I love Pokémon. I know, it seems an odd thing to say at the start of a review for a PSP game, but I only bring it up because it is an RPG. Most people shun the series, with some RPG fans claiming it isn’t really one at all, and anime nuts claim the same thing about the show itself. However, like it or not, it is. And it is also about the only kind of turn-based RPG I do like. Personally I prefer a little more action in my RPG, something along the lines of the Mana games, and I tend to let games like Final Fantasy fall by the wayside. Am I missing out? Probably. Do I care? Not really. Sure, I may wonder from time to time if some of these games are really as good as people have claimed, but then I remember the awful experiences I have had with these games in the past (namely the original FF games for Nintendo’s first systems) and I feel fine about it. At first, it was the idea of the interesting combat (not to mention the graphics, which looked a far cry from most portable RPG offerings) that attracted me to Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light. I had heard it was a mix between RPG and real-time combat, and frankly that seemed right up my alley. It was only later that I discovered there was a big difference between that and an action game with RPG elements. And, in fact, what I soon discovered was that despite an otherwise amazing package, the combat in Blade Dancer sucked...but perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself.
As I mentioned, I’ve never been much for the RPG genre. I mean, I am not completely opposed to it, and I can still play and enjoy RPGs from time to time. However, I really do find them quite comparable to tie-dye t-shirts. At first glance, they may look different, and every now and then you might find one that actually stands out from the rest, but in the end they're all basically the same. I know, it is something of an odd analogy, but it works for me, and Blade Dancer falls right within it. If you manage to make it to the end of the game, then when all is said and done, the story really does develop into something more. There is nothing really noteworthy, in my opinion, but at the very least it is ever so slightly more complex than the droves of other role-playing games that hit store shelves year after year. As you’ll likely notice in the game’s beginning, though, developer Hit Maker reaches pretty deep into the barrel of RPG stories to find one that isn’t as clichéd as most, but still something you will be familiar with. When the game starts out, our hero Lance arrives in the distant land of Foo to test his skills.
Things start off pretty timid at first, with the player running errands for townspeople and getting down the basics of Blade Dancer’s unique combat system (more on that later), but it doesn’t take long before our intrepid young hero is fulfilling oaths, saving strangers, and facing nearly unbeatable odds all while assembling a fairly respectable team of warriors. As a bit of a back-story, the game goes on to tell you "this world was once ruled by an evil emperor, until one courageous man stood against his dark ambitions. This was the Protector of Light, Blade Dancer Gerard. He drove the vile emperor to a lone island in the east. Here, the Blade Dancer disappeared when the dark lord unleashed his immortal henchman, the Dread Knight. Darkness enveloped the world. But as hope began to fade, just as quickly the news spread that the evil dictator had been defeated." Even though the emperor’s defeat has remained a mystery for a thousand years, when Lance arrives and quickly finds himself encountering both a young (amnesiac) girl, the same girl who has been appearing to him in his dreams, and the aforementioned Dread Knight, you can bet he is going to find some answers.
Naturally, in a game such as this, our hero won’t be saving the world alone and the team of heroes doesn’t include any surprises either. In addition to the sword-wielding Lance, you’ll see the usual, including the burly brawler, the youthful mage, and the staple damsel in distress who is never quite so weak (but always more important) than she originally appeared. So, while Lance carries a sword, Gozen the muscle-bound giant prefers a variety of often blade-tipped gauntlets, the young healer Felis focuses her magic with a staff, and Tess, the mysterious girl Lance finds, uses a bow and arrow. As far as the big picture is concerned the weapons are not really worth mentioning, but I feel I should bring them up because they tie directly into one of the more interesting aspects of the game’s combat system: the Lunabilities. You see, as both you and your enemies attack, the Lunar Gauge at the top of your screen slowly fills up and offers you the opportunity to use part of it for a special attack. Whether you are performing a solo or group attack, using a Lunability requires a weapon to be equipped, though you can either attack or heal.
Unfortunately, you’ll find that you and your enemies share the same Lunar Gauge and, just as you can use it to bust out some moves, so can they. Often times, this can change the tide of the battle – a group of monsters that you have defeated numerous times before can suddenly strike you down if they decide to hack away at your HP with their own Lunabilities. And likewise, they can also heal one another too, so you’ve never actually won a battle until it is over, no matter how close it may seem. The strategy of using Lunar Powers gets even more complex in that these moves take longer than an ordinary attack to power-up, giving both you and your opponents time to halt one another by simply landing a hit. While this would seem rather pointless in a typical turn-based RPG, Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light is far from that. In fact, the game is a strange hybrid between traditional turn-based games and real-time combat, and that brings me to what I find to be the worst aspect of this entire game: the Lunar Clock.
Posted: 2006-09-26 10:45:45 PST