Baroque

"Strictly For Fans of the Genre...."

Baroque is a true-blue, hardcore RPG dungeon crawler from our friends at Atlus. A remake of a Sega Saturn title, this game, as already noted is STRICTLY for fans of its specific genre, and no one else. Therefore, I'll be writing this review from that perspective -- how does it fare in comparison to other games like it, and will dungeon crawling fans enjoy the title?

To answer those two questions: 1, OK; and 2, Yes, but not immensely.


Let's break it down:


Story: 6 out of 10....


OK, as we start the game, our anonymous hero is thrown straight into the action, and we're given VERY little background information. As it turns out, however, that's kind of the entire point of the game: to piece together the protagonist's story in random flashes, Memento style. What we do learn fairly early on, though, is that he's tormented by guilt for some kind of terrible crime he's committed, although the cannot remember exactly what said crime was. Plus, the world has basically been destroyed by some cataclysm, leaving its few remaining inhabitants to wander in a state of surreal confusion, without pain, and in distorted forms. Though it's a bit hard to understand, these "distorted forms" are embodiments of memories, not necessarily reflective of the characters' "real" physical selves, that sort of hang around the game's eerie Purgatory-style outer world. More is learned about our hero's background from his irregular interactions with these lost souls, all of which are logged in the game's highly-detailed database (completists will either delight or despair in this feature...but more on that later). The story sequences we unlock as we progress through the game will gradually help make sense of it all, and at the end of the day, what we wind up with here is a fairly original (and maybe even profound) tale of man's relationship to his God, and the destruction that can result when things go sour.

Although it's not particularly detailed, the story told in Baroque is so surreal in its presentation, and so well-integrated with the game's dreary, dreamlike style, that it stands out as one of the more unique that a gamer can come across, especially in the realm of dungeon-crawling RPGs. Plus, there's some humor to be found along the way (just how much of it is intentional is another matter); some of the game's NPCs are hilarious -- like, for example, Coffin Man, who runs the outer world's training dungeon, and sprinkles just about every sentence he utters with an expletive not permitted in this review. Weird, random exchanges with these characters, both in and outside the dungeon (well, tower, actually) liven up the otherwise depressing story of Baroque with some oddball moments of dark comedy.

Graphics: 7 out of 10....


Although Baroque was originally a Sega Saturn game, its graphics have been updated for the Wii, and while they're still hardly IMPRESSIVE, they fit the game's purposes perfectly, and never detract from its enjoyability. Character designs are actually quite detailed and creative, especially in regards to the tower's various monsters (or, "meta beings"); and the environments, although drab, match every other aspect of the game to a T.

And that beings us to a point which needs to be emphasized: Baroque's visuals, like everything else about it, are extremely well-integrated into all other aspects of its design. This is a game that's highly dependent on atmosphere -- the visuals, sounds, story, characters, environments, etc, all fit together in a specific way to make this game the unique experience that it is, even if any one of these characteristics would not seem very appealing on its own. Baroque isdefinitely more than the sum of its parts, so a casual look at screenshots from the title would not accurately reflect the experience as a whole. Don't be fooled by them.


Sound: 4 out of 10....


Easily the weakest aspect of the overall Baroque package, the soundtrack here is highly repetitive, and not in a good way. An endless series of metal guitar riffs over menacing industrial beats, the music just starts to grate after a while. While the song (and I do mean SONG, not SONGS -- there's really only one -- MAYBE two -- while you're in the tower, as far as I can tell) does fit the game's atmosphere, it's so friggin' repetitive that I found myself with it stuck in my head for days, driving me to near insanity. This kind of situation can be a real problem with a game like Baroque, since you'll spend so much time dungeon crawling, doing more or less the same things over and over again, that variety in the music can make the grind much more endurable.

Voice acting is surprisingly well done, although some of the NPC's voices can be annoying (such as the item kid, who really deserves to be smacked...and IS!). I would have liked to hear more sound coming from the tower's various monsters, though, and the sound effects are all pretty standard. The game does use the Wiimote speaker in a few interesting ways (such as when you obtain an item called the Laugh Box -- but I won't spoil that for you).


Gameplay: 7 out of 10....


OK, Baroque has been described by many as a "Rogue-like RPG", so if you know what that means, you'll understand everything I write here. For the rest of you, I'll try to explain: There are two sides to Baroque -- the Outer World, and the Tower. The outer world is like a town where various NPCs hang around, offering you advice and insight as the game progresses. It serves as your base in between various tower runs, which really make up the vast majority of gametime, since the goal of the game is to clear all levels of the tower. Each time you venture there, you'll make it a little farther, as you unlock additional floors. Ultimately, there are forty of them, and the layout of each one is randomly-generated every time you enter, so things aren't quite as monotonous as they might sound.

