Genre: Turn-based Strategy
Developer: Sacnoth
Publisher: SNK

Plenty of variety, excellent animation, and some beautiful, detailed character portraits mark one of the better graphical showcases on the NGPC. Perhaps what is most impressive about Faselei's visuals is not the aesthetics-- the game is a bit drab looking-- but the technical side of them; Faselei is one of the smoothest and most technologically impressive games on the system, its polish and attention to detail betrays the relative lack of memory the system has. Particularily, the visuals of the intro, cutscenes, menus, and combat sequences all flow and transition with fluidity, unlike many other NGPC titles.

Faselei opens with the only 100% digital song on the system, a wonderful twenty-second ballad that accompanies the intro. There are several all-digital sound effects during the actual gameplay as well. As far as the standard NGPC audio that makes up the rest of the game, sound effects are used to great artistic effect to such things as static and interference during the transmissions between the game's characters during missions. The sound track is well done as well, with tunes that are not only catchy, but lend the game a great deal of character and ambience. A wonderful job here!

Faselei is a heavily story-driven title where the pilot navigates a huge mech through a series of tactical, turn-based missions. The player must equip their mech with "chips", each of which allows for a different action, such as "Turn left" or "Dash". As well, there are dozens of different types of weapons, ammo, and mechs. How many chips, weapons, ammo, and health the player can bring into a mission us very limited, and this, along with the strategy involved in actually playing the missions, provides Faselei a tremendous amount of depth. There are some gameplay imbalances, particularily with the complete lack of ammo the player is allowed to carry especially in the early goings, but Faselei's gameplay is creative, deep, challenging, and rewarding.

The story in Faselei is, and I exaggerate none, one of the most engaging and well-written plots I have ever seen in a video game. Despite the game's high difficulty, I was unable to quit playing until I had witnessed the game's climactic ending. This title never was released in North America, however, copies of it can occasionally be spotted on eBay. If you own an NGPC, this is one of the games you absolutely must purchase. The polish, outstanding story, technological features, and deep gameplay merge to form a classic must-have game.