Customer Reviews

Alundra 2 Ps

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love RPG games and have been playing since they 1st came out. This game would have rec'd a 5 Star rating if it wasn't so very frustrating. It 'loads' so often its annoying. Its easy to figure out the puzzles and most are fun but just as you have put an hour into the game (with no save point in sight)it puts in a easy puzzle but an impossible to do in less than another hour or more - skill to learn. If you don't learn the skill and get through it you must lose the last hour or more you put into the game. I am halfway through the game and will probably not play it to the end. The current skill I'm on is to leap to a box which lights another box and the one you are one disappears. Not so hard to figure out, but almost impossible unless you accidently land in the right place at the right time facing the right direction to go more than a few blocks before you have to start all over. Again not unreal to do just long and frustrating. I play to be challenged and the feeling of accomplishment at the complition of a difficult skill and I have NEVER shut off a game so often and been willing to loose all my progress rather than get upset. So, 3 Stars is all it deserves in my opinion. This could have been a great game.

A solid but unspectacular action RPG. Gameplay is very similar to 16-bit games much like Beyond Oasis, Zelda 3, and Light Crusader with inventory management reminiscent of Y's 3. Basically just an old school hack and slash adventure with a block puzzle thrown in from time to time. Short of the occasional FMV and the 3D graphics this game could have easily been done years ago on older systems. Graphically it looks quite nice, but the camera angle is a little difficult at times. Overall a decent game that doesn't really live up to modern standards. Fans of titles like Soul Reaver and the PSX Final Fantasy games would be better off to look elsewhere.

This game rocks! Its rare to find a game so well balanced between RPG and action elements. The difficulty level is not too tough, and they even have an easier version for newbies, but I recommend playing the more difficult one.

The only downfall to this game is the graphics. After playing graphic masterpieces like Final Fantasy VIII and Legacy of Kain, I have come to expect games not to be so grainy. The textures in the game are really ugly up close, plus the beginning of the game has one of the most blocky "FMV" sequences I have ever seen on the playstation(which, from what I understand, was made especially for American audiences to clarify the story. I found this unnecessary, plus all of the images are taken from the game itself)

If one can get past the not so clear graphics, the game itself is incredible. I recommend it to all Action/RPG fans.

Alundra 2 is excellent. The graphics, sound, and difficulty are right on. The extras and minigames give the game high replay value and overall enjoyment. The only thing that I'd like to point out is the lack of almost all characters, storyline, enemies, etc. from the original game. The only things I noticed returning were some of the styles in puzzle solving. Never-the-less, it's a great game, with or without the "Alundra" guise.

That's only in the first hour. Unfortunately, this childish cast of monsters follows you throughout your journey as Flint "The Pirate Hunter" in your quest to take down the ultimate evil in the form of a trollish frog-wizard. If you've ever wondered why there is no Alundra 3, all you need to do is try to make a single pass through this one.

Gameplay:
Alundra 2 completely breaks away from its predecessor by throwing away the old 2d engine and replaces it with a clunky 3d one. The control is directionally based, much like the original Parasite Eve, adding the ability to rotate your camera in 8 directions. Here, the first problem arises while playing. Should you have the need to rotate the camera while moving, you'll find yourself unable to change directions unless you stop moving completely. Movement is very clumsy in this game which compounds with Flint's sheer sluggish-ness. Now add the game's horrid clipping, and dodging enemies can sometimes be an impossibility. Which is a shame, since no matter how many hit points you have, odds are 6 hits (attacks or collisions) with an enemy will find you dead.

Like the original, Alundra 2 is full of puzzles that require manipulation of the environment, and this clumsiness usually means that you'll be getting stuck running by diagonal walls or missing crucial jumps because you can't see where you're supposed to be going. The puzzles are also extremely easy until you get to around the 60% point of the game, at which point they actually take some thought. Which is good, because by that point the monsters and bosses become childishly easy, and without the more challenging puzzles, you'll be hard pressed to find reason to keep playing.

