In today’s gaming terminology, the
term RPG usually refers to Final Fantasy-style games; a generation of gamers
drawn to the genre by FFVII have used that series to define what an RPG is.
Fifteen years ago, however, there were two schools of RPGs; there were Japanese
RPGs, like Final Fantasy, but at the opposite end of the spectrum were the
American RPGs — Ultima, Dungeon Master, and the Might and Magic series all come
to mind. Japanese-style RPGs have dominated the console and handheld marketplace
for quite a while now, but recently there have been attempts to revive the
American RPG; both Morrowind and Oblivion have been best sellers, indicating
that there is a market for them. Now Mazes of Fate looks to try its hand at this
classic style of gameplay on the Game Boy Advance.
The game begins as you choose a
character from the classic RPG archetypes: Warrior, Mage, and Rogue. You are
then thrust into a world in turmoil. The gods, angry at humanity for their
insolence, have brought despair to mankind and have created a new race, the
goatmen, to take the human’s place as the favored race of the gods. The great
human king Harlac has made an accord with the gods to restore peace by
completing a ritual using the Stone of Redemption. The night before the ritual
is to take place, the Stone is stolen by members of the Resistance, a group of
humans who wish open war against the gods. Unless the Stone can be regained and
the ritual takes place, humanity will be cursed forever.
This has little to do with you,
however, at the start. In grand RPG tradition, you are a commoner who wishes to
have an adventure (furthering the cliché, your first quest is killing rats in
the basement of a local old woman). As the game progresses, you get swept into
the conflict, and by the end, only you can save humanity — or condemn it. There
are moral choices to be made here, and you can change the outcome of the story
with your actions. The story is well told, with enough twists and subplots to
keep you interested throughout.
The game plays in a very familiar
fashion compared to the American PC RPGs of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Most of the
gameplay consists of grid-based dungeon exploration, with visits to towns
granting you new supplies, new quests, and lots of dialogue with tons of varied
characters. Along with your main character, you can have up to two party
members, all of whom possess a variety of skills to be leveled up. I mentioned
the Elder Scrolls series earlier, and if you’ve played either of them, you have
a good general idea of what to expect. The gameplay, while not original, is
still all kinds of fun; hacking your way from dungeon to dungeon collecting loot
along the way has lost none of its appeal.
Unfortunately, other aspects of the
game don’t fare quite so well. The game clings to every convention of the PC
RPGs of old, and some have stood the test of time better than others.
Graphically, this game would have been state-of-the-art running on a 386
processor in 1993; when seen today on the GBA, the graphics appear crude and may
well turn off some potential players. The animations, particularly, call
attention to themselves — with only a few frames of animation per character,
movement is jerky and stilted. The game’s sound is also dated, with a small
selection of looping tracks, and a similarly small assortment of sound effects
that get repetitive very quickly.
Mazes of Fate is a love letter to
the epic quests of the past. This is a difficult game to assign a score to; your
ability to enjoy it is largely dependant on your appreciation of the American
RPGs from 20 years ago. If you have grown up on Final Fantasy and the like, this
may seem too strange and different for you to enjoy. But if, like me, your love
of RPGs was born with you sitting at a keyboard and mouse, fighting and
exploring in first person, then Mazes of Fate will be a blast from the past well
worth experiencing.
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Review Scoring Details for Mazes of Fate |
Gameplay: 7.4
The combat and exploration may be dated, but they’re still as fun as they ever
were. Killing monsters and collecting loot in maze-like dungeons will never get
old.
Graphics: 6.3
The art style is nice, but jerky animations and low-detail environments hurt the
look considerably. It doesn’t come anywhere close to 2006’s graphical standards.
Sound: 5.7
Sound effects are repetitive, and the music grates on the nerves very quickly. I
suggest turning the sound off and leaving it off.
Difficulty: Hard
Enemies miss a little too often to make combat genuinely challenging early on,
but higher level foes and some really tough puzzles mean you should save
frequently.
Concept: 6.8
This has been done before (a lot), but it’s so retro that it feels fresh again.
Overall: 7.8
A definite case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. If you
never played this style game before, subtract a point for how dated the whole
thing will feel. If you’re a fan of this style of RPG, add a point for the
memories it will bring back.
