Azure Dreams

by Sony

Product Features

• Konami Role Playing Game
• Rare and Hard to Find

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00000DMAP
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,416 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

You are 15 years old. You are now of age to take on the role of "monster tamer," a position your late father once held. In fact, your father was considered the greatest monster tamer in all the land. Your family name is legendary, and you have a lot to live up to. Your destiny is to enter the Demon Tower and retrieve the eggs of rare and exotic creatures, which you will then breed for companionship or to sell to the highest bidder. Such is the premise of Konami's newest RPG, Azure Dreams.

In the case of Konami, credit must be given where credit is due. Up until the time of the second generation of 32-bit games, RPGs had remained largely on the outskirts of most gamers' tastes. It was a niche market defined by superdeformed characters, idiosyncratic Japanese overtones, and a sword and sorcery prerequisite that intimidated the average consumer. While 16-bit titles such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III, and Super Mario RPG had been relatively successful, they were hardly selling as well as games like Mortal Kombat or Madden 93. So upon entering the 32-bit market, RPG fans had very little to choose from - Mystaria for the Saturn, Beyond the Beyond for the PlayStation, Shining Wisdom, and so on. So, while most people credit Final Fantasy VII for opening the floodgates for the impending wave of RPGs, it was really Suikoden that laid the groundwork. Despite its lackluster graphics, Suikoden's rich storyline and lengthy quest appealed not only to hard-core gamers, but to the novice role-player as well. It was so successful that Konami decided to translate its other 32-bit RPG, Vandal Hearts, almost immediately after Suikoden's release. Now, after the face of next-generation gaming has been permanently altered by games like Wild Arms, Persona, Dragon Force, Tactics Ogre, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, Konami has decided the time is right to release its most bizarre RPG to date.

Azure Dreams places you in the town of Monsbaia, where you assume the role of a youthful monster tamer, who, on the day of his 15th birthday, is eligible to enter the Demon Tower and search for monster eggs. The eggs that you collect may either be sold or hatched. If you choose to hatch them, you can then take these familiars into the tower with you to aid you on your journey. The higher in the tower you go, the more difficult it becomes to progress, but the eggs you will find will contain rarer and more exotic monsters. Monsters can later be fused into stronger creatures, which can be of great assistance later in the game. Unique to this sort of "monster ranching" is that the AI of each monster can be altered at any time during the game. For example, you can elect to have your monster travel behind you at all times, protecting you from attacks at the rear, or, you can choose to have the creature walk in front. You can also dictate whether it attacks enemies directly, remains on guard, or magically powers up your weapons with each attack. Unlike other turn-based RPGs, the fight sequences in Azure Dreams occur in real time, which gives the game a Zelda-esque feeling at times. As a result, the flexibility in the system is limited only by your own preferences, as the options are numerous. Another feature that keeps the game fresh is the random map generator, which creates completely new dungeon layouts each time you enter the Demon Tower. Your quest won't be short, however, since the Tower contains up to 90 different levels.

Once you attain a certain level of success from your monster-taming endeavors, you will be able to buy items that will enhance existing structures, while creating entirely new buildings as well. You'll be able to install a new theater, horse racing track, bowling alley, casino, and library, while improving your house, the hospital, and your monster hut, among others. You'll even be able to equip the interiors of practically any building with exercise machines, rugs, TVs, washing machines, etc. How you build up the town will go a long way towards influencing how much the residents like you.

During the game you will encounter a number of residents who will ask you to use your increasingly legendary prowess to help them with certain problems they might have. These miniquests add a large amount of variety to an already nonlinear game. With over 50 monsters to discover on over 90 different levels, Azure Dreams provides a considerable amount of replay value.

Graphically, the game is a bit rough. While characters are sprite-based, the backgrounds are fully polygonal and can be rotated 360 degrees. While the backgrounds look solid enough, the characters and monsters look really pixelated. Combined with a distracting method of providing transparent walls when traveling in the dungeons and a slightly awkward overhead view, Azure Dreams can be described as messy - colorful, but messy. Additionally, no one in the game has a shadow. Since this isn't an action/platformer, it doesn't cause any real problems, but it's a distracting detail nonetheless. The sound effects in Azure Dreams are functional, and while the soundtrack won't appeal to everyone, it manages to get the job done.

