Dark Dragoon screen00001.png A while back, a friend of mine had found a little japanese game known as Dual Orb 2. He said it was nothing special, but it was a nice little game to play when you have nothing else to play. Well, I finally found a copy and he was right, it was nothing special, but fun to play. Enough with the memories, now for what you are reading this for: how the game fares against other RPGs. (Review originally posted July 1, 2004) darkdragoon21@hotmail.com June 8, 2008 15|68% 3|screen00013.png 1|The game begin's with a dragon-like figure appearing in the sky, which then proceeds to destroy. A man named Alex and a woman namded Serra confront the monster using an object known simply as the "Orb". Time passes, and the game then shows a priest carrying a crying baby while he is walking down a mountain path. He is the high priest of the local kingdom of Garade. He returns to Garade to tell the king that he has finally gained the rank of High Priest and that he had found this baby. The baby is then named Aleth and is introduced to Prince Lagnus, who is only a year or two older. The two would become the best of friends. Time passes, Aleth and Lagnus have grown up to be fine young men, Aleth in training to be a priest and Lagnus in training to be a king. After a trip to a neighboring temple. They find a young woman in suspended animation. This woman, Serra, would become intertwined in the fates of Aleth and Lagnus. All of that, plus an evil empire, with the help of an evil scientist from the past, who's ambitions are harming people all over the world. 1|As you can see from this rundown of the first few hours, the story is nothing special. It's the usualy hero with a mysterious past meets girl with mysterious past who must stop an evil empire and their plot to resurect an ancient evil. The cast of playable characters is nothing special either. Aside from Aleth, Lagnus, and Serra, you have: Saladin the thief (who reminds me of Lupin the 3rd), Cassius the bard, Bargan the Pirate, a kid that can transform into a mole beast, and a princess named Karina. The game does have a few plot twists, however, they are all predictable. None of the twists sent your way will not amaze your or surprise you, except maybe a few. If the plot had some originality, some real surprises, and a better ending, this game could have had a great plot. 8|76% 1|DO2's gameplay is a mixed bag. The battle system is nothing special and one we've all seen before. It is a random encounter, turn-based, menu-driven battle system viewed at an angle, such as Breath of Fire or Magic Knight Rayearth (the SFC one, that is). You've got the standard commands: Attack, Magic, Item, and Auto. Pressing "L" or "R" will bring up a second menu which lets you change your position to the front or the back (more on that soon), change your equipment, and (if you have the right weapon) tech, which lets you do a special attack based on the weapon and if the conditions are right. In DO2's battle system, there are two rows, front and back. Like other RPG's that use it, front means you can give and take more damage and back is the opposite. The only catch is that one person must be in the front and one must be in the back. The strategic element in the placement is lost, due to the fact that you'll usually end up keeping everybody, except Serra, in the front. Each character can equip a weapon and an armor, and that's it. No shields, no rings, no ribbons, just a weapon and an armor. 1|By now, you are probably wondering "Is there anything special about this game?" Well, your question is about to be answered, yes. The gameplay has two redeeming features. First up is the weapon system. Instead of having twenty different weapons for each character and having to dull out money for a new one every time you get to a new town, there are only at the most 10 different weapons per character (about 2-4 of which are maxed weapons). "What is a maxed weapon?" you ask? Simply, a maxed weapon is a weapon that has changed form after being completely upgraded. It works like this, you can go to various blacksmiths and have your weapons upgraded for a fee. Upon level 20, the weapon will change into a superpowered weapon capable of performing a tech attack. The weapon upgrade system is an interesting addition and adds some much needed originality to the game. The second redeeming feature of DO2 is it's difficulty. Simply put, this game is hard. Most RPG's let you go through the game without much leveling up, only becoming difficult near the end, if they even become difficult at all. This game will hand you your rear on a golden platter if you don't spend time leveling up. You WILL die...a lot. Heck, after spending several hours training, I STILL had a hard time fighting the boss I had been training to beat. In a genre that is flooded with easy games, DO2's difficulty is a godsend to those who want a good challenge. Sadly, the common gamer might be turned away by the fact that you'll have to spend time fighting. 2|screen00019.png 6|92% 1|This is probably the best point to the game. DO2's out-of-battle graphics are colorful and vibrant. The chipsets used were nice to look at and easy on the eyes. Sometimes I just had the urge to walk around towns just to look at them. Also, the shadows of clouds are moving around, creating a rather nice effect. The character graphics are a little lacking, but for 1994 it wasn't that bad. They could have animated a little better and had more animations in general. The game's airship is amazing to look at. It looks like a giant metalic bird, but that does't keep it from being nice to look at. Flying is like Final Fantasy 6 (competely rotatable with the ability to change altitude) except with a giant metal bird. The menu graphics are nothing special, but easy on the eyes. The only problem with the main menu are the rather pathetic excuses for character portraits. Just about all of the character portraits are ugly, especially Karina's. Now for the battle graphics...wow. I thought Rudra's Treasure had impressive battle graphics, but DO2's battle graphics are just plain beautiful. Hair, clothes,capes blow in the wind. Characters and enemies animate without any flaws. It's kind of hard to just describe them just by telling. The battle backgrounds are nicely done. Spell animations vary, some are good, some are bad. Sometimes it's just worth just looking at battles and not doing anything. For 1994 the battle graphics were just amazing. 7|89% 1|The music probably the second best point of Dual Orb 2. I love the majority of the music. Most of it is light-hearted and pleasing to the ear. Only a few tracks don't fit the mood, namely the music that plays in the various forests. The battle music is light-hearted, fast, and drives you to fight, thus doing its job, something many battle themes don't do. The only downside to the battle theme is that it's the only one. There is no boss theme, no final boss theme, just the one theme. This is kinda dissapointing, especially since the battle theme doesn't fit the theme of the final boss battles. Complaints aside, everything else is great. Cassius's theme in particular is quite soothing. The game's sound effects are nothing big and get the job done. 3|screen00020.png 9|79% 1|Well there you have it, a review of this little game known as Dual Orb 2. It is a decent game to play when you have nothing else to play. It lacks in the two most important areas (gameplay and story) but it is still fun to play. If you can find a copy for a fair price that's not too high, then it's worth getting. Just be warned that you will have to do a lot of fighting in order to beat this game. Also, it IS in Japanese, so you'll need a good understanding or a translation guide.