Baroque

If you expect a traditional RPG with Baroque, you may be disappointed. However, if you expected a Diablo style hack-n-slash romp through pseudo-randomly created dungeons, a cast of grotesque characters, and a 20 something undertaker who is compelled to shout "God dammit" every time he speaks, then you will be satisfied.

Me? I didn't know what to expect since my wife gave this game to me without consulting with me, and I had never heard of it. So I was in no position to not give this game a chance. Under my wife's careful scrutiny, I played this game during my free time for several weeks.

At first, I was pleasantly surprised. There was an interesting if not bloody opening cinematic that piqued my interest. The pleasantness soon dissolved, though, when I started playing the game.

I mentioned the cast of grotesque characters. These fit in nicely with the overall visual theme of the game which is something between surreal dream and post apocalyptic prison camp. The visuals are admittedly stunning and appropriate and very dark. This game does not beat Silent Hill in its human disfigurations, but it does come close.

The progression of the game is also something novel. That is, you start the game with essentially no clues as to the reasons behind the sorry state of affairs in which you find yourself and, seemingly, the rest of the world (your character is an amnesiac). The only direction you receive is that you must get to the bottom floor of the "tower", and it is primarily in the tower that you uncover the means by which you find out more about the back story and the pre-amnesiac nature of your character. It is also in this tower where you will die quite often. In fact, dying is one of the means by which you advance the story. So don't be frustrated when you die ALL THE TIME.

Reading what I have just written, this sounds like a game I should keep. However, there were a host of issues that I encountered that ultimately ended in me asking myself, "Why do I care?"

First of all, the camera is nuts. When you're not battling, it's serviceable. You can always snap the camera back behind your character. During battle, though, you're usually out of luck if the camera swings to an angle that puts your adversaries below the scope of the camera or behind a wall if you happen to be engaging a monster from around the corner.

Secondly, most of the dialogue sounds like it's being read straight from the script. Particularly that of the coffin maker. I hate that he says "God dammit" all the time, but more than that, I hate how forced it sounds -- like Spock saying, "I'm going to roll with my homies."

Thirdly, the system by which you can throw your various items seems to have been added as an afterthought. Nearly anytime you want to throw something, the action must be interrupted as you pause the game and select the item you would like to throw.

The last nail in the coffin for me was how boring the game was. This game plays so much like Diablo, and I played Diablo before for countless hours, and I am done with it, thank you very much. The only thing that breaks the monotony of the hack, hack, hacking on monsters is the rare encounter with someone or something that triggers the surfacing of an old memory or association.

Plus, I didn't care for how selfish most of the ancillary characters were. But that's just me.

I absolutely adored this game, but people with little patience might get frustrated. This game doesn't hold your hand at all, it tosses you into a crazy world and tells you 'okay figure it out!' I however enjoy the 'uncover the bizarre storyline' type of gameplay thats in Baroque, trying to figure out just what the heck is going on, its like you're in an insane asylum. Admittedly losing all your gear whenever you die or complete the tower can get tedious, but I even came to enjoy that after awhile, it takes planning and strategy to get your favorite items back into town to be ready for next time.

Its definitely a 'hardcore dungeon-crawler' like it advertises itself to be...I wish the Wii had more games with complex psychological storylines like this. If you like anime, thought-provoking rpgs, or just hacking and slashing, I'd definitely recommend Baroque.

Some people may not like the fact that the goal is to die and that when you die, you start over from the beginning and at level 1. Some people may. Some may not like that it's so blasted repetitive. Again, some people may. It's not for everyone, but I myself think it's pretty original.

For one thing, It doesn't follow your standard RPG elements. Yes, you can do level up and have to deal with status effects. For one thing, you deal with some slightly different stats: HP, VT (That's Vitality), Attack, and Defense. No Speed or Agility, no Dexterity. Speed is set but can be improved with specific weapons, brands, and parasites, or it's worsened when afflicted with a certain ailment, Lethargy. And on the subject of ailments, you have your Poison and your Paralysis, but you also have to deal with Lust, Lethargy, and Stomachache, among a few others. Lust is the funniest of them all because everything, monster, item, and character (Yes, even the one you're playing.) becomes a beautiful woman. The same woman. You can tell what's what by checking shadows and the sprite that becomes the items floats above the ground. And the reactions you get from the NPCs when "talking" to them are priceless. One says "What are you getting all hot and bothered in a place like this for?!" Your character is completely mute, but the NPCs don't seem to care. They talk to him anyway.

Now, some have complained that you don't get to keep your stuff. This is remedied by throwing them into things called Memory Orbs. An NPC on the outside will pick them up and you can get them back from him when you start over. Consequently, this is the only way to fill up the item list. And it doesn't matter if the monsters get you or if you make it all the way to your destination, if you die, you start over. That much is true. Herein I can see why people would be annoyed with this factor, seeing how I was on a roll, making it to the bottom 5 times. The sixth time through, I was hit with Poison, and the monsters got me. Aggravating. But hey, if you don't think of starting over when the monsters get you as punishment for failure, then it won't be. Indeed, when you do start over, even if the monsters got you, you learn a bit more about the main character's past. And who doesn't like a good mystery?

No one's said anything about the music that I've read, and so I will. I like the music. It's catchy. Some I don't particularly care for, but all in all, thought was put into the music for this game.

I purposely didn't touch on everything I've experienced so far because I want people to experience it for themself, rather than having someone tell them what they think and go on that. Indeed, I did some research on this game, looking at videos and reading reviews and whatnot, but hey, if you weren't slightly interested by this point in my review, you wouldn't still be reading, would you?

And another thing. Some have said it's too hard. I wouldn't say that. With no definable boss monsters and the fact that every monster you do face perishes rather quickly when you use your items in conjuction with your sword, I don't think it's particularly hard at all.

All in all, rent it first and if you think it's one you'd like, then buy it.