Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985)

Preliminary: Oh boy, reviews say how hard it is, a FAQ says it takes weeks just to get the first levels for the first steps of the game.... And read that it's hard to discern good vs bad guys, and that killing good guys hurts your Forth, whatever that is... Some definite translation issues... And it does not seem well-loved... Butttt, upon first starting the game (character creation is usually not my favorite thing, but it was relatively painless), I loved the music and look of the forest town. And the UI was familiar from the grind-heavy but loved-by-me first Hydlide, even down to the silly attack/defend mode of the game (therefore I assume the combat is similar to the first one) And I was excited to read posts like this, which reminded me of Zelda and other later action-adventure games with adventure game style puzzles and item-trading situations. I dunno how to explain it, just feels like such an important precedent-setting game series that is often overlooked.

Play: 6/10 Right off the bat I was worried this wouldn't be as enjoyable as the first Hydlide... Most places say to start with Ghouls, so I found my way to the graveyard. But your life depletes in the graveyard... great. And the Ghouls weren't spawning often. So, screw it, I'll just train with what spawns---.... welp, some are good people even tho they look the same as the others and then I screwed my Forth. Ok, reload and stick to Ghouls ha. Just like in the first Hydlide, combat is all about hitting them from the side or back, switching to Defend when they turn to face you. Also, really only sticking to enemies you are OP for. Like with the first Hydlide, you regain Health (on certain terrains), so the grinds really turn into fight-one-enemy-then-run-and-heal. rinse repeat.

Feel: 7/10 Just like with the first Hydlide, so many screens and the music etc kept reminding me of Zelda (of course, this predates it). The way your character moves, the graveyard, the world map's makeup

My only worry was, without the novelty of the first Hydlide, which is what got me to push through the heavy grind and insane difficulty (thank goodness for ability to save anywhere anytime) and clunkiness, would I push through this one too?

Attachment: 8/10 I love the integration of the towns/shops right into the overall world map--so continuous--I love the grind mentality--I love the Feel/precedent for Zeldas and Dragon Quests etc etc... But in the end, it was just too hard to push through. And the difficulty progression just wasn't as clear and as enjoyable as the first Hydlide. I think the morality system really detracted from the beginning of the game, maybe it wouldn't be such an issue if there were just Slimes and obvious beginner enemies right outside the first town. Instead it was entirely unclear what to fight and what I can fight/survive. I want to like this game, and believe it or not, I still wanna pick it back up to see if I can get further this time. I wanna get the Lamp and Oil, and use the Black Crystal, and solve all these great fantasy adventure puzzles that are in the vein that I love. But I shouldn't. The first Hydlide is the right balance of absolutely insane difficulty, with a progression that I love. Sadly, this one, I will have to agree with the prevailing opinion that the Hydlides were just too tackily brutal for us Westerners heh.

As weird as this rating is, the fact I have an urge to return to it, and I feel like I likely will albeit with Cheats or something, this world map also warrants boosting this otherwise 2-star game to a 3... Oh, plus the fact I like how they have a minigame to train strength, different ways besides simple combat grinding to level, and other innovative ideas that remind me of other early action-adventure (and later action-adventure) games... even if these ideas weren't implemented the greatest... And really this is just brutal and something I shouldn't return to..

Completion: Bought Lamp... lol Playtime: ~45 mins (several deaths and alternative methods involved there)