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A worthy quest for fans of the NES era

  • Silviera
  • 08/08/2009 04:53 AM
  • 503 views
Battle System- 4/5
It's good that the battles in this game are fun. Since it is the oldest of schools, you will be spending 90%+ of your adventure staring at the battle screen. Combat is heavily influenced by Dragon Warrior (or Quest if you prefer), especially Dragon Warrior 3. In almost every way it captures the feeling of playing through those old NES games, and retains the superb balance that series itself maintained. The moment you start the game you won't be getting more than a few steps past the first town before you realize you're going to have to spend some time leveling up. You'll explore as far as you can before running home to heal, restock, and upgrade your equipment. Each trip ends up being a little longer than the last, until you finally reach the next town and the journey begins again. This game demonstrates very well that one of the oldest battle systems ever envisioned can still be a great deal of fun if constructed with care.

The game also allows you to create your own party at the beginning of the game (except the obligatory Hero of course), and unfortunately this ends up being the battle system's biggest flaw. The author has created several new classes for the game, though they tend to be quite overpowered compared to the original DW3 classes. In particular the Beserker seemed particularly insane, as he began the game with enough strength to one shot any non boss enemy he came across, an ability he retained even up to the climax of the game. The Berserker's insane power was most evident in the final boss fight, where my Hero and Wizard (who is traditionally supposed to be the main damage dealer), were routinely dealing 30s while my Berserker hit for 100s (and 270 in the case of crits). It's true the Berserker class had a few weaknesses, particularly a vulnerability to elemental damage and the fact that it was AI controlled and only used attack. However with its high hp and ability to kill whatever it was hitting, I didn't feel it balanced things out enough.

Storyline- 3/5
As with most old RPGs, there is not a great deal of a story to be had. The game begins by sending you off to strike down an evil overlord with no real explanation. It does get a bit deeper than that, and most of the story is told through the game's various villains moments before you strike them down. Things do take a rather unconventional twist at the end that I won't spoil. Essentially this was not a story that impressed me, but it was enough to keep me playing to find out what would happen next. The one minor flaw here is that I felt some of the villain monologues went on for a bit longer than they should have.

Characters- 3/5
The game is not very text heavy, the heroes are silent, and the villains are completely one dimensional. However, each town in the game is populated with an abundance of NPCs and they tend to be more animated than your standard RPG fare. You may not grow attached to anyone, unless you find yourself growing close to your blank slate heroes. That said, the towns are entertaining enough to keep you exploring.

Level Design- 3/5
Maps are rather unremarkable here, but they remain very functional. Every dungeon is a monster infested maze, and puzzles usually consist of finding a patch of dirt or a statue that is out of place. Most barriers are logical, and you'll usually instantly know if an area is accessible the moment you reach it. Clues on where to go next are often cryptic, which is typical for a game of this style. You'll need to spend a bit of time thinking and a lot more time exploring to find your way to the end. Fortunately if you look hard enough there are plenty of hints to go around, and since you're often limited in just how many places you can explore you're bound to find your way eventually. There are a few extra dungeons and other interesting surprises to be had, which definitely helps heighten the exploration element of the game. It's notable this game is very generous with treasure chests, which is not something you tended to see in these older games.

Graphics- 3/5
Everything is ripped from old Dragon Warrior games here, and it shows. Some people will undoubtedly find this style hideous, but for me it is quite tolerable. Objects are recognizable, passable tiles are clearly defined, and traps are easy to identify. The strong point here is definitely in the enemy battlers, drawn by Akira Toriyama long ago. Although most of the graphics feel completely dated, the monsters remain vibrant and colorful.

Music/Sound- 4/5
Mostly rips from the NES Dragon Warrior games. Particular care has been taken to reproduce every sound effect, which goes a long way into immersing you into the old school adventure. I have to confess to being a fan of those old soundtracks, so my scoring in this category may be a bit skewed. The one thing that bothered me was the victory music, which seemed very out of place against the chip tune style that the rest of the game revels in.

Random stuff I liked-
A collection quest involving slimes, which will force you to explore every corner in the entire world in order to complete.

Random stuff I hated-
Not a thing.

Final Thoughts-
A well crafted game that skillfully upholds the spirit of the genre it is attempting to emulate. Old school fans will undoubtedly enjoy the experience, but it is not something that will appeal to everyone.