Below the Cut: Rolan's Curse II (Game Boy)

(Source: MobyGames)

Rolan's Curse II - Rating(8  RPP)
1) 0 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 0 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 0 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 0 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

As was true of the first game, this one fails on the basic level of character advancement. Combat stats are dictated by equipment. This sequel adds an inventory of items and additional characters, but does little to introduce a cohesive world. The world is once again broken up into chapters that prevent visiting past areas. Characters have a variety of equipment and magic items. The story is there, but there's little development over the course of the game.

Still, it's a fun little Game Boy game, and handles much better than the first or Ninja Taro. There aren't any quests aside from the main one. It's just not an RPG in any sense of the genre I'd consider. It's not really even much of an adventure game to fit in with other action-adventure titles.

Below the Cut: Ninja Taro (Game Boy)

(Source: GameFAQs)

Ninja Taro - Rating(7 RPP)
1) 0 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 0 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 0 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 0 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

Rather than bank everything on the next installment of Rolan's Curse, NMK leveraged their Game Boy engine of the first game with their Ninja-kun franchise. Judging by the front cover though, it seems the localization team thought the American audience wouldn't be interested in cutesy ninjas. In kind, Sammy marketed this one as an RPG as well. I'm going to guess that it wasn't well known as it's not even in MobyGames' database. I might add it myself, but dislike having to write up the description.

There are stat increases, but they're found in chests, so no experience or gold. Combat is action based with monsters running around a top-down world map. There is a selection of weapons to choose from, but I couldn't determine if items ever came into play. The story is minimal, but there are towns and NPCs. As for everything else, it's non-existent. I give this a very generous C for effort.

I appreciate what Sammy tried, and as a publisher for games that pushed boundaries I'm glad they took chances like this. However, this and Rolan's Curse definitely fall more into the realm of action-adventure. With Might and Magic done, we actually don't see the name Sammy again until Rolan's Curse 2. No other RPGs were published by them in the US as far as I can tell.

Game #57: Might & Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum (NES) - Looking for the Magic

Game 57

Title: Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum
Released: August 1992 (July 1990 JPN)
Platform: NES
Developer: New World Computing (ported by G-Amusements)
Publisher: American Sammy Corp.
Genre: RPG
Exploration - First-person
Combat - Turn based
Series - Might and Magic

Strangely, 1991 doesn't fit any date I can find online

There's not much to say about the story of Might & Magic. Most of the game is figuring out what to do while fighting off enemies at every turn. The manual only references the Inner Sanctum as a place the party has come together to discover. I suppose I will follow the rumors of taverns and seek out those in power once again. Having already played the second game, I can imagine how it'll end. The two are very similar.

*Plop*

The game begins unlike the second by only naming a lead character, who is then automatically fitted to the role of male knight. I planned to have a full party, one of each character, and reroll until my eyes bled. Unfortunately, those plans were dashed when I was left standing in front of the inn with my sole character. The inn had a cast of preset characters with randomly rolled HP.

I spent a few minutes hoping to roll some good ones, but always managed at least one character with 2 HP

The manual has a map of Sorpigal, but doesn't mark the guild where it's possible to re-roll characters individually. It's strange, but the game has a whole cast of characters spread out in the various towns. Much like the second game, I don't see any reason why these level 1 characters would ever find room in the party. Most of them have fairly average stats. It took nearly an hour to find the guild without a single death in the party.

There were a number of reliefs with some very cryptic information displayed in an art gallery

At the guild it took a while to roll proper stats for my characters. Stats matter quite a lot, at least in the early game. A couple points of might means a 50% increase in damage. Speed controls turn order, and is essential for acting before the enemies. Endurance influences HP, but rolling at the guild means a character starts with the max value. Unfortunately, it has some side effects; it wipes all gold, items, and experience from the character, but sets food to 20. The small amount I'd saved up searching the town was nearly voided out.

With a full party I confidently stepped into the world

For some variety, I chose to have a character from each class and race, with a mix of male and females, and two of each alignment. The knight is the basic fighter, cleric and wizard (sorcerer in the manual) are the base spellcasters, paladins and archers are their fighter hybrid classes respectively, and robbers are pathetic in battle. I went in search for some easy battles. Combat has a few peculiarities to this series compared to other RPGs, but more in common with D&D. Armor only increases the chance of an attack missing, and damage is determined purely by the weapon plus bonus for high might times the number of attacks.

