challenging, but good
Never have I been so tested and challenged since the old Genesis adventure title, LandStalker. And Climax has made Alundra twice as hard, twice as challenging, and twice as good as its LandStalker counterpart. Play the part of Alundra, a young boy who possesses the power to venture through people's dreams. He's like one of those dream warrior chaps from Nightmare On Elm Street, but instead of fighting Freddy Krueger, Alundra instead faces difficult mazes, challenging puzzles, and nasty monsters. Maybe not the best analogy, but you get the picture. Not only does this game possess a really cool story, but it also has some great music and graphics that totally suit the game, like Wild Arms. Sure, it's no Final Fantasy VII, but Alundra has that classic, more traditional RPG feel that has literally faded away since the introduction of polygonal graphics. I'm not saying that evolution is bad, but I honestly miss these types of games.
The game may look outdated, but Alundra does in fact possess a level of gameplay that doesn't appear much in today's role-playing games. I mean, am I the only one who's tired of turn-based RPG titles? Alundra shares the same gameplay elements found in the classic NES version of Zelda: A Link to the Past and, like I mentioned before, LandStalker. Staged in a pseudo-3D environment, Alundra builds on the basic fundamentals of those old console adventure titles and simply makes them better. With improved character animation, better level design and more puzzles, Climax has turned this fizzled genre into a game that most, if not all RPG fans will enjoy. Because of Alundra, I now own three busted controllers and have two holes in my wall -- I'm kidding. However, I will warn you that there are some levels in Alundra that were so dang difficult, I literally broke down and cried. And get this -- when you die, may it be by the hand of a skeleton or a slight miscalculation of a jump, you have to start all the way back at the last save point. When this happens, and you can bet it will, you can do one of two things. You can either give Climax the middle finger, or a thumbs up for making the game challenging. Hey, I gave them a thumbs up... most of the time. Besides my gaming integrity being slightly scarred by near impossible obstacles, and I use the word "near" really loosely, I do have to admit that this game is awesome. If you really enjoyed games like Ys, Zelda, and/or LandStalker, you'll especially dig Alundra.Read full review
