On Demon's Crest:

Zack, there's a life jewel in the intro stage that requires the Buster fire. there's also a vial you can miss that's down in a pit in the intro stage.

The Claw fire is a holdover item from Gargoyle's Quest 2. what it actually allows you to do is to shoot a sticky membrane onto spikes and then cling to them as if they were a normal wall that you could climb by using the standard jumping and hovering. There's also the Whirlwind fire that allows Firebrand to shoot short ranged tornadoes that can be used as platforms. Both of these were very useful in a game where the wing gauge existed and there weren't the crest transformations, but the Wind Crest immediately renders things like the Whirlwind and claw fires useless outside of combat purposes.

The plodding pace is actually quite comparable to Mutant Mudds, particularly when you start facing the secret boss or other such things.

That being said, I also respect Zack's review score. The game does have problems. it IS obtuse. you'd NEVER know what the heck the talismans do or where the heck some of the alternate paths or items are. the Optional Boss and the final boss also suffer from having WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much HP.

There's a character in the town that tells you what the talisman you have equipped does.

I want to empathize with the frustration, I understand the game's secrets are obscure, and some things aren't explained. I tell myself that maybe I put up with it just because I was a kid with all the time in the world to play it. Perhaps my experience is colored by that.

But then I remember I figured everything out by myself, without the help of magazines. The internet wasn't around. Miiverse certainly wasn't a thing. So maybe I shouldn't doubt my opinion so much. Maybe the problem is the complainers.

@ClexYoshi: That's basically what I'm saying--the holdover items (Claw & Tornado) have no purpose in this game after you get the Wind Crest. And if memory serves, you only need Tornado to get the Wind Crest. And why don't your fire abilities stack? Why do I have to equip the Buster attack? At least let me switch equipment with L or R!

Also, the wolf boss on the ice mountain level? WAAAAAAY too much HP. Good lord.

@Guillaume, I think we're approaching this from different viewpoints. When I was thirteen, I agree, I had all the time in the world to figure this stuff out. There are plenty of games that were obscure as hell that I powered through because I had the time and the energy to do it. But I'm 32 now. I don't want to have to work at it to enjoy something. If I'm getting frustrated by a game, I can look at the Internet or Miiverse, sure, and I'm glad you can because otherwise I would've given up on Demon's Crest pretty quickly.

The point is, I have a lot of games I could be playing that I immediately enjoy. That don't require any level of "figuring out." I have no desire to put a bunch of work into a game in order to begin enjoying it. It should be enjoyable from the word "go." The whole time I was playing Demon's Crest, I kept thinking "I just switch over to Bayonetta."