Platform: SNES
Publisher: Squaresoft
Developer: Squaresoft
Genre: RPG
Players: 1

Overview :Quote from the WIKI:
Gameplay : 5/5
I'm going to give this one a 5 just for it's innovation. The fact that there's 3 different character stories that completely effect one another is awesome.

You're given 15 days before the "cleansing", and each character's story starts on the first. Say one you play one character's story for a while, and on the third day you do something that effects the world (helping out someone which in turn gets him to open up a shop... Just an example). If you play another character's story, on the third day the shop will be opened. If you hadn't helped that person, the shop would not be there.



That's cool and all, but if you ask anyone that's played Treasure Of Rudras what stood out to them I bet you 100 bucks they'll say "the mantra system".

The mantra system is this game' way of handling spells. You go to the mantra menu and type in names for spells much like you would the hero's name. Then the spell bases it's element and it's strength/attributes on what was entered. Each character can then use all of the spells in "the mantra pool".



This can be both fun and funny. Trying out random words can be very pleasing. For instance, I typed in "Queef" and got a wind damage to all enemies spell. If you type a word that has no element, it will spell out the word in battle when you use it (dealing physical damage). This can be funny in that you can type in an insult, and it seems that you're calling the enemy names. Or, you can take the serious approach and learn mantras from talking to certain people. You can also get spells from enemies, as they say the mantra when they use them. As long as you can remember it long enough.



The only bad thing about this, is that every single spell is available from the beginning (though you're not gonna have enough MP to cast the good ones). This can lead to some huge spoilers easily, as the desire to look them up online can be great.

Graphics : 4.5/5
The graphics in this game have a lot of similarities with Bahamut Lagoon. The enemies look freakin' awesome, AND they're animated... But if you ask me, this game pulls it off a bit better. The animations are much more smooth, and there's more of them to go around.



However, some of the battle backgrounds and level maps seem a bit empty and inconsistent. You'll be one place and think "These, are some majorly sweet graphics", then you'll get to the next level and say "Oh, maybe I was wrong... A little".



But, I'll give it credit. The good graphics more then make up for the mediocre ones. I have a feeling that the graphics were done by Brown & Brown (most well known for the Secret Of Mana series and the Magical Vacation games for the GBA/DS). Though I can't find any info to confirm/dismiss this theory.



Sound : 5/5

Yes, a perfect score. Because, well... This game has a perfect "score" (HAHAHA, I made a funny). Only thing bad I can say about it is "I wish this game's music sucked just a little, for the sake of having something bad to say".

Honestly, the soundtrack is by far my favorite on the SNES... Even beating out Chrono Trigger. The music is so diverse, and fits what's happening so well. It's hard to think about how they pulled of making such epic songs on the SNES' SPU.

Which, is why I posted 3 songs. It was just too damned hard to pick one. Trust me, I would post more if I didn't have to worry about the load times.

Replay Value : 4/5
I'd say that the replay value for this game is higher then most other RPGs, if only for the fact that you may want to go back and mess with the spell system a bit. Having knowledge of higher level skills at the beginning can make for an interesting play through. Learn some crazy strong attacks and see how fast you can beat down some of the enemies that gave you trouble before!

Conclusion : 4.5/5
This by far is one of the greater games that came about at the end of the SNES' life. Being the last true turn based RPG that Squaresoft produced, it's a must play. The only games I would suggest over this are Terranigma (my next review), Star Ocean and Tales Of Phantasia.

Just be warned... This game is DAMNED HARD!!!

Score:

From the WIKI page:
The story is good, but it seems to drag on a little painfully at times. Of course, I'm basing this on a fan translation... Though you can tell that there wouldn't be much difference otherwise.

Most of the back story is "optional". You get to hear more through cutscenes by talking to certain characters. This is good if you want to get straight to the action, but it leaves you a bit unsatisfied if you don't talk to everyone every chance you get.

Where the story shines is in the characters. They each have a distinct personality, which gives you a strong sense of attachment. Matelite and Taicho add some very welcome comic relief, Yoyo is a chick that actually grows on you and Rush really gets you into the action with his upbeat persona.

All and all, it's pretty solid and enjoyable.