That is, unless you're a bugged enemy called Locust Plague that does a base damage of 255 HP

Experience is earned for each defeated monster, but gold is only found in sacks or chests successfully searched and opened after battle. If the party moves away from the square after battle, the gold is lost forever. Both sacks and chests are potentially trapped, and thus comes the only reason to have a robber in the party. Yet, at level 4, he still fails to disarm traps, but at least I have the potential survive now. A failed disarm could wipe out the entire party.

Collecting some rumors from the local tavern

So far I haven't found much of a story to the game, and the only "quest" I have is to deliver a scroll given to me by an old man in the Sorpigal catacombs. I have no idea where Erliquin is, but I've barely scratched the surface of the over world. The guards at the gate wouldn't even let me leave until all party members were level 2. I slowly saved up, bought some ranged weapons, and filled out the rest of my equipment slots. Leveling up costs increasingly more money each time, and gold can be hard to come by (especially when purposefully avoiding trapped treasure). I've managed to keep up, but I can see it becoming a problem eventually.

This over world map is not nearly as useful as Might and Might II

I scouted all of C2, and small portions of other areas, but only found two towns. Portsmith has traps that drain males of HP. Algary was much more welcoming, and the equipment shop there had further upgrades I wish I could afford. Tips from the tavern like "the queen can be helpful" and "the swamp was once a City of Gold" aren't as helpful as I was expecting. A group of wyverns took my party out easily. A gypsy woman told me the color of my party's auras, which may come in useful later. I also found two fountains, and remembering how useful these were in Gates to Another World, I dove right into them, but there were no effects as far as I could tell. Lastly was a lion that asked for a password. I have no idea where to go, or what to do.

It's nice when the more difficult enemies are out of range on their turn

Back to combat for a moment, range works strangely in this game. Only the first two characters in the party are usually within melee range, but the monsters will often surprise the party, which puts other members in the front line. The monster party, which consists of up to 15 individuals, on the other hand always only allows the first three to be attacked (including with ranged weapons). Spells can reach any of the first six, but the potentially other nine are completely obscured. There are eventually some spells that allow all party members to enter the fray, and even one to reduce or eliminate surprise attacks. When running from combat the party retreats to a specific square on each 16x16 map.

In Might and Magic fashion, I end each night with a nice party wipe

As expected, the early game is progressing slowly. I've been mapping as much as I can on foot, but feel like things will really start to pick up once my wizard reaches level 3 and the fly spell. I'm only level four though, and at this point I'm at the whims of a game that seems bent on wiping out any progress if I stretch myself too thin. My current plan is to continue branching out in every way I can while struggling my way to the next level. I just hope I can afford it once I get there.

Elapsed Time: 12h11m (Total Time: 12h11m)

Game #49: Ys III: Wanderers From Ys (SNES) - Easing Back In (Finished)

Game 49

Title: Ys III: Wanderers From Ys
Released: 1991 (March - Nov 1991 JPN)
Platform: SNES
Developer: Falcom
Publisher: Sammy
Genre: Action-RPG
Exploration - Side-scrolling
Combat - Action
Series - Ys

Adol bids farewell to another woman as he once again enters the wilderness with Dogi

Ys III was a childhood favorite, but as I played through the end I realized that I had no recollection of the last area or final boss. I may have moved on to Zelda or some other game before I finished it. In any case, I have a confession. I may have put the release date in the wrong year once again. Luckily it's first, and I suspect the release was late in 1991. Without good release info it's probably close enough.

I found the mode 7 in the intro

The story opens with Adol and his companion Dogi traveling through unknown lands aimlessly. After stopping by a fortune teller's stall, and receiving an ominous message regarding the future of Dogi's homeland, they decided to return to investigate.

Most of the names were changed from the original version, but Galbalan is the big bad of this game

While traveling to Redmont they took notice of once docile animals becoming more aggressive. Rumors were abound of strange weather and crop failure. This hardened their resolve to get to the bottom of whatever was the cause of the progressing calamity befalling their once peaceful homeland.

