"A fantastic world filled with fun and mystery"

There really isn't anything in this game that really stands outs. For the most part it seems rather average, but it is still alot of fun. Now since I think I am giving the only review of this game here I'll try to be thorough.

If you've done any research on the game at all you know that the dongeons are randomly generated. Meaning that every time you go into one the map will be different and items will be in different places. But as a result of this randomality he graphics in the dongeon suffer. Once you've seen one floor of the dongeon you've seen every floor. Luckily to prevent you from getting lost in these catacombs where everything looks alike, they have provided a splendid map. It everywhere you've been on that floor on the center of the screen (it's transparent so it doesn't get in the way).

Now then your partners. It has a bit of a pokemonish appeal to it.....no don't run away!! Come back here and let me explain! after a short while you learn the capsule attack which allows you to capture any monster you're fighting (except bosses). Then you can take out your partners and use them like you would your normal character. They will level up, get new skills, get higher ranks, and so forth just like your guy. Yes Singular, moving on.

You can only have one person at a time. You start off using this guy named Sword, but as the game progresses it will switch to the veiwpoint of someone else in the world. They too can capture any monster and they share the same inventory you do, including your monster pals. So the monsters are the only real partners you can have. No biggie though.

Now one of the more unique aspects of the game is the leveling method. Whenever you enter a dongeon you start off at Level 1. Whenever you leave a dongeon most of your skills, and spells that you've learned by leaveling up disapear and you start back from square one. On the overworld you have no level since there are no enemies. However you don't start completely from scratch every time you go into a place. Whenever you finish a dongeon you often times get a new rank, and learn new permanent skills. You start off with your rank as ''weakling'' but as you gon on you get more manly titles. Your monsters are the same way. They can learn new permanent skills that they will have whenever they enter a dongeon, but they go back to level 1. You do get to keep whatever items you find in a dongeon though. However most 1 time use items are rather useless. You see how many items you can carry at once depends on your level. So when you first enter a dongeon and you're at level 1, you can only carry 4 items. So you can only enter a dongeon with 4 items of your choice. Which will usually be weapons and armor. So if you don't use all of your fruits and stones before you leave a dongeon, chances are you never will.

The Music in the game isn't anything spectacular but it is good none the less. It is always fitting, and never annoying. The sounds are few and standard (sword slashing, armor clanging, montser groaning) but they get the job done. Nothing to write home about.

I love the setting and the story. The story is very simple, and isn't something that will have you scratching your head or playing to find out more, but I rather like a good simple story. I get kinda tired of Xenogears, and final Fantasy 7 omniPlots, where there are a hundred different things happening and you don't understand any of them. This is how the story goes. You start off as this guy sword wondering the world. It gives a bried vague flashback that shows him leaving home to travel the world. Then suddenly you're attacked by this knight. Sowrd easily defeats him, and the knight retreats into a clock tower. Sword chases him there, but when he gets to the top of the tower the only thing he can find is a book on a table. So curiosly he opens it up and flips through the pages. Then there is a bright flash of light and and wakes up on the floor of the clock tower. Kinda confused he leaves only to find he is in this bizarre world where all time periods collide. Nobody knows how they got there, or what the place is, but they continue living there lives as best they can in this strange place. That brings me to the world itself. It is a fantastic place. It's made up of many islands put together floating around in the sky. You'll be in a midevil village one second then you'll cross a bridge and be in a futuristc techno world, a hope skip and a jump away and you'll be in a prehistoric place filled with volcanos and cave men. Each world is very cozy with only a couple of buildings and people in each, but every person in each world has a name and personality. You just grow to love everybody through out the game.

My only real complaint is that the game is too short. There are only 9 dongeons and you only HAVE to go through each one once. Though there is this guy Noiman (a cortoon rabbit from the cartoon island) who can give you missions to go on in the dongeons. Doing this can get you new weapons and armor and money. So you may find yourself going through a place more than once, but you only HAVE to go through them once. So if you don't take the time to have a look around, and try to find items then the game would be over very quickly.

I recomend you rent it. It's alot of fun, but it's entirely too short. I enjoyed playing it myslef, and I'm just sad that I won't be able to go on any more adventures with Sword, Rao, Nigel, Friday and the rest of the gang. Sad I can no longer visit that fantastic world to see how everyone's life is doing. Well I can but they will no longer say anything new. Well I think this is thorough enough.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/04/00, Updated 05/04/00