Archview #10: Alundra

 Finally got here, Review number 10!

 Alundra is an adventure game in the same vein as Zelda. Almost exactly like Zelda. Actually, it's a Zelda clone, and it doesn't even try to hide it, you've got puzzles, you've got elves, you've got bombs... however, there is one big, highly noticeable difference... Alundra is hard as balls, call it Zelda: Hard mode, if you will.
 The game puts you in the shoes of Alundra, the eponymous hero of the game, who suffers an accident and wounds up in the town of Inoa, where people gave up the ability to create in order to gain the ability to control their dreams. However, people begin having deadly nightmares, and it just so happens that Alundra comes from an ancient race of dreamwalkers, so guess who has to save the inhabitants of Inoa?.

  Surprisingly, the story takes some very dark turns later in the game, suffice to say, it doesn't shy away from killing defenceless kids. And this, being a game localized by the now defunct Workings Arts, has some pretty funny lines. The game is filled with humor, even in the darkest moments(For example, when a certain pothead dies, the game says "X has take the ultimate bad trip". They make light of every situation!).

 As for the game itself, it's pretty good. Controls are very simple, and are responsive, most of the time. Just like Zelda, there are some times in which you are going to return to the pause menu numerous times to switch items, but it doesn't get annoying... not that part, at least. The game is brutally hard, some of the puzzles are quite taxing, and worst of all, the game punishes you constantly. Rooms don't reset unless you exit them, which means on rooms that have 3 or more tasks to complete, fail even one of them, and you have to do all of them again, that barrel you just lost, is gone forever until you exit the room.



 The worst aspect of the game is the jumping. The game has a dumbfounded focus on jumping. Jumping in this game is annoying, due to it's 2D with a 3D plane nature, gauging distances is hard, and some jumps need to be pixel-perfect. The worst part? The game is filled with jumping puzzles, all the way to the end. Some can get quite frustrating, since you might, actually, WILL, need to reset a lot of rooms that have jumping puzzles. It's quite surprising on the amount of jumping the game pretends you to do, and blemishes an otherwise great game.
 The game could've also used maps, it's easy to get lost in the main world of the game, at least until you learn the landscape. Most of the dungeons are small enough as not to need one, but the last dungeon can get quite confusing. Another annoyance comes from the health of enemies. Enemies take a lot of hits before going down, specially early in the game... and the bosses? Working Arts said that the in the Japanese version, bosses had even more health... hard to imagine. The latter bosses specially, will soak up a lot of damage before going down.

 The presentation is one of the game's best assets. It looks great, the sprite art is charming, and has a very distinct style, with their big feet. The music is fantastic, there are a lot of pieces, and they are all really, really good. The localization is top-notch, worthy of the Working Arts logo.
 The game is really good, but it's hard difficulty may turn off some people, nothing a guide can't help ease, however the jumping puzzles are an exercise in frustration, probably the one thing that kept this game from becoming a classic, instead of just a cult hit.
 It's a 7 out of 10