Ultima Runes of Virtue 2, for SNES

Rating: 6.0/10; Above Average

Slight recommendation as a Zelda-like action adventure

This is a simply made top down action adventure with rpg elements, very similar to The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past. It was originally made for the gameboy, and the SNES version does not update the controls to use the entire controller, so it has simplistic 2 button play. You are given free reign over the towns, dungeons and side caves of the world of Britannia, but there is a linear story that takes you through each dungeon.

The game starts off with selecting 1 of 4 heroes to play as, who differ in looks, stats and starting equipment. They are all capable so it does not really matter which you choose. Hearts represent the damage you can take before dying, stars are mana for magic items, and ankhs I'm not really sure. You use the ankh item to teleport back to Lord British, or to reset the current dungeon floor; including enemies and loot. Resetting is primarily used for if you get stuck or mess up a puzzle, though it can be cheesed for loot. Death has the same effect as using the ankh and restores your health, so there is minimal penalty. Shamino the ranger is a balanced character that begins with a lousy throwing axe. Mariah the mage has the most mana and starts with a fire wand that costs mana to use. She is the only character that passively regens mana, which can be great if you want to use a lot of magic without needing mana potions. Iolo the bard has the lowest health but seems to move faster, allowing a more hit and run combat style with his bow. Dupre the warrior has the most health, least mana, a sword and basic armor. He will be a bit harder to kill but is the only character not to start with a ranged weapon. However you can buy weapons and armor so starting gear means almost nothing. Money is also infinite with the way most stuff respawns.

The first thing you will notice after selecting your character is just how weird the game looks. It is like there is supposed to be an isometric camera but the guy setting it up was drunk. Functionally the game is top down, but the way the graphics try to show everything from head to toe can be disorienting. Armor is automatically worn and you get 2 equipment slots for weapons and items. The controls are extremely simple; "start" opens and closes the inventory, and "select" drops stuff on the ground, which you will need to do because of the limited inventory and inability to sell obsolete stuff. The D pad controls movement, and running into things is used to talk to NPCs and activate switches and doors. The 2 face buttons are for assigning and using equipped weapons, and will use consumable items directly from the inventory. Holding down any attack button allows you to stand in place and rotate to aim without moving. You are also able to attack with both weapons at the same time by pressing both buttons for some trademark Ultima several hands multitasking.

The premise of the game is not about any kind of great evil or world destruction. Rather it is a humorous story about comic mischief. I'm going to kidnap the leaders of each town, not hurt them in any way and not have any kind of end goal. The mild inconvenience of being locked away at the bottom of dungeons will teach those meddlesome dogooders to interfere with me mhehehehe. So your goal is to get to the bottom of each dungeon to rescue an npc and escort them back to their home town. Relax, it's only a token escort quest. You can teleport them to Lord British and use the moon gates to get to each town. Enemies on the overworld are also scarce. They do tend to get stuck on stuff, but I think they will still appear next to you when you zone into a new area. Each floor of a dungeon is a discrete challenge. Sometimes there are multiple paths to the same goal and sometimes there is bit of back tracking. The various enemies are very different mechanically even if their AI is fairly brain dead. Combat is certainly a challenge but the focus of the game is more about puzzles and environmental hazards; often while dealing with enemies from awkward positioning. You will be searching for keys to unlock doors, looking for hidden doors, using timed switches, trying not to get killed by lava or traps, pushing stones or huge jars, navigating teleporter mazes, luring enemies and friendly creatures to accomplish things for you, and solving elaborate puzzles. It is actually very impressive how much creativity went into designing these puzzles, especially given the simple nature of the game. Some of them can be real brain teasers and you might need to check a guide. The only ones that stood out as particularly obnoxious were the ones involving the friendly bouncing head things. Those puzzles involve herding the heads and trapping them to activate switches for you, or getting them to push stuff for you. The problem is their behavior is far too random and it can be difficult and/or take forever to get them to do what you want.

Other than those heads the major flaw with the game is basic navigation. There is a world map in Lord British's castle, and floor maps in some dungeons. There is an item you find that allows you to view the same map at the cost of mana, including the position of enemies. But a basic map of the world and at least of the explored areas in a dungeon should be a standard feature of the UI. There is no Zelda style overview map showing each floor of a dungeon either. The dungeon floors are not all that large or complicated though, but you WILL want help getting around the world map. There is no xp, rather you level up and get more stats after returning each mayor to their town.

Runes of Virtue 2 is more of a puzzle game, with some adventure and combat on the side, that could have been much better. Some puzzles are ingenious while others are obnoxious, but the core gameplay is reasonably enjoyable. I just wish there was an actual world map, which is especially needed when you start sailing around in a ship!