Treasure of Rudra was the last game Squaresoft developed for the Super Nintendo, but it was not the last game they produced. That award goes to another game allegedly about treasure: Treasure Hunter G. THG is another Japan exclusive that Square never translated to another region. Because of that, translators got mad and decided to rom hack the game so people everywhere could enjoy it. In theory, at least. Is it actually enjoyable? Let's-a find out!
I skipped the opening movie because I'm bad, so the game starts in a small cabin. An old man is trying to wake up two boys, Red and Blue. The man is complaining that neither brother is fond of getting up in the morning. Blue has had nightmares every night and has cried every morning. Red is deep asleep, and we get to experience his dream. The two brothers are having an argument with their unnamed father. Dear old dad is an absentee father and goes off on adventures all the time, leaving the color boys alone. Red, especially, calls him out, but dad doesn't listen to his son's complaints. He's more interested in chasing after Ferric Falcons, whatever those are. After a lackadaisical proverb dad made up to justify his actions, Red grabs Blue's hand, and they storm out of their house. The two talk outside until Blue starts to strike Red for no apparent reason, but we quickly see the old man is smacking his grandson. The two boys made their way to their grandfather's house in a neighboring town, and that's who they're staying with now!
The three discuss life until a friend of grandpa's, Harbattle, barges into the house. Something has happened at the nearby Aged Cave. There's a falcon there... Grandpa joins them for the expedition, and we get to the tutorial dungeon.
Treasure Hunter G is another stab at a tactical style of combat. It's no Final Fantasy Tactics, nor is it even Energy Breaker, but it's close. There's only one plane (so far), but all actions take place on a grid. Movement has its own counter, different from actions, but they are tied together, somehow. Proximity to a mob seems to adjust action points. But something G does that's interesting is the ability to attack diagonally. So a strong line can be an actual line. Items can also be thrown for damage, but I don't think I'll be doing that. Samurais are overrated.
Battles in the Aged Cave are against rats, who look a lot like snakes. It takes the boys a few turns to take them down, but grandpa easily kills them. He's a well seasoned monk, it seems, judging by his rad spin kick. There's also a single bat. In an offshoot is a strange machine no one can surmise the meaning of. They guessed it was a drill because the cave never used to be this deep. We're also introduced to healing and save points.
In the back is not what I expected. It appears to be an airship, but this is a Ferric Falcon. The party sees a group of people in the distance talking about planting a bomb before the bombers leave. Suddenly, the cave starts to shake. The party takes a look back at the falcon and sees the father they ran away from climbing the rocks around the falcon. There's nothing they can do, so they need to get out of the cave before they're trapped. We need to avoid falling rocks, but the escape isn't terrible. As they leave, the cave collapses, and they witness something fly off overhead. We (the player) see that it's dad, but the engine of the airship is broken. The party sees it crash far to the east. Rather than check it out, they go home.
Haubattle is informed of what happened, and the family decides it's time to find dad's secret adventure vault. Grandpa has known about it, but it's new information to the boys. Before leaving, though, we'll need new gear. Looking around town has us meeting a young girl named Rain and her monkey, Pongo. Grandpa saved them when they were attacked by bandits in the forest. But they're still healing, so they go elsewhere. But grandpa wants to drink, so he tells us to make money!
From here, we need to do odd jobs to make money. Mow the lawn, kill rats, and sell frogs. There's also a training dojo to tell us more about combat and gain some difficult experience. If we try to leave, Ponga joins us. So pick him up before combat. More importantly (I hope), we can learn a lot about our fellow Rurians. Collect giv and head to the world map. The nearby town of Sebia has the gear. Weapons are a priority and the only thing we need to buy. I'm not fond of how shopping works. It's very realistic, which is kinda clunky. I'm sure I'll get used to it. There are also a few more odd jobs here. As we try to leave, a villager tells us our home is burning!
The fire has spread everywhere, so we decide to help anyone we can find. Harbattle is in his house, and we need to save him from sentient flames. Take him to Ms Mora's, who he will save after she gives us her ex husband's violin. Mail is trapped by normal fire, so we concoct a plan. It fails, but Pongo rescues her anyway. Her secret admirer's dialogue didn't work... Grandpa's fighting gremlins outside the house, defending Rain as he holds his own. After our battle against a second gremlin, the gremlins get a cheap shot at grandpa and throw him into his burning home. The gremlins run away, and we put out our grandpa.
The burns are fatal. Grandpa's dying words urge us to return home, and he succumbs to his injuries. Rain takes the blame for this, saying they were looking for her again. But it's time to get away from the fire. The three leave the village and see Pongo heading towards Sebia. There's no way the music that plays for that scene was stock SNES chiptune. It's way too good!
The survivors of Ruran are in the item shop. Mail is despondent, but at least Harbattle and Ms Mora are in decent spirits. Pongo plays a song on the violin as we leave. Armor is free now because the shopkeeper feels bad for us, as is the inn. So gear up and get ready for the forest before us, which I'll do...
...tomorrow!
The menu is going to take some getting used to. Switching items is very cumbersome.
No comments:
Post a Comment