Necros no Yousai

~ NECROS ~

Ask Kodansha / LAD-R / Red

HuCard

1990

Necros can be a really annoying game at times. In most of its dungeons dwell powerful creatures packing magic spells that can hammer every member of your party at once. You'll have to contend with plenty of those daunting beasts, as the encounter rate leans towards the high side (with frequent spikes that put you in step-by-step peril). Perhaps the worst part of all is the HORRID start-of-battle "jingle." Not all of the game's tunes are as awful as that cacophonous "riff," but few positive things can be said about its crude overhead visuals.

Thank goodness for the charismatic characters who make up your brave assemblage. There are eight of these bold warriors, and your party will consist of three at a time as you play through the seven phases of the adventure.

Now, these aren't your typical knights, elves, and berserkers. No, this is an eclectic crew of misfits and goofballs. I mean, just look at this fruitcake...

It's a unique band of heroes, one that's very hard to dislike--not just because of the wacky personalities and silly facial expressions, but the distinct ability sets as well. You'll have to make good use of those skills as you travel through deserts, forests, snow lands, caverns, dungeons, and even futuristic factories. While Necros doesn't dabble in the sort of drama that's present in the greatest PCE CD adventures, it does offer a fair number of surprising story moments, moments that are usually played out in entertainingly goofy fashion. And advancement isn't made via your typical brand of old-school-RPG linearity. There are plenty of fun missions to undertake and quite a few secrets to happen upon, though those who don't know Japanese will need a walkthrough unless they hope to have remarkable luck while searching and stumbling. (Here's a good Japanese guide.)

So Necros sends you off on a nice adventure with a nutty, likable cast, but its true trump card is its battle system: raucous fight scenes depict close-ups of the goofy heroes and their equally ridiculous foes as they leap and dash about.

Even with all the action and theatrics, Necros' battles are fast. Actually, aside from the at-times-irritating encounter rate, the game does a great job with its pacing, thanks in large part to the fact that it allows players to adjust message and walking speeds.

Whether it's annoying you or entertaining you, Necros is sure to draw you in. Thankfully, it spends most of its time amusing its players rather than driving them mad.