The music, oh god the music. If you enjoy the music from Final Fantasy 6, Secret Of Mana etc... Then the music in Bahamut Lagoon is gonna grow on you.

The only problem is, that the same songs get played too often. For the most part you hear one song for the enemy phase and one for the player phase. It gets repetitive pretty quick... But it's enjoyable, so I don't really care.

The actual sound effects are top notch too. Sword attacks sound like sword attacks, fire spells sound like fire spells... And there's a great deal of them to go around.


This is one of those games that make me which they would go back and do some more SNES games. It proves that with the right team, visuals can rival that of PSX games.

Did you think the enemies in Final Fantasy 6 looked awesome? What about the backgrounds? Well, take all of those graphics, add even more polish (doesn't seem possible, but they pulled it off) and animate nearly everything. Yes, I said animate. Probably 95% or so of all the enemies and characters are animated to some degree. You'll take one look at them standing still and say "Holy crap! That looks freakin' sweet!!!". Then once they attack and show off their fluid animation, you'll most likely crap your pants.


It also takes advantage of some awesome MODE7 effects for backdrops during the cutscenes. Probably some of the best I've seen.


The only reason I didn't give the graphics a perfect score, is because some of the animations are a little whacky. If you've fought a chimara, you'd agree that it's hard to tell what the hell is going on with it's legs. This reason, and the fact that Star Ocean/Tales Of Phantasia have it beaten are why it gets a 9.0.


This is gonna be a long one...

Gameplay is what makes this game so enjoyable. It's your standard strategy RPG affair (ala Final Fantasy Tactics), but with a few major twists.

First off, each troop consists of multiple characters. When it's your turn you can move, attack, heal, blah blah blah... The thing is, there's two different ways to do everything.

You can attack/heal on the field as in FFT mentioned above (this is mainly done with long range attacks/spells), or you can go straight up to the enemy and begin a turn based battle. Turn based battles net you more EXP, gold, items and are generally stronger... While field attacks get you fewer of said things, but can't be counter attacked.


Another big twist are the dragons. Each troop get's there own dragon, to which they can issue commands (Go!, Come!, Wait! etc...).

That's not the cool part though... In between each battle, you get the chance to feed your dragons items you've won. Each item has a different effect on it's stats. Fire Rods will give your dragon points in "Fire", "Attack" and "Wisdom". Ice Armor will give it points in "Ice", "Defence" and "HP". You get the picture.

The elements cap out at 100. After it gets one point in any element, it will learn an attack in said element... For each 10 points after that, the level of that attack will raise by one. Changing it's animation and strength.

For each elemental attack a dragon learns, it's troop will learn attacks based on that element as well... So if you have a troop with a wizard in it and the dragon is of the fire element, that troop will be able to use a fire base range attack on the field and fire based spells in battles. Also, if your dragons fire element is at level 6, the attacks your troop have will be as well.


This game has another thing I'll call "stacking". Say you have one wizard with a LVL 4 ice spell. Put that wizard in a troop with another that has a LVL 9 ice spell. This will give you the ability to use LVL 13 ice spells (only on the field, as allies take turns in battle). Put a healer with LVL 6 light element in with a LVL 5, a LVL 8 and a LVL 3... You'll be able to use LVL 22 healing spells.

The only reason I gave gameplay an 8.5 as opposed to 10, is the lack of controls over the dragons... This is SERIOUSLY going to piss you off. One dragon has 200 HP missing out of say 4,000. Does it need to be healed? NO!!! But the healing dragon doesn't seem to give a damn. He wants his friend to be in tip top shape. Another thing... Say your dragon has LVL 10 fire skills and LVL 1 poison skills. It'll go ahead and try poison more often then you'd think. Stupid bastards...


This is seriously one of those gems that needs to be played. If you're not into strategy RPGs, at least check it out for the music or just to gawk at how great the enemies look. Sure the dragons will make you shake your head in sadness from time to time, but this is how it would be in reality (if dragons actually existed). Teaching a dog to use Fire Breath on ice enemies, and Thunder Blow on earth enemies isn't a sure thing... He's bound to mess it up sometimes.

Story 4.5/5
Sound 4.5/5
Graphics 4.5/5
Gameplay 4/5
Score: