So the theme for week two is JRPGs, at least until I run out. My favorite genre is legendarily well represented on the Super Nintendo and fairly well catered towards on the Genesis too, but what about the TurboGrafx-16? Maybe it has some hidden gem that's the equivalent of Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana. I mean, probably not, but it's worth checking what's out there anyway. Of course, I'm going to have to get a little creative with how I define a decent cut-off point in an RPG, but I suppose we'll fireball that slime when we draw near to it.
The first game on the list is NCS's Double Dungeons. I had absolutely no idea what to expect going in, so this ought to be a fun blog. Probably.
My Double Dungeons Get the Best of Me (Oooooh, Double Dungeons)
So that's the end of the first dungeon of Double Dungeons. Starting a new dungeon resets your level and equipment, as each one is constructed to be a standalone puzzle - kill weak enemies, go up levels, kill tougher enemies, earn gold to buy equipment, beat stronger enemies, buy best equipment, kill even more enemies, find the boss key and beat the boss. I can imagine this being utterly monotonous after... well, after the first dungeon, but it only gets worse:
Here's what the first dungeon (the one I just did) looks like. And here's what the final dungeon looks like. It's almost like one of those magic eye puzzles, only I don't have to stare at it for ten minutes before my brain starts hurting. That's a ludicrously enormous maze considering the required path to defeat is almost certainly identical to all the ones that came before it, at least according to those who have gotten that far.
Double Dungeons is an interesting idea. It reminds me a bit of Dungeon Hack, the Roguelike that uses Eye of the Beholder's engine, and Half-Minute Hero to an extent in that it kind of deconstructs the humble first-person dungeon crawler and turns it into some sort of odd puzzle game with a specific pattern to follow. But I can imagine that this would be a terrible game to try to play all the way through to the end, and an even worse one to LP. Moving on.
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