Azure Dreams

"An RPG worth playing several times."

I absolutely hated this game the first time I played it. I thought it was mindless, boring, ill-conceived and tedious, and I had only played it once, dying horribly in the first dungeon on the 6th floor. I didn't know how to yank out my familiar, I didn't know to equip weapons, I had no clue how to get out of that stinking tower, so I ended up dying and losing everything I had amassed. ''Screw this crap,'' I said (PG-13 paraphrasing there) as I threw one of my world-record 29 PSX controllers to the floor with aggressive authority.

Three weeks pass, and I hadn't gotten around to taking this game back to the store to get credit to buy another one. So, in my boredom and having beaten the rest of my games, I picked this up again. However, I actually read the manual this time - something I became accustomed to not doing, as just about every RPG I played at that point in time was the exact same thing, so much so that I was convinced it was all one big company using the same game engine, but using different sprite packs. 9 hours and a 2-litre of Coke later, I go to bed, eyes on fire, fingers numb, mind racing over what to do next in the game when I wake up in 3 hours to play it all day the next. I was hooked almost immediately once I figured out how to play it.

Graphics aren't the greatest, but games aren't all about graphics, and thankfully playability with Azure Dreams well makes up for the almost SNES-level sprites. Being able to rotate your world 360 degrees, especially that town you live in, is pretty nice. It doesn't do any real good or progress the game any, other than looking really nice. Personally, when in the tower fighting for my wealth, I never once rotated the screen and was able to beat the game using the default ''north is up'' setup. The sound effects and music are fitting for a dungeon crawl, though it doesn't have a lot of variety. The music gets old, and the sound effects aren't really needed to enjoy the game, so it's usually better to mute the TV or computer and put on your own tunes. I prefer Metallica for dungeon crawls, but then again, I prefer Metallica for everything. Go crazy.

There aren't really that many quests to do in the game, other than amassing huge amounts of cash to rebuild your hovel of a house and then, later, the rest of the town. You can also acquire a rather interesting collection of girlfriends as well, ranging from the sickly-but-cute blonde Cheryl, to the snobby rich girl (also the sister of your arch rival in the game), to the materialistic but very well-endowed (for a 15-year-old) shop owner. Interesting stuff.

Gameplay is like a simplified game of chess. Every action you take, every other monster in the dungeon takes one too. You can skip turns to help you gain an advantage by not sticking yourself in compromising situations, and you can use a variety of magi, items and familiars to aid you in your quest to get rich or die tryin', and one day to reach the top floor to learn the fate of your father, who disappeared years ago in that very tower.

Simplified, addictive gameplay and a sense of quirky personality make this game well worth the purchase, if you have the patience for it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/03, Updated 07/09/03