Legend of Xanadu

~ THE LEGEND OF XANADU ~

Falcom / NEC Home Electronics

Super CD-ROM

1994

A number of years have passed since I first beat Xanadu, and it seems like ages. I loved it so much back then that I actually found the brilliant sequel just a bit disappointing when I played through it shortly thereafter. The first game is about ten times longer and twenty times more difficult; it's an incredible epic that dwarves the beautiful-but-brief follow-up in scope, and it made for one of the most satisfying game completions I've ever experienced.

But I do need to stress the long-and-difficult aspect. This probably shouldn't be your first Japanese RPG. It's tough, tough, tough--easily one of the toughest PCE action-RPGs. But if you've been through a few Blood Gears, Eferas, and Magicoals already, then you should certainly try your hand at this one. I just finished playing through it for the third time, and there was little consternation this go--partly because it's a very memorable game and a lot of it has stuck with me, partly because I can pick up on some of the Japanese now, and partly because I experienced plenty of other JPN RPGs in the interims. Nonetheless, it was still quite a challenge--and I loved it just the same.

95% of the adventure is Ys-esque fast-paced overhead-view action that has you knock enemies off by crashing into them. There are so many people to visit (and revisit), tasks to complete, puzzles to solve, and dungeons to explore that it can all be quite overwhelming for the PCE RPG neophyte. And some players may be turned off by the need to go back and forth between locations while they try to trigger the next significant event. But if you dig the Ys style of play and you're willing to put in a little trial and error, you should find plenty of enjoyment here. And sure, this is fetch-quest material at its core, but the interesting missions to undertake--from sneaking around a slave farm late at night to pursuing diplomatic relations with a tribe of "yetis"--make one forget about the basic go-there-and-come-back sequencing.

Then come the side-scrolling hack-and-slash scenes, which are absolutely gorgeous. These are definitely some of the most mind-blowing PCE action visuals, with lots of parallax and huge, well-drawn bosses. You've got to see these sequences in motion to get a sense of just how beautiful they really are. They're full-fledged action stages, not just side-view boss fights like LoX2 has. And they can be pretty difficult at times, as if the overhead stuff weren't hard enough!

It all culminates with the most incredible game labyrinth ever created, a massive THIRTY-TWO-FLOOR tower. This is a true triumph of dungeon design, with so many traps and secrets and puzzles that it can drive you mad, and it's just so damn HUGE. The best thing about it is that you don't need to know ANY Japanese in order to conquer and enjoy it. You just need to keep your wits about you, pay close attention to your surroundings, and use a good deal of brain power.

So yeah, this game is killer. Most of the music isn't red book but it's still great, and hell, even the cute startup screen rules.

The only complaint I have concerns something I found cool when I first played the game. Xanadu keeps track of its imaginary land's time of day, and naturally, townspeople go to sleep at night. This is neat in concept and allows for some cool events and secret stuff, but it sucks when you need to talk to someone who has just hit the sack, and it's easy to miss things like cave entrances when it's really dark at night (though, I should note, there are ways to "speed up" the cycle).

But that's a minor gripe. The game kicks ass, pure and simple. You might want to play LoX2 first, however, since it's much easier to get into and complete. In any event, this one is very cheap, so get it and accept the challenge if you enjoy action-RPGs and have some experience with Japanese ones.