The true title screen emerges

After some time, Dogi and Adol (the main character) reached the town of Redmont whereupon they confirmed the strange happenings and set about their investigation. Dogi greeted the village guard, Mr. Gardener, and a childhood friend, Ellena, before retiring to the inn and letting Adol do all the dirty work.

*Plop*

You know what's funny, how in the cutscene Adol was shown slaying a normally docile wildcat with his sword. Then, he arrives in Redmont without any equipment. I spent the initial 1000 gold on an herb, short sword, leather armor, and small shield. As I made my way through town I heard growing concern that Tigray Quarry would soon become overrun with monsters. Fears were realized when an injured man appeared bearing witness to these events. He then sent me off to save Edgar, the town elder, still trapped inside. Someone named Duey had already departed, but he wasn't controlled by me, so I obviously needed to rescue him as well.

On my way to the mine... err quarry

So, why of all the versions did I decide upon the SNES? Well, as I've owned this cart since childhood, and I didn't feel like going out of my way to get a "better" version. I tried the others for about an hour, and it may be bias, but I still prefer the SNES port. The synth music on the Genesis doesn't sound as good as other games, and the TG-CD doesn't have smooth scrolling. Saving is faster, fighting monsters is less stressful, and combat is easier with invincibility frames after taking damage. It's possible to get cornered or attacked from behind in the Genesis version, and lose all HP before you can react. Granted, leveling is faster in the TG version, but the Genesis version is strangely skewed for the first couple levels where the gaps between levels are larger yet the stat increases are on par for the experience earned. From what I could tell, the story is basically the same.

Receiving the first quest item after a bit of grinding

Getting through the first cave requires a bit of grinding. There are blue slimes capable of massive damage that block the path. If Adol's power level isn't adequate to damage these, then they effectively block the passage forward. The warehouse key was retrieved from Duey after a strange man pushed his way past. Inside the warehouse was Dulan, a robed magician that guarded a long sword. The new sword increased my damage greatly, and past Duey I found another boss monster (this one much tougher).

The game allows saving at nearly any point (save boss rooms), which made redoing this fight 20 times less of a pain

The lightning attack seen here was extremely powerful. While outside the range of the lightning the monster shot a wave beam attack. It's during that attack where I had a window to get one--maybe two--attacks in. I previously gained a power ring that came in very helpful during this fight. Ring power is quickly consumed while rings are equipped, but only 1 point is gained for each monster slain. The herb store owner will recharge ring power to full, but that requires a visit to town. The blue gargoyle-like monster dropped a sun statue, which I added to my quest items. In the next room I chased off the strange man that pushed Duey. He warned me to leave before leaving me to rescue Edgar.

Returning a pendant from the quarry to this old lady rewarded me with a shield ring that greatly reduced damage, the only side quest

Back in town Ellena asked me to investigate some nearby ruins where she found her brother's pendant. (Why does everyone have a pendant?) She hadn't seen Chester in months, and asked a cleric named Pierre to help her search. He disappeared inside the ruins. There I grinded for some more levels. In fact, it was such an easy place to gain experience quickly that I ended up leveling to nearly max level; birds constantly spawned, and it took less than an hour. I also purchased the best equipment from the store, and proceeded to steamroll through the mid-game.

I'd like to know who's pushing me off this cliff into a river of lava

I found Chester who turned out to be the strange man from the quarry, and he'd captured Pierre as well. Down below I fought a fire dragon that died in four hits. I gained the firedragon amulet that froze a river of lava. Emerging from underground I found Ellena had come to rescue me. We ducked into a side room before Chester, and someone named Garland, found us. A random guard informed them that I had slain the dragon "Gilan." Seeing as no one had ever returned from there, I'm not sure how that news reached them. Ellena headed back to town as I ventured further into the ruins to obtain a statue. Another boss dropped quickly, and I gained the star statue.

But thou must!

