robotbling
Joined Dec 2011
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(www.plasticpals.com) Alundra 2 ditches the 2D visuals and dark subject matter of the original in favor of 3D graphics and a comical adventure story. However, the action RPG game play of the original is largely kept intact, including Alundra's heavy focus on platforming. In this game, a pirate hunter named Flint becomes embroiled in a conspiracy masterminded by Baron Diaz, who is attempting to usurp the throne a neighboring kingdom and steal its legendary treasures.
Game Play
Gone are the various sub-weapons and most of the secondary items, but you'll upgrade your basic sword and shield and gain access to elemental rings which can be used on enemies and traps as well as summon powerful screen-filling attacks. For example, you may need to pick up and place bombs and then shoot one with the fire elemental to cause a series of chained explosions. You'll also find puzzle pieces scattered throughout the game world. These can be traded with a swordsman who teaches Flint how to add extra moves to his regular one-hit attack.
The transition to 3D works OK for the most part, since the designers kept things simple by using an overhead perspective, rather than going with the more ambitious style of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The biggest issue is that the collision boxes on enemies and bosses seem a bit too big, and as a result you'll often get hurt when you move in close to score a hit even if the enemy is simply standing still. This can feel a bit cheap at times, especially since enemies deal much more damage to you than you do to them. The game balances this out by allowing you to carry tons of healing items, but it's not ideal.
Presentation
Unlike most PlayStation RPGs, this game doesn't have any flashy animated video sequences. Instead, all the cut-scenes are presented using the in-game graphics engine. This wouldn't be a problem (and can even be preferable, as it ensures visual consistency), except the character models look pretty bad when seen up close, and the animation is also very choppy. That said, the characters and enemies look OK from a distance and are more detailed than the ones in Brave Fencer Musashi.
The cut-scenes are mildly amusing, with a light-hearted Saturday morning cartoon vibe throughout the adventure, helped by voices that suit the characters. The music is about average, though it can get repetitive since there aren't that many tracks.
Challenge
Alundra 2 fixes many of the issues I had with the first game. There are some tricky puzzles in this game, but they usually don't require expert jumping or timing, and they never throw randomness into the mix. And, unlike the first game, most switches automatically reset if you fail so you don't have to leave the room to reset them.
There are a couple of areas where the game does feel a bit unfair, though. The chase sequence in the Giant Bull, for example, has you racing down a winding path while avoiding pitfalls. Similar to levels in Crash Bandicoot, Flint runs towards the camera, preventing you from seeing what is ahead of him until the last second. The camera should have been positioned further away from him to give the player more time to react. Luckily the game gives you frequent checkpoints in this section, which mitigates the problem.
Conclusion
Many fans of the original Alundra really hated this game, mainly because it has nothing to do with the events or characters of the first game, but I came away enjoying it much more. Alundra 2 may be rough around the edges, but it's nowhere near as frustrating as the original. Sure, it doesn't make a very good first impression, but if you stick with it there are some surprisingly good dungeons and puzzles in the latter half of the game that are worth completing.
The polygonal graphics are serviceable at best and as I mentioned there are issues with the collision detection on enemies, but considering this was Matrix Software's first attempt at 3D, it certainly could have been a lot worse. If judged as its own entity, Alundra 2 can easily hold its own against other PS1 3D Action RPGs like Brave Fencer Musashi and Threads of Fate, but it's certainly no Zelda-killer.
Game Play
Gone are the various sub-weapons and most of the secondary items, but you'll upgrade your basic sword and shield and gain access to elemental rings which can be used on enemies and traps as well as summon powerful screen-filling attacks. For example, you may need to pick up and place bombs and then shoot one with the fire elemental to cause a series of chained explosions. You'll also find puzzle pieces scattered throughout the game world. These can be traded with a swordsman who teaches Flint how to add extra moves to his regular one-hit attack.
