How valuable is life to you?
I am not just referring to human or animal life but all of life as a whole. Everything is born, lives out there existence then eventually passes away. It is an eternal fact of existence and no matter what we do it is an inevitability we will all face when it comes to our time.
Soul Blazer tackles some rather heavy concepts regarding the value of life along with how technology is used to enhance or harm life as well. For the time this narrative is rather somber and that shock to the system it provides gives a rather unique experience.
The game begins with you, the protagonist, being given a divine mission from what is essentially God. The world has been purged of life and the souls of everything are being held captive within these "lairs" that demons spawn from. Your task is to kill all the demons that come forth from their lairs and in doing such you free a soul contained within.
This ties very well into the gameplay because once a lair is cleared and your reward obtained the enemies will be gone forever. The souls you rescue will return to their respective town which serves as hub worlds for the dungeons. As you go further into each dungeon and rescue more souls more of the game opens up to you. You can get new equipment, spells etc. from your rescued friends. This gameplay loop is excellent because progress is very tangible. You see the world return to its former beauty with every step.
Now why are these souls trapped? To avoid spoilers I will just say the great demon lord "Deathtoll" was resurrected and stole the souls of all life on the planet. The story has a very simple premise that is later elaborated upon. The "who" and "why" are later revealed along with some rather sad moments. This story has some shockingly tragic moments all revolving around the value of life. It can pull at the heart strings incredibly well considering the limited space for text on the SNES.
But the meat of the game is with its combat. Being a top down action RPG and a rather simplistic one at that. You basically only have a sword swing and a spell to cast. Your swords to get better along with more varied magic as well but the core gameplay doesn't change much. It's a good thing the core gameplay is solid and the developers did not bite off more than they could chew with this title.
Combat can be rather janky at times though but in the game's defense the jank more often than not works in your favor. There is a certain flow to the game that is rather difficult to articulate. There are ways to can finagle extra damage with your swings if you are smart. Just get a feel for it and everything will fall into place.
Graphically this game oozes the early SNES vibes with its muted color palette and simplistically designed world. If one is used to say Final Fantasy VI or Trials of Mana this game will look horrid in comparison. This is the fate of many early console releases and it personally doesn't bother me since graphically the game is very readable. Everything makes sense.
The music in the game is equally as simple but it can be very catchy. The town theme will be stuck in your head forever but alas there is only one town theme. Tonally the music fits rather well so it never feels out of place and the dungeon themes have a good "bop" to them.
In conclusion Soul Blazer is a very solid experience. It can be a very simple experience though so depending on your mood it might not be complex enough. If you are in the mood for an action RPG that tells a competent story with competent gameplay, graphics and music then this game will work great. It lasts between 8-11 hours depending on individual skill and optional content.
I give this game a hearty recommendation.
I am not just referring to human or animal life but all of life as a whole. Everything is born, lives out there existence then eventually passes away. It is an eternal fact of existence and no matter what we do it is an inevitability we will all face when it comes to our time.
Soul Blazer tackles some rather heavy concepts regarding the value of life along with how technology is used to enhance or harm life as well. For the time this narrative is rather somber and that shock to the system it provides gives a rather unique experience.
The game begins with you, the protagonist, being given a divine mission from what is essentially God. The world has been purged of life and the souls of everything are being held captive within these "lairs" that demons spawn from. Your task is to kill all the demons that come forth from their lairs and in doing such you free a soul contained within.
This ties very well into the gameplay because once a lair is cleared and your reward obtained the enemies will be gone forever. The souls you rescue will return to their respective town which serves as hub worlds for the dungeons. As you go further into each dungeon and rescue more souls more of the game opens up to you. You can get new equipment, spells etc. from your rescued friends. This gameplay loop is excellent because progress is very tangible. You see the world return to its former beauty with every step.
Now why are these souls trapped? To avoid spoilers I will just say the great demon lord "Deathtoll" was resurrected and stole the souls of all life on the planet. The story has a very simple premise that is later elaborated upon. The "who" and "why" are later revealed along with some rather sad moments. This story has some shockingly tragic moments all revolving around the value of life. It can pull at the heart strings incredibly well considering the limited space for text on the SNES.
But the meat of the game is with its combat. Being a top down action RPG and a rather simplistic one at that. You basically only have a sword swing and a spell to cast. Your swords to get better along with more varied magic as well but the core gameplay doesn't change much. It's a good thing the core gameplay is solid and the developers did not bite off more than they could chew with this title.
Combat can be rather janky at times though but in the game's defense the jank more often than not works in your favor. There is a certain flow to the game that is rather difficult to articulate. There are ways to can finagle extra damage with your swings if you are smart. Just get a feel for it and everything will fall into place.
Graphically this game oozes the early SNES vibes with its muted color palette and simplistically designed world. If one is used to say Final Fantasy VI or Trials of Mana this game will look horrid in comparison. This is the fate of many early console releases and it personally doesn't bother me since graphically the game is very readable. Everything makes sense.
The music in the game is equally as simple but it can be very catchy. The town theme will be stuck in your head forever but alas there is only one town theme. Tonally the music fits rather well so it never feels out of place and the dungeon themes have a good "bop" to them.
In conclusion Soul Blazer is a very solid experience. It can be a very simple experience though so depending on your mood it might not be complex enough. If you are in the mood for an action RPG that tells a competent story with competent gameplay, graphics and music then this game will work great. It lasts between 8-11 hours depending on individual skill and optional content.
I give this game a hearty recommendation.