Chester returned to find me stealing away with the statue. Luckily Ellena returned to cool him down. Revenge was his greatest motivator for aligning with Lord McGaya, and he feared I'd interfere with his plans. I was allowed to leave, and found Dogi on his way to meet his old master in the mountains. Edgar, the mayor, had his house ransacked. He suspected people from the castle were after the statue I'd found in the quarry. He instructed me to return to the quarry, and explore another region previously locked. There I discovered an ancient tablet that told of Galbalan, a demon sealed long ago. My greatly over-leveled Adol quickly took out a snail boss, and I gained a flash statue. I dropped off a shining crystal at the herb shop that allowed me to purchase Brocia's secret medicine. An item that restored some ring power when used. I purchased the fairy necklace (later I found out it's bugged in the SNES version), amulet (damages enemies), and mirror (freezes some enemies) as well.

Fighting a harpy in the mountains

Third statue in hand, I returned to the mayor to find him badgered by Lord McGaya and his first in command, Garland. We refused to hand over the statues (well, he refused and I was mostly ignored). Fearful Dogi would contribute to the quest, I followed him to the mountains. His master assisted by giving me a new sword. I fought the harpy above to gain access to a cave where a dragon guarded the dark statue. Chester showed up to bring them all back to Lord McGaya, but a cave-in trapped us together. We got to talking. Trapped alone, Chester decided to fill me in on the situation. Lord McGaya actually destroyed Chester's home town, and he joined him in order to get revenge. Galbalan is a demon that Lord McGaya hoped to unleash on the world through the power of the statues or something. He agreed to let me keep the statues away from Lord McGaya. Dogi dug us out, and back in town gave me the healing ring before I headed to Ballacetine Castle to rescue all the townspeople. That's right, they were all captured because I didn't have enough reason to confront Lord McGaya.

To get access to this location it's necessary to speak to Edgar

Ellena was waiting for me on the way to the castle; apparently she slipped through the round up. Once again, Adol told her to leave even though she seemed more than capable of infiltrating dangerous locations without harm. The castle had some deadly spike and statue traps, not to mention the guards roaming the halls. I battled an elite guard for a garnet bracelet that granted me access to an area where I dispatched a hellhound. I picked up the battle shield and armor, and noted my dwindling resources. Still I pressed on.

Garland bade me stop Lord McGaya after having a change of heart

Not for a moment did I think Garland had switched sides, but there was nowhere else to turn. I followed him into the depths, freed some prisoners (including Pierre and Robert). I picked up the flame sword and the protection ring (full immunity at double the ring power cost), but was no match for Garland. He revealed Galbalan had been revived (I thought this required the statues), and he would be protected from his wrath with the statues (why aren't I then). I restocked back in town, then thoroughly stomped him. Lord McGaya conceded he had wronged everyone greatly, and pleaded that I defeat Galbalan. His island was the most insidious part of the game. I gained a couple more quest items to automatically unlock the caves, but the passages were concealed with darkness unless I equipped a light source (one of the quest items automatically gained).

Oh yeah, Ellena was captured as well... like I needed additional motivation to stop the big evil bad guy

There's a certain section of the dungeon where Adol falls down a shaft, and there's an obscured passageway on the left side that isn't visible until you find it given the light situation. This, along with a difficult final battle, artificially lengthened the game. There's a long cutscene that plays before facing off with Galbalan. It took a solid hour to find the best pattern and equipment to use (power ring all the way with occasional healing). The main problem was his hitbox wasn't always aligned with his body, so it was difficult to judge where I was safe to strike from a distance. In the end it felt more random than should have been possible in an action game.

Frames before I take damage and Galbalan doesn't... where's the hitbox?!

Adol ran into Ellena as he escape, and learned that Chester was still deep below sealing Galbalan once and for all. The reason Lord McGaya destroyed their village was to prevent a legend that foretold of a warrior from their village previously sealing Galbalan. Chester was part of a lineage of demon sealers or something. The island started to collapse, so we made a hasty retreat. Back in town Adol decided to collect up Dogi and head off to the next adventure. Ellena, seen at the top chased after them to say goodbye, but didn't stop their departure.