Graphics:
The move to a 3d engine was a bad one. The graphics in this game are just completely bland and uninspired. It's like taking all the bad parts of Granstream Saga and Threads of Fate and mixing them together. The polygonal characters are poorly rendered with bodies consisting of no more than ten polygons and the texture mapping is poorly done. There are no FMV's so-to-speak, with all the cut-scenes done with the game engine and the few movies being the game-engine on some other background. Definitely nothing to please your eyes while you slug through this one.

Sound:
The voice-acting in this game is surprisingly well done, albeit corny, and the list of actors is impressive with more than one recognizable voice in the mix. Unfortunately, the voices are the only upside since the music is uninspired at best. Be prepared for a lot of digitized oboes since the composer seems to love them more than is natural. Sound effects are par, they aren't annoying, nor do they rise out of this flavorless morass.

Overall:
If you're looking for a sequel to Alundra, this is not the game to you. Having gone through the entire game, there is not a single reference to Alundra or even to the Alundra world of Inoa. In fact the only thing that can be said to link the two games are the puzzles, but even then, these are much easier than the original. Even the original had a story that was dark and interesting, with Alundra being able to walk in people's nightmares and save their souls, but this one is pitiful and hackneyed. Basically, you are a pirate-hunter that teams up with a princess to save the kingdom from a court magician who goes awry. That's it, there's no side-story, back-story, or better-story ever revealed during gameplay.

Basically put, I can take games with bad graphics, poor sound, shoddy gameplay or no story; I just can't take a game with all of those traits combined. In fact, the game will clock you in around 20 hours with the last 5 hours being no too bad. The problem is that the first 15 hours were absolutely horrid. So horrid, in fact, that had my memory card corrupted and I had to replay them to get to the enjoyable part of the game, I would have just thrown the CD in the microwave and watched the lightshow.

I was really excited when I first got this game. It was fun and I looked forward to playing it. But then about 1/2 - 3/4's of the way in I got really tired trying to figure out some of the secrets of the rooms and even when I did it became more about becoming master of my controller-pushing the right buttons in the cleanest, fastest way so that I could actually jump, leap or hit my way correctly into the next sequence....YAWN..., not to mention tedious...It's one thing to be smart enough to figure out *how* to more on and it's another thing entirely when you know what you need to do and can't quite physically pull it off and have to keep trying...and trying...and trying...to get it done 'cause ya ain't go no choice! BLAH!

This game is nothing like the original Alundra accept the puzzles... but all of the cool adventure/RPG games that have sequals are nothing alike usually. Look at the final fantasy series, they are all different accept the style of fighting. This is a really cool game and is very addictive. Buy it if you want a cool adventure game to play

Alundra 2 is a great game. There are not enough action/rpgs out there. It has an excellent system of magic and sword combos. The puzzles are not too easy but they are not as difficult as they are in Alundra either. The story is not as good as Alundra's, and it has nothing to do with its story . that does not make the story horrible though. It has a lot of hummor in it. If you like action/rpgs then chances are you will like Alundra 2. It has solid gameplay and a hummorous story. The voice overs are also a plus that is missing from many games.

I do recommend this game although I still cant figure out why it even carries the name Alundra. I'll be honest, this game isn't remotely similiar to the first in my opinion. If it had a different name noone would know it is the sequel. Now to the good part this game is very fun I thought it was reminiscent of the Granstream Saga which I thoroughly enjoyed. This game totally makes the first one seem obsolete, it has a humour about it that a lot of games seem to be missing these days and the game play is wonderful. Flint (the main character)is very easy to control. It's well worth the money. Go ahead, buy it.

For all you RPG lovers out there this game rocks. If you don't have it get it this is a must-have. There are only a few downsides one of wich is the views, other wise this game is perfect. Sure the text is a little cheesy but it's a great game. I encourage you all to go out and buy this great RPG.