When someone says they love the DS' RPG library, it tends to mean they
are big fans of either Square Enix's products or Atlus'. The two
companies have been at it for years, constantly churning out DS games,
and while Square Enix has seen critical and financial success numerous
times, Atlus' finest efforts have been reduced to 'cult classic'
territory, doomed to obscurity forever. It is sad that the Dark Spire will
inevitably see this fate, as it is a labor of love that can hold its
own with any other current-gen RPG out there. If you're a hardcore fan
of the genre, not purchasing a launch copy of this game should be a
felony.
The Dark Spire has many noticeable similarities with Atlus' Etrian
Odyssey series. It is a grid-based first-person dungeon crawler
exclusive to the DS, has modest production values and perhaps most
importantly, is excruciatingly difficult. Harder than Etrian Odyssey?
Yes, in part due to random battles being truly random. You can
literally take two steps and fight two groups of enemies and then make
fourty more without being bothered. It feels a little cheap at times,
but a good player will never be caught off guard.
The Dark Spire's storyline is basic, but manages to be memorable
despite its unambitious premise. As a ragtag group of four anonymous
freelancers, your party sets out on a quest to travel to the top of a
mystical tower and slay the Wizard on top. The entire game takes place
in the tower (deemed the Dark Spire), with your party slowly pushing
past wave after wave of visceral opposition. Flowery poetry that
describes environments and battle actions complements course dialogue
very well and the vibe from Dark Spire is remarkably different from
other anime-influenced RPG's polluting the DS.
The excellent vibe is partly due to the game's beautiful and haunting
audiovisual presentation. Creepy 2D art with tons of shadows and odd
coloring haunts the Dark Spire and a fantastic soundtrack works in the
game's favor. The 3D tower is full of diverse and lovingly crafted
environments; while not technically proficient, they nail the aura the
excellent 2D art gives. There is also an option to play the game in "Wireframe mode", which brings you back into the era of low-quality
sound and 8-bit visuals. This truly is a love letter to the 80's. The appealing presentation even extends to the game's packaging. Launch
copies of the game come with a great soundtrack more than an hour long
and a fat box to hold the game in. Collectors, rush out to your nearest
game store and make sure you get one in mint condition.
It is odd to see a game so devoted to its fans that it would give them such
fine packaging, then kick them in the balls when they boot up the game.
Even worse for the majority of players, the Dark Spire's difficulty is
the sort of difficulty that requires the player to grind. Progressing
largely relies on the player's weapons and level, as opposed to relying
more on the player's skill; don't worry, it still takes a high level of
accomplishment to conquer all of the Dark Spire's traps and monsters,
but it also takes a level of patience and a liking for grinding most
gamers do not possess.
If you do enjoy grinding, however, the Dark Spire is easily among the
top RPG's on the system. The potential of customization is through the
roof; your party is initially made up of four members, each one of a
distinguishable race, mentality (lawful, neutral or chaotic) and class.
The more they battle, they may spend experience points earned on either
leveling up their class level, get a new class level to form a hybrid
class (Warrior and Mage, for example, unofficially form Red Mage),
learn new abilities and so forth. It's a refreshing take from modern
RPG's that essentially level up for the player and it is nice to have
complete control over what you do.
The customization does not end there, though; you can even select what
type of attack to use every time your warriors act in battle (swift,
power, rage, etc.) and your party arrangement (three in back, two in
back, one in back, etc.). This is very superior to the game's spiritual
brothers. Traveling through the grid-based tower is dangerous and there are a
plethora of traps, ambushes, locked doors and oddities awaiting the
party. Often after fighting a battle, a member of your party will have
to take a chance of being poisoned or damaged just to receive the
spoils they should have gotten in the first place; if I have not
stressed it enough, this game hates you.
It is obvious some concessions were made during the development
process, as the game's unintuitive interface will discourage
some. There is no stylus option whatsoever. When traveling in the
tower, the lower screen portrays useless information instead of
something pertinent (like, say, a map? I believe Success did not want
to put in a map because they felt it would make the game harder -- to
merely reveal your location on the map you have to use a spell -- but
it is simply a nuisance, not a compelling obstacle to overcome). Unlike
Etrian Odyssey, which portrays all enemies on the field, the Dark Spire
only shows one or two sprites that represent an entire group of
enemies. This means more menus to go through when specifying which
member of the group you want to attack. There are some production value issues as well, ones that are a bit
tougher to overcome. There are no battle animations or even differing
sound effects when in battle. Your characters do not have portraits in
or out of battle, which makes it a bit harder to personalize with them.
I had a blast playing the Dark Spire (so much that I conquered it under
a week, despite it being of decent length for an RPG), and I predict if
you have ever enjoyed dungeon crawling before, you will too. If you are
new to the genre I would recommend the slightly more approachable
Etrian Odyssey original; however, for veterans, this is Atlus' finest DS
project yet. It is rare that I disagree with critics so vehemently, but
it is my opinion that the Dark Spire is top tier for a turn-based RPG,
and don't let any amount of teary-eyed critics tell you otherwise.