The transition to 3D works OK for the most part, since the designers kept things simple by using an overhead perspective, rather than going with the more ambitious style of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The biggest issue is that the collision boxes on enemies and bosses seem a bit too big, and as a result you'll often get hurt when you move in close to score a hit even if the enemy is simply standing still. This can feel a bit cheap at times, especially since enemies deal much more damage to you than you do to them. The game balances this out by allowing you to carry tons of healing items, but it's not ideal.
Presentation
Unlike most PlayStation RPGs, this game doesn't have any flashy animated video sequences. Instead, all the cut-scenes are presented using the in-game graphics engine. This wouldn't be a problem (and can even be preferable, as it ensures visual consistency), except the character models look pretty bad when seen up close, and the animation is also very choppy. That said, the characters and enemies look OK from a distance and are more detailed than the ones in Brave Fencer Musashi.
The cut-scenes are mildly amusing, with a light-hearted Saturday morning cartoon vibe throughout the adventure, helped by voices that suit the characters. The music is about average, though it can get repetitive since there aren't that many tracks.
Challenge
Alundra 2 fixes many of the issues I had with the first game. There are some tricky puzzles in this game, but they usually don't require expert jumping or timing, and they never throw randomness into the mix. And, unlike the first game, most switches automatically reset if you fail so you don't have to leave the room to reset them.
There are a couple of areas where the game does feel a bit unfair, though. The chase sequence in the Giant Bull, for example, has you racing down a winding path while avoiding pitfalls. Similar to levels in Crash Bandicoot, Flint runs towards the camera, preventing you from seeing what is ahead of him until the last second. The camera should have been positioned further away from him to give the player more time to react. Luckily the game gives you frequent checkpoints in this section, which mitigates the problem.
Conclusion
Many fans of the original Alundra really hated this game, mainly because it has nothing to do with the events or characters of the first game, but I came away enjoying it much more. Alundra 2 may be rough around the edges, but it's nowhere near as frustrating as the original. Sure, it doesn't make a very good first impression, but if you stick with it there are some surprisingly good dungeons and puzzles in the latter half of the game that are worth completing.
The polygonal graphics are serviceable at best and as I mentioned there are issues with the collision detection on enemies, but considering this was Matrix Software's first attempt at 3D, it certainly could have been a lot worse. If judged as its own entity, Alundra 2 can easily hold its own against other PS1 3D Action RPGs like Brave Fencer Musashi and Threads of Fate, but it's certainly no Zelda-killer.
(www.plasticpals.com) On the surface Alundra looks like a garden-variety Zelda clone, but at heart it shares more in common with Landstalker (SEGA Genesis), featuring challenging jumping puzzles not found in the Zelda franchise. That's no surprise as many of Alundra's development team came from Climax Entertainment, the company behind Landstalker and several other classic 16-bit RPGs. It's known for its above-average difficulty and its beautiful 2D graphics.
Story
Alundra, an adventurer with the ability to enter people's dreams, washes up on shore near a small town. It turns out the townspeople are afflicted with strange nightmares that can kill them, so Alundra enters their dreams to fend off a mysterious evil power. As an outsider the townspeople don't always trust him, but later he is joined by a fellow Dreamwalker named Meia who helps him fight off the demon.
While it may not have the most sophisticated characters or storyline, the narrative thread it weaves is commendable given typical genre fare. As usual the localization by Working Designs attempts to throw some humour in here and there, but thankfully doesn't go too far.
Game Play
Alundra is fairly typical of the genre: he can move in eight directions, and fights primarily with a sword (and several other weapons, items, and magic spells). Genre staples such as bombs and health upgrades are also present and accounted for, but bombs and arrows are unlimited and aren't terribly useful outside of a few specific situations. Instead the game play focuses primarily on tricky jumping and switch puzzles. While you'll explore several nightmares (which function like dungeons), the rest of the game takes place within the typical overworld / dungeon layout.
