3RRDC Record Lodoss

RPG's on Dreamcast were, for the most part, amazing. It didn't require
no Final Fantasy game either. I'm sick of Final Fantasy being known as
'the one that started it all' when Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) came
out before it. In fact Dragon Quest was the first console RPG, there
were RPGs before it but only on computers and that didn't interest
everybody. Phantasy Star even came out the same year as Final
Fantasy in Japan, but Phantasy Star came first in the US. But enough
bickering about the past, lets get down to business. RPGs have
become boring lately without the Super Nintendo. Sure, there are few
good ones on the 32 bit systems but basically the same formula as the
ones before. Record of Lodoss War is fun and has some great aspects
to it. By now any of you who have seen it, but haven't played it, are
probably saying, "that game is just a Diablo rip-off." It looks like Diablo,
has a few similarities, but doesn't play like Diablo. Just take it into
consideration after reading the rest of the review.

Gameplay

Gameplay is what really matters in a game. The control in this is
perfect; the game takes full advantage of Dreamcast analog stick,
which is VERY responsive. This game is very easy to play and although
you can only use melee weapons, they do vary quite a bit. The
weapons consist of knives, one-handed swords, two-handed swords,
ax, and even a big warhammer along with some unique ones. All of
these weapons do have their own unique attributes also. For example
the two-handed sword swings slow but is very powerful and is more
likely to knock enemies down but some foes require you to use speed
and that's where knives and one-handed swords come into play. The
weapons often have another unique attribute to it such as being more
effective on elves or goblins. The weapon progression isn't like
traditional RPGs, there are no shops to buy new weapons or armor so
you must find or earn your equipment. In place of the shop you have
your own personal blacksmith. For the price of mithrill, which is the
'gold' of the game and is mined or found in chests and from dead
enemies, the blacksmith will improve your weapon with magic
incantations, which you have to find or earn by maxing the one prior to
the newly acquired one. The incantations don't just stay on one
weapon though, ohhhh no, you can use the magic incantation on
whatever weapon you want by having the blacksmith transform your
weapon or by using a magic book that Wart gives you to transfer the
stats. The same thing goes for armor, shields, and helmets. Another
cool thing is that you can name your weapon, armor, shield, or helmet.

90%

Graphics

The graphics aren't anything spectacular. The cut-scenes are terrible
looking; they remind me of the 32-bit era, only shittier. Frame-rate
becomes an issue sometimes too but it only happens when you get
mobbed by enemies and believe me, you get MOBBED, it's insane how
many enemies attack you at once sometimes. One cool thing about
the graphics is the fact that the armors, shields, helmets, and weapons
all look different. The enemies do look good but a few are fairly poor
looking. I personally don't care much for graphics though; as long as I
know what's on the screen and it looks cool the graphics are fine by
me. I am using an S-cable and for me it made a tremendous difference,
especially in Sega GT. Though there are downsides with the graphics,
they are upsides too and that's why the overall graphics aren't that
bad.

80%

Sound

The sound effects are kind of annoying. When you are running with
any kind of boots that aren't Silent Boots, it will drive you mad. The
Heavy boots really give you a headache but the clank of metal is very
annoying in my opinion and that's exactly what they sound like. I think
the footsteps do sound well but are very mind numbing. The slash of
the Oriental Sword gets old too. Although almost all of the sound
effects are annoying the game does have some good ambient noises
like ogres yelling, bones clattering, and spiders skittering and such.
The soundtrack is respectable. The music is non-existent until you run
into enemies and that does add to the thrill. Some tracks are
impressive but mostly they get repetitive. Overall, as far as sound
goes, this game should be muted with some Marilyn Manson or Nine
Inch Nails playing in the background. In fact if I could edit the
soundtrack, Nine Inch Nails could fill the soundtrack alone and sound
really well with the game.

40%

Replay Value

A very big problem in RPG's but is somewhat handled in a few. This
game has a few extra things. One is that you could just collect items.
This is actually kind of fun when collecting armor, helmets, shields, and
weapons because in your building with your blacksmith there are
display cases. In these display cases are your prized weapons, armor,
shields, and helmets. Quite impressive looking when completed.
Another extra thing to do is to collect medallions for an old lady in the
Dark Elf Village. To get these medallions you have to seek out
dungeons or lairs of certain mini-bosses all over the land of Marmo.
There is a little surprise for you when you collect them all. Then there
is the hardest thing to do in the game, after you have gotten all of
medallions and done the 'surprise' you can fight Narse, a Black
Ancient Dragon. Before you fight him though you have to defeat every
mini-boss all in a row AND then defeat Narse all without returning to
town. This requires knowledge of items, armors, shields, helmets, and
weapons of the game because trust me, you will need a lot of them.

70%

Overall

All in all this is one of my favorite games. The story is somewhat
interesting but the depth lies in weapon, armor, shield, and helmet
upgrading. This is a fresh and new RPG/Hack'n'Slash that is much
better than it looks. They could have put more emphasis on magic use
but then again you're not a mage in the game, you're a fighter. The
story does have relevance to the Japanese anime though and fans
would really enjoy this game. Though the game is short, you could
probably beat it in 20 hours if you felt like it, I found myself playing my
character up to 50 hours but now my guy can attack some enemies up
to the 10,000,000 HP range. I give it a 90% overall because gameplay
is what matters most and this game is fun and addicting, even with its
shortcomings it makes up for it in its depth of equipment upgrading
and expansive world. It should appeal to all action junkies and mildly
to RPG fans because it's not the 'traditional' RPG.

90%