Soul Blazer

"An addictive dungeon crawler"

Soul Blazer is the first in a trilogy of action rpg's by Enix (Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma being the second and third ones respectively). Enix games are usually overlooked by the casual RPGer because they do not live up to the RPG reputation brought fourth to the SNES by that of Squaresoft. In some instances, this is true, but in most it is not. The following review takes a look at the different aspects of Soul Blazer for the SNES and examines what makes it worth everyone's time to play.

Graphics
At first glance the graphics are so-so. They are crisp with no visible pixelation but without a full play though of the game, one won't see just how awesome the graphics are. In the 7th world there is an amazing aura of colors that totally take the player by surprise. The simple amazingness of just how beautiful everything looks stuns you as you play. I had to pause when I first made it to the world just to gaze in amazement at how awesome it looked. That's not all. All the other worlds are awesome as well. There are different looking dungeons in each world so nothing feels repeated. Every world has original monsters, not just a palate switch like many RPG's do. Not to mention the fact that there is no slowdown at all when you have many monsters on the screen at once. The graphics are far from Final Fantasy VI but you just simply cannot compare the two. Soul Blazer is simply amazing. Each boss is a very large sprite and often has many hazards firing at you at once, all detailed perfectly, all in a different color, and all with no slowdown. Simply amazing.

Score 10

Story and Gameplay
This is the area that most people seem to have a problem with. If you just fire the game up, skip the intro and just try to start playing, you wll be confused as to why your little character is running around and why he can talk to plants and animals. I have to admit I did this and was very confused at first as to why. However, if you take the time to go through the intro, you find out that you are a heavenly creature (I referred to it as "God in training") and you are sent by the Divine Master to restore the planet to what it was. The story develops as you play and I think that is why it is bashed more than anything -- people just don't take the time to complete the game and see where exactly the story is taking you. The story is a little generic: "a bad guy has captured everyone and you must free the people" but the execution of it is what makes it excel above the other games with the same basic story. Monsters have lairs and trapped the townspeople in there and as you defeat the monsters in each lair, you free a person or a treasure or a new passage. It's a mystery. You never knw what you will get. (ACTRaiser anyone?) There is, however, one major problem with the story. It is more of a text problem than anything else. You never know exactly why is talking. There isn't a name before the text signaling who is speaking or a picture. That adds to a little confusion as to what in the world is going on. There also appear to be no question marks in the game which seems off. More than likely just an over site by the programmers/translators. It does lose points for the confusing text though.

Score 9

Controls
Just one more area where Soul Blazer is awesome. The controls are fluid but not too fluid. When controlling your character there is no trouble moving your character, he does exactly what you do. Not much can be said really. Just fluid movement. Excellent control.

Score 10

Sound and Music
Wow. Simply wow. I have never heard such an array of different music in a game ever. Each town and dungeon has it's own music. I especially enjoy the dungeon music in area 6 as well as area 5. The music is simply awesome. I usually listen to a CD when I am playing video games but I couldn't when I played this one. I had to listen to the game music. If it were possible to give it higher than a 10, I would. But since this is a scale of 1-10, I have to go with the 10.

Score 10

Secrets
Most action RPG's from the SNES's tme require you to find specific items in order and don't really have any side quests. In Soul Blazer you will find the opposite. There are 8 Master Emblems that you can find that you do not need to beat the game but will make the final battle much easier. There are different swords and items as well that give you more power.

Score 10

Overall Soul Blazer is a must have. To not play this game is to deny yourself one of the greatest SNES games. While the game is short (it took me eight days to complete) the hidden emblems are beckoning me to go back making the replay value high. The awesome graphics and incredible sound make the game very enjoyable. Buy this game if you do not already own it.

Pros:
1. Sound is sweet
2. Graphics are awesome
3. Secrets make for high replay value
4. Addictive and fun
5. Superb dungeon crawling gameplay

Cons:
1. Not knowing who is talking makes the game a little confusing

Final Score 9.8 rounded up = 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/05