Knights of Xentar

"A Very Perverted (Yet Rather Fun) RPG Spoof"

Many have called Knights of Xentar a ''hentai'' game, which roughly means anime-style porn. It is true that there are many scenes of half-naked anime girls, and countless explicit sexual allusions in this game, but it is far from being just an excuse for half-naked anime girls and lots of sex. Knights of Xentar's other, more serious side produces a somewhat serious RPG that has a somewhat serious storyline and a rather fun gameplay system.


Graphics: 6/10. The graphics are quite outdated, and look very much like the graphics for the NES Dragon Warrior/Quest games. However, the anime cut scenes (which are all of either half-naked anime girls or extremely hideous looking demons) are all very nicely drawn and the battle graphics are quite entertaining and colorful. Overall, while the quality is lacking for the capability of a PC during the time this game was released, the artistic talent that went into the anime is quite impressive.


Music: 8/10. For a spoof, Knights of Xentar offers some very nicely done music. There are a number of different battle themes, and a boss theme that's quite stirring. There's a great variety of town music (some of which is really pretty catchy--not just the usual old ''quiet town'' mix). The overworld theme even changes halfway through, and becomes most exciting and desperate. I was highly impressed. And, of course, there's the ''making love'' theme which is appropriately steamy and seductive. You'll memorize it, because it plays over and over and over again. ^_~


Sound: 2/10. Most of the sound in Knights of Xentar revolves around the optional voice acting. It is, by far, the worst voice acting I've heard in my life. I don't know if words can sum up how dreadful it is. Luckily, as I mentioned before, it's optional, so whatever you do, DON'T INSTALL THE VOICE ACTING PATCH! The rest of the sound is satisfactory.


Storyline: 5/10. The storyline, once you fully understand it, basically just amounts to the usual old good vs. evil business. It does, however, offer some relatively new spins on the old story here and there, and a few unexpected plot twists concerning some of the characters. A few things do seem to come out of left field and could have used a more solid explanation at points, though. I tend to think the makers of this game wanted to make it as such so they could have fun parodizing the RPG plot cliches. There's so much comedy in Xentar surrounding would-be serious events, it's hard to take much of anything seriously. This isn't necessarily bad--I found myself laughing harder at this game's humor than any other RPG humor I've seen. If you take it as a spoof, not a diehard, serious RPG, then its perversions and comedies are really quite funny. If you play into this game far enough, you'll probably have to do a double-take with some of these scenes and think to yourself, ''Oh my God, did they really SAY that!?!? Did they actually DO that!?!? I can't believe it!!'' That's right...shock value can be pretty high in this one, kids.


Characters: 9/10. The cast of Knights of Xentar is surprisingly well done (for comical, spoof characters, that is). The three main characters of the game are in constant conversation in dungeons and towns, and you really get to know their absurd, perverted, and downright weird personalities very well. Their interactions with eachother are all great, too. Each character has a different relationship with the others, and the way they converse always manages to be highly, highly entertaining. Their personalities compliment eachother very well in terms of comedy. Trust me on this one. I'd actually have to say they're more well developed in many ways than the casts of a lot of other RPGs that AREN'T meant to be spoofs.


Gameplay: 6/10. The gameplay is mostly pretty fun. The battles are done in partial auto-mode, where your characters attack free of your commands. You can, however, select which spells and items to use, when to use them, and select AI commands that determine just how your characters fight and attack. Overall, it was somewhat more simplistic than the traditional system of combat, but also had a unique feel because of this. You fight a lot of battles on the overworld, many of which can be pretty tough. This game is NOT a walk in the park, but it's not overly taxing. The dungeons are all very long and rather confusing in areas, but I must complain about the fact that there are so few of them. Knights of Xentar is rather short, and can be beaten in about 15 hours. There weren't nearly as many dungeons as in other RPGs, and I would have liked to have seen this entertaining game extended to perhaps a 50+ hour experience. Concerning secrets, there are actually quite a few of them. Some are very, very well-hidden, too. It pays to explore every little nook and cranny, and revisit towns when a new character joins you. It's enough to keep you busy searching around even after beating the game.


Overall, while Knights of Xentar is not as diehard and serious as most other console-style RPGs on the market, it manages to be interesting enough to keep a RPG fanatic going from beginning to end. It's highly perverted and has lots and lots of sex and half-naked anime girls (how many times have I used that term so far?), so if you're the sort of person who think sex is evil and hates randy humor, you might want to fear this game. However, if you like such things, then look no further. If you're just looking for hentai and don't care about the actual game, then I would also recommend you avoid this game, because as aforementioned, it's far from just another excuse for hentai (though you seem to run into it repeatedly). Ultimately, if you can manage to take Knights of Xentar as a spoof, look past a bunch of softcore hentai (or at it, if that sort of thing floats your boat) and you'll find a comical and entertaining little RPG.

NOTE: I understand that Megatech, the company that brought over Knights of Xentar from Japan, has gone out of business and can no longer sell copies of this game. Therefore, the only LEGAL way to get ahold of it would be to find it at a used game store.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/17/00, Updated 06/17/00