The Magic of Scheherazade (NES, 1987)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7 Fun-7.5 Originality-7.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Solar eclipse mechanic (affects certain spells and items plus your chance at winning in casinos, happens fairly seldomly)
Time travel theme with some effect on gameplay (can plant a Rupia Seed in a magic field during an Alalart eclipse in the past and have it grow into a Rupia Tree (rupia=money) in the future, different backgrounds and enemies in different times)
Can choose between three classes (fighter (stronger sword with more range, reflect some enemy projectiles with swords (scimitars and onwards, they won't hurt the enemies though) and shoot projectiles with the dragoon sword (need to be at 50%+ HP), less effective with rods and can't use shields), saint (can use shields for more defense and to auto-reflect enemy bullets, poor with swords and rods), magician (good with rods, poor with swords and can't use shields, starts out a bit weak)) and switch during the course of the Game for a small price
Fast dialogue text
Pretty nice cutscenes (unskippable though)
Jumping (can jump over NPCs/enemies and certain obstacles)
Can map various action to A or B yourself (similar to Link's Awakening but a bit less flexible)
NPCs react when attacked and are then pissed until you leave and return to the current screen (can't be hurt though)
Can loan money (at interest) in shops
Can buy more than one of a consumable item at once (not all of them though), can haggle in some shops (these shopkeepers get pissed and kick you out plus take 10 coins if you do it twice in a row though and many later ones get pissed if you even try), some interesting spells (temporary invincibility (rupia's seed outside of magic fields), teleport back to visited towns and out of palace dungeons using flying carpets, oprin - reveal hidden entrances, corbock & shrink & caraba - makes enemies small and harmless and squashable, ramipas - fewer encounters, monecom - max of each consumable when cast during a Alalart solar eclipse, raincom and spricom - causes grass to grow in deserts and spring to come during winter respectively (ends HP drain occuring when in deserts and winter areas and heals you in deserts) when cast during an eclipse, moscom - summons a mosque (class change for free), libcom - revive all and restore their stats, moniburn - encapsulate all enemies inside of a small rocket which blasts into the air and explodes in a shower of fireworks, silliet - reflect spells cast on the user (gun mecha party member only)), mythological Arabic setting, basic diplomacy in the JRPG fights (propose peace command - you'll generally have to pay for enemies to accept), "attack all" weapons and spells, basic dungeon maps, some interesting enemies (piranha, disguised enemies, gol/meat eating plants, trees that split into smaller trees, grim reaper, teleporting enemies, etc.), hybrid gameplay (mixes top down and sidescrolling ARPG with turn-based JRPG-style battles where you fight alongside your party (random and set encounters, less frequent than real-time encounters)), formation/combo attack mechanic in turn-based battles (this pairs two specific party members and allows for special spells, some enemies can do it too), some interactive tutorials (courses), can hire mercenary troops to fight for you during turn-based battles, some party banter between areas, can escape from boss battles, good bosses overall (multiple phases), the game automatically levels you up sufficiently after each boss battle, somewhat comical tone, some meaningful dialogue choice (convincing certain NPCs to help you via yes/no questions), better music in the western version, some decent puzzles (the future tree with a son - remember a password and what it said and didn't say, curing Rainy's fear, Coronya's real identity), dark cave at one point where you use a party member to light part of the room up (similar to the lantern in Zelda 3), decent dialogue for the time
+/-
Mostly linear structure (some freedom in when to tackle what within each area)
No diagonal movement
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Extra lives (3 per game?, respawn on the screen you were on and then in the last town after game over - don't lose stats or skills)
Random encounters
Password save (pretty long)
Unusual spell names
Get tips from an anthropomorphic cat (Coronya) during the game - pretty obvious tips (oprin would've been more interesting to use if you weren't told exactly when to use it for example)
Die from falling into water
You and your party auto-uses restoratives when needed (can use a healing spell manually but it's not particularly efficient - you do get a better one but only near the end of the game)
No overworld maps, can team up with only two other party members at once in turn-based battles but you get to pick which ones before each battle (can also choose to fight alone but it has no benefits), casino mini-game (can't choose how much to bet though for some reason), strangely you can repay debts on loans not taken yet while in the past, somewhat limited inventory (only 5 horns/hammers/seeds, only 9 keys/bread/mp refill/transform repellant amulet), a grim reaper can appear if you spend too long in an area (hard to kill and appears quickly on every screen), the monecom spell is too strong but one use only, you still get item drops which you have a full inventory of from enemies but if you do then new hp/mp restoratives that you pick up are used up right away, the saint form is only useful at one point in the game and the last sword isn't particularly useful since you need to be a magician for the last fight,
-
Some control/interface issues (spawning issue - in area four you can end up on the other side of lakes and even on a lake tile after exiting a shop/cave encounter, short invincibility time and no knockback plus you can't hit an enemy during the invincibility time so you need to move away from it, can't repeat a "course" in the university (basically a tutorial message), no descriptions in-game for most spells/items, can only redistribute consumable items between party members when entering a turn-based battle, can't choose which enemy to attack in the turn-based battles (only groups?), pressing backwards while attacking makes you move forward instead until the swing is finished, easy to get stuck on edges and NPCs (your avatar doesn't auto adjust its position when partially touching something), some actions like speaking should've been context sensitive instead, can't control jump height nor length, can't move in mid-air after jumping straight up, can't jump between screens)
Pretty slow and basic turn-based battles - they're also generally not worth the rewards they give
Some meaningless dialogue choices (intro, first NPC etc.)
