Crusader of Centy is pretty solid for the most part. Somehow, I haven't played A Link to the Past yet, which this game gets compared to a lot. I have played Beyond Oasis though, and out of the Genesis library that is probably the closest comparison I can draw. This game is definitely easier and more story-driven, though. It's also a pretty digestible length, has very good music, and a bunch of tiny animals follow you around! Yay!

The emphasis on the narrative, however, is what makes the game's biggest issue really stand out. You see, monsters and humans have been failing to coexist for many years in this game's world due to monsters' inability to communicate and humans' selfishness and desire for war and bloodshed. Once you realize you're essentially on the bad side in this story, your new mission is to make peace between the two, right? Well, for some reason or whatever it cannot be done. What happens instead is you have to go back in time and keep the monsters from being sent to the human world, keeping them both in their own little bubbles and preventing the whole song and dance from even beginning. No peace between the two is really achieved. It's a very hollow victory at best, and more importantly seems to draw an awful lot of parallels to segregation, whether intentional or otherwise. I doubt it is, though, seeing as it feels most like a clumsy and rushed way to wrap up the story. Whatever the case, it kinda sucks ass that that's what they went with.

This is still a great game, don't get me wrong. It's just that discussion about its unsatisfying and questionable ending often tends to overshadow it, and after playing it and looking into it I really do see why. Beyond Oasis doesn't do that. I bet A Link to the Past doesn't either.