Soul Blazer

Published by31746-soul-blazer-snes-front-cover
Enix America Corporation
Developed by
Quintet Co., Ltd.
Released
Aug, 1992
Platform
SNES


Money. The root of all evil… King Magridd sold out.

      Obsessed with the desire for wealth, he cut a dastardly deal with the ruler of evil. Now the Freil Empire is in shambles and you are chosen to save it. Free the kingdom’s captive souls. Teach the King a thing or two about integrity. Rescue a beautiful maiden. Liberate an imprisoned inventor.
    You’ll boldly traverse the six complex stages in this action-RPG An array of weapons, armor and magic are at your disposal. After you revive the kingdom, you will confront Deathtoll. Then make him pay…

Soul Blazer is an action RPG by Quintet and released by Enix in 1992. The second game developed by Quintet it shares some similarities to their first game, Actraiser. Soul Blazer is also
79880-soul-blazer-snes-screenshot-by-stepping-on-those-green-things
the first in a loosely connected trilogy of games known as the Gaia Trilogy.
    The player (Blazer) takes on the role of an angel/deity, Given the task of reviving the world by releasing souls from the grip of Deathtoll.  Each area begins in a desolate town, devoid of citizens. Those citizens, including their leaders are revived by clearing monster lairs in each town’s unique dungeon.  Each “Lair” is a tile that spawns monsters. After defeating a predetermined amount of monsters, Blazer steps on the glowing tile, releasing a soul,  a chest or path to another part of the dungeon. After each of the six towns is repopulated, Blazer recieves a stone. Upon aquiring all six stones, the World of Evil is accessible and Blazer is able to face Deathtoll himself.
   Being one of the earlier action RPGs for the SNES, gameplay is not complicated, battle is real-time, and equipment upgrades are simple. Magic use in this game is unique, however. Along the journey, Blazer finds “souls” who offer their help in his journey by joining him as an orb that rotates around him. From t79879-soul-blazer-snes-screenshot-when-you-free-plants-animals-andhis orb, Blazer releases magic spells that work wonders decimating large groups of monsters.  Here is a trick: When in dungeons, try to keep Blazer to the left of the enemies as he’s attacking. For some reason, it is easier to land hits since his sword arcs from left to right.
    The soundtrack is pretty catchy. Composed by Yukihide Takekawa. If you ever play this game, check out the music to “Dr. Leo’s Painting”, it’s very trippy and almost disturbing.  This is one of the first RPG’s I played on the SNES and one that I can replay again and again.  Look for future reviews of Soul Blazer’s successors: Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.

Related posts