Some NPCs say the exact same thing - the game actually makes a joke out of this at one point though
Some trial & error (final boss pattern, dark world path, fairly big maze in the fifth area, need to make sure to restore your MP before facing the Salamander boss in the fourth area or Rainy (who makes the boss keep appearing) will run out and you'll have to backtrack, the courses generally don't explain which characters make up a certain formation (aries and sirius for example) – in the manual?, floor traps in the second cave - would've made sense to be able to use Oprin here, shopkeepers who don't accept haggling always kick you out of the shop immediately - sometimes you end up on the other side of the screen to where the shop is too, the town exit in the underwater town takes you back on land without warning, some cheap enemy placements)
Pretty cliché story at its core
You still get mostly single coin drops in the last area
All towns look the same and some backgrounds and enemies are repeated as well
No quest log/journal feature
The rod is a bit OP
Winter looks like everything turned to stone instead, some grammar mistakes in the translation, the third boss has a somewhat tedious first form (counters with a spell every time you hit it) and a very easy second form, need to have found the town Lava before you can use the carpet in the past of the fourth area, safe spot against the first form of the final boss (and you pretty much have to use it because its transformation spell halts your movement enough for it to swallow you if you don't=instant death), some dead ends
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7 Fun-7.5 Originality-7.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Solar eclipse mechanic (affects certain spells and items plus your chance at winning in casinos, happens fairly seldomly)
Time travel theme with some effect on gameplay (can plant a Rupia Seed in a magic field during an Alalart eclipse in the past and have it grow into a Rupia Tree (rupia=money) in the future, different backgrounds and enemies in different times)
Can choose between three classes (fighter (stronger sword with more range, reflect some enemy projectiles with swords (scimitars and onwards, they won't hurt the enemies though) and shoot projectiles with the dragoon sword (need to be at 50%+ HP), less effective with rods and can't use shields), saint (can use shields for more defense and to auto-reflect enemy bullets, poor with swords and rods), magician (good with rods, poor with swords and can't use shields, starts out a bit weak)) and switch during the course of the Game for a small price
Fast dialogue text
Pretty nice cutscenes (unskippable though)
Jumping (can jump over NPCs/enemies and certain obstacles)
Can map various action to A or B yourself (similar to Link's Awakening but a bit less flexible)
NPCs react when attacked and are then pissed until you leave and return to the current screen (can't be hurt though)
Can loan money (at interest) in shops
Can buy more than one of a consumable item at once (not all of them though), can haggle in some shops (these shopkeepers get pissed and kick you out plus take 10 coins if you do it twice in a row though and many later ones get pissed if you even try), some interesting spells (temporary invincibility (rupia's seed outside of magic fields), teleport back to visited towns and out of palace dungeons using flying carpets, oprin - reveal hidden entrances, corbock & shrink & caraba - makes enemies small and harmless and squashable, ramipas - fewer encounters, monecom - max of each consumable when cast during a Alalart solar eclipse, raincom and spricom - causes grass to grow in deserts and spring to come during winter respectively (ends HP drain occuring when in deserts and winter areas and heals you in deserts) when cast during an eclipse, moscom - summons a mosque (class change for free), libcom - revive all and restore their stats, moniburn - encapsulate all enemies inside of a small rocket which blasts into the air and explodes in a shower of fireworks, silliet - reflect spells cast on the user (gun mecha party member only)), mythological Arabic setting, basic diplomacy in the JRPG fights (propose peace command - you'll generally have to pay for enemies to accept), "attack all" weapons and spells, basic dungeon maps, some interesting enemies (piranha, disguised enemies, gol/meat eating plants, trees that split into smaller trees, grim reaper, teleporting enemies, etc.), hybrid gameplay (mixes top down and sidescrolling ARPG with turn-based JRPG-style battles where you fight alongside your party (random and set encounters, less frequent than real-time encounters)), formation/combo attack mechanic in turn-based battles (this pairs two specific party members and allows for special spells, some enemies can do it too), some interactive tutorials (courses), can hire mercenary troops to fight for you during turn-based battles, some party banter between areas, can escape from boss battles, good bosses overall (multiple phases), the game automatically levels you up sufficiently after each boss battle, somewhat comical tone, some meaningful dialogue choice (convincing certain NPCs to help you via yes/no questions), better music in the western version, some decent puzzles (the future tree with a son - remember a password and what it said and didn't say, curing Rainy's fear, Coronya's real identity), dark cave at one point where you use a party member to light part of the room up (similar to the lantern in Zelda 3), decent dialogue for the time
