I'll defiantly give it a go.

That's just the way I am. I'm just here to share my experiences, and that's what shapes the emotion of the review!

​@@hungrygoriyathat is what makes you one of the better reviewers

Awww thank you for checking out other videos on the channel! I've been doing this for many years now, so there's lots to watch. I appreciate the kind words. I really liked this one too. It was quirky and unique from so many other games I've played and to this day, I've never really found anything else quite like it.

The perks of using the real system, haha... good luck to you! I hope you enjoy it!

If you play this one, good luck with it. It's great asides from a few tricky dungeons that I couldn't be bothered to figure out on my own.

There was one song I specifically left out of the review because of how horrible it is... it's one of the altered overworld tunes late in the game. That and the dungeon music were just the worst!

It's a fun little twist eh? I really enjoyed my time with this one. I needed help in the repeating green dungeon and also the ice caverns, but the rest I figured out on my own. Nice work doing it without help!

Not being able the pet the cats was truly the worst part! And this is a great summary :) A list just like this usually how I plan my writing! Thank you very much for hanging out in the streams and also coming here to watch the video. That corruption part was so scary, after beating the boss and trying to get to that save... haha! I love putting stuff in that was memorable to me or people on the stream at the end usually. That definitely made the cut this time around.

I don't know what it is that draws me to these games with so much fussing involved, but I love them. I always find something to talk about because there's so much good in them despite what others might find frustrating or a deal-breaker. Thanks so much for stopping in, and Merry Christmas to you too!

Oh right on! That's awesome! I thought this game was great as well!

Thanks so much! I think it's easy to dwell on the negatives for older games but there are also so many positives that are worth highlighting. Thanks so much for the kind words, and for hanging out in the streams too. It's been lovely seeing you all around the internet.

They were! I spent many hours playing games with my mom and on my own as well when I was a kid, about that many years ago. What I'd give to go back for a day.

Hey thanks! I appreciate the feedback :) Glad you're enjoying the channel.

Yeah, it was a long stretch between the last one and this one, but work was ridiculous for me for a while. It's calmed down at least for the holiday. Hopefully the next one won't be so far out. Merry Christmas to you as well! Thanks for the wishes :)

Thanks so much for the Christmas wishes... I hope you have a lovely holiday as well! And thanks... running for that inn after just finishing a boss as the cartridge was giving up was so scary. I'm glad we made it. Rarely do games hang on that long!

Awww that's very sweet! I hope you enjoyed the video. Merry Christmas to you as well!

Thank you very much!

I wish I remembered how I first learned about it, but it was a pleasant surprise when I did. It was at least as much as I was hoping it would be despite the difficulty in the dungeons. Nothing quite like a good graphics corruption, right? I was running so hard for the inn since I had just beaten a boss when the game decided to slowly start glitching. I made it! :D

My pleasure :) Thanks for watching!

It's also the password music if you want to spin that around into something more positive, haha

It's my pleasure! Thanks for taking the time to watch, and for the tips. Do you know the significance of the name for the cheats?

@@hungrygoriya i am not sure of the origin of the word GaoGao, or the significance of it to the game.

@@hungrygoriya any chance you tried that code out to see how much easier it makes the game?

@@davidlanier7508 I haven't come back to it yet, unfortunately.

@@hungrygoriya thats ok keep up the awesome work :) i love your content :)

It was hands down the most unfun part of the whole game, no question! Door mazes are in soooo many games too. Ugh.

That is very kind of you to say. I'm honoured :) Thanks so much! I hope that next year will bring lots of new and exciting games to review here. Thanks for the continued support!

@Boco Corwin That's very nice to hear. I'm sorry that the uploads haven't been as regular lately, but hopefully I can get back on track soon. I appreciate your enthusiasm though. It makes it all worth it!

I hope you enjoy the game if you do play it. It's definitely a wonderful time!

Enjoy and good luck!

Glad to hear your're enjoying the videos here. Thanks for checking it out!

Same to you! All the best in the new year!

Hey thanks! I love this era of gaming and it's a real joy to talk on the games that really stand out to me, or that don't really have much of a presence online.

@@hungrygoriya thank You to

I'm happy to hear someone else also recently discovered this game and had similar experiences to me. I definitely enjoyed it and while I don't think it'll make it into any regular rotation for me, it was a good playthrough while it lasted. It might be fun to come back to when I've forgotten enough of the plot points down the line.

Thanks, you too!