Additionally, there are plenty of items to collect in the tower, which can be used either to move the story forward (like the "Idea Sephirahs" -- or, souls -- occasionally dropped by some monsters), or to help you in combat situations (like healing items and weapons). It's this second category of item that I found the most satisfaction in collecting -- in addition to swords and defense coats, you can also equip your hero with "brandings", which enhance his personal stats in various (and sometimes creative) ways, and you can deck him out with different types of "wings", which basically do the same thing as the brandings. Managing how you choose to use the various swords, coats, fluids, wings, brandings, and stat parasites you stumble across in the tower is a big part of the gameplay. And to make it more involved, the game does not allow you to carry or use too many items at any one time. Your inventory is limited, so you'll often find yourself staring at a screen of items, trying to decide which one to ditch in favor of whatever new item you just found lying around. Not to mention, Baroque is extremely unforgiving when it comes to item retention -- you cannot take ANY item back to town with you when you either complete the tower, or die; the only way to hang on to any items is to use a series of
"Consciousness Orbs" placed at various places throughout the tower to send things back...and EVEN THEN, you can only send back a few items per tower run. Deciding which items you want to send back through a Consciousness Orb when you come across one, and which you want to hang on to in case they're needed on later floors is a major challenge in the game.

Speaking of challenge, it has been noted by many that Baroque can be downright brutal in terms of its difficulty. As stated, you can rarely keep the items you collect, plus you lose all stats once you return to town. Spend forever levelling up your character? It don't matter. Once you leave the tower, he's back to level one. Additionally, there are traps in the tower than can instantly destroy some of your best items. All of this, however, must be noted with an asterisk reminding us that we can save in between each floor of the tower. Therefore, when something especially bad happens to you, you can always simply reload your game. This security net makes everything much easier.

As far as the combat? Well, it's very simple -- hack and slash, and in real-time. Swords are more-or-less the only weapons you can use, and the number of moves available is extremely limited. There's no block or dodge option, nor any magic. There are, however, plenty of items you can throw at enemies, or use to unleash various status effects on them (it's best to reserve these for occasions in which you find yourself totally surrounded). And speaking of which, yes -- there are several, very annoying, status effects with which you can become cursed, creating probably the biggest challenge combat in Baroque throws your way. Let's see, there's the standard poison and paralysis effects, as well as some other, somewhat more original ailments, like Lust, which causes you to see every enemy and NPC as a beautiful woman. Once you reach certain levels of the tower in which there are monsters who can cast these status spells on you, things can get pretty rough. To balance this, there's a multitude of items available that can prevent various status effects when equipped. Again, managing these is one of the game's biggest tasks. You'll find yourself agonizing over decisions like, Should I equip Experience Wings to increase the amount of EXP I get with each defeated enemy, or should I put on Calm Wings to prevent Lust??? The answers to such questions will often depend on which floor you're on, which monsters are around, and what your particular equipment/item/level situation may be at the moment. All of this, while daunting, can make for some rather involved gameplay.

Baroque can be controlled with either the Classic Controller, or the Wiimote-Nunchuck combo. I used the latter, and found the control scheme to be satisfying in some ways, but difficult in others. For example, the B trigger on the Wiimote works quite well for sword swinging, but the method used for throwing items can be extremely awkward...and that's not a good thing in intense combat situations. You can also swing the Wiimote to do certain sword moves, but thankfully, it is not required.

In a nutshell, the game play experience offered by Baroque is highly challenging, occasionally flawed, but also with the potential to be deeply satisfying. All of that depends on your particular inclinations. Are you more interested in sophisticated combat, or obsessive item management and collection? If you are of the latter mindset, then you may just find Baroque to be an addictive and hour-draining experience. Those looking for more action, however, probably will find this game's flaws too difficult to overlook. Since I am of the item management persuasion, I enjoyed playing this game, and my biggest gripe with it is not the clunky controls, disjointed narrative, or sadistic difficulty; actually, it's with the fact that there's not MORE depth to the item/equipment management dynamic. I would have loved to see a more expansive system of weapon upgrading, a la, say, Azure Dreams (a FANTASTIC PS1 dungeon crawler similar to Baroque), as opportunities to truly level up your equipment here are sadly few and far between. And then there's the matter of even being able to HANG ON to what you've just spent so much time upgrading....


Overall: 6 out of 10....


Baroque is by no stretch a perfect game, or even, really, a GOOD one; its flaws quite obviously outnumber its strengths. Only those who enjoy the Rogue-like variety of dungeon crawling RPGs will find anything of value here...and even then, only to an extent. Occasional flashes of brilliance and innovation offer enough for hardcore types to chew on for at least 30 or so hours, and fortunately, the game can be completed in just a few tower runs, so it is possible to wrap it up nd move on, at around the same time its appeal starts to fade. Those of is who enjoyed such titles as Dark Cloud, Azure Dreams, and Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja may well find a worthy enough diversion here for a while, and I recommend the game to such individuals, if anything because of its unique style. All others, however, should probably stay away.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/08

Game Release: Baroque (US, 04/08/08)