Baroque

by Atlus

Product Features

• Hardcore dungeon crawling RPG action
• Many ever changing levels and perverse monsters
• each time your character dies more secrets are revealed
• deep customization options with vast amounts of weapons
• aquire powerful stat boosting parasites to multiply their potency

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: B0011GBJO8
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches ; 6.2 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: April 8, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,924 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #74 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Role-Playing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

You awaken to find the world in ruin, your heart beset with unexplained guilt. A cataclysm has destroyed the cities and empires of men and disfigured the spirit of humanity. In this nightmare, it falls to you to descend a mysterious tower in search of absolution. Battle merciless foes in treacherous dungeons, scour for new items to aid you in your travels, and unlock the secrets of a devastated land. You will find death in the depths, yet learn that death is not the end of the story; in the twisted world of Baroque, it is only the beginning.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something a Little Different, April 15, 2008

By 

Matthew Campbell (Liverpool, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Baroque (Video Game)

*WARNING*: One of the fun things about this game is discovering it's intricacies yourself. It's a hard one to review without giving stuff away (although I'll avoid plot spoilers). Odds are, however, if you're reading this, you're not the kind of person who enjoys going in blind. Read ahead with care.

This game is a port of a PS1/Saturn game, so I'll be the first to admit it's not a graphical masterpiece for the system. It does have it's moments where the atmosphere shines through, but in general it looks stiff and blurry. That, combined with a combat system that seems to use only one or two buttons and a simple dialogue system make this game seem on the surface to be the sub-par action-RPG that we've seen seen plenty of times already.

It's not for everyone, surely, but if you spend some time digging around in the game, you'll find something that is quite rare - there are layers upon layers of deliberately obscure mysteries buried within the characters and combat system. This is probably my favorite part of the game - finding out how things work (or worked). How many games have been made where you're in a completely alien environment but everything conveniently operates in the same way as the normal world. The game doesn't hold you're hand at all, dropping you into the middle of "what the hell is going on" right from the beginning. You're left to discover that the combat system isn't about the attack button, but about how you use and combine various items at the perfect time for maximum effectiveness. Combined with the ability to throw any item, there are many ways to combine and juggle items to beat the creatures you'll find in the game's main dungeon. The dialogue system is also tied to item management - instead of picking choices from a dialogue tree, you interact by giving characters objects. Almost everything is randomized in the game, so you can oftentimes find yourself fighting against the number generator more than actual enemies. You'll find yourself constantly dying or "beating the game", and you'll be left with nothing and starting from square one. Except you won't be. The goal of the game isn't to make it to the bottom of the tower, but to interact in the tower in ways that will effect it and the outer world for your next life.

Pros:
- random item drops will keep certain types of people coming back over and over again for more (you know who you are, Diablo fans...).
- the combat system opens up once you begin combining, using, and throwing items instead of hoarding them for later. This isn't Final Fantasy.
- the atmosphere is superb.
- the systems and story are left for you to work for, not given to you (maybe a con for some people).

Cons:
- see the last bullet in Pros.
- graphically dated, can be blurry and grainy sometimes (although I feel this sometimes helps the atmosphere)
- hard to tell when you're making progress, or what you did to cause such progress. The disconnect can be frustrating.

In summary, you are told at the beginning of the game to atone for your sins and it's up to you to discover what those sins are and what you can do about them now in the wake of a destroyed world. I honestly loved the fact that this is a world that isn't handed to me in the instruction manual or in main intro. It's not for everyone, but I hope more people will give it a chance.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars throw aside preconceptions, and Baroque becomes a unique and rewarding experience, June 15, 2008

By 

S. Brandl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Baroque (Video Game)

Baroque is by no means for everyone, but if one wishes for a bizarre, surreal, and unique experience, Baroque is a good choice.

First, Baroque is actually a remake of an original Sega Saturn release. Baroque's development team, Sting, is probably better known for their Sega Dreamcast series, Evolution, and their more recent offerings on hand-held platforms, including Yggdra Union for the Gameboy Advance. This team is not a large one, and their inexperience with more recent 3-dimensional game systems shows. Often games of this sort are never picked up for an English localization.

