Alundra

When I was young I owned Landstalker for the Genesis, the predecessor to Alundra, a game known for it's interesting perspective and Zelda-like adventure. I enjoyed the game so much that I played it through two times in the same year.

Alundra, on the other hand, was always just outside my grip. When it was first advertised I immediately recognized the artwork to be the same as that of Landstalker, and could sense their connection. But I didn't have a PlayStation back then. Thus, many years passed by until I finally acquired (at a hefty price) a copy of the game.

I had such high hopes for Alundra. Instead I found a game that is a mix of "great" and "terrible", and could have been an amazing game with some adjustments. What you get here is one of the most confusing and poorly designed Zelda-likes.

First, let's talk about what works well. Overall it looks great. There's some fun weapons, spells, and items that keep things fresh, and the ability to upgrade weapons. The village goes through some interesting changes. There's also some fantastic art, including what you find in the masterly designed manual and the anime opening and ending.

Now, as for the bad. If I had to sum it up in one word I would say "navigation." Everything is a complex maze, including the overworld and the dungeons. The game is constantly trolling you, with pits and one-way drops that force you to replay massive sections. The puzzles are beyond obtuse, and you frequently have to re-enter rooms to retry. Often you hit a switch and have no idea what it did...meanwhile, a random gate you forgot about from 25 minutes ago opened ten screens away.

Simply put, this is the kind of game where you are constantly asking yourself "what am I supposed to do next?" and once you determine that, you are banging your head trying to get the precision just right.

And the platforming. Oh the platforming...it was challenging in Landstalker, but not frustrating as it is here. With Alundra, they ask for the nearly impossible with their jumps, and punish you every time you miss.

And this isn't just in the dungeons. There was one simple cliff climbing section, for example, where you make literally over 30 jumps, and if you mess one up, you start all the way over again.

There's no in-game map except when you talk to the fortune teller. This means that the developers made an in-game map and made the design decision to not allow the player to access it freely. And as mentioned above, the overworld is such an insane maze that I desperately felt the need to access it while exploring. Sadly, the fold-out map that came included in the case, while fun, doesn't serve much of a purpose, as most of the areas are hidden under the fog of war and details are missing.

Getting around the overworld is a chore, due to the complex nature of the labyrinth design. I discovered the far-too hidden warp feature way too late in the game, as it was pretty well obscured. In order to unlock it, you have to complete yet another painful puzzle. But even then, you can't use it as you have to rediscover all of the exit points throughout the overworld before they become usable.

As a more minor gripe, most of the chests have items you have no space for. Often you complete a strange, longwinded puzzle just to get something you don't need. Similarly, currency is a wasted opportunity. Shortly into the game you have very little need for money, and walk around with heavy pockets with nothing to spend that money on. While these examples are not a big deal, they amount to a lack of polish that further hurt the experience. 

In closing, Alundra has a great look, a fun beginning segment, and the foundation of a great game. Sadly, the bulk of the experience was exhausting. I kept waiting for it to get more interesting, and, sadly, it only punished me.