Retro Game of the Month November 2017: Soul Blazer (SNES)

Yes, November started a while ago, but that's no reason we can't discuss this classic gem from Enix's pre-Square merger heyday!

Soul Blazer (SNES)









Wikipedia Blurb:
Soul Blazer, known in Japan as Soul Blader (ソウルブレイダー Sōru Bureidā), is an action role-playing game for the Super NES developed by Quintet and published by Enix (now Square Enix). Soul Blazer was released on January 31, 1992 in Japan, on November 27, 1992 in North America, and on January 27, 1994 in Europe. The player takes the role of The Master's servant, to destroy monsters and release the captured souls of a world's inhabitants. Soul Blazer was scored by Yukihide Takekawa.

Have at it!

Personally, I'm looking forward to playing this again. I did beat it in my teens, but the last time I gave it a genuine effort a few years ago I got stuck in the mermaid town with no idea how to progress. I'm hoping I won't find myself in the same predicament this time.

Szlia is correct in calling the game "grindy", since the main mechanic in the game is hanging around portals, killing every enemy that emerges until it collapses. However, I never really found myself bored while playing it. The attacking is all real-time action, you get progressively stronger as you find new weapons/equipment and gain levels, and it's consistently satisfying to essentially build towns piece by piece as you destroy enemy portals. The graphics are colorful and detailed (albeit unapologetically blocky in the way many SNES games are) and the soundtrack is high-quality, although I consider some of the tunes pretty forgettable (I really like both versions of the town theme, though).

I hope those of you that haven't played it before find something to appreciate.

yimmien said:

Dialogue is good.

"Hey, you look like you would be good at crab-walking..."

"Butt, you are just walking around doing nothing."

"I am known among my friends as something of a Gourmet Goat."

Maybe I should take pictures of my TV to post screenshots.

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I have had mixed results using these as pickup lines.

grunt said:

I'm a sucker for SNES JRPGs. But I never picked up Soul Blazer. Also, I loved other Enix games of the time, such as E.V.O.: Search for Eden and Actraiser. Actraiser was even developed by Quintet as well.

I'll give it a shot on RetroArch, see how it stands up to the test of time.

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Fogel said:

It's actually a spin off of act raiser, as the "master" you talk to and save at the shrine is the master from act raiser 1.

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I was actually just wondering if the same team developed both games. I didn't realize Soul Blazer was a spinoff, but there are definite thematic connections. In both games, you go back and forth between real-time sword-slashing action and town-based segments. The actions in one mode feed into the other mode, making them feel like part of a whole where your actions have consequences (even if it's just unlocking a new spell or item). Neat!