Record of Lodoss War

"When Diablo meets Marmo"

This game is an invitation back to the world of Forceria, a typical heroic fantasy place imagined only for the classic anime everyone has to see at least once in their lives. History repeats itself: no one has forgotten the fight between the six legendary heroes and the ancient demon king for the safety of Lodoss, yet another mystery force is already threatening the nation. After the death of the two royal figures respectively reigning on the main continent of Lodoss and on the dark island of Marmo, chaos started to rule the kingdom. The great wizard Wart, one of the aforementioned heroes, is now too old to fight the dragon himself: he brought back to life a strong warrior who has no recollection of his previous life but has the potential to save the nation and determine the destiny of a legend: you.

A timeless legend. An epic adventure.

This is how the talented Kakukawa Shoten team introduces you to the -cliched, complex and sometimes confusing- plot of the game. But I have to admit it follows nicely the story of the anime, and that it creates an interesting epic tone that pushes the player to play more and more, waiting for the next chapter of the legend to be told. But the story isn't the only addictive part of the game: its gameplay, although uninspired, will make you spend countless sleepless nights in front of your screen trying to boost the stats of your character.

Let's get directly to the point: indeed, this game seems to be screaming: ''I'm a Diablo rip-off!'' But is that a good reason to depreciate it? Diablo created a genre -that is generally referred to as hack n'slash- and every game that belongs to it will suffer the fate of being called a shameless copy. This game proposes an adventure that will lead you to visit unknown lands and dungeons in a pseudo 3d environment... How original!

However, the weapon system is what saves Record of Lodoss War from being labeled as just another worthless license game. The player is offered an incredible number of options to create his own weapons and give them magic properties. And keep in mind that it is necessary to understand how this system works to go far in this game.

Record of Lodoss War is not an easy game. It is very time consuming, and requires lots of thinking and strategy, contrary to what it seems. You will see the 'game over' screen very often, and might even throw a few controllers across the room in anger. But you'll always come back to it, if only to create the strongest hero on Forceria. Besides, this game is pretty long: count at least 30 hours to see the end, and there are tons of other things to do on the island of Marmo.

Thankfully the controls are extremely responsive. The layout is simple: one button to attack, another one to pick up objects or perform a special action, and finally a command to use objects. The overall simplicity of the game makes it accessible to anyone, from to rpg fans to mainstream gamers. Sadly, the game suffers from huge slowdown when a great number of monsters appear on screen, which is a shame that makes your journey through Forceria far less enjoyable.

Technically, Record of Lodoss War is nothing special: while the graphics are detailed and varied enough, they don't compare to the best-looking titles on Dreamcast at all. Don't expect to be blown away by this game: it is far from using the full potential of the system. The textures are not particularly impressive, and so is the animation. The characters are ridiculously small and look very bland during close-ups. Even the cinematic sequences aren't impressive: they lack detail and colors. If it weren't for the original design of some monsters and a few special effects, Record of Lodoss War probably wouldn't look out of place on PlayStation.

Fans of the anime might also have a hard time recognizing their cherished imaginary kingdom: the story is unfolded very slowly, and the fact that you don't play as Parn will surely frustrate some otakus at first. Still, you will meet many familiar faces through the game, and will get a unique opportunity to visit the island of Marmo -which was only partially shown in the anime- by yourself. The game takes a much darker approach to the world of Lodoss, but this is not necessarily a bad thing: it provides the game with a unique ambiance.

The music is rather interesting: it sounds epic and is very motivating, yet you don't hear it too much. Fights or key moments are accompanied by intense tunes that contribute to the peculiar atmosphere of this title, but very often the only music you'll hear is the sound of the wind in the trees or the grunts of some orcs passing by. There are only few voice samples, but they are of good quality: Wart's accent is very plausible, for instance.

Overall, Record of Lodoss War is a very good old-school game. It's enjoyable, addictive, long and simple: these are qualities that very few recent games seem to have, and they make up for the weak graphics. Meeting the characters of the anime will be a blast for the fans -for once they won't even have to import- and non-adepts can also enjoy what could be defined as a 'console Diablo'. If you can find this game, get it by all means, it should be rather cheap by now. Renting it wouldn't do the game justice as it only picks up after a few hours, like most rpgs. If you have ever dreamed of charming beautiful elves and fighting fierce dragons, don't pass on this one...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/01, Updated 02/02/03