10,000 years ago Kormu, Sophie and the great Lord Gabnid brought
peace, love and magic to the world of Lennus. The two Continents of
Naskuot and Saskuot were united.
But now the two continents are almost at war again, Gabnid, Sophie and
Kormu have been either dead, or gone from Lennus for over 10,000
years. But little of this concerns young Chezni, who is attending the
famed 'School of Magic' on the continent of Naskuot. One day, after
classes, Duke, challenged Chezni to climb the Tower of Gabnid, that
was located on the end of the school, with him. Chezni accepted and
the two of them started climbing it together. They reached a machine
of some sort and started to fiddle with it.
The tower began to shake, Duke ran away, and a huge monster rendered
Chezni, uncontious. When Chezni awoke, and to his horror, the school
was destroyed and all of the students dead. As Chezni began to head
for the closest town, he saw the Master teacher, "Chezni! What have
you done? You've activated the ancient beast Dal Gren..." confused the
Master gave him an impossible task, "You must stop the beast, head
towards Ratsurk, there you will find help...hurry!"
And so Chezni's adventure began...
Paladin's Quest is a 1-player RPG. It's not like the Final Fantasy
series..it uses it's own ideas, and has drastically different themes.
Graphics [8/10]:
At first the game's graphics seem to be a bit cheesy or even down
right cheap. But as the game progresses you begin to see the
excellence that was put into the graphics. For the most part the
graphics are bright and colorful, or dark and eerie. The characters
look a little rough in their animation, but they're still done fairly
good.
There's two main types of screens, the over-head map (similar to the
Final Fantasy series) and the First person battle screen. The over
head map screen looks like a slightly less polished Final Fantasy. The
graphics look, a little less cutting edge, and more cartoon like than
in most other RPG's.
The battle screen is the most unique one I've seen in an RPG yet. You
see from the party's perspective, the information on your party
appears at the bottom of the screen in four boxes. (One box per
member) You have menus to select from, the rest of the screen is
devoted to the enemies.
The backgrounds and towns vary a great deal, and indeed can set the
tone for the story line. Bright and colorful areas are used for happy
areas...Dark and Gothic colors outline the sinister areas.
The overall graphics look like a less polished Final Fantasy III,
They're pretty good, but not the best on the system.
Music and Sound [8/10]:
The music is ok... for the first third of the game, there's only about
five tracks, used over and over. I was about to give up hope on the
sound and turn on the radio, when *GASP* I heard a new track. The
music only got better from there. After the first third of the game is
behind you...there's many new music tracks. It's not the best music
I've ever heard, but it's good none the less.
The sound is amazing in this game. Every different sword, whip, arrow
make a different sound when hitting the enemy. The magic spells also
have completely different sounds..the Sound effects on Paladin's Quest
are some of the best on any RPG.
Game Play [10/10]:
Paladin's Quest is a fun game. It uses some familiar features mixed
with completely new, never before seen game play that makes it a new
and unique experience.
The Story is great! It's not the best story line out there, but it has
more plot twists and new ideas, than most other RPGs out there! The
story on this game was definitely thought through.
The game plays like this. You walk on the overhead view, go into
towns, talk to people learn about things, and continue on to your next
objective. While not in towns, you can be randomly attacked. You then
go into the first person view, in the battle mode. You can then select
what you want your character(s) to do. You have an of the following
choices, Defend, Run, Use Magic, Attack with: Head, Right item, Left
item, Head, Kick, Armor, Belt. Each of the 'Attack with' categories
can be equipped with Swords, Bows, Helmets, and much more!
Once you've beaten a battle you receive expiriance points, that can
help you level up!
Then after the battles, you explore towns, meet people, or try to get
into more random fights!
In towns- You can learn new magic, purchase Weapons and restorative
Items, Rest and save your game, and even hire up to two mercenaries!
Mercenaries are found in Taverns all over the world of Lennus, each
has his/her own special skills.
The game is pretty long too! It took me about a month to beat it..I
played it every day and spent every waking moment on it...well almost
every moment. But if you want a really long..but good game, look no
further.
Challenge and Replay [8/10]:
PQ is tough, but not impossible. I found that if there was a seemingly
impossible area to beat, I would just run around the world fighting
'lesser' enemies and level up my character. Doing this helps you to
stay above the games difficulty. But for those who like a ton of
challenge...just run through the game without stopping to level up.
You will build up your levels, but much slower...causing the game to
become much harder. There's also a maze towards the end of the game,
that's almost impossible to beat...Don't beleive me, buy the game, try
it out...it'll eat up a good three or so hours!
As for replay value..well there isn't too much to go back for. I will
eventually play this game again to see what I've missed and find a few
secrets, but there isn't too much to keep you coming back to this game.
Conclusion/Overall [8.5/10]:
For anyone looking for a change from the regular RPG and doesn't mind
less polished graphics, not to mention a bit annoying item system,
Paladin's Quest is the game to own. It's one of the best and over
looked RPG's out there.