Standard enemies are a bit tougher than in most other games, often defending themselves using shells or shields and taking multiple hits to die. On the other hand the bosses tend to be fairly easy, usually relying on simple and repetitive patterns and large area-of-effect attacks, and can be killed with a few well-timed spells. Some of the bosses are even recycled multiple times, which feels a bit cheap, but at least they look fairly impressive for the most part. Presentation
This is probably one of the best looking 2D games of the 32-bit generation, with lots of gorgeous detail in the environments and characters. However, the game does fall a bit short in the animation department, especially when compared to the likes of The Legend of Oasis on the Sega Saturn. There isn't much in the way of 32-bit flair other than the animated videos which bookend the game, but what's here has aged gracefully over the last 17 years. The game's soundtrack is about average.
Challenge & Replay Value
Jumping is often the most challenging part of Alundra's puzzles, and the root cause of much frustration. Unlike Landstalker, which had an isometric perspective, Alundra has a more traditional top-down view that makes judging your footing a bit easier, but you still have to be extremely precise.
The game also gives you the feeling of being too strict with regards to its collision detection and timing, and it can feel outright unfair in some situations – such as puzzles that rely on random chance or that have ridiculously opaque solutions. There's a room in the game, for example, where you have to dislodge swinging wrecking balls from their supports to be used as platforms. Unfortunately for the player, this requires extremely precise timing and a lot of luck, as the wrecking balls roll in wildly different directions and cannot be pushed or moved after they have come loose.
In another room the game literally throws chance at the player to catch a barrel dropped randomly from one of four hatches, three of which are traps that will hurt you. You need to catch three barrels to complete the puzzle, but after a certain number of tries the trap stops dropping them (forcing you to leave the room to reset the puzzle). Since you'll be taking damage from failed attempts, it feels like a war of attrition.
In these situations the game simply isn't much fun to play, and the traps feel like a cheap way to force the player into using up their healing items. If this was limited to just one or two areas in the game it would be excusable, but this sadistic design sensibility rears its ugly head on a regular basis. Unfortunately many players won't have the patience to see the game through to the end, and it does little to entice a second play through. This is a shame, as there are some very cleverly designed areas and puzzles sprinkled here and there that help to balance out the experience, if you can suffer through it. Conclusion
If Alundra's difficulty and general design was a bit more fair and balanced, it would qualify as a genuine classic. Sadly, this is simply not the case: where it ought to be challenging and fun, it is borderline unfair and frustrating. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is a bad game, it just has its priorities mixed up. The fun part of solving a puzzle is figuring out what needs to be done, but Alundra's designers preferred making it as hard as possible to execute what are often immediately obvious solutions. You'll catch glimpses of brilliance here and there throughout its 30 hour quest, but doing so will require an awful lot of patience.
You may be surprised to learn I would still recommend it. For one thing, it'll give you an even better appreciation for just how incredibly balanced the Zelda games are, and it's a good back-up if you're running out of the better traditional 2D action RPGs.
Story
Alundra, an adventurer with the ability to enter people's dreams, washes up on shore near a small town. It turns out the townspeople are afflicted with strange nightmares that can kill them, so Alundra enters their dreams to fend off a mysterious evil power. As an outsider the townspeople don't always trust him, but later he is joined by a fellow Dreamwalker named Meia who helps him fight off the demon.
While it may not have the most sophisticated characters or storyline, the narrative thread it weaves is commendable given typical genre fare. As usual the localization by Working Designs attempts to throw some humour in here and there, but thankfully doesn't go too far.
Game Play
Alundra is fairly typical of the genre: he can move in eight directions, and fights primarily with a sword (and several other weapons, items, and magic spells). Genre staples such as bombs and health upgrades are also present and accounted for, but bombs and arrows are unlimited and aren't terribly useful outside of a few specific situations. Instead the game play focuses primarily on tricky jumping and switch puzzles. While you'll explore several nightmares (which function like dungeons), the rest of the game takes place within the typical overworld / dungeon layout.
