soul blazer SUCKS... or does it???

playing this for my first time. back in the '90s i simply avoided renting it from blockbuster because i thought it looked dated even then. silly! in some ways, wrt to presentation it almost feels like a step back from actraiser, though it’s also stranger, more ambitious and dreamlike.

it’s been said that this was an influence on demon’s souls, though more interesting and relevant than that might be its similarity to the (themselves gauntlet-esque) dungeon explorer games and the process of sealing demon portals. in doing so, you release souls (people and animals) from their prison and hub towns are reconstructed. anyway, this game feels more evidently like the work of former falcom employees! you slash your sword in an arc, and often find yourself standing slightly to side as you would in ys, for better hits… there’s also a “crab walk” mode where you hold down a shoulder button to face one direction while holding your sword straight out, which is used in an almost bump combat style in some situations.

the concept holds up better than actraiser’s because while you are god’s earthly avatar liberating the lands and all that, you’re freeing souls from the binding of a faustian bargain with DEATHTOLL (basically satan) struck by their greedy king. pretty good shit.

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yeah definitely doesn’t suck

actually hadn’t heard that it was an inspiration on demon’s, that’s interesting

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This is a good comparison, it’s early enough that they didn’t really have a console-like feel for action RPGs and were trying to solve it with PC-game tech. By the time of Illusion of Gaia, they moved to a more animated, contemporary feel and by Terranigma they’ve learned every bad lesson they could from Secret of Mana’s combat (it’s so stuttery and over-menued! What were they thinking?)

It feels right as an anthology game. More than Illusion of Gaia or Terranigma, it’s trying out small stories in related themes; they’re not ready to tackle those longform, yet, but this is good prep work and small and good in its own right.

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I was going to say that not only does it not suck, it’s funky fresh as fuck and post the underground castle theme but you already did. soul blazer rules.

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Every time I play a Quintet game, I get angry about the direction Level-5 took, because they could’ve continued giving us more Quintet-esque games in a world lacking them.

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it would be neat if someone translated planet laika

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In that Dark Cloud shows a focus on the same themes? Is there any Quintet in it? I tried the second and the circus anime tone wasn’t doing anything for me.

Level-5 was biting all kinds of ideas from Quintet games.

Dark Cloud is a fusion of Zelda 64’s battle system with Soul Blazer’s rebuilding of towns via spheres containing animals, people, buildings, et cetera, along with some ActRaiser. Dark Cloud 2 feels like it took more inspiration from Robotrek (or whatever it’s called – Slapstick in Japan). I also didn’t care much for Dark Cloud 2’s aesthetic (the graphics are really nice, but Level-5 has always blown at like, creative stuff), but Dark Cloud 1 isn’t as cartoony-looking and feels more like a dungeon crawler than a Disney adventure.

You can also find other inspirations in Dark Cloud, I think the devs really liked roguelikes and dungeon crawlers. Dark Cloud even has a thirst meter. ETA: Vagrant Story, actually, is another game Dark Cloud bites from in various ways, too!

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There’s a lost episode of the snexploration podcast about this game. It’s pretty good!! I think it wears out its welcome about 2/3 through but by that time I’m satisfied.

RIP our lost episode, pour one out for a real one!

This game was kind of dull, repetitive, and clunky to me, but I really liked the atmosphere and writing. Adding a new person or building to your little town is the BEST, it’s an excellent way to motivate you to get through the endless dreary dungeons.

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I really wanted to play Soul Blazer when I was young because it resembled Crystalis, but I didn’t know anyone who owned it and it was always too expensive in the Funcoland listings.

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it was one of my favorites as a child and I still replay it regularly. it holds up better than the other two games in the trilogy imo even if they surpass it in specific ways

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i think moving and battling “feels” better than its successors.

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it also consistently has an amazing atmosphere, easily has the best soundtrack, and you can freakin’ enter people’s dreams as a gameplay mechanic/narrative hook, and all the dream scenes are so beautiful and sad and mysterious and weird like

god it’s just so good it’s perfect

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Even loving Illusion of Gaia as a kid I slept on this one for looking more “generic” and like it had less going on. Always owed it to myself as a Quintet fan to give it a shot, which I did last year and I ended up really, really liking it. Great soundtrack, mood, plays very breezily and as noted the feedback loop of populating a town as you kill monsters just feels great. As low-key as the storytelling was, the ending kinda moved me as well. As a Quintet game should!

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What an absolute banger! Guess I’ll be emulating this next.

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the soundtrack is really good and fun, though it’s kinda true that slap bass is an interesting choice for a game with such a strange, somber tone. i’m not saying it’s bad! it’s kinda like… imagine if sakuraba had gone with some kinda funk-prog style for dark souls?

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this is my favorite snes game and i finally own a physical copy of it

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I too most love First Game In Series, the absolute innovative masterpiece that it is, and pour scorn on the failings of its descendents

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What a gem of a game! I can’t believe this one was never on my radar.

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