Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy

Developer: Sting
Publisher: Idea Factory International
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, Switch
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $49.99 USD – Available Here

Overview

While many people may be familiar with the Puyo Puyo games, it is likely that many may not remember just where these little slimes originated from or in fact perhaps believe that their very first appearance came from the game itself. That however was not the case as the Puyos actually originated from an RPG developed at the same time called Mado Monogatari and were derived from the monsters within. Since then, while the Puyo Puyo games have been extremely prominent, the Mado Monogatari franchise has done the opposite, going almost entirely quiet even in Japan with no Western release until they finally released one with a completely different name over a decade ago. 

Now with Compile Heart and Idea Factory International looking to possibly revive this franchise, we now have Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy arriving in the West. The question is, is this dungeon explorer worth your time or was this franchise best left collecting dust?

Story

Fia has always dreamed of becoming a “Great Mage” and with her grandmother’s grimoire and an invitation to the Ancient Magic Academy in her pocket, it seems like she’s well on her way to at least starting that journey alongside her odd looking pet Carbuncle. At least she would be, until Fia finds out that she has actually arrived for the academy’s entrance ceremony, having completely missed the actual testing to find out if she qualified to learn there in the first place. Thankfully, the humorous and far-wiser than he seems headmaster informs the teacher’s that one student is given the test of journeying all the way to the academy as their requirement and Fia just so happens to be that girl, giving her entrance to the magical academy of her dreams. That she then proceeds to cause complete and utter chaos at.

Thanks both in part to the Carbuncle’s strange actions and the even stranger actions of her fellow new classmates, including one that starts breathing fire everywhere, Fia ends up being placed in the “trouble” classroom. But between the mysterious grimoire left behind by her grimoire and her classmates that soon turn into fast-friends despite their disastrous meeting, Fia soon finds out that there is far more to learning to become a powerful mage than just learning spells in a game that isn’t afraid to let loose with plenty of slapstick comedy and let’s the humor run wild a bit, presenting itself more like a younger-hearted RPG than the darker or even slightly serious ones that many have grown accustomed too in the genre.

Mado Monogatari is all about fun little moments and the characters interacting with one another, even if these interactions aren’t that deep. From the usually hilarious teachers that either range from being constantly ignored or frightened that they are about to lose their job to the simple plotline with a few little twists that easily are resolved, there isn’t much depth here but it is still enjoyable nonetheless, especially since the vast majority of scenes are played for laughs rather than drama. Even the main cast of characters are a collection of tropes dialed up to the max but that just so happens to work out well here.

Fia is a girl on a journey of self-discovery with far more power than she actually knows about alongside a and why that is happens to be one of the biggest mysteries alongside Will, a self-proclaimed hero that spends more time trying to name his special attacks than actually using them, the awkward but incredibly intelligent Leena, Totto who happens to care all about money regardless of whether it makes him friends or not, and finally Eska, a dragonnewt that initially sees Fia as her foe thanks to the chaotic entrance ceremony to wanting to be married to her forever once she loses to her in a duel, creating a fun dynamic that always keeps players guessing. Literally, the story can be rather wild with how slapstick it becomes at times and that is where Mado Monogatari shines even if it does make it seem a bit childish at times despite the adult jokes scattered here and there.

Gameplay

Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy is a fairly simple game at heart with a slew of additional mechanics that players can mess with if they feel like, though many of these felt rather unnecessary in the long run. For the most part players will take on “lessons” from the teachers in the academy and for the most part these “lessons” are story based ones that will place them in the dungeon eventually. There are side-missions/lessons that allow players to unlock additional skills such as knowing how to fish, fertilize and grow plants in a garden or even a tree, and of course cooking and item creation. Taking on these side-lessons is actually necessary, at least their first stage, as players need enough “credits” from completed lessons to take a test that will allow players to upgrade their mage status.

The majority of the time players will spend inside the actual dungeons themselves and while Fia does gain additional party members, she can only enter a fight with three at a time. Traveling through a dungeon and swinging Fia’s weapon to destroy items or even traveling to the next floor reduces her stamina meter, making long trips dangerous since she will start to lose health when at low stamina. Instead, players can eat curry either obtained as a drop or cooked themselves either at the start of a dungeon or during a dungeon dive if they find a cooking spot. This is designed so players don’t try to scrape every corner of a dungeon, especially since, for the most part, the actual rewards for doing so are pretty bland and generic. Don’t expect to find some rare item or powerful piece of weaponry just for going the extra mile here.

When running into an enemy players will enter a real-time combat arena where all three characters in their party can move freely and will attack according to the strategy assigned to them, though players will only control one directly. Both the enemy characters and the player’s party members all have “locations” on a meter that advances and when it is their turn they can activate a spell they have queued up. It is possible to perform a normal attack out of order but it delays their turn and does less damage then a spell. It is interesting to note that there is a “lock on” mechanic for spells but it doesn’t really work the best. In fact, considering spells all have limited areas of effect or straight lines and adjust as the player moves, trying to lock on is actually a bad thing here as it will result in more missed attacks. Players can only dodge incoming blows by running around the field and heal using either healing items or spells. 

When casting spells, either done directly by the player or a party member, they will generate an orb of “Great  Magic” that will depend on the element of spell used and players can hold only a certain number of these orbs at a time but they can be quite powerful. When players have gathered the needed number of “Great Magic” orbs for a character’s equipped skill, they can freely trigger an undodgeable blast of magic to every enemy on the field with a small cinematic flourish, making it devastating when used correctly. It is interesting to note that every enemy has an element they are strong and weak to, often dictated by their coloration, but since players can customize their parties skills fairly effectively, it should always be possible to target a weakness somehow and if not, then the aforementioned standard attacks work well enough especially since, outside of a few early boss fights before players gain the ability to heal, the title is quite easy.

Audio & Visuals

One thing that Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy excels at is being as vibrant as possible. The character art is bright and wonderful, with the character portraits during dialogue scenes featuring quite a few variations and a surprisingly large number of CGs available for even the most minor of scenes, giving players a far better look at all of the characters in the game. The character models themselves are fairly standard and chibi in nature, and the same can be said regarding enemy designs. Players will face down Puyos throughout the entire game as well as other types of enemies but there really isn’t a lot of variety here, though that is perhaps due to the series’ signature use of the Puyos. The dungeons themselves are also a bit lackluster, with only a slight variation between them as players move throughout the storyline.

The voice work for the game is handled entirely in Japanese as no English voice track has been created for this Western release. This works fine, for the most part, as the Japanese cast fits their standard roles well even if Carbuncle can be a bit annoying as a mascot character. The soundtrack is a nice collection of background music that works best for its more light-hearted slapstick sections as well as a nice track that plays when players find themselves in a dire situation within a dungeon.

Overall

Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy is a fun and cute dungeon crawler that might try to add a few more mechanics than needed in an attempt to add depth to a fairly lightweight game where its characters are the real standouts. There is certainly a place for lighthearted slapstick based games and that happens to be right where Fia’s journey lands. Sure, the combat and exploration are rather simplistic, but that also feels intentional, like a game designed for a younger audience in mind who will enjoy the bright character art and easy to grasp mechanics.

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