Customer Reviews

Baroque

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

 

 

*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.

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'.

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.

Baroque is total madness. The gameplay is straightforward but at the same time very complex, so it can be enjoyed by many ages. Baroque has an insane storyline and most of it makes no sense, however once you start figuring it out, it's genious. I love this game very much and it's a real head-trip too. The only thing I don't like is the way your level and items reset whenever you leave the tower. It REALLY ticks me off. So if you don't mind level grinding you'll be fine but if you don't this isn't the game for you.

How good is this game? As a metric, it's been published for the Sega Saturn, the Playstation One, Baroque (the Wii), and this particular review covers the PS2 version. The only other console games I know of that have been republished this often are Tetris and some of the Final Fantasy titles.

As a rogue-like, in terms of story, it's really, really good. The story unfolds (slowly) as your character dies. You'll restart from level one, and have to redo the Neuro ('nerve' in some versions) Tower from scratch. There are ways to save equipment using Consciousness Orb or 'Me' Brands, but essentially you'll be repeating an ever randomized dungeon over and over, from scratch each time. If this bores you or sounds tedious, you won't like the game. Personally I was able to 'get into' Baroque far more than similar excellent games in the genre like Azure Dreams or The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon, and the reason behind my interest is the haunting story.

"Heal your sin, heal the world," is the message behind your character's ordeals. While you start off essentially a blank slate, as you interact with the well drawn (actual personalities!) in-game characters, including the Archangel who provides your Angelic Rifle ('Go, there is meaning in you using it') a heroic picture emerges. Later in the game, your 'mute' character will speak in cut scenes. Let me mention if you are a hardcore religious fundamentalist, the game storyline will offend you.

Combat is not very deep, and the camera doesn't follow you well if you take a big hit and get knocked back. You can attack with fists and kicks (no big combos) until you find a sword. However, dependent on the other items you find, it may become interesting. 'Disks' and 'Torturers' act like magic spells, generating elemental, status effects or other effects, and can really turn the tide. You can also throw items for damage, including Bones. Your possible armor are two items, a Coat and Imitation Wings. For health items you can eat bones, but also 'flesh' and 'fluids' (which you inject... getting a sense of the style yet?). It is essential you have a constant supply of health items because your health is constantly decreasing, a ticking clock. So while the monsters aren't too challenging once you learn their patterns, there's more to navigating the tower than simply them.

Baroque, in it's own terms, is a phrase or idea that epitomizes a living being, a sort of meme-journey. It is my personal opinion that the game itself lives up to that espoused ideal. Recommended, as long as you know what you are getting into. (Expect 50+ hours to finish, with much more time if you are completest.)

I loved the whole theme of the game. At the start, the game was incredibly fun, but after about 8 hours or so started becoming very repetitive since all you really do is play through the same dungeon over and over. The dungeons are randomly generated the way Diablo I & II dungeons are. Loved the gameplay, sort of didnt like the fact that you had to "start over" at certain points, but I got over that bit. Overall, I would say I initially enjoyed playing it, but I got bored halfway through.

Great game, great concept in storyline but: the gameplay suffers from some serious problems, especially in key item management. By key item, I mean the ones you need to progress. While the only dungeon changes every time you enter, making it a fresh challenge every time --and therefore not boring-- you have a limited pack space, and can only choose a limited number of items to pass on into town for your next run, because everything else is emptied from your inventory once you finish the dungeon, one way or another. Not a problem.. except if you lose some key items needed to progress (through an enemy, accidental tile item changer, death, or finishing teh dungeon by other means) most times, it can be so difficult to regain the item that it often feels like it's not worth the time and effort: especially as the game NPCs don't recognize that you don't have the item on the next run through.. and thus, they won't give them to you again. Suckage.

Otherwse though.. the storyline is invitingly interesting, dark and very unique though I won't spoil it; and the game dynamics are just as unique. Often times, you have to fail, and fail hard (dying a lot for instance) in order to progress, or get certain responses from the NPCs. A great buy if you want something dark and different, or just a good challenge and have a lot of time on your hands.

Have you ever played the bonus dungeon in one of those action RPGs (the ones with real time fighting) that you only get to play at the end of the game? You know, the kind with 99 floors that go down and down, getting progressively harder with no way of escaping unless you die and start again? Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me present Baroque. Because, to all intents and purposes, that is exactly what this game is.

With little advance warning or reviews to help me, I started this game with a sense of doubt. And for the first few hours, things did not go well. You begin with no preamble in a kind of wasted town, populated by a mere 6 or so...beings...who speak in riddles. A ghostly figure appears, offers you a gun and bids you to enter a tower and head for the bottom of it. Well there's nothing else to do, so in you go.