Elapsed Time: 5h06m (Final Time: 5h06m)

Just ignore her, she'll stop eventually

Combatant - Combat is a frenzy of attacks that haphazardly connect with nearby monsters that rarely die to a single hit. The swings are so fast, and holding the attack button down will continuously swing it that I often found myself doing that rather than timing strikes. Power increases from levels significantly affect damage output. There aren't many interesting options in combat as most are limited thus best saved for boss battles. Monsters are a mix of strange creatures, and castle guards. In the end max level is always reached, and there's not much reason to engage enemies a little more than halfway through the game.
Rating: 3

One of the best scenes

Admirer - Control is quite good, a nice quality for an action title. There's no customization though, and appearance doesn't change as new equipment is gained. It's possible to grind, but only up to a max level easily reached.
Rating: 3

That's a lot of people for design, so I'm going to guess this is artists

Puzzler - There's only a single path through the game. While the main quest is mostly cliche, it's short enough of a game that it doesn't really overstay it's welcome as a small diversion. There's a single side quest to gain the shield ring. Even though fulfilling it is optional, finding the pendant is  directly on the main path. No real puzzles to speak of in this game.
Rating: 2

The most puzzling part is this message to "master our destinies"

Instigator - NPCs add some flavor to the world, but don't really assist with the game. As far as story, it's not engaging, but seems more of a side story in the Ys tale. Like one of those cartoon episodes where stuff happens, but nothing significant enough to change anything with the main characters. There aren't any descriptions except in the Genesis version, which offers detailed information about equipment. There are no decisions, and it even includes some false choices.
Rating: 2

At some point it seemed like they stop talking about the game

Collector - Most likely you'll collect everything in the game as it's very hard to miss any items. Like other Ys games, there's a space for every item, and the economy is only relevant to purchase consumables. Equipment is on a linear progression without any reason to revert to previous gear. Still, high marks for a complete collection, even if it's not on a single screen in this version.
Rating: 6

All the things (mostly)

Explorer - There's no option for open exploration as locations open based on plot points (with a nice chime to denote it). Graphics and music are good, but not great (the Genesis had more detailed textures). Unfortunately most of the environments are rather bland. The background is often more interesting. There's no real sense of exploration as you're forced down a prescribed path, and each area is rather small.
Rating: 3

Unlike everyone else I've heard from, I prefer the SNES music

Final Rating: 19 [32%]

Overall it was fun. I almost beat it in a single night, but the last cave combined with the final boss saw to it that it wasn't meant to be. I was expecting it to take a couple of weeks given other estimates, but I'm glad I got through it so quickly. Next up is Traysia, a game I know nothing about, and I've done my best to keep it that way until I play. It's nice to come into a game with absolutely no expectations, although the lack of coverage in general has me a bit worried. But first, let's cut a game that was called an rpg some years back and later retracted.

Thank you for reading

Below the Cut: Rolan's Curse (Game Boy)

(Source: The Game Boy Database)

Rolan's Curse - Rating(6 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 3 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 1 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 1 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

It's hard to credit this as an RPG. It's even harder to credit it as a Zelda clone. It's a very simple game, on par with Double Dungeons quite frankly. You are "soldier" and you need to kill some demon called Barius that has cursed the land of Rolan. All this is uncovered through epilogues after each boss is killed, before starting the next stage. There aren't any character levels, and health is represented by hearts. The character also has a sword, and that's where the comparison to Zelda stops (well, there is the top-down view as well).

There are towns with NPCs that only have a 4 or 5 words to say, and usually limited to "thou art awesome!" or something similar. No experience or levels. There is an attack stat, but it gets reset at the beginning of each stage. There are four stages in all, each with a boss to fight and treasure to collect. The equipment is mildly interesting. There's a choice between sword or projectile magic for the main attack and a sub-weapon in the form of a rock crushing pick-axe, chameleon ring (turns your character into a tree or rock, but you can still be hurt so what's the point), power crystal orb (by far the best weapon), and a few others I'm failing to recall because they aren't worth it. Attack power increases, invincibility cloaks, and life point increases are also available from killing monsters or discovering chests.

It does have an open world going for it. At least in the individual stages, you're free to roam and get lost, but there's rarely anything interesting to find. It's a short game, I completed it in less than two hours while trying it out (seemed short so I finished). I feel sorry for anyone that bought this game, it seems bargain bin priced at best, but I have the feeling it cost at least $30 on store shelves. I see no reason anyone should play this game. Maybe the sequel will prove a better experience.