Standard enemies are a bit tougher than in most other games, often defending themselves using shells or shields and taking multiple hits to die. On the other hand the bosses tend to be fairly easy, usually relying on simple and repetitive patterns and large area-of-effect attacks, and can be killed with a few well-timed spells. Some of the bosses are even recycled multiple times, which feels a bit cheap, but at least they look fairly impressive for the most part. Presentation
This is probably one of the best looking 2D games of the 32-bit generation, with lots of gorgeous detail in the environments and characters. However, the game does fall a bit short in the animation department, especially when compared to the likes of The Legend of Oasis on the Sega Saturn. There isn't much in the way of 32-bit flair other than the animated videos which bookend the game, but what's here has aged gracefully over the last 17 years. The game's soundtrack is about average.
Challenge & Replay Value
Jumping is often the most challenging part of Alundra's puzzles, and the root cause of much frustration. Unlike Landstalker, which had an isometric perspective, Alundra has a more traditional top-down view that makes judging your footing a bit easier, but you still have to be extremely precise.
The game also gives you the feeling of being too strict with regards to its collision detection and timing, and it can feel outright unfair in some situations – such as puzzles that rely on random chance or that have ridiculously opaque solutions. There's a room in the game, for example, where you have to dislodge swinging wrecking balls from their supports to be used as platforms. Unfortunately for the player, this requires extremely precise timing and a lot of luck, as the wrecking balls roll in wildly different directions and cannot be pushed or moved after they have come loose.
In another room the game literally throws chance at the player to catch a barrel dropped randomly from one of four hatches, three of which are traps that will hurt you. You need to catch three barrels to complete the puzzle, but after a certain number of tries the trap stops dropping them (forcing you to leave the room to reset the puzzle). Since you'll be taking damage from failed attempts, it feels like a war of attrition.
In these situations the game simply isn't much fun to play, and the traps feel like a cheap way to force the player into using up their healing items. If this was limited to just one or two areas in the game it would be excusable, but this sadistic design sensibility rears its ugly head on a regular basis. Unfortunately many players won't have the patience to see the game through to the end, and it does little to entice a second play through. This is a shame, as there are some very cleverly designed areas and puzzles sprinkled here and there that help to balance out the experience, if you can suffer through it. Conclusion
If Alundra's difficulty and general design was a bit more fair and balanced, it would qualify as a genuine classic. Sadly, this is simply not the case: where it ought to be challenging and fun, it is borderline unfair and frustrating. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is a bad game, it just has its priorities mixed up. The fun part of solving a puzzle is figuring out what needs to be done, but Alundra's designers preferred making it as hard as possible to execute what are often immediately obvious solutions. You'll catch glimpses of brilliance here and there throughout its 30 hour quest, but doing so will require an awful lot of patience.
You may be surprised to learn I would still recommend it. For one thing, it'll give you an even better appreciation for just how incredibly balanced the Zelda games are, and it's a good back-up if you're running out of the better traditional 2D action RPGs.
(www.plasticpals.com) CyberConnect's Tail Concerto is a cute little 3D action platformer for the original PlayStation starring anthropomorphic dogs and cats designed by Nobuteru Yuki (probably most famous for his character designs in the television series Escaflowne). It's the first game in the company's imaginative Little Tail Bronx series, set in a steam-punk world of floating islands.
Story & Game Play The Black Cats Gang is causing havoc amongst the floating island cities of Prairie, so police-dog Waffle is called to the rescue. Along the way he'll help to uncover the mystery of the Iron Giant, a mysterious artifact from an ancient civilization.
Piloting his robot suit, Waffle can jump, shoot bubbles, and grab objects around him. In later stages he'll hover using a jet pack, cling to mesh ceilings, and climb on pipes to get around. Unfortunately most of these mechanics aren't fully explored, as the game is simply too short to get the most out of them.
