The Legend of Alon D'ar

"Simply Put: A Good RPG"

The Legend of Alon D'ar, is quite frankly a good game. It has it's ups and downs like any other game, but this game is a great experience. If FFX left you hungry for more PS2 RPG's, you should definitely check this one out.

--]Gameplay: 7
The gameplay itself has its ups and downs. The battle system is great, and can let you customize your characters to your liking. You can choose to make the main character a warrior, a mage, or a mix of both. The decisions you make will determine your characters title, and even his or her clothes! One of the major downs, though, is exploration. The back of the game box boasts about the miles that there are to explore. This is DEFINITELY not something to brag about. Exploring becomes tiresome and boring, and running back and forth between areas quickly becomes boring. There is a character you receive later on in the game who will allow you to use Teleport nodes located around the world, but he does not join your party until the end of the game.

--]Sound & Music: 8
One of the high points of the game...The noises made in this game are quite realistic. When it turns night while you're exploring some plains, you'll hear crickets. When you're exploring swamps you'll hear frogs. As for the music, it's also one of the games finer points. Music played while exploring is nice. The music during battles is usually quiet, which is a good thing, because it doesn't distract you. The characters in this game also have voices, and are for the most part pretty well acted out. Jerik's voice seems a BIT over-coached, but besides that, they're good.

--]Graphics: 8
Although this games graphics cannot compare to that of Final Fantasy X, they're still pretty good. You don't see too many jagged edges around the world, and characters and backgrounds are both quite smooth.

--]Story: 7.5
The story line in this game certainly isn't as epic as some, and it follows the rules of RPG's quite closely (save the world, get the girl, you know). And although this doesn't seem very original, there are parts to it (I will not tell you) that are very original and not like any other game.

Probably my only major complaint about the game is that you must almost constantly be gathering something. Whether it be Silver Acorns or Herbs for your friends potions, the game almost ALWAYS has you running around to find multiples of the same item or somebody. You do get rewarded experience as you progress in collecting (collect 5/30 items, get 500 experience. collect 20/30, get 1000 experience, etc.), you have to make your way back to the person who gave you the quest in order to receive your real reward. All in all though, this is a good RPG that should not be over-looked.

Gameplay: 7
Sound & Music: 8
Graphics: 8
Story: 7.5
Average Score: 7.625
OVERALL SCORE: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/02, Updated 08/30/02