Alundra is a game I've heard about but have never played. I don't know anything about it other than it's well received. I'd like to say more, but I'm going in blind!
A bird is soaring across the sea and lands on a boat. A crewman descends from the crow's nest for reasons, and we see a few civilians on board. And then our noble hero emerges! We can speak to people to learn we're going to the island of Inoa because of a reoccurring dream he has. The NPC's reasons for their journey are less important. We can get the basics of control here, and it's a bit confusing. Press square to talk to people, but use X to say yes or no. Square is also the attack button, so it'll take some getting used to. It's not enough to earn negative points, but it's definitely an odd game design choice. Keep exploring and learn to throw boxes until you want to speak to the captain in his quarters. Leave, then talk to him at the ship's wheel to get him to tell you to go to bed.
While there, Alundra has his dream. A strange beam of light named Lars talks to him. Lars warns of a monster in the lake north of Inoa that only Alundra can seal. Speaking of whom, Melzas shows up. The two speak to each other about their pasts. Melzas' power stems from human growth, but the blue light no longer wants them. Melzas kills Lars after the purple light refuses to tell him anything about "the Releaser."
Alundra wakes up, and the ship has sailed into a powerful storm. The crew believes their captain can save them, but we sail too close to the reefs and get torn in half. RIP.
We end up on a beach, and a man drags us home. We wake up sometime later and meet our savior, Jess. Jess is the town's blacksmith and has taken a liking to us. We can look around town now and get our bearings. This is a pretty large town. I have the feeling we'll get to know a lot about the community over the next few days. We can get some foreshadowing for a few of them now, but our goal is a house on the west side of town. Inside is a dying old man. He's been suffering for a matter of days, and a man named Septimus has been the acting doctor. The man's family asks us to find him, and he's just to the north. Septimus has done all he can to the man and can't bear to see the family suffer anymore. He will not help us. As we leave, though, he notices the scar on our head. This is something he's seen in his dreams, and he knows we can save the island. Septimus comes up with a plan now. If we can find a book in Tarn's Manor.
I got lost looking for this, and I'm a little annoyed. There's no exp in this game, so this was a big waste of time. But I guess I did gather several herbs and get the basics of combat and jumping. Rather than use the north exits, leave through the south. It was blocked earlier, which is what threw me.
Head east for a while until you find a giant house. It's before a dead end, so you can't miss it. As we enter, our new friend, Melzas, warns us that whoever comes to this house will die. He has no idea we're the Releaser. The rest of the manor is filled with floor switches we'll need to keep depressed with crates and levers to pull until we find the key. Occasionally, spike balls drop from the ceiling, but they're easy to trigger and avoid. The only monsters I remember are slimes and the monkeys that attacked us at the gate. The slimes inhabitant the basements, and the monkeys block our path on the upper floors. For the first dungeon in the game, the puzzles are surprisingly tricky. That's probably not the correct word, but if you're unfamiliar with the game's mechanics, it'll take you a brief moment to get everything down, especially the lever puzzles. It took me a moment to realize you can hit it multiple times to open one of three gates on the bottom floor. That key will open the door on the second floor. Inside is the book Severus wanted. Melzas shows up for some reason, but we can return to poor Wendel.
Septimus takes the book and leafs through it. He finds out we're from the clan Elna, and it means we can experience people's dreams. If we enter Wendel's dream, maybe we can save him?
Inside is a maze. We can see Wendel is being assaulted by slimes, and we need to reach him. To do so, we'll navigate a maze and turn a few levers. The levers move blocks in our path, and we'll need to backtrack after the third one. That one confused me. We'll get ambushed by eight slimes, and then we'll need to navigate another maze. To get past that one, we'll need to find the correct path through two wooden walkways. This can only be done via trial and error, so it kinda sucks. If we walk the wrong path, blocks will fall before us.
Wendel's slimes merge into one giant one, and this battle will be boring. Our dagger does almost no damage, so we'll be here awhile. In short, Minecraft stole their slime idea from Alundra. They both function the same way, except ours has invulnerability frames. After forever, Wendel will be saved! We're returned to the house for a happy ending, and the camera cuts to an eavesdropper. As Sep and I leave, Giles, the creeper, will ask us to visit the pope. The pope requests we pray, which I do. Giles makes this feel like a cult meeting. I don't know what the point of this was, but we'll talk to Sep about who we are...
... tomorrow!
According to a number of ranking sites, Alundra is the best game I've never played. I want to see if this is true, but I probably should have waited. How Zelda is this?
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