Once inside the tower, the gameplay begins. And this is what you do: Make your way through the rooms, which are scattered with random items and monsters. Kill everything on the way and look for a big purple circle on the ground which is the portal down to the next floor. Each portal you pass through offers you the chance to save - and once you are through you cannot return. So I played my way through a few rooms and got killed pretty fast. But this does not mean game over - each time you die you start again back in the outer town at level 1 again. And back into the tower you go, to do it all again. The game is cryptic to the point of irritating, and things really don't improve for quite a long time. The first time I finally made it through the tower, I rejoiced in the thought that now I was getting somewhere - but to my huge disappointment, I found myself back at the outer town again, all items lost, at level 1 again (!!), and with nothing else to do but go back in AGAIN! What on earth was going on?

Now if you decide to play Baroque, let me offer a bit of advice. First, play the first stage of the tower and come out of it. Next go straight to the training dungeon in town and play it (you can't do it before your first trip). It contains vital explanations about what the various items do, and how to fight, how to throw things and how to use things. Talk to everyone in town and then go in again. The training dungeon changes after trip 2, offering you a total of three different training experiences, so do them all. Apart from that I'm afraid you're on your own.

Depressingly, the tower is the same every time, with the exception being that it grows longer each time you make a successful playthrough. And therein lies the problem. Just surviving is not enough. The actions or set of circumstances required to unlock the new levels of the tower are all but impossible to work out. On your way through you will meet non-hostile characters who speak to you in riddles, seemingly requiring some action, item or response from you. This is the most confusing part of the game. When you meet these people, should you just stand and listen to what they have to say and move on? Give them an item? Attack them? There really is very little in the way of clues. And if you don't get it right, you are trapped in a loop of playing the same set of floors forever until you manage to do the right thing and make the next trip longer.

However, as time goes on and you get used to the game, the bewildering elements of it start to come together. Fighting becomes easier as you start to control your character and inventory of items better. Which is crucial because the enemies get tougher as the tower grows, and on later floors, there are tons of them and they can suround and defeat you in seconds if you are not careful and skilful. Although I have said that you must repeat the same trip every time, the floor layouts are random, so each trip is different. Item placement is also random, and you might find yourself overflowing with great weapons and healing items on one trip, and desperately short of anything useful on another. And of course, every time you die, it's back to the start with your character at level 1 again and everything lost (except the opened up new floors of course - you don't have to do the whole game in one long run - thank god!). Actually the save system is crucial. If you get through a few floors and make a mess of things, just die and start again. Conversely, if you have done several floors and are starting to get some really good items, save at every portal and reload the game when you die to ensure you reach the end. Beware of the auto resume feature - if you die or pass through a portal, the game always defaults to an option called "resume" which is neither save or reload - so if you die, "resume" means you go back to the start, and if passing through a portal, it means you now have to reach the portal at the end of the next, more difficult floor below before another chance to save comes up.

I honestly have to say that the game makes very little sense. And only halfway through did I realise that if you don't listen to what people are saying you are missing vital plot clues - annoyingly if you get button happy and attack them, they break off mid sentence and you don't hear the end of the speech. Grr!

There is definitely a significant amount of variety built into the gameplay in what is basically just a single dungeon, but you really need to give yourself a chance to get used to it before you start having fun. If battling through the same set of environments over and over again sounds like fun to you, then go for it. Otherwise, you'll need patience and a generous attitude to stick with this one. But it does improve as you become accustomed to its strange rules, and after a few hours I started to find it quite addictive, and eventually I really got into it. Because of the random floor layouts and massive amount of items, each trip through the tower is actually very different to the last.

But aside from that, when compared to other action RPGs in the market place, Baroque seems a very poor relation. Graphics are very simple and pretty flat. The human characters have unexpressive faces and no real depth. The enemies, however, are great! But is one dungeon, however randomized and changing, enough?

Baroque is a dungeon-crawler RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world in which you, the main character, have lost your memories, yet have an unexplained feeling of guilt weighing down on your heart.

Dungeon-crawlers aren't really my cup of tea, yet Baroque had a sincere creepiness to it as I descending down into the dungeons. It was enjoyable, and kept me on edge due to the ever-changing dungeon rooms. Every time you entered the tower, it was different.

If you're a fan of games like Diablo, you'll enjoy Baroque. Not my thing, but it may be yours.

Baroque is a dungeon-crawler. There is very little surface world to explore and the bulk of your time will be spent fighting your way from level to level in basement of tower looking for God.
As a dungeon crawler, you might expect a comparison to Diablo, the PC game. However, Diablo offered more than I've seen so far with Baroque. With Diablo, you had the surface world with its cemeteries, hills, towns, and other settings. With Baroque, you have a small strange town and the dungeon. The game reminds me more of the '80s arcade game Gauntlet in which your only goal is to make it from one level to another.
Baroque has something of a story tied to it, but I'm not quite sure what it is as it starts in media res.
If you enjoy collecting items and replaying through battles to collect the everything a game has to offer, then this is the game for you. If not, keep on looking.