PepsimanVsJoe talks about random games.

Here we have the definition of the “in-offensive” videogame. Soul blazer is a short, sweet, and generally pleasant game that focuses on raising questions about life as well as the after-life rather than challenging the player. Underneath the rather silly translation –people are defeated instead of killed, as if this were some kind of duel – is a thought-provoking experience coupled with one of the better soundtracks in an SNES game.

In what could be considered a spin-off of Actraiser, Soul blazer follows the adventures of a young hero who is charged by “The Master” to rescue the captured souls of the world. The Master watches and controls from above similarly to what we as gamers do when we pick up a controller and play this game. Anyway the world is divided into seven areas and throughout the first six of them the player must destroy monsters and open their lairs to free the captive souls. These souls can represent humans, animals, and even inanimate objects like doors and chest drawers. With these souls barren towns are rebuilt, passages to new areas are opened, and other means of progression become available.

The neigh-continuous stream of lairs is a smart idea as it compels the player to keep going to see what the next lair holds. I’m not sure if it says something about me or what but I actually like this game more when I’m opening new lairs and watching the town grow. I feel the same way about Actraiser, as the simulation elements are far more interesting than the rather dull action segments. Maybe I don’t care for the simulation aspect and at all and I just like receiving rewards. If it’s all nothing more than looking forward to more carrots than so be it I guess.

The dungeons where the bulk of Soul Blazer takes place do little to alleviate the attitude I have about the game. They’re fairly standard with the usual mix of traps and monsters and they’re all capable of doing pitiful damage. The process comes down to finding lairs, wiping out the monsters as they spawn, collecting whatever carrot that was being dangled in front of me, and then move on. It would be different if the monsters used anything resembling a strategy or heck even hit for more than a single point of damage. There’s no if to this game as the dungeons will be cleared eventually unless for some reason I’m really drunk and have lost the use of my entire body so I can’t just mash whatever direction that will get me out of danger. Towards the end of the game things actually start to pick up and become somewhat challenging but it ends all too soon.

The bosses on the other hand represent a bit of a disconnection with the rest of the game. While the dungeons are easy the bosses hit hard and have a lot of HP so the player will always lose if they just mash away. This makes the difficulty very uneven as the very next dungeon refuses to adhere to any sort of curve which makes the entire game more like peaks and valleys when it comes to challenge. What really throws everything out of proportion is that the final dungeon is somewhat of a challenge and yet the final boss is the easiest in the game.

Yet Soul Blazer never becomes boring. The lack of challenge means I don’t have to worry so much about having enough experience to tackle some boss. It’s not like the extra HP would do me much good anyway as it’d just mean if I got five more levelups I could take maybe an extra hit from a boss. The game is designed just right so that I have everything I need to continue with the story. The characters aren’t memorable but occasionally they’ll offer some insightful commentary about being happy or whatever else only philosophers would care about. It’s one of those games I can play through again next year or ten years from now and still have enjoyable time, even taking into account its flaws.

Still that’s just my opinion and the storyline could just as easily not appeal to others and they may also see the carrots for what they are and pass on the game. I’m also probably biased because for quite awhile this was the only Super Nintendo game I rented back then. In any case it is what it is and though I hate that quote there’s really not much else I can say that applies to Soul Blazer.

Game Rating – 3 out of 5

It’s competent in all respects as the mechanics are quite solid and the level-design is sufficient but that’s all really. The lack of general difficulty leaves only one real way to make the game harder and that is by wearing weaker armor and wielding weaker swords. I think doing something like that would just ruin the pacing and that’s really one of the best things Soul Blazer has going for it. Its strength is in keeping things moving and progressing at a fairly steady pace. Then again I’ve watched some speedruns and I noticed that they centered on skipping a ton of stuff, which certainly makes the game far more difficult as well. I may have to give the game another play-through with this in mind.

My Rating – 4 out of 5

I carry a lot of fondness with this game as despite the game being nearly twenty years old it still holds up. Nostalgia is probably the biggest reason why I still like this game but even if that wasn’t the case I think it’s well-made, the music is great, and after a playthrough I just wanna go up to my car and give it a big hug cause maybe somewhere deep inside that money-sink is a soul. Maybe it’ll help me see invisible enemies in model towns or something.

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This is a pretty ancient piece that I planned on posting on my old blog when Soul Blazer hit the Virtual Console, unfortunately that never happened. So whatever it's here now. Note the ratings, you'll never see me do these again outside of official reviews.

Anyway I'm not sure what to write about next. I have Dragon Age: Origins and Tactics Ogre to talk about but I dunno. I have room for at least one more game this month. I'm tempted to shoot through Fatal Frame 2 seeing as how I picked up the third game for mad cheap not too long ago. It's either that or I take a well-deserved rest and get prepped for an absolutely exhausting March. Binary Domain the day before, then Megaman X1-6, then Yakuza: Dead Souls, then Warriors Orochi 3, and MAYBE Tales of Graces f. It's gonna be super ugly.

So hrmm. I'm leaving it up to you guys. Leave some comments, make suggestions, hell just view this post for all I care.

Oh and I hope everyone caught GVN Winter Brawl 6. Amazing stuff.