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

Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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Alright! Finally beat Soul Blazer again for the first time since my teens.

In fact, I'm almost certain I followed the exact same steps I did all those years ago: Gain access to the last boss, spend a bunch of time retracing my steps trying to find the last 2 emblems, failing, then beating the game anyway. I thought maybe the ability to see through certain walls would help me in previous areas, but it seems as though that ability is strictly regulated to areas where I was curious enough to find those hidden spots before I got the ability anyway! (Not that the reward is worth much, since magic has only been useful a handful of times anyway...)

I'll probably just check online to find out where those emblems are and, having found them, put the game aside forever. Still, it's very satisfying having beaten the game again. The ending is actually really good! My favorite SNES game ending is still Zelda 3, but this one is pretty high up there. It's emotional and satisfying and worth the effort it took to get there.

I'm quite glad this game got selected. I'm not sure I would have ever played it again otherwise. I'm still going to go back to it and try to 100% it before the month is done.
 
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Szlia

Szlia

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McCheese McCheese The ring dropping magic one shots the hands, the end of the left to right sword swing of the hero tends to hit twice for some reason and you only need to have the herb equipped when your hp reaches zero. So just stay on the left side of the upper deck, drop rings on the hands, slash at the skull facing up, keep the double damage bracer equipped (if you have it) until you are at low health (there switch to herb). That boss should die in no time (unless you skipped a bazillion nests and are underleveled, but if you did your nest killing diligently your level should be appropriate).
 
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Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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For the sake of completion, I looked up how to find the last 2 emblems I was missing. One of them (F) I had missed because I didn't follow an NPC's advice well enough. The other (G) I doubt I would have ever found without help, as unless I missed something it doesn't seem the game gives you any hint at all about it.

As satisfying as it is to collect them all, it's pretty anti-climactic in the end. Infinite magic would not have been very useful at any point in the game (spells generally can't compete with your trusty sword), but it's exponentially less useful when you're at the end of the game, you've already destroyed every enemy nest in existence, and you have a huge stockpile of thousands of gems. I'd rather just equip the strength AND defense-boosting Super Bracelet, which was cleverly hidden.
 
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stupidmonkey

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I lied. Couldn't get to it until now because of work. Just started so I'll sit here and see how far I can get before I pass out.
 
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stupidmonkey

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IMG_20171118_140239909.jpg
 
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stupidmonkey

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I should have beat it last night but quit on the fifth "level". I was having to do some back tracking and trying to go for completionist was killing me on the emblems which as Tanoomba pointed out, meant jack all in the scheme of things.

Pros:
Music, art, and building up the town was all very Actraiser like.
Power ups and level progression didn't feel tedious.
Lots of different enemies with different sprites and only a few with a color palate change.
Fairly lengthly for not being a full blown SNES JRPG.

Cons:
After killing all the monsters hitting the lair "box" could be a pain. Kept running just to the side of it or half on it. Don't know if anyone else experienced this. I was using a pi with a recommend USB SNES wired controller.
Bosses were a chore for me. Felt like wash, rinse, and repeat of attach bracelet x, switch to medical herb when low on health, switch back to bracelet x, keep sword thrust out, and wait for boss to die. Also, as a side note, you can still thrust swords even if you aren't at the right level. Glitch?
Most enemies I could sit at a specific spot and swing away before they had a chance to do anything. Seemed like an AI glitch.

Still holds up and a solid game to add to your collection - 7/10.
 
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Rezz

Rezz

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IMO, the Dark Cloud games borrow heavily from basically every aspect of Soul Blazer. It's a great game, and the Dark Cloud rebuilding portion was great as well.
 
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OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Just beat it for the first time ever. I really liked the music in the Laboratory Basement and the Light Shrine (Greenwood). Story was pretty terrible, but I think that was more the translation than anything else. It really was a solid game and i'm surprised i'd never played it before.

Capture.JPG
 
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jsquirrel

jsquirrel

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Nirgon said:
Voting for Nox by Westwood next time around. Have a DL for it.
Click to expand...
Not to be that guy, but Nox is currently on sale at GOG for only $1.49. :)
Nox™

Edit:
Also, check your Origin client, you may already have this game in your library as it was On the House back around June 2016.
 
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T

Therage

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Tried to get into this game, defeated the first boss. Haven't gone back yet. It's not bad just haven't had much time to sink into it.
 
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McCheese

McCheese

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I'm a little behind most of you, but I finally beat this. I had been having trouble with the ghost ship boss a few weeks ago, so I left the game and only came back to it this weekend. Unsurprisingly, I sat down and blew through the ghost ship boss on my first shot. Funny how that happens.

The rest of the game was pretty easy in comparison. It took a couple tries to find positioning on the Magridd Castle boss, but once I figured out where to stand it was cake. I beat Deathtoll on my first shot.

Overall impressions:

Positive:
- Graphics: fun, colorful, detailed. Just overall a great use of sprites and excellent animations with lots of little details.
- Story/Characters: Releasing captive people and rebuilding cities was an interesting take on an RPG story. The characters were really fun and there are some memorable ones in there.
- World: I loved the variety of maps. Dr. Leo's workshop was especially creative, with talking furniture and a theme that reminded me of Metal Man's stage from Mega Man.

Negatives:
- Movement: Lack of 8-directional movement sucked. Someone else already mentioned this, but it was hard to step on some of the green plates to release captives due to how difficult it could be to line up correctly.
- Combat: The combat wasn't bad, just bland. In almost all situations you just find a good spot and mash the button until the mobs coming from the nest all die. Magic was pretty much useless except for a handful of situations.

In general, I really enjoyed the game. I'm sad I didn't play it as a kid, because I would have enjoyed it even more back then.

*Edit* I have to say the ending was fantastic. Make sure you stay and see the post credits scene! It was heartwarming!
 
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Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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I had forgotten I had an active IMGUR account. Here's a few screen grabs:

dpEKJTJ.png


PV2Oigt.png

That's how you do toilet humor.

h28HET0.png

"It's animals"??? Goddamn, this shit drives me crazy.

8rl9USP.png

Super Bracelet, bitches!

xDy4ifp.png

Yeah, every moment counts. Our lifespan is one year. Let's race SNAILS.
 
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Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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WpUMGcE.png

Again with the "it's"...

0YEVgfx.png

Damn straight!

5HoCvnV.png

So not worth it...

(Spoilered for ending content)
pXg97i7.png

Most memorable scene from the ending.

(Spoilered for tricky emblem)
neq00VM.png

You gotta push this friggin' dresser. If there's a clue about this somewhere, I missed it.
 
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Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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neq00VM.png

You gotta be kidding me with this "it's" shit.

4cLFkre.png

The bard is clearly animated as singing his song, even though he says it has no words.

ySzYZKi.png

This was cute.

NEPireE.png

The timeless trio: Mirror, Ball and Stick.

0qHIljR.png

Soul Blazer with the life lessons!
 
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Szlia

Szlia

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As I linked earlier from the Cutting Room Floor, the ending screen has been altered in the US/EU version to feature a less anime looking character, but in doing so, some of its animation (it's animation? :p) got canned.

Japanese version here (spoiler obviously). US/EU version here (still spoiler).
 
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