Soulbringer

"Buyer Beware: This game gives Asperin a headache"

Graphics: Okay for it's time, but now days it'd make your graphics card feel insulted. Your clunky cardboard man trots along on a snow-covered field with pixels so big you could name them. Items are small, making them difficult to pick up, and the spell effects are anti-climactic at best. The only thing that comes close to looking cool are the fencing moves for fighting. All of them were choreographed and motion-captured, making them look realistic.

Sound: You like Shakespeare? You'd be disappointed if you did, anyways. The voice actors all sound like they've been turned down from a Hamlet audition, complete with forced British accents. The music is worse. In fact, I don't even recall there being any music. Most of what you hear through the game is your cardboard man's footsteps on the snow (which happens to be the only realistic sound in the game). This monotonous noise is punctuated (if you're lucky enough to find someone) by either the Hamlet-reject voice acting, or the clangs of a sword-fight that'll most likely end with your death.

Storyline: Judgeing from the lack of effort on the rest of the game, I'm not surprised that the story is so thrown-togethor. It's a redundant classic: You're the reincarnated hero who must rise up and face the great evil. Yawn.

Gameplay: I've never seen an RPG fail so badly at this aspect. When you click to walk, your cardboard man stumbles to change direction, gets it wrong the first two tries, and then decides to actually face the direction you clicked. This happens EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU MOVE, unless you're so fortunate to be already facing in the direction you've clicked, down to the very degree. This only hurts more in that dodgeing projectiles is a very intrinsic part of the game. And if you manage to walk correctly, finding your away around is frusterating anyways, as there are few landmarks, a black fog that obscures what's ahead, and no auto-map. And then the camera tries to throttle you by switching to the least helpful angle it can, especially when your life is in danger.
Items in the game are very small, thier only saving grace the little yellow shine each one has so you can actually see it. Picking up the item takes a good five seconds, so banish the thought of picking up the much-needed potion mid-fight. And after that, using anything you've picked up takes some learning. The game has a menu bar to the right that tries to cram every spell, item, and attack you can do onto it. Not only do you have to highlight the item, but then you have to select the specific action for that item (as if I'd do anything with an apple other than eat it).
Then there's the main feature: combat! If you thought what was happening before was bad, wait until your life is in danger! You remember the aforementioned menu bar? You have to click on one of the many attacks for each weapon (a variety of fencing moves). The attack plays out, regardless of whether or not you're actually lined up with your target. This, combined with your wimpy starting weapon and very little learning curve, make the beginning of the game near impossible to play through unless you're very dedicated.
And, frankly, I don't see any reason you should be.

An unoriginal plot supported by prissy-sounding voice acting, clunky combat and an even more awkward camera, and an eternal shroud of darkness to aid you in getting lost in large but bland levels. What more could you want in an RPG?

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/05