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premise of being able to walk through one's dreams isn't exactly a new
one. For ages people have told tales across the genres of science fiction
and folk-legend of one who possesses the power to enter the dreams of another
and alleviate a certain problem occurring in the dream, thus having a profound
effect in reality. While Working Designs newest PlayStation release, Alundra,
doesn't add much to that basic story proposition, it does do a lot of other
things and it does them very well.
You take on the part of the dreamwalker Alundra, a young, elf looking
lad who bears a striking resemblance to another famous video game character:
Link, from Nintendo's famous Legend of Zelda series. The similarities between
these two games do not end there however. Alundra is also considered an
Adventure/RPG with a real time battle system and sports a top down 3/4
view. To say Alundra and Zelda are comparable is quite an understatement;
moreover Alundra also bears a resemblance to the 16-bit game Landstalker,
whose creative team also worked on this game.
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Alundra is your basic Zelda clone. Not that that's
a bad thing...
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The game begins with Alundra aboard a ship at sea sailing toward the
village town of Inoa. 10 or so minutes into the game the ship becomes caught
in a corybantic sea storm and the boat is torn to pieces. The young dreamwalker
is swept upon the shore of Inoa (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
anyone?) and is taken in by a village resident by the name of Jess. Being
of a kind heart, Jess nurses Alundra back to health and thus our adventure
begins. During Alundra's stay in Inoa, many village inhabitants start having
frantic nightmares, unable to escape the terror of their dreamscapes. It
is here that Alundra learns of his mysterious power - the power to enter
the dreams of another.
Not wanting to give too much of the story away, the graphics in the
game are excellent for what they are. Having a definite brown and yellowish
feel, Alundra's graphics owe more to the 16-bit era than that of the 32-bit
"Final Fantasy VII" style which has become popular in most of
today's RPGs. The graphics are very beautiful and the animation is magnificent.
Do keep in mind the simplicity of them may turn a lot of people off, however
they are a step up from SCEI's Wild Arms, which in my opinion the graphics
are the most similar to (minus the small deformed characters).
The way that Alundra plays is very simple and straightforward. Directional
Pad for movement, X button jumps, Square button for a dagger slash, O for
an item of choice, and the Triangle button brings up Alundra's inventory.
Throughout the game you gather various items such as Bombs, ferns (for
health), etc, with which you can configure on the inventory screen to set
as your O button item. There isn't much else rather than that; nevertheless
the beauty of the gameplay lies in its simplicity.
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Great puzzle design really adds a lot of play value
to the game.
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The one eminent area amongst the many other great aspects of Alundra
has got to be in the surprising amount of skill and thought one must possess
in order to clearly navigate their way through the game. Never before have
I been so pleasantly challenged by a RPG, especially in recent times with
the all too common linear gameplay and unchallenging puzzles that clutter
the PlayStation RPG library. During only the first 10 hours of playing
Alundra you will notice what I mean - some of the puzzles are downright
frustrating, but refreshingly so.
Alundra doesn't by any means break new ground for a game of this particular
genre and the inspiration the designers drew upon to lay the foundation
of Alundra is easily recognizable to the veteran Adventure/RPG gamer. This
does not go without saying however, that Alundra is a great game - it is.
Moreover, which point of view you carry when playing this game can greatly
lesson or heighten your gaming experience with Alundra. To put it perfectly
straight, ask yourselves these questions before attempting to play Alundra
- are you looking for a game that innovates, utilizes the PlayStation hardware
to the maximum, and maybe see something you haven't seen before? That,
my fellow gamers, you will not find. But look no further if you are among
the game playing ranks that is looking for a Herculean challenge, a complex
and involving story, and tight, responsive gameplay. Wait a minute, those
three characteristics in one game, and awesome foil embossed packaging
to boot? I must be dreaming....
-- Jason McGonnell
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