"This game needs to die. Good job. Now die again"

Alright... where to begin with this circular piece of plastic called a ''game''. quotes. Notice the quotes. quotations there. Anyhow... This game actually started quite fun... until you're stuck in a very simple puzzle for three hours.

Graphics: 6
Not bad.. not too good. Well at least what you can see of the graphics. The view is so far away you can barely see yourself (actually at some points you can't see yourself at all) It seems like they tried to put the same view as Final Fantasy 7... zoomed out 300% and forgot to make the camera move. Often you'll be attacking something that you can't really see and before you hit this one little enemy you're about dead. Character design are lacking... so are enemies. But hey, the motions flow very smoothly. Oh... I forgot to mention the menu. The items aren't very detailed (what you can see of them) and the text is rather microscopic as well. Actually all the text and items in the game are small. Very very small.

Sound: 5
Ouch... not too impressed by the sound. The music is ok and the sound effects are... well.. ok. Just listen to a cd or somethin while you play. Then the sound'll be great. Unless you listen to polka or something...

Controls: 3
Aaaahhh... the controls... The controls are sometimes quite uncontrollable. The menu systems really sucks. It's a big ring with different sections into which items are separated. Then there's subsections... and more subsections... then... *GASP! SHOCK! AMAZE!* more subsections. It gets a little frustrating when you're using magic, then you wanna switch to a sword, then to daggers or a bow, then an item. Often times in the menu it's hard to even use an item. This game just get's worse and worse... then... more worse (or something)

Gameplay!! 4
Now this is where the game really shines!!! You start off in a town with no houses, roads, or anything. There's only one place you can go, and it's barely visible. Then you get to kill off little green and black blobs while you, the gray blob, gets to swing this little line around trying to kill before you are killed. Then after that you can heal yourself in the inn that doesn't exist anywhere in the game and try to find your way out of another maze (good thing enemies actually drop healing items). After finding your way out of that maze... o wait... you can't find your way out of that maze. ever. Of course it doesn't really matter because the enemies will regenerate and you can fight forever! How fun is that huh?

Actually the fighting isn't that bad, but it does get tiring when you are stuck in one place forever and there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go.

Also... some of the items you find don't seem to have a purpose or you can't find where to use em. For example, there's a hammer or something you have to use to open a door. In a town way back in a back alley is this brownish gold thing called ''a bell'' that you have to hit with the hammer to open a door all the way on the other side of the town (even though there's a door right in front of you.)

Magic can also be a pain. You can't use magic and a weapon at the same time (I don't think) and magic take up too much mp to be of much use... or maybe it's the fact that you only have about 30 mp. Bows and throwing daggers can be kinda fun however.

OVERALL!: 4!!
What?! After all that criticism a 4?! A half-way decent score!?!? Yeah this game isn't all that bad. The fighting is actually kinda of fun (except for bosses, in which you sometimes have to use the same attack over and over to kill him) The environment really aren't all that bad, and if you use a FAQ to find your way out of puzzles (or maybe you don't need to) the game is actually kinda fun. And for $10 or less, it'll give you a few days of fun. Or maybe even a week. or few months... Who knows. $10 isn't that much, so pick it up and give it a shot. It's no House of the Dead 2, but at least it isn't blue stinger.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/03, Updated 06/12/03