Zwei: The Arges Adventure

I want to love this game more than I actually do, and that tension is basically the whole review. Nihon Falcom originally released Zwei back in 2001, and XSEED's localization finally landed on PC in 2018 - more than sixteen years after its Japanese debut. That heritage shows in every dungeon hallway and every combat animation, or rather the near-total lack of them. As someone who came to this after the Ys series and Trails, the gap between Falcom's later work and this early-era experiment is impossible to ignore. The setup is genuinely fun on paper. Step-siblings Pokkle and Pipiro are mercenary kids motivated entirely by cash and petty glory, and XSEED's localization leans hard into that energy with puns, snark, and fourth-wall nudges that actually land. You swap between the two characters at will: Pokkle hurls himself at enemies with a drill-like melee lunge, while Pipiro fires elemental magic projectiles that you can reshape with collectable orbs. On paper that sounds like a compact dual-character action system. In practice, both attacks home in automatically, there is no dodge or block, and the inactive character is handled by AI that manages to be simultaneously aggressive and useless. By mid-game you have discovered the pause-menu rapid-fire toggle and are basically holding down a button while the game resolves itself. The invincibility window after taking a hit is far too short, so cramped corridor rooms can kill you in seconds not because the game is challenging but because it is chaotic in the wrong way. The leveling system is the standout mechanical quirk. You do not gain experience from killing enemies. Instead, enemies drop food, and eating that food levels you up and restores health simultaneously. Collect ten identical food drops and you can trade them at the village restaurant for a higher-tier item that gives more EXP and better healing. It is a genuinely interesting resource management loop that makes every dungeon run feel slightly strategic, at least around inventory decisions. The catch is that food drops are random, so you can finish a dungeon meaningfully under-leveled through no fault of your own. There is also a pet companion that you can bring into dungeons for backup, or dispatch on its own Tamagotchi-style adventure via a side app to gather items for you. It is delightfully weird. The dungeons themselves are the biggest structural problem. Each one is a series of three-floor tube-like corridors connecting open rooms, and that template repeats across every location in the game. The puzzles amount to button pressing and box pushing. The boss designs have personality but the shallow combat makes most of them feel like HP sponges rather than tests. The hand-painted 2D backdrops are genuinely gorgeous, all soft palettes and anime-era charm that holds up better than the gameplay does. The arranged PSP soundtrack is available as a toggle and is very good. The writing, once XSEED got their hands on it, has real wit - Pipiro's diary recaps major plot events as crayon drawings, which is exactly the kind of small detail that earns affection. This is not the Falcom game you hand someone who wants to understand why Falcom matters. The Ilvard Insurrection, released on Steam a few months before this one, is strictly better in every mechanical dimension. Arges Adventure sits below that sequel, and below the Ys series, as a curiosity - a time capsule of pre-refinement Falcom that is short enough (roughly 15 to 17 hours for the main story, with optional dungeons on top) to be worth it if the aesthetic hooks you or if you simply want the full Zwei picture. Go in with lowered combat expectations and genuine appetite for a goofy, cash-motivated adventure across floating sky continents, and there is warmth here. Go in expecting Ys-level action, and you will be disappointed before the second dungeon. Monika, Scout Team