Thanks very much! This one flew under my radar for a while as well but it was very much worth a playthrough.

I'm glad you've been able to live vicariously through me. I do the same with you and some of those wrasslin' games you play :) Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas to you too :)

Thanks very much :) I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

Awww thank you! That is very kind :) Happy holidays to you as well!

Enjoy your time with it! Other than a few rather miserable areas I tried to highlight, the rest is really good.

I'm sure you would've gotten on great with it. It was a pleasant surprise! And I can't describe how scary it was trying to get back to town to save while the game was freaking out. I had just finished a dungeon or something and was trying to get back to town to save... the commentary there was mostly "oh no OH NO RUN GO" hahaha

My pleasure! Thanks for watching, as always!

You're absolutely right.. these games can be a huge time sink and I think I'm immune to feeling that way since I stream multiple times a week and put time aside for these older games... I don't know that I'd play through a lot of these games without chat for company, but it's much easier to grind with others, you know? Happy to help play through some stuff most people might not want to though! Every game deserves its day in the sun. Thanks so much for your kind words, and the happiest of holidays to you! I'm honoured you consider my videos a gift. It truly means the world to me.

Thanks very much! I hope you can find a copy... it was fun overall. I would recommend it!

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

I wish I could remember where I heard of this game for the first time. I was so excited to try it out since it seemed like just the ticket, and overall the experience was very positive! I'd recommend giving it a go.

You nailed it... parts of it were unfairly complex and I don't know if I would've had the patience to map everything out on my own if I hadn't streamed the games. I would've totally looked up maps online I think and saved myself the trouble, but where's the fun in that? :D

@@hungrygoriya Definitely feels like it was designed to sell strategy guides or Nintendo Power issues xD

Daria's a wonderful person. I'm so grateful for whenever she's taken the time to mention me or send people my way! Thanks for stopping in and for the kind words.

Right on! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Good luck tracking down a copy for yourself.

@@hungrygoriya thank you it will be hard not knowing atm if this game ever had any european releases. But i think the possibility may come sometime. Sorry for allnthe typos above it was allready after 1 am (now after 3 am here) and definitely not the time for second languages or typing on a phone partly awake😅 Stay save and sane.

Oooo perhaps something to add to your list to play then?

@@hungrygoriya And a feature to consider as a developer. I really loved torches in Dragon Warrior 1 and miss how they (and illuminatino spells) have been absent from the dungeons of the series since, and most of the genre. It always felt like something that needed refinement, not removal.

Hooray! Glad you're enjoying the channel. I hope you have good luck with Faria as well... it's a game I really enjoyed but it's a little mean in places. I try to keep my reviews mostly spoiler-free in terms of plot/story and occasionally show things out of context from later in the game, so as long as you're okay with that, the videos should keep the experience pretty pure. Enjoy Faria!

@@hungrygoriya I don't mind spoilers here and there. I kinda... binged all of your reviews, already. = ) I have a couple questions. First, when do you usually stream on twitch, do you have a schedule or anything? I'd love to catch one or two. I'm probably gonna go peruse your vods in a bit. Secondly, have you played Zillion 2? I'm curious if it's more of the same, or if they went way out there, a la Zelda 2. Oh, have you played any of the rest of the Ultima series? Exodus is great, and I think it would be right up your alley... once you figure out what needs to be done. I'm gonna give it a run (it's one of my faves, I've actually spent quite a bit if time drawing my characters), before quest of the avatar. You totally talked me into the new(er) alignment thing. Always kinda thought it was... not for me, let's say. And then of course warriors of destiny. Might even hit up the Gameboy games as well as the SNES games after that. So many games, so little time. You'll be happy to hear I'm in the beginning of a Golden Axe Warrior run right now as well. = ) EDIT: I don't suppose you ha e a PDF of the instructions? The only site I can find them on wants my credit card and says when the trial is over they'll charge $49.99 a month (in VERY tiny print, so that's shady as heck). EDIT2: NVM, I managed to talk my phone into downloading it anyway. = D

@@iami3rian394 It'd be great if you could stop by the streams sometime. I'm usually up Sunday/Monday/Thursday around 7:30 ET, and Friday afternoons at noon ET. That said, I am having my gallbladder removed this week on Thursday so after my stream this evening, I'm taking a little hiatus, but I'll be back as soon as I can be. I'll be starting up Ultima V when I'm recovered so funny you asked! I haven't played Exodus yet. I've played a bit of Zillion 2 but couldn't make it too far in. There seems to be a sidescrolling platformer in there after an autoscrolling section at the beginning, but what lies beyond in terms of the meat and potatoes of the game is still a mystery to me. Glad to hear you're going to give Golden Axe Warrior a shot. I hope you have a blast with it! And good to hear that you didn't spend a bunch of money on resources! Sega Retro (the website) has almost all Sega manuals archived if you ever need to access one for free.

