Balmung Cycle Part I: The Messenger and the Heretic

It’s not always easy to determine what criteria to use when reviewing a game, because every game seems to be different. In the RM world, we have a huge variety of differences depending on the designer: some games focus more on stories, others on gameplay; some games use nothing but the RTP, others use partial RTP while finding a few original pieces, and others stay completely away from the RTP; some are excellent in game design but horrible in writing, and others can write up a heck of a mean story but suck horribly when it comes to mapping and level designs. Of course, all of this requires a system of checks and balances to help ensure every area of the game receives the same amount of attention.

For the most part, I felt that BC was very well balanced. It had an engaging and fun story, an interesting set of characters, a unique battle approach, and the mapping details were handled very well. However, there were also instances where things clashed, the story tended to drag, the battle system was not fully up to par as I would have liked it to be. It was those instances that seemed to have an impact on my overall joy with the game, since these things were a bit jarring.

Let’s consider the story first. It was unique, and I’ve always enjoyed games that pull ideas from various cultures, and theories, and myths. For the most part, the story piqued my interest, but more so after getting through the prologue of the game, which I found to be somewhat boring. You start off learning a bit about yourself and your mission before being sent to Midgard, in which you must find some girl and head to the Ygdrassil Spring. It was never quite clear why I had to find this girl, and what contribution she even had to my party. Furthermore, she just seemed to be a bit of a filler to the plot. There were other parts in the game that pulled away from the main story as well, and I won’t provide any spoilers, aside to say some of the side stories probably should have been left as a side quest. Once you end up going along, though, and reach the halfway point into the game, things get really heated. Unfortunately, by the time I start to really care about what’s at stake, the game comes to an end, leaving all sorts of questions opened.

One of the bigger challenges to this game is the absurd difficulty, especially during the prologue segment of the game. This is the time a person should be able to feel free to learn the ropes of the game, not become frustrated at the mechanics and try to figure out how in the world they can possibly survive. For example, you don’t have any real opportunities to get any medical help until you’ve reached your first town, and that after completing a dungeon. Enemies at the start can be brutal, and tend to drop low amounts of EXP and Gold, while restorative items seem to be very high priced. Since you can’t run from battles without some form of spell or item, the trek through the prologue becomes even more tiresome.

Another concern that I had was the amount of HP some of the earlier bosses had, which made the game even more tedious than it needed to be. An example of this: In the Ygdrassil, after fighting the boss creature (Gedion, I think the name was), you’re up against Vali. Vali has 5000 or so HP. You have your main characters hitting for about 15-20 HP, and another person who temporarily helps you out hitting for about 200-300 HP. Now, putting my horrible math skills to use, on a good day that would take me about 14 to 15 rounds to finish the dude off. Since I have to stop to restore from time to time with my measly supply of potions, you’re looking at about 17 or 18 rounds, an insane amount of time to be spending fighting so early into the game.

Now don’t get me wrong, because the game gets progressively better as you continue passed the Ygdrassil Spring (this is primarily the prologue after all). However, it’s important to hook the gamer into the story right away, otherwise you risk losing them before the game has a chance to get going. I can’t count the times that I was so ready to give up, only to grit my teeth and tell myself I’ll push along just a little more. And I’m glad that I did, because it would have been a tragedy to miss out on such a great game.

Moving passed those complaints, I found the game to be one of the best I’ve enjoyed in a long time. Magi doesn’t hold back any punches, especially when it comes to detailing his maps and dungeons, creating his puzzles, and designing his cut scenes. The game was not terribly long, which is definitely good considering the time I have these days to play through an rpg, and I’m really hoping that a sequel will come out at some point in the near or distant future.

In fact, this does lead me to one more complaint. While the game itself feels completed as a chapter, it also feels more like an extremely long demo than an actual completed game. I say this because there were certain side quests I could not complete during this play through. If these side quests were intended for the sequel, I’m sure Magi would have just added them into the sequel instead of here. The fact that they are present, but cannot be completed, tells me that Magi intended this at one point in time to be a much larger game, but then broke it up when he realized he wouldn’t have the time to put into it.

So my question goes out, if for no other reason than to ease my heart and move on to other things:

Is there a plan for finishing this story?