Today's game is a collection of quirks, the product of a company that refused to leave assets and half-assembled code to rot. Arkista's Ring started development under NMK, which makes it a predecessor of sorts to the Rolan's Curse duology. Players take control of Christine. She's an elven archer who has sworn to protect her realm from evil. Foul beasts, fouler undead, and denizens not of this dimension apparently all take orders from the Shogun. They've invaded Christine's home, prompting her to grab a bow and drive them back. This is accomplished through the completion of 125 stages. Well, more accurately, it's 31 stages that must be played through four times in succession. It's like American Sammy looked at Ghosts n' Goblins and said "Pfft! Talk about amateur hour!"
Take a glance at The Cutting Room Floor and you'll notice that there was a LOT of unused content. Everything from monsters to NPCs didn't make it into the final product. I get the impression that NMK had to abandon the game. It lines up when you consider that their Game Boy titles featured more pronounced RPG elements such as towns and level-ups. Also, the possibility exists that all of this material was actually created in 1988 or thereabouts. Everything was gathering dust until Sammy took on the task of turning most of it into a functioning product.
I guess this where I start talking about the actual game. The goal of each stage is to destroy a number of enemies until a key appears. With key in hand, Christine can head to the goal and on to the next stage. Whether they run, fly, or spit fire, fiends are always targeting the heroine. Eliminating them is made simple thanks to the trusty bow, though there is a key point to keep in mind. The elf can't change directions without moving at least a little bit. This quirk is one that won't take long to adjust to. Mainly, you'll want to avoid situations where you practically have to bump into a monster to have a chance at destroying it. This is made challenging due to the fact that while they're dogged pursuers, enemies are also just smart enough to avoid making themselves vulnerable. They like to stay out of the arrow's path, forcing you to make the first move. There's a health meter, but the number of i-frames can be counted on one hand, and you can't easily shoot what's directly on top of you. It would've been nice to have a sword for these tight scenarios.
Nevertheless, I don't expect players to struggle with much of Arkista's Ring. When defeated, monsters often drop bags, which contain one of several random power-ups. Besides restoratives that replenish health or pieces of armor, there are a collection of items that can be used at any time via the menu. They can be used to clear the screen of immediate danger, restore Christine to max health, or give her a fire rod for the remainder of the stage. Managing a limited inventory space is just as if not more important than evading creatures and sticking them with arrows. You'll want to save the healing potions and fire rods for emergencies. Of course, with so much of the game being a relaxing level of difficulty, you might be lulled into a state of half-sleep.
The wake-up call arrives in the form of ninjas, who make their debut towards the last third of the game. These masked assassins are extremely dangerous. They can leap over walls, outrun the heroine, and require more arrows than any other minion. The instant they get close, you'd better have a health potion, or Christine won't survive two seconds. There is one reliable method for defeating a ninja, and it's a portable radio that plays lo-fi hip hop beats. Actually, it's just a device called the ninja stunner. Whatever. Point is, you'll need to hang onto these because they can knock ninjas out for a brief period of time.
It's darkly humorous that such a mild, unassuming adventure could turn into survival horror with the introduction of a new enemy. Ask anyone familiar with Arkista's Ring and you'll see the light drain from their eyes as memories of fatal ninja encounters bubble up from the depths. I suppose I should complain about the lopsided level of difficulty, but I'm not going to. The 20 minutes up to that point serve a purpose in allowing players to get acclimated to how everything works. All that acquired skill and knowledge has to be tested eventually, right? Right.
Besides, that was only the beginning. Now it's time for the second loop! The second... of four!? I know I mentioned this back at the start of the review, but damn. My mind still can't quite grasp why a 30-minute video game needed to be stretched to two whole hours. Sammy could've at least chucked in a few codes, so players didn't have to go through the whole ordeal in one sitting. I'll also go ahead and say that there's not a whole lot of depth. The inventory management is one thing, but only so much can be done with "run through a maze shooting monsters with arrows". It's not a foundation that could possibly survive the rigors of repetition. I mean, if that's what I keep telling myself to avoid three more playthroughs, then I'm certain to be convinced, right? ...Wrong.
Seriously, I've got save-states and nothing better to do with my life*, so let's keep going.
The second loop introduces a new boon: regenerating health. Yep, just keep moving and Christine will recover both health and armor. To counteract this, enemies have gotten noticeably faster. If they're capable of firing projectiles, then those projectiles are flying through solid objects. Otherwise, there's not too much to stress over. Ninjas remain as nightmarish as ever but knowing what to expect makes a big difference.
Life starts to become a luxury once the third loop rolls around. Enemies are even faster now. Hitting them with a couple arrows and escaping when they're too close for comfort requires more effort. Above all, don't let a monster latch onto you. If they do, you'd better make your next shot count, because escaping their grip is fruitless. On the potentially bright side, there's a small chance you'll stumble upon the mirror. Its ability to block projectiles makes it a very useful perk. Don't count on the almighty RNG to provide that miracle, however. Just be thankful when she gifts the essentials like fire rods, healing potions, and ninja stunners.
Finally, it's fourth loop time. This is when it gets really nasty. Running away is out of the question. Minions are too aggressive and fast to shake off. By now, you've likely memorized every stage and picked up some mechanics that might work to your advantage. For example, Christine can fire arrows about as fast as the player hits the A button, provided she's firing while walking. Also, there's a very brief window between the heroine running out of health and death; just enough time to sip a healing potion. Getting this far takes dedication, but... it's kind-of worth it. Not sure if I'd ever want to go through this whole adventure in one sitting. I'm just saying that I think the effort is somewhat rewarding. The "best ending" is really weak though. At least Ghostbusters on the NES had that meme-worthy "prooved the justice of our culture" nonsense.
Considering the strange circumstances surrounding Arkista's Ring, I'm pretty impressed with what NMK / Sammy managed to pull off. The missing content is a disappointment, and I would've preferred a true Action RPG instead of Arcade with light RPG elements. Nevertheless, what's here is surprisingly compelling, even if it takes three or four loops to reach its full potential. Stages move quickly, and the jump from rudimentary charming to legitimately frightening once the ninjas show up is quite an experience. It does get repetitive, just not to the point when boredom has a chance to claw its way in. So... yeah, pretty impressed. I think that about covers it.
*The second I typed "and nothing better to do with my life", I received a text from my boss saying to come into work early. Affirmation, just what I needed.
No comments:
Post a Comment