🚀 go-pugleaf

[My newsfeed is running about a week behind. My apologies if this topic
has already been discussed-to-death. If you post a reply, send me a copy
in E-mail, or else I'll have forgotten what I was talking about before
it shows up.]

Here's the long-awaited review of "Knights of Xentar": In a nutshell,
if you liked "Cobra Mission", you'll like this game. Otherwise, you 
won't.

Before I start: Was anyone out there able to get the "Photo Shop"
option to appear in the main menu? I've heard rumors that it shows
up after you've done something in the game, but I can't figure out
what...



KoX is your basic Japanese RPG, which means that it's reminiscent of
the RPG's that you see on Genesis/NES. You won't find any complicated
combat strategies or intricate mazes. The plot is basically: "Go into
an area, talk to everyone to find out what your current quest is, buy
whatever new weapons and armor they have, go to the dungeon, kill the 
boss monster, and get the item that you need to open the gate into the 
next area." I finished it in three days of obsessive playing, and I 
never had to use more than 12 neurons.

Combat is about the simplest I've seen. The actual sword swinging is
done automatically. All you do is select your "attack strength" from
a gauge (with fast-but-weak attacks on one end, and slow-but-strong
on the other), and then sit back and watch the hit-point bars. If 
your hit-point bar goes too low, then you use a potion. If the monsters
are unusually tough and you've recruited Luna the Sorceress, then you
use one of her combat spells. (She starts out with one attack spell, and 
can learn a second, more powerful one. The docs also mention a third spell,
but I was never able to find it.)

I should also mention that the writing varies from mediocre to 
embarrassingly sophomoric. (Unlike "Cobra Mission", it's at least
grammatically correct.) The voices on the CD don't improve matters;
for some reason, a lot of the actors are speaking with stupid
exaggerated accents. None of them is capable of expressing convincing
emotion through an accent. I wound up just turning the voices off. 

OK, so what's good about the game? Well, the big selling point is the
anime graphics, and they're pretty good. The NR-17 upgrade disk probably
replaces 40-50 pictures...this is about twice as many as in "Cobra
Mission", and IMHO the quality is better than in "Cobra Mission",
as well. As far as I know, the upgrade disk isn't available in stores;
you have to buy it directly from the company (for $5). 

(DISCLAIMER: Since I'm extrordinarily handsome, sophisticated, and just
generally not at all nerd-like, I of course have no problem obtaining
the companionship of any real-life-type-woman who interests me. But
I've always had a weakness for the saucer-sized eyes and brightly-colored 
hair of anime women, and of course they don't exist in the real world.
In other words, it's perfectly OK for me to buy this software, and doing
so does not indicate any kind of personal failing on my part. So there!)

Let's see, what else...it's also one of the rare games that has a 
genuinely satisfying ending.  After your quest is done, you don't just 
get dropped into DOS. You're allowed to wander the now-monster-free 
world, and re-visit all the towns, and accept heart-felt thanks from all 
the citizens (even the ones who were rude to you before). There aren't 
any interesting surprises; it's just a nice opportunity for free-form 
ego-stroking.

Finally, it's probably the best RPG that's available this Christmas.
Of course, that's because nobody is doing RPG's this Christmas; they've
all been working on "Multimedia Extravanganzas" and Doom Clones. As
far as I know, the only other new RPG's are Alien Logic (which is apparently
bug-ridden to the point of unplayability) and Seven Gates of Ishtar (which
looks like yet another ugly, tedious, European import). If I'm wrong, I
hope and pray someone will correct me. I *really*, *really* mean it!
-- 

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Charles Don Hall, Licensed Philosopher  (ch...@eco.twg.com)
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