This is one of the most phenomenal games I’ve ever played ever. This is a diamond in the rough. To me this was one of SquareSoft’s best games ever.
The games story revolves around these mysterious items called Relics. Relics are magical items that all have different powers and properties. The two 2 protagonists, Rue trying to Resurrect a dead friend and Mint trying to rule the world. Both of their personalities are vastly different, which fit the game perfect for the other characters and antagonist they meet.
The gameplay is pretty solid and simple with a few flaws. Its a platform/hack-and-slash game, if you were to compare it to another game the best way to compare it is Kingdom Hearts 1. The menu in this game you never ever really need to go to. You buy items to increase your attack and defense but that’s about it. No potions or elixirs, but if you die you can use these coins you can buy or find to bring you back to life with a certain MP. Character skills vary for whoever you play with. Rue can transform into enemies he defeats and gain there abilities and attacks, while Mint gains magic throughout the story and finding scrolls. An interesting concept with the game is the Health/Magic system. The more you get hit the more your total HP increases, where as the more you use magic the more your total MP goes up. The A.I. isn’t really anything to worry about, pretty simple and bosses aren’t too hard or annoying.
The bad thing about the gameplay is the camera angle. Depending on your area you can be in a 2D, Streets of Rage like area, or full 3D, to a Crash Bandicoot like angles. With the camera switching it can make jumps harder then it needs to be. If you can get past that you will enjoy this game like no other if you cant…then you wont.
The visuals for a PSX game are pretty good. Every character and npc have the same physical attributes just scaled smaller or larger. No go into cutscene then cutscene graphics (all the same graphics) The special effects for the game are nice but not astounding. The explosion effects aren’t top notch either. The buildings and atmosphere aren’t too bad for a PSX game but nothing amazing.
Now the music, however, will grab you and fit every situation you tend to be in during the game. Every single area of the game has a different music or musics depending on the stage. Also the boss music changes and gets more epic to show the extremeness of the fight going on.
I went out of order but I have to rebring up the story. The plot twist and character development are amazing. How different every character in the game is, is just amazing. One of the bosses is a guy that reads books, and his power is to be able to learn whatever he reads and its characters like that that just compelled me to play the game even more. I love seeing actual legit character development in games instead of a powerup or another mode but actual progression. The game just makes you feel accomplished to play it.
The replay value is high for this game as well. After you beat it you can play the game again with the other character to get the true/final ending!. AND after THAT you can play the game again with your super powered up/powerful characters.
In conclusion. I definitely say if you like RPG/action/platformers this is for you without a doubt.
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Music: 9/10
Replay Value: 9/10
To be completely honest I am going to give this game 2 total grades. The first one is for the game as a whole. If you can get past the camera angle then it gets a 8/10 but, if you cant then it gets a 6.5/10.