Team Innocent- Point of No Return (PC-FX) Review

The PC-FX by NEC was meant to be the successor to the incredible PC Engine console era. The 32-bit tower of power was announced in 1992 (5 years after the PCE's launch) to moderate fanfare, but fans like myself were hopeful to see the next generation NEC console regardless! However, NEC went in a very strange direction with this new release, focusing on high resolution Full Motion Video rather than a beefed up graphics processor. Matter of fact, the specs are more on par with the Sega CD or Super Nintendo rather than the 3DO, and nowhere near as impressive as the Sega Saturn or Playstation.

A smattering of releases over the first 18 months of the PC-FX's life span and it was more than evident that the console was a flop in Japan. No chance of a release overseas, as the PC-FX quietly set off into the sunset. Retro gamers that chose to add the PC-FX console often recommend a tiny selection of 3 to about 5 games to those curious about the console. Chip Chan Kick, Zenki FX, and Zeroigar are the most English friendly games you can get your hands on. They're also some of the most expensive! A puzzle platformer, an action game, and the one singular shoot 'em up. Otherwise, the rest of the FX library (63 games) is heavy on RPGs, TTRPGS, Dating Sims, and some otherwise softcore digital adventures. The best selling games in Japan had a more mature theme if you know what I mean...

Now here we are 400 years later and in today's retro gaming world the PC-FX is barely an afterthought, but somehow we have gotten a few brilliant folks out there doing fan-translations for us avid fans! Giving even those without the ability to read or speak Japanese a chance to try some of these obscure games!

Most recently the very curious survival horror in space game: Team Innocent: The Point of No Return was fan-translated in English!! I have attempted a few times in the past to play this one with a gamefaq or guide but was never very successful in my attempts, however with this incredible translation I was able to sit down and give this an honest effort! I even streamed and recorded my efforts finishing the game here!

I give my thoughts on the game as I play through it, however I will say this now that I've had time to reflect a bit. It's honestly pretty decent for being one of the pioneer games of the genre. TI predates Resident Evil by nearly two years, and has many of the same play mechanics found in Capcom's beloved series. Complete with tank controls, jump scares and fairly adult themes with gore and violence. As a whole I'm happy to have experienced the game, and would recommend it to any PC-FX fan out there.

This game is a PC-FX exclusive, so no luck finding ports on the Saturn or Playstation, however I would say if this game WAS released for either of those systems it would easily get lost in the shuffle as only a slightly above average action game. The cutscenes are great, the still image shots of various locals in the game are well done, and the tank controls are.. well, as tanky as ever! Once you get used to navigating diverse environments, solving puzzles, and overcoming enemies and traps, it's a pretty simple game to wrap your head around. The game features detailed rendered backdrops and an eye-catching intro.

The 3 missions come complete with maps to follow and fetch quests throughout to carry you through the story. The story goes something like this; —Saki, Lilis, and Arial—were genetically engineered fifteen years ago by Cronus Enhancer at the Tone Lab. Since then, the GF Police have trained them into a formidable special operations team. There's a few twists and turns along the way where the girls find out who their father or creator is and it's a whole thing with a big exploding space ship climax at the end and all sorts of chaos! Give it a shot if you've got a CD burner and a PC-FX just waiting to get played!