From The RPG Consoler
LandStalker – Rating(9 RPP)
1) 0 – Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 0 – Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 0 – Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 – Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 0 – Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 – Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve
Ever since I played Solstice I’ve had a soft side for the isometric perspective. It took years of playing to get comfortable enough with the controls to make it through the game. Luckily I had Nintendo Power to guide me through those early NES games. I’m not sure I would have beaten as many as I did without it. My exposure to Genesis games was slight, but I’m sure I would have been enamored with this title just the same. I might give it a proper playthrough one day, but it won’t be detailed here.
As a 9, it’s borderline, but in the end it’s an action-adventure with some of the worst isometric controls I’ve experienced (I haven’t played them all, granted). Nigel, the protagonist, can only move in four directions, a normal mechanic in these games. Instead of angling the d-pad to map up to up-right or up-left, it’s mapped to both depending on which diagonal direction was last pressed. This makes handling imprecise. Due to that, the action sequences are tedious as I often accidentally flew in the wrong direction or swung my sword to the side of an enemy.
Nigel finds health upgrades, but that’s the only stat improvement. (I’m unsure if I should even give a point for that.) Combat strength is determined by equipment alone. There’s a good amount of that, and even some situational gear that makes swapping effective for different environmental hazards. Items are varied as well. As for story, setting, and puzzles: that’s where the game really shines, but those same aspects are what make it an adventure game, not quite an RPG.
Without a way for the character to improve, the player has to improve to make progress in the game. Combat misses the mark. It’s rote with only a sword to manage enemies (and some limited use items). The store is only acts as a money sink with no way to sell anything. I’m actually not sure if there are side quests, but I’ll give the game the benefit of the doubt as I haven’t played through far enough to find one.
In the end, I enjoyed what little I tried, and if I can manage to look past the control difficulties (and rewire my brain to accommodate), I’ll probably enjoy the rest of the game. Until that time let’s move on to Inindo.
Original URL: https://allconsolerpgs.blogspot.com/2017/01/below-cut-landstalker-genesis.html