In all honesty, it's a surprise that Konami even brought Azure Dreams to the US. Its main character looks like a cross between Edward Scissorhands and Ronald McDonald and has a sarcastic attitude that's a far cry from most of today's cookie-cutter heroes. With each successive RPG, Konami has gotten bolder and braver. With an ever-increasing respect to the original Japanese source material, Konami has translated what could truly be termed a niche RPG. Straying from any conventional formula, Konami has created an RPG that's equal parts SimCity, Monster Rancher, and role-playing game. With a heartwarming story of discovery and companionship to boot, Konami has struck RPG gold again. Third time's a charm, apparently. --James Mielke
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated classic, from the makers of Metal Gear Solid, March 11, 2002

By 

Shaun O'Donnell "Shaun O'Donnell" (Fort Worth, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Azure Dreams (Video Game)

9 out of 10 people will probably see this, and pass it up as another cheap RPG, for one thing you only have 1 dungeon (gasp) when you leve you level back down to 1 (GAsp), and you capture monster just like in Pokemon (GASP). No it's not a compelation of rip off's, this is a classic that is highly addicting, and incredibly fun, if given a chance.
The story revolves around a young lad (you name) who on his fifteenth birthday is given the opportunity to become a hunter and explore the depths of the Monster Tower to retrieve riches, however to do so he must not only survive, but grow as a trainer and as a man. In comes the Kewe, the monster you will likely use for a majority of the game. He is a fire type (there are only three types) and he is your brief tutorial, and key to success early on.
... YOu also must build up your respect to the townsfolk, to do this you must enlarge certain places (Temple, Hospital) and build new things (Library, Gym, Casino, Race Track, Bowling Alley ect..) and the town will grow to respect you.
Now as for the tower it'self, there are 40 floors, everytime you leave you go back down to level 1. No it's not immpossible for two reasons.
A) Your monsters level stays the same when you leave, this is due to the fact that they are more like equipment.
B) Weapons and armors stay the same, when a red or blue sand is used your weapons and armor grow more powerful, so technically you can easily dominate the first few levels without you monsters assistance.
Overall this game is tricky, you will die the first few times (lose all your items except monsters) but once they are strong enough you can succeed. There are 40 randomly changeing floors and they get more and more difficult as you go along. YOu must adjust your mosnters accordingly by class.
A)Fire
B)Wind
C)Water
Fire beats Wind, Water beats Fire, Wind Beats Water.
I would buy this for the challenge it possess, guarennteed addiction.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Dreamcast Time Stalkers game should have been., October 28, 2000

By 

Donna Lordi (Joliet, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Azure Dreams (Video Game)

This game, for all that it was, was fun, exciting and enjoyable. While some aspects of it are repetative, it is fun, and I had a blast.

You are a monster tamer, in the tradition of your father. You must make your way deeper and deeper into the mysterious tower near town, to find fortune and achieve your destiny. Each trip into the tower puts you at the beginning -- but your animals retain their skills. You also can keep weapons and other items you find, but if you die, they are lost.

It is at least worth a rental if not a buy. I give it five stars because it kept me very entertained, and I have been disenchanted with most of the SquareSoft games lately. This really picked my spirits up. If you don't mind a bit of repetition, you might not find this so bad.

You are also given quests to find objects in the tower, as well as the opportunity to build up and improve almost every building in your village. Perhaps the best, and most amusing part, is how several women vie for your attentions, and you have to find the particular way to make them fall for you.

Not necessarily replayable, but great for at least a test drive.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An old-school RPG which forces old-school RPG patience., November 16, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Azure Dreams (Video Game)

When Konami first came out with this game, the main selling point was its monster breeding system. While I admit that this and the 'relationships' part of the game interested me, I found that the main course of the game, the dungeon, too tiring for me.

While I won't explain the whole game, the one crucial difference with this RPG and others is the character level resets to 1 every time you enmter the tower... and you must start from the 1st floor EVERY TIME. Now it's fine when you're just starting out, but when you've reached the point in the game where you have to go past the 15th floor to even start building experience for your monsters, it quickly becomes a tiring expereince. There's nothing like taking 4 hours to reach the 18th floor and then dying because you end up in the middle of a monster trap.

In addition to this, one can only take 5 items (including the maximum of 2 monsters) into the dungeon, so you simply can't carry a lot of HP or MP (points which your monsters expend by simply EXISTING) replenishers to help you on your quest. It assumes that you will find what you need along the way. This also tries one's patience, becaouse you can never be sure when you will find an item you need: for instance, there is one type of fruit that allows you to leave the dungeon w/o losing all your items; this would be fine if you had more items to take into the dungeon, or if the dungeon didn't randomly change every time you played, but because of the conditions, if you want to be effective, you have to take the chance that you will find that type of fruit along the way so you can stuff one more MP berry into your pack. Folks, this requires patience. At least FF gives you pages of spots to put your items in.

All in all though, if you're looking for a game that allows you to create some interesting monsters, or have some funny situations with female NPCs, this game is good. However, if you are looking for something to entertain or dazzle you for 60+ hours, I would hold off getting this 'monster game.' Although I don't expect FF7 or 8 RPG's from every company, I do expect RPG's to not bore an average RPG fan. If I want tedious, I can always pull out the old 8-bit systems from the closet.