2025 Special - Light Crusader

"You're done with Light Crusader! Done! Never again!"

"You even recorded a play-through and posted it on Youtube. That's like... throwing dirt on top of the casket, scattering ashes in the wind, leaving flowers at the grave, whatever! Point is, it's over. It's finally-"

It's never over. All that ended up getting buried was the voice telling me that my time with Light Crusader had ended. If I can be brutally honest; he doesn't know shit about shit anyway. There was a time eons ago that I absolutely abhorred Final Fight. At one point, I even hated Mushimesama. Opinions and feelings are prone to change. The fact that I've revisited this particular game time after time, despite my supposed "done with this forever" attitude about it, clearly means something.

I think?

Well, let's go over the basics. Light Crusader is Treasure's first (and last, I guess) foray into the world of Action-Adventure. After a tiring journey, Sir David arrives at The Kingdom only to find out that there have been kidnappings, shadows creeping around the cemetery, and a host of other bad omens. With sword in hand, our hero delves into a massive labyrinth, ready to face the foul monsters and confounding riddles that lie within. Compared to the likes of Alien Soldier & Radiant Silvergun, this might be the most bog-standard plot ever seen in a game by Treasure. Oh no! An evil wizard is about to summon a demon! That's seriously the extent of the story. No twists, no absurd lore, not even a little bit of time traveling. Well, there was one instance of Sir David visiting different worlds to fight ninjas and cowboys. The developer had to slide at least a little absurdity in, and I appreciate it.

As you'll soon see, the game adopts an isometric perspective, but Sir David and the fiends that accost him can freely move in all eight directions. However, most objects will only move diagonally. I actually really like that characters and objects operate by different rulesets. To reiterate, there is just as much adventure that there is action, and objects include everything from moving platforms to exploding barrels. Learning how they work is key to solving the myriad puzzles that await. Sometime ago, I would've likened this game to Landstalker, but the approach here is quite different. Going further, I've started to glimpse the appeal of how the protagonist and the world around him works. There is a lot of fluidity and maneuverability when moving around. This makes the precision required to push objects around really satisfying to pull off. Now, I won't claim it's perfectly handled, since there are rare moments where David will brush up against a boulder, unintentionally causing it to roll away. 99 times out of 100 though, this is a game world that feels good to move around in.

However, even with all of my replays, my feelings on the swordplay are still in the realm of iffy. When fighting the many flavors of adversity, Dave has a habit of auto-targeting whomever he is closest to. It's most apparent when attacking from midair, as he'll perform a diving strike on a nearby target. There will be an adjustment period for players new to Light Crusader, and either they'll get the hang of it after a while, or it will gnaw at them for decades. Oh! Excuse me, I was talking about myself there. Maybe it's because this is one of the shockingly rare instances where the combat system in a Treasure game works 95 out of 100 times instead of the usual 100 out of 100, and my entire being struggles with that.

The same holds true for the boss battles. They all look great but often don't have a strategy past 'walk up and hit it with a sword several times'. There are, of course, exceptions. One late-game boss summons an odd 3D triangle. Bumping into it will drain Davey's health, restoring the boss' in the process. Destroying a literal tank with a sword is also pretty cool. Again, however, this is a game by Treasure, and the sky-high standards they set for bosses isn't met here. Still, there is a part of me, a part I tried to suffocate for decades. That part doesn't believe the mediocre fights are a big deal, and for once I'm starting to understand what he's saying. This is probably a side-effect of the many Action-Adventure games I've played in 2025. I've tussled and tangled with so many bosses. Some were good, several others just okay, and a few made me question my love for video games. I'm fine with just okay. Just okay keeps the quest interesting. Just okay gives life, creativity, and flavor to the world. As much as I would've loved to have seen good or even great battles, I'm far too familiar with the godawful few. In short, good on the developers for exercising restraint and settling for just okay. Whether or not it was intentional doesn't matter.

Another reason I'm willing to forgive the just okay bosses is because... well... it's flat-out impossible to die in this game. Okay, I'm being facetious here. Surely there is evidence out there of Sir David eating one too many clubs to the face, or getting burnt to a crisp by endless fireballs. The possibility that ever happens is less than zero. For one, unless the player decides otherwise, Dave the Brave will instantly chow down on any food that'll bring him out of an injured state. Fish, steak, chicken, anything edible. If the person holding the controller makes the slightest effort to defeat bad guys, their inventory will be stocked with heaping helpings of healing. Obviously, it's in one's best interest to avoid taking damage, but there's practically no harm in tanking damage either. I imagine there's replay value in tackling the game without food stuffs, relying only on the occasional fountains to stay healthy. Hmm... Probably should have tried that myself, especially considering the number of play-throughs I've done. 

OOPS!

There's one other aspect of Light Crusader that's well-thought out, but also surprisingly easy to forget about. Anyone familiar with the game already knows that it's the spell system. Each of the four elements are accounted for, and they can be combined in multiple ways to create a wide array of effects. Thing is, it's a difficult feature to discuss in detail because in all these years, I never really took advantage of it. The sword - even with its "pitiful" 95 out of 100 efficiency - is still incredibly effective at handling everything the game throws at me. That said, anyone trying this game for the first time should make an effort to explore magic. What else can I say? It's neat.

More important than anything else, this game has perfect pacing. Ashamedly, this isn't something I've paid attention to before, even though it's the #1 reason why I've replayed it so many times. I mean, there are games out there that I will claim to love with every ounce of my soul, but they've seen less play-throughs than Light Crusader. This is a three-hour adventure, a very lean one at that. Outside of one extremely minor instance of backtracking, you're spending the entire game in the dungeon. Moments where control is taken away are nonexistent. Each of the six floors has a hook that draws you in, and there's no filler that gets in the way. For instance, on the third floor, you'll acquire a Goblin costume, perfect for mingling with the Goblins and getting into places where no human is allowed. It's a novelty that doesn't wear out its welcome. Once you reach the 4th floor, you can safely forget about the costume. Sometimes, retaining player engagement is simply a matter of knowing when something has served its purpose and must be discarded. 

While I'm at it, David's walking speed is amazing. He's got a stride that covers the right amount of distance in the right amount of time. I've never felt like he needed a run button, or a dash-cancel, or some manner of spammable bunny hop that decreases travel time by .02 decameters. Maybe it's a small thing in actuality, but it feels grand when directly compared to some of the other games I'm playing right now. Shining Wisdom, I am thinking about you this very second, and the fact that I have to mash and hold the C button just to reach beyond a snail's pace. Speaking of; that auto-eating system I mentioned earlier drastically cuts down on inventory time. Absolutely brilliant idea.

I feel like I owe Light Crusader more than just begrudging respect. Just because Treasure didn't blow the roof off like they did with Alien Soldier, Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Sin & Punishment, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, Gunstar- a... anyway... just because they didn't blow the roof off doesn't mean that they didn't deliver a damn solid game. It has remarkable ideas yet doesn't trip over itself trying to convince the player to invest in them. For a genre that was outside of their comfort zone, they nailed everything that matters.