Alundra 2

"Completely unremarkable."

In Alundra II, you play as Flint, an adolescent sorcerer. You investigate mysterious happenings around your world, all having something to do with keys. Your sidekick, Alexia, accompanies you on your quest to set things right, until she is captured. Then, the object of the game shifts away from solving the mystery and is focused almost exclusively on safely rescuing Alexia. It's an action/adventure RPG. The battle system is much like that of Secret of Mana 2 for SNES or Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64. There is no turn based battle system as is present in many RPGs, instead, it's real-time hacking and slashing.

Graphics:
The graphics are alright. They're not stunning, they're not Final Fantasy VII, but they are more than tolerable. The cutscenes are all done with the game engine, so you won't get any pretty movies to watch. Just grainy typical PSX graphics.

Gameplay:
This is where the game is fundamentally flawed.

Gripe number one: this game is excessively linear. There is no opportunity to branch off and try different things. You do the game in the order it was written to be done, and there are no exceptions. Every puzzle has one right solution and every person says the same thing unless you do something in the plot to make them say something different. It gets a bit boring, but not enough to make you stop.

Gripe number two: Camera. I do like the ease at which one can change the camera angle. Simply by pressing L1 or R1, you can spin the camera around so you can better see your surroundings. The issue with the camera is that it's constantly at a really tight angle, and in any large area, it is very difficult to determine where exactly you're headed, as you can only see 3 or 4 steps in front of you. It's very irksome, but somehow I got used to it.

Gripe number three: Difficulty. Not challenge, mind you, just flat-out difficulty. There is not a puzzle in the game that isn't immediately screamingly obvious as to how to complete it. There is, however, and abundance of frustratingly difficult puzzles that require literally perfect reflexes and timing. Instead of being fun, they just make one want to rip one's hair out. This is definitely a game you'll have to put down a few times just to take a few deep breaths, maybe scream, and hit a punching bag or your best friend.

Another point:
It's very short. This game takes roughly 20 hours to complete, which is pretty short for an RPG. Generally a good RPG is supposed to take at least 30. Well, this isn't a good RPG, so I guess that's OK. Don't expect any real replay value.

Otherwise, it's not bad.

Plot:
The major redeeming factor. I really liked the plot. There are some attempted-twists that are either too obvious or poorly thought out, but they don't detract. The main enemy switches mid-game, and the previous one is almost completely forgotten. The plot makes a complete (albeit predictable) 180 degree turn by the time you're halfway done.

Overall:
It's just over mediocre. If you just live for RPGs, you might try this one out, but don't play this if you're looking for a great time. It's really just a poor attempt at making a 3-D Secret of Mana title. Sadly, it failed. It's still alright, though, and I did manage to finish the whole thing, so there's something that kept me playing. I just don't know what.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/05