Gameplay: From the outset, Baroque is befuddling, as it gives the player no obvious instruction and sends them blindly into the Neuro Tower. The tutorial dungeon is not opened to the player until after his first death or successful decent, and further tutorials are unlocked after further attempts at the Neuro Tower. Baroque is an action-RPG with quite a bit of hidden strategy. Much of the fun comes from devising creative uses of the items one finds while wandering the Tower and planning for future attempts by storing items for later use. One particularly amusing combination of items I found was to use a 'Summon Torturer' followed by an invincibility and experience bone, then boom bones to wipe out every enemy on the level I was on. One must never get too attached to the player character, as he and his inventory reset with each attempt at the Tower. Perhaps the weakest element of the gameplay is the player's attack repertoire, which consists only of a weak combo attack, a fierce attack, and throw options. Still, there have been successful games that have offered less.

Story: The story plays out through dialogs triggered by approaching NPCs and walking into 'Plot Rooms' scattered throughout the Neuro Tower. There is no obvious linear plot, but this is not a Final Fantasy style RPG. All cutscenes and dialog can be reviewed under the database available with each Baroque game save. Some may find the amnesiac lead character trite, but in reference to the story, it is appropriate; everyone in the world of Baroque is fractured in some way, the player's character is just more distorted than he physically appears. Some may be put off by the treatment of a fictitious faith based on Christianity, but one must remember that the developers of Baroque live in a country where people of Judeo-Christian faiths are the minority.

Graphics: The graphics in Baroque are relatively spartan, belying its small budget and small studio origins. Though the bestiary are rendered with a low polygon count, the texture maps are quite detailed, effectively displaying just how horrific the 'Metabeings'/'Grotesques' are. At some points, I wonder just how this game managed to slip by with only a Teen rating, with just how disturbing and provocative some of the monsters are. There are a variety of dungeon themes, some more aesthetically pleasing than others, but all are quite industrial. The environment is limited mostly by the random generation of the dungeon.

Overall, this game is not intuitive or obvious, but that is its challenge and fun. Players are most often shocked and frustrated by the odd mechanics that occasionally encourage strategic deaths. Once one lets go of expectations and actually plays Baroque as it was designed to be played, the game becomes a surreal, nightmarish, and philosophical experience.


Side Note: The artistic term Baroque actually fits this game's aesthetic quite nicely; Baroque period art and literature was known for its drama and grandeur, but is often remembered for being grotesque, horrific, and extreme, as exemplified by Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. The word Baroque is derived from a French term for an irregular or misshapen pearl, which the game's developers applied to the irregular and misshapen beings formed by 'The Blaze'/'The Great Heat'.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, the ways in which I've died..., July 9, 2008

By 

Luke Keppler (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Baroque (Video Game)

Finally, a game for roguelike fans! This game is essentially a Japanese realtime Nethack with a unique storyline -- it's incredibly fun, in a masochistic way. Consequences for dying? Who would have come up with such a thing!

I admit that I was skeptical of this game when I bought it. I've played my share of crappy, run-of-the-mill Japanese RPGs that drag on for hours in endless tedium.

But after having played Baroque for at least 15 hours and having died at least 7 times, my hope for RPGs has been restored! The game is pure anti-tedium. The wealth of randomly discovered items and actions make each attempt like a new game. The rule of thumb is: "Use your items or die!" No point in hoarding!

Sure you lose everything. But when you die, your effort does not go unnoticed... A deterrence from save/reload! (thank you god).

I can see how players can be quickly put off by the bare-essential graphics before they have a chance to unlock the depth of strategy. Anyone who is familiar with the genre knows that graphics are primarily there for reference. The PS2 and Wii versions can both be played in 480p (assuming use of PS3), and the main difference becomes optional widescreen mode and slightly worse controls for Wii.

If you are a fan of roguelike games (Nethack, Toejam & Earl, ADOM, original Diablo) and you keep an open mind about graphics and game direction, then you must buy Baroque. Going into a game store, I now automatically compare all other games to Baroque -- nothing measures up.

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