Alundra is a good ol' classic 2D ARPG (Action Role Playing Game) made by (the now-disbanded) Matrix Studios in 1997. This game went practically unnoticed then, and it'd take the "patience of a saint", as some would say, to find either a CD copy of the game or someone who has even played it in this day and age. It's one of those games that you either love or hate, and personally I love this game.
The Adventures of Alundra follows, perhaps unsurprisingly, the tale of a young male named Alundra. Alundra is both blessed and cursed as he is one of the last few members of the Clan of Elna - an ancient race whom have the power to enter people's dreams as they sleep - and he must use his power to rescue the village of Inoa from their eternal nightmares. Initially, Alundra sets off to Inoa on board a vessel guided by the sage-like Lars, someone who has no tangible form and initially only appears to Alundra in his dreams. On route to Inoa, the ship gets caught in the most ferocious storm it's ever been in (the captain says it's been in worse but based on given evidence I find this hard to believe) and ends up getting TORN IN HALF by a tidal wave. By sheer luck, Alundra ends up washing ashore on the island he was heading to and a villager by the name of Jess finds him, and takes him to Inoa, where Jess used to work as a blacksmith. After meeting a few of the local villagers - such as Sybil, a young girl who dreams whilst she is awake, and Nadia, someone to whom sleep is not a reprieve as it causes nearby objects to violently explode - he encounters an old man named Wendell who's locked in a fierce nightmare and no one is able to help him. Wendell's grandchildren, Bergus and Nestus, ask Alundra to go fetch a man by the name of Septimus as they believe he may be able to help. Septimus is a scholarly man who has studied the nightmares that have plagued Inoa and is distraught with his failure to be able to help on his own. Realizing Alundra's potential, Septimus sends him off to the manor of Tarn - Septimus' old master - to retrieve an old book. Once he reaches the manor, Alundra encounters Melzas - the game's main antagonist - who threatens Alundra before retreating for the time being. Alundra eventually retrieves the book, and returns to help Septimus and Wendell. Septimus helps Alundra enter Wendell's nightmare, and the dark overtures of the game slowly become more noticable from there...
Now, with the plot summary out of the way, I can begin this review in earnest. Alundra is one of those few games that has aged exceptionally well. It's just as thought-provoking, and immersive now as it was a decade ago. Some people may be instantly turned away from such a classic due to it being in 2D. If this game were in 3D, it'd be a step in the wrong direction. This is a game that deserves to stay as 2D as it plays perfectly fine as is. The graphics leave nothing to be desires, and the visual effects that many take for granted as of late - such as smoke emenating from a chimney - only enhance the visual factor. The only noticable downside is that depth perception is remarkably annoying; there are many jumps that look like they can be made but actually can't, and vice versa.
As a whole, the soundtrack is exceptional. Some tracks, such as "Torla Mountain" aren't overly good but others ("Gemini Dreams" (I believe it's called) for example) are far superior, and as a result help average out the few bad tracks. The intro alone has a splendid guitar track playing, and is a beautifully rendered CGI scene to boot (it sort of has an anime style to it... but it does lead to the question: is Alundra's hair ginger or blonde?). There isn't much that I can say about the OST other than it's certainly worth a listen.
Now, one of my first real problems with this game: the puzzles. Many of these puzzles are exceptionally difficult, to the point of frustrating. Several are - literally - trial and error affairs. The first truly difficult puzzle is in the third non-dream dungeon at the very beginning, as it requires you to talk to 5 characters in a certain order. This is the first time you'll need to write down key information to try and piece together the solution (the instruction manual even recommends that you keep a pen and some paper at hand while playing), and even then it can take a while. The puzzles get exceptionally harder as the game progresses, but there is one puzzle in particular in one dream sequence that annoys everyone. It looks easy, and with some lateral thinking it is, but you need to treat it like a chess-game: think several moves ahead. Some of the puzzles in this game are insanely difficult the first time through and when you grow up playing this game, very few puzzles become a challenge any more (there's one classic puzzle that appears in this game on a very difficult scale; many switches, have to get them all the same colour, flipping one changes the colour of those around it as well... that puzzles is notable twice and it's not overly easy either time; the second time isn't required but helps).
The plot is also overly convoluted at first, and may take some time to understand. Nothing overly major seems to happen (aside from a few NPCs dying) for a while, then as you approach the end of the game a lot of plot gets thrown outta nowhere. This game may actually offend some people, as it has an anti-religious plot... only this isn't known, prevalent or even brought up until past halfway through the game.
There's very little I can genuinely critisize this game for, as it's a masterpiece that outshines many of the modern mainstream games. Even better news, is that it's apparantly available on the PS3 version of PSN (as to whether or not it's a Japan exclusive I'm not sure) so it's easy to get access to play if you'd wish.
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