+/-
Mostly linear structure (some freedom in when to tackle what within each area)
No diagonal movement
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Extra lives (3 per game?, respawn on the screen you were on and then in the last town after game over - don't lose stats or skills)
Random encounters
Password save (pretty long)
Unusual spell names
Get tips from an anthropomorphic cat (Coronya) during the game - pretty obvious tips (oprin would've been more interesting to use if you weren't told exactly when to use it for example)
Die from falling into water
You and your party auto-uses restoratives when needed (can use a healing spell manually but it's not particularly efficient - you do get a better one but only near the end of the game)
No overworld maps, can team up with only two other party members at once in turn-based battles but you get to pick which ones before each battle (can also choose to fight alone but it has no benefits), casino mini-game (can't choose how much to bet though for some reason), strangely you can repay debts on loans not taken yet while in the past, somewhat limited inventory (only 5 horns/hammers/seeds, only 9 keys/bread/mp refill/transform repellant amulet), a grim reaper can appear if you spend too long in an area (hard to kill and appears quickly on every screen), the monecom spell is too strong but one use only, you still get item drops which you have a full inventory of from enemies but if you do then new hp/mp restoratives that you pick up are used up right away, the saint form is only useful at one point in the game and the last sword isn't particularly useful since you need to be a magician for the last fight,
-
Some control/interface issues (spawning issue - in area four you can end up on the other side of lakes and even on a lake tile after exiting a shop/cave encounter, short invincibility time and no knockback plus you can't hit an enemy during the invincibility time so you need to move away from it, can't repeat a "course" in the university (basically a tutorial message), no descriptions in-game for most spells/items, can only redistribute consumable items between party members when entering a turn-based battle, can't choose which enemy to attack in the turn-based battles (only groups?), pressing backwards while attacking makes you move forward instead until the swing is finished, easy to get stuck on edges and NPCs (your avatar doesn't auto adjust its position when partially touching something), some actions like speaking should've been context sensitive instead, can't control jump height nor length, can't move in mid-air after jumping straight up, can't jump between screens)
Pretty slow and basic turn-based battles - they're also generally not worth the rewards they give
Some meaningless dialogue choices (intro, first NPC etc.)
Some NPCs say the exact same thing - the game actually makes a joke out of this at one point though
Some trial & error (final boss pattern, dark world path, fairly big maze in the fifth area, need to make sure to restore your MP before facing the Salamander boss in the fourth area or Rainy (who makes the boss keep appearing) will run out and you'll have to backtrack, the courses generally don't explain which characters make up a certain formation (aries and sirius for example) – in the manual?, floor traps in the second cave - would've made sense to be able to use Oprin here, shopkeepers who don't accept haggling always kick you out of the shop immediately - sometimes you end up on the other side of the screen to where the shop is too, the town exit in the underwater town takes you back on land without warning, some cheap enemy placements)
Pretty cliché story at its core
You still get mostly single coin drops in the last area
All towns look the same and some backgrounds and enemies are repeated as well
No quest log/journal feature
The rod is a bit OP
Winter looks like everything turned to stone instead, some grammar mistakes in the translation, the third boss has a somewhat tedious first form (counters with a spell every time you hit it) and a very easy second form, need to have found the town Lava before you can use the carpet in the past of the fourth area, safe spot against the first form of the final boss (and you pretty much have to use it because its transformation spell halts your movement enough for it to swallow you if you don't=instant death), some dead ends