I was not happy with that part... I went through four or five doors and squinted at a tiny map in the manual and went: nope. Not doing this hahaha

@@hungrygoriya I am so happy youtube decided to shove you into my feed, even when i go back to 2 or 3 years ago your content is consistant as hell!

@@Bubblerlol Oh nice! I'm trying to learn a little bit of new editing with every video but I'm glad the tone and feel is consistent. That makes me happy to hear!

I can't recommend it enough. It's got such a great sense of humour and apart from the invisible enemies and the mean maze, it was totally manageable.

Merry Christmas to you as well! Thanks for stopping in.

It's always nice when people find me through that podcast... what a wonderful opportunity that was! I am forever grateful to SNESDrunk and NESFriend for having me on! Enjoy the adventure!

I'm glad you found the review useful and informative. I think you'd really enjoy this one based on our previous chats in the comment section of a few videos. I've always tried to personalize my reviews for this very reason rather than just summarizing a plot or talking about history. All of that's available online already in various forms. It's useful information, but not quite what I'm going for. I hope you enjoy this one if you play it!

They're so excited!

Yeah, this one took some serious patience. And good job getting out of those ice caves... holy smokes!

@@hungrygoriya I can tell you exactly - 13 hours. My parents were away and I was at home with my younger brother. So this kept him busy, too x) I´ve seen more of your reviews and they are really great! Pleasant to hear, informative and cover everything possible. I almost forgot how deep some of those games were even for OLD games!

@@miroslavzima8856 Those sound like some wonderful memories though... congratulations on getting through! And thanks very much for the compliments. I'm thrilled that people are enjoying what I'm doing here, and I hope to keep doing it for a long time. I'm also pretty surprised at how fleshed out some of these games are too, especially when I get into something pretty layered on the Game Boy or something!

@@hungrygoriya Gaming is like album of memories for me. Friends, brother, even parents - my mom was MUCH better at games than we together xD And helped us when we got stuck. Dad was like child in candy store, when we got wheel controller and Need for speed 3 - and both didn't liked games AT ALL! Please continue! There isnt enough of gameresses.Even though I like that snarky, brutish reviews, yours are relaxing and welcoming fresh breeze :)

It's definitely possible! I wonder what the first instance of that mechanic is.

I had to look up Dr. Giro and I agree haha... I appreciated how grumpy that one character always looked. And in Golden Axe Warrior like I mentioned, you go from a poking sword to the axe which has that sweeping range at least, or even in Faxanadu, your weapons get longer as time goes on. It would've been great to see some of that here but alas. At least things died faster! Those invisible enemies were the absolute worst. They're still horrible even when you can see them because they teleport all over the place. Definitely bold!

@@hungrygoriya dang, big Wizzrobe energy there. At least they didn't pull a Hydlide and expect you to kill them all in a single attack before it counted. Small mercies. 😂

I can't say I'm familiar with that one, but I really did enjoy the combat here!

Yeah, the mazes and invisible enemies are the trickiest parts. Definitely not a game for everyone, but I liked the story and its sense of humour. That saw me through! I still need to play Hydlide one of these days.

It has some similarities to Crystalis but some key differences as well. I hope you enjoy your time with it!

Definitely very Caterpie-like! I loved how she was depicted! It looked so nice!

The second dungeon gave me a ton of trouble as well. Once I got a handle on the floors being stacked, it made a lot more sense and I was able to get through, but before that I had no luck at all.

Black Box Golf or NES Open? There's a ton of either game here, you're right!

Ah yes! *NES Open* is the one!

I'd say you're right about all of those things! I'd recommend it if you liked any one of those games even a little bit, and it seems like you do!

Thanks very much! I've played Crystalis but not the latter. That game was also very fun and some of the combat there came flooding back when I played Faria.

@@hungrygoriya It occurs to me that Radia Senki didn't make it from Famicom to NES, so the only version for English speakers would be a ROM hack. Usually it's 16-bit consoles that are associated with action RPGs, so these ones on NES intrigue me.

We are around the same age! And thanks about the channel!