There's also a bit of an RPG feel as you can enter buildings and talk to people in the various locations. However, you can't upgrade your character's abilities or robot suit, and aside from optional red boxes which can be collected to complete a photo album, there are basically no side-quests or puzzles.
The grabbing move is mainly used to pick up items, and you can also grab and toss bombs back at enemies, but that's about it. Most of the time, you damage foes by shooting them with your bubble gun, which doesn't deal much damage.
Presentation Tail Concerto is a decent looking PlayStation game, benefiting from simple cartoony graphics. Cut scenes usually feature full voice acting, and there are frequent animated videos to punctuate major plot points (about 20 minutes in total). It's a well rounded package but nothing extraordinary compared to other games that were released around the same time.
Challenge Each of the areas you'll explore are pretty basic, so the main challenge comes from the poorly programmed camera. Sadly camera control was not mapped to the secondary joystick, and tilting the camera up and down with the L1 and L2 buttons doesn't help much. As a result, you'll end up making mistakes that should be easy to avoid, which may get a little annoying.
There were a few bosses and platforming sections which gave me some trouble, mainly due to the poor camera and somewhat sluggish controls. The game gives you plenty of opportunities to pick up continues though, so you never have to replay too much of any given segment.
Conclusion Tail Concerto isn't as fleshed out or as polished as it probably should have been, which is a real shame as the characters and world could easily support a much larger game. And while it may be aimed primarily at young children, the clunky camera will probably make it too frustrating for that demographic. Meanwhile more experienced gamers will find the game is too short and simple, clocking in at just five hours. If you can get past the problematic camera, there is an enjoyable little adventure with a big heart to be found, with little to no filler. I would still recommend you skip it and play the sequel, Solatorobo, instead.
Story & Game Play The Black Cats Gang is causing havoc amongst the floating island cities of Prairie, so police-dog Waffle is called to the rescue. Along the way he'll help to uncover the mystery of the Iron Giant, a mysterious artifact from an ancient civilization.
Piloting his robot suit, Waffle can jump, shoot bubbles, and grab objects around him. In later stages he'll hover using a jet pack, cling to mesh ceilings, and climb on pipes to get around. Unfortunately most of these mechanics aren't fully explored, as the game is simply too short to get the most out of them.
There's also a bit of an RPG feel as you can enter buildings and talk to people in the various locations. However, you can't upgrade your character's abilities or robot suit, and aside from optional red boxes which can be collected to complete a photo album, there are basically no side-quests or puzzles.
The grabbing move is mainly used to pick up items, and you can also grab and toss bombs back at enemies, but that's about it. Most of the time, you damage foes by shooting them with your bubble gun, which doesn't deal much damage.
Presentation Tail Concerto is a decent looking PlayStation game, benefiting from simple cartoony graphics. Cut scenes usually feature full voice acting, and there are frequent animated videos to punctuate major plot points (about 20 minutes in total). It's a well rounded package but nothing extraordinary compared to other games that were released around the same time.
Challenge Each of the areas you'll explore are pretty basic, so the main challenge comes from the poorly programmed camera. Sadly camera control was not mapped to the secondary joystick, and tilting the camera up and down with the L1 and L2 buttons doesn't help much. As a result, you'll end up making mistakes that should be easy to avoid, which may get a little annoying.
There were a few bosses and platforming sections which gave me some trouble, mainly due to the poor camera and somewhat sluggish controls. The game gives you plenty of opportunities to pick up continues though, so you never have to replay too much of any given segment.
Conclusion Tail Concerto isn't as fleshed out or as polished as it probably should have been, which is a real shame as the characters and world could easily support a much larger game. And while it may be aimed primarily at young children, the clunky camera will probably make it too frustrating for that demographic. Meanwhile more experienced gamers will find the game is too short and simple, clocking in at just five hours. If you can get past the problematic camera, there is an enjoyable little adventure with a big heart to be found, with little to no filler. I would still recommend you skip it and play the sequel, Solatorobo, instead.