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Bearer of the Sword |  |
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By: Surdalii Homepage: http://members.home.met/sturdalii Download: 891 KB Reviewed by: P |
This is a tale of a kid whose father fought in the great war. His father survived, and was a great hero. He wielded a sword that was said to make him invincible. After being assigned a school project on the great war, the kid, named Kirdon, learned of these events, which were painful for his father to recall. Kirdon went over to a friend's house to discuss the project, and thus Kirdon's friend learned of the sword, which Kirdon's father promised to Kirdon on his 18th birthday. Unfortunately, Kirdon's friend gets rather greedy and steals the sword that night, in the process killing Kirdon's father. Now Kirdon wants justice.
Well, a sound plot, one that can open up to a great story. On paper, it can create a brilliant story. In the hands of Surdalii, it becomes an OHR game with all the common problems: Spelling errors run amok, weak dialogue, plotscripting that could've been better, and other general OHR newbieisms. While the story, art, and a 'critical hit' feature enlighten Bearer of the Sword, there's just too many problems to enjoy this game.
Rooms are visible from other rooms when they shouldn't be. Superethers are... free? The backdrops in battles, which are ripped pictures, have my hero floating in the air. The backdrops are realistic, which doesn't flow with the cartoony graphics. Wallmaps are neglected at times. The music, which is probably ripped (I don't know where they're from, but they have the professional RPG sound to them), really kills the mood, either over- or underachieving.
Usually a game can recover from these faults with effort, but the biggest problem occurs in battles. The game even incinuates at one point early on that you need levelbust in order to win! This game is filled with more levelbusting than Pokémon. I spent the first thirty minutes advancing the plot, then I *HAD* to levelbust because a group of three snakes, each with 15 or so HP nearly killed me before I was able to kill one of them! ...so here I am, with 10 HP left, no free way to heal myself, NO cash, and a game that wants me to do this throughout the entire game. Luck finally came my way, though. I found a battle with one snake, defeated it with only 2 HP left, and took a rest at the inn. Now I'm on my way to fame and fortune! I agonized through an hour and 10+ levels of levelbusting, listening to the same dull music over and over. The first boss, the one in the well, still toasted me. The well, though nothing but filler space in my adventure, actually had some decent graphics. After using the OHR equipment bug to raise my attack power, I survive to find more filler space, and the end of the demo. Too bad. All that effort down the drain.
Scores:
| Graphics: Maptiles are good, backdrops are bad. Art is decent. | |
| Music: The music jumps the shark after Kirdon's father is killed. Partially ripped. | |
| Storyline: Brilliant story ruined by other areas not rising up to meet it. | |
| Gameplay: Battles are of the hold-down-your-ctrl-key kind, but the minigames and everything else in the gameplay isn't bad at all. | |
| Overall (Not an average score): Really, if levelbusting and filler space are what you're seeking in an RPG, by all means, go ahead and play. Otherwise, stay away. The demo's not long enough to be half-worth it. |
Operation: OHR is owned and maintained by Kevin W. (Aethereal)