The guide will be helpful, especially for those caves and dungeons. They can be quite sneaky! Good luck to you!

I actually haven't played Star Ocean at all, but I'm curious to know as well!

I haven't tried that hack out yet. This comparison makes me not want to, haha

@@hungrygoriya yeah the game is brutal. i almost completed it but my hd failed and didn't want to put myself threw that again. for a good part of the beginning the only weapon is pots.

@@mariofisher6340 That doesn't sound like much fun at all. Sorry you lost your save :( That sounds terrible.

I think it has some pretty interesting mechanics! Being a mix of two different kinds of games, it does both sides pretty well in my opinion.

I like them so much! There were some other really beautiful portraits from the end of the game that I only showed one of here since I didn't want to spoil it, but there's more great art in the ending credits/sequence if you want to track that down.

@@hungrygoriya Oooh! I definitely will check it out! I have always loved games that had nice artwork. The Ys games had nice portraits, as well!

@@Lucasub-Seiyuu Enjoy! Miracle Warriors for the Master System also had some nice portrait art, but it's nowhere near this quality.

@@hungrygoriya Thank you very much, Hungry Goriya!

When I streamed this, the corruption started right after I beat a boss and I was trying so hard to make it back to town to save before the game froze!

I have not yet played Sword of Vermillion! That's really interesting though... I have that game and enjoyed Faria enough that I'd like to give it a try as well.

@@hungrygoriya It used to be one of my favorite games back in my "poor days." I think you'd really enjoy it.

I hope you do get a chance to try this one... it's a lot of fun if you have the patience for it, which I do in droves. And I agree with you about the Dragon Warrior torch. It was the same in Ys: Vanished Omens for the Master System, and I was also terribly lost in those places as well! Good luck if you give it a go!

Cool! Never heard of it!

Yeah, I wish there had been a bit more range for sure, but it was definitely manageable with some practice at least! And yep, I've got another video underway, hopefully coming out this week sometime. And I'm not worried at all about people falling asleep listening. I can see playlists people have added my videos to, and a lot of them are "sleep" hahaha :) I am told very often that I'm extremely polite. I don't mind it though!

@@hungrygoriya it has been a rough few days... And weeks for me sleeping wise, anxiety and insomnia, woo... but you throw in something that gives you good details without being, how to explain, harsh or in your face(?) , something that just feeds the brain with good things, while being entertaining, I imagine that is what a good book must be like 😊 You are incredibly polite, certainly from what I have seen here and your interactions with me, you are admirable! Good luck editing your video🍀

It's a fun one! Thanks for watching!

I found the difficulty to be pretty even except in that one spike with the blue caves, and that other time when I got swarmed by really mean invisible enemies. Otherwise, with some good mapping and planning, it's not too bad. I hope you enjoy your time with it! Good luck!

I'd say they both had their challenges. Shining in the Darkness' maps were just huge, so I messed up counting steps a lot and my maps are a bit weird. This game just had a lot going on in a much smaller scale so I'd miss details more often. Shining in the Darkness' were definitely trickier to keep track of though.

@@hungrygoriya thanks for the answer I'll keep watching your videos. Liking and subscribed!

It's pretty great for a lot of reasons. The dungeons and caves are quite cumbersome, but I still really enjoyed it overall. I recommend it for sure!

For sure! There was a map you could mail away for and I think I linked it in the description... it's beautiful! I would've totally wanted to get my hands on that as a kid if I'd owned this game back then.

@@hungrygoriya trouble is now as an adult you want these things and then you have to get a half way decent special size frame made up for them, rather than damage something you just paid for by tacking it to a wall 😅

@@phonotical I ran out of wall space a long time ago!

The graphical errors at the end? That was right after I beat a boss and the game started corrupting. I was recording from an NES with the game, so I guess it just wasn't seated well. I miraculously made it super far without the game freezing on me completely. Total relief :D And happy Christmas to you as well! Wishing you a wonderful holiday and a happy new year as well!

@@hungrygoriya before then I mean, like with the edge of the image clipping as you walked about, I hope the new year is kind to you! 🌹

The battles certainly feel like it! Totally!

Thank you, but also no thank you, haha

I'd love to try out Immortal honestly... I do have a game list I'm actively working through but I can always throw some extras into the mix. Let's see what I can manage! Thanks for the suggestion.

Enjoy!

I just really like that one. What can I say? :) There's a lot to draw from that experience to these other games I've played.