Time Stalkers

"Deep Characters and an underated game!"

This game is incredible! Seeing others reviews for it kind of upsets me, as I feel they don't give this game justice. Time Stalkers, a ''random dungeon'' game like Evolution, is by far the best Dreamcast RPG yet, and stands out well. It's highly developed characters (and familiar ones at that) and plot are beautifully done, as is the scenery that surrounds Sword and his allies' journey. Trapped in a world by some unknown force after reading an unusual book, Sword starts his adventures to find a way out.

Graphics are highly superior to Evolution, which is really the only other game to compare this to, and the scenery is simply beautiful. In particular, the ''lower lands'' area is stunning. The dungeons are also well made,
with lots of detail despite their randomness. Character art.. will look extremely, extremely familiar to Shining Force fans. In other words, yes, the great artists from
Shining Force are back! The characters are all different
and unique.

The characters themselves are perhaps the greatest thing about this game. There are so many events and interactions between the characters, you could be looking for days to find them all. I hear people from IGN complaining about how this is. Well, if you actually PLAY the game, it's quite fun to watch characters develop a relationship. The game spans different times and worlds, so a beastman meeting with a Dick Tracy-like gangster isn't uncommon. There are some characters from the Shining series here, as well! Most importantly, PYRA!! Pyra from Shining in the Darkness, the first of the hugely long Shining series! Also, Yogurt makes a guest appearence! Could this get any better? Yep. The character profiles section reveals various game references. Check out ''Akane''. I feel that the 6 main characters could use a bit more development, though..

The music is perfectly fitting, as are the sound effects. There isn't really much to add here. The music fits per dungeon or character and the sound effects, er, sound realistic. Again, this is kind of hard to comment on.

The random dungeon engine is great in this game. Unlike Evolution, the dungeons are FUN to explore! Hey, that's a new one! Items are all about, and the unique Hunger Meter and Item Search features will send you dungeon-searching again and again. It's also kind of like Azure Dreams, which makes a whole lot of people complain. They obviously haven't played long enough. Your character's level gets reset to 1 after each dungeon. Ouch, right? Wrong. A ''Title'' system (ie: Knight, King) gives your character new skills and spells that they can take with them no matter what level they are. I've read a reviewer's comment: ''Why should I bother changing characters if I just get reset to 1?''. Well.. I dunno.. could it be that they are DIFFERENT IN EVERY FREAKING WAY!? Nigel sure can cast them spells well, can't he? Oh yeah, he's great at it, just like Pyra is at launching missiles from her forehead. Massive sarcasm on those last two sentances (cough).

People, it is a CRIME to not play this game. Buy it now, and save yourself a lot of regret.

- Gotenks

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/22/00, Updated 05/22/00