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GUARDIAN'S CRUSADE
SLUS-0081
Copyright © 1999 Tamsoft Corporation
Published and distributed by Activision, Inc. under license
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Sony PlayStation
1 player
RPG
1 memory block
Analog Controller Compatible
Vibration Function Compatible
$49.95
Available now in Japan
Where to buy
FAQ
—by Eri Izawa
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GUARDIAN'S CRUSADE, a PlayStation game from
Tamsoft Corporation, is a fantasy role-playing game whose main
selling point (aside from pretty 3D graphics)
seems to be its cuteness.
First, an introduction to the cuteness. Our hero, Knight,
looks like a kid perpetually wrapped up in a helmet and armor (no
big flowing hair here), and could double for Nobita in DORAEMON with his big cartoony eyes. He has two
sidekicks; a Tinkerbell-like fairy named Nehani and a small, pink
baby monster named Baby, who looks like a cross between a pig and
a hippo. Baby has a small mishmash of Tamagotchi-like features—he's
the main sell of the game. (And don't worry, there's more cuteness
to come below.)
Like most other Japanese RPGs that
make it into the US, this one is a fantasy
game featuring a young hero exploring the world. In this case, our
hero finds Baby one day and is given the mission of taking the
little guy to a forbidding, distant place called God's Tower.
Various side-quests intervene along the way, of course, and Knight
and his friends have to go save people, defeat monsters, and other
such things. Naturally, they wind up having to save the world, too.
However, the game wraps up unusually quickly: the playing time is
on the order of a mere 30 hours.
But for all the cuteness and earth-saving plot, there's
very little intellectual, emotional, or even character depth.
Don't expect to find the philosophical and psychological complexity
of a FINAL FANTASY, much less XENOGEARS,
or even (sad to say) BREATH
OF FIRE III. There's a supposed religion in the game, but from
the very beginning it's quite clear it's nothing but a twisted cult;
a front for an evil megalomaniac (there seems to be a not very subtle
undercurrent of cynicism here). There's a bit of a moral play between
our hero and some minor characters he competes with, a tiny bit of
romance, a few nods to the concept of self-sacrifice, and a few touching
scenes. But even if you're just hoping for some of the intensity,
insight, and honest emotion of many other console RPGs, you'll sense something distinctly lacking.
Technically speaking, the game is fine. The graphics are
3D rendered and colorful, and the animation is
well done. A big bonus: this game has the ability to rotate the view,
so you can see all the walls and corners of a room. Town buildings
are real objects on landscape: a player can wander straight into town,
rather than walking over a symbolic representation of a town and having
to load it up. Unfortunately, the building interiors themselves are not
contiguous with the outside world, and the load time from room to room
can be irritating. And since the game engine apparently can't handle
real 3D movement, Knight can't (for example)
run all the way up a spiral staircase without the game having to load
each level of the stairs independently.
One of the big pluses of the game (at least compared to
other console RPGs) is the random combat, or
lack thereof. While traveling on the landscape, monsters are
represented by cute, fish-like forms that squirm away or come charging,
depending on Knight and Baby's level. This means that, in some areas,
higher level characters can completely avoid the tedium of random combat
because most monsters will simply dart away like frightened fish. Combat
itself is reasonably fun and uses a simple menu system for Knight to
choose his attacks—and don't worry, the monsters don't look like
fish once you get to the combat screen!
As mentioned above, the cute baby monster is the main selling
point of the game. He helps out in combat, he can be told to go fetch
items, he can be fed snacks, and he makes cute noises—he helps
make the game feel more alive. Nehani also helps in this regard. The
cute fairy offers commentary (sometimes pretty amusing) on examined
items in the world, making the tedious task of checking every dresser
and barrel for hidden items more interesting than usual. She also
helps to remind the player what the current goal is. Even the "magic
system" is cute and friendly: instead of collecting spells, Knight must
collect living toys (complete with wind-up knobs) that can be called in
to help during battle. It's an interesting system, but one can wind up
feeling pretty silly and inadequate. For example, when facing a
legendary hero who fights alone, Knight's best tactic is to surround
himself with a bunch of cute little toys who do more damage than he does!
Decent graphics, decent combat, a lot of cuteness, and some
cool features... it's just there's something missing. It's still fun,
but a little bit more heart would've helped transform this game from
mediocre to memorable. 
Rating: 6 / 10 |
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