Alundra

[Bytor]

-Visuals- 8.3/10
A little of this, a little of that. First of all the "this". the sprites, and it is certainly very reminiscent of the SNES/Saturn age are well drawn for the most part, my only real complaint, and it is my complaint for all of the graphics is that the colors are to at least, drab, dull, and lacking any vibrancy whatsoever. It almost appears as if the colors are viewed through a slightly distorted lenses which drains the colors of their depth and simply makes everything appear just a tad muted. And that is a shame really, because the overall graphical presentation looks extremely well, especially considering the age of the game, and BTW, the last part is the "that", lol.


-Sound- 8.0/10
Not bad actually, unfortunately while at times it is somewhat sweeping and majestic at other times it's somewhat weak and unassuming. That in and of itself is bad enough but I swear at times it seems the music simply doesn't fit. It's almost as if someone NOT playing (or even watching) the game made the soundtrack. The music simply too often does not correspond with what is going on on the screen, kinda weird really.

-Gameplay- 7.8/10
Welcome to platforming/puzzle hell. And that might be an understatement. This game is simply put...hard. The puzzles range from relatively simple to downright ridiculous in difficulty, but that's nothing. The platforming ranges from moderately hard to I hope to hell you have a few extra controllers and some scapula to fix the holes in the wall. Now, I don't mind a hard game but I honestly felt this one borderlines on self masochistic torture. And I understand the game was designed this way but in my honest opinion it's simply over the top in difficulty rating. Especially combined with the fact that the view and some, at times, slightly crazy controls (I can't count the times I jumped onto a pillar and slid off the other end) and you have a wonderful recipe for frustration. And to make matters even more fun, the save points are sparse and if you die, and you will quite often you will be forced to start from the last save...like I said, be prepared for some serious frustrations. And I cannot stress this enough, there is a difference between being a hard game and being over the top difficult simply for the sake of being difficult. This game crosses that border, and while some may love the challenge I felt the challenges outweighed the fun.


-Story- 8.0/10
You play as Alundra, a stranded traveler who has the ability to enter people's dreams and help them escape the demons which are causing their dreams to turn into nightmares. The story itself is fine although nothing necessarily mind blowing but it is a solid story overall. What I found interesting is that people die. And i know people die in video games all the time, what makes this different is the people are often the same people you are trying to save. You can accomplish your mission and characters may still die, somewhat different outlook compared to many games where the hero saves the day, you may win the battle and lose the war is probably an apt analogy. Other than that quirk the story is acceptable if somewhat cliche.

-Overall- 8.0/10
See gameplay above. That pretty much sums up my feelings concerning Alundra.