The first thing you're going to notice about this game is the artistic style. This game depends strongly upon an array of earth tones in order to set the general atmosphere. Considering that you're in a giant tree, the frequent brown-tones do match fairly well. Of course, it's not all brown; there are some sunny off-blue skies, some pseudoleafy green areas, and even a rather large misty area (although their "effect" for mist is a bit unusual to see, though it does not deteriorite from the experience). One thing that's interesting is the town setting. While generic characters just give their spiel and that's that, chatting with particularly important local folks results in the appearance of an unusual portrait to look at while they yak away with their text box mumblings. They seem to blink a bit too quickly though -- some programmer must have thought it charming and left it that way. Nice try. Admittedly, the earthy palette does lead to some grainy imagery, but hey, heroic quests can't always involve cleanliness.

The music also follows suit to attribute a sort of "epica gothica" sensuality to the game. Composed by Jun Chiki Chikuma (who is also known for composing a vast majority of the Bomberman soundtracks), every area has its own complex theme song that fully envelops the surroundings. The townscape, for example, has a rather demure connotation to it, while the lively mist-covered regions bear a more daunting and ultimately foreboding tone. On the other hand, the sound effects are a tad questionable, though uniquely heard in this game alone. The sound your sword makes as it stabs an enemy is far squeakier and high-pitched than an actual sword would ever make. And when you are hurt, you make a subtle grunting noise that's actually rather eerie if you truly ponder it. Strange.

Yet while gnarly graphics and mystic sound collages are certainly a treat for a gaming individual such as myself, it is the gameplay that binds us. Basically, this is an "action-RPG" by nature. Your character, the "Hero" as he likes to be called, wanders from town to town, jabbing enemies in his path with his big sword (or trident, as the case may end up being at a certain point). And just as he defeated these foes, he not only earns some Golds that they drop (some enemies drop large food slabs that you can use to replenish your energy meter), but also experience that, after a certain level is reached, can be redeemed to one's local guru in exchange for a title, such as "Aspirant" or "Myrmidon". Once you restart your game at this point (using a password system that I'm going to tear in a few moments), you will start off with a certain amount of experience points and a predetermined amount of Golds! This is particularly helpful when you just want to avoid wasting time building up Golds. Also, along his journey, he has to take some detours to pick up certain specialty objects that "supposedly" assist you in completing your quest, be it a Magic Cane that gives you "magic power", or a fragment of the aforementioned meteorite that, when held by the Hero, becomes Black Onyx that delivers additional offensive strength. Mondo.

While the controls are often solid, occasionally I feel as though my character's a bit floaty. His jumping skills are less than perfect, and I particularly despise it when I am forced into extremely closed quarters with an enemy to the extent that they are actually on TOP of me, visually. I can't stab a sprite if it's in the same XY plane as me! Also, you will probably come to expect that an enemy that appears close to you when you arrive on a screen may just hit you and push you back to the screen you were just standing in. Irritation ensues, and you start emitting expletives, then you kill your best friend. That's never easy to clean.

Before I conclude, I'd like to point out a couple of extra points of order (aside from the fact that most townspeople have the intelligence quotient of a licked antacid tablet). First is the password system. Although it is a rather ingenius system, since it records your location in the game, all items, weapons, armor, and spells which you possess, as well as your experience rank, it is a pretty darn lengthy password to input (and if you ever have to reset for any reason, you'll have to enter that long sucker of a password a second time). The font also leads to some squinting of the eyes (what else would I squint? Er...don't ask) to figure out whether that's a zero or a capital O! I may need corrective optical surgery after looking at the television screen with such intent. The Faxanadu font should be tweaked, it should! Secondly, the process of purchasing items is grueling. You talk to a merchant, and he says something along the lines of "Hello. I sell tools. What would you like?" Next, you choose whether to buy or sell. I tend to buy goods, so after making my selection, he asks "What would you like?", as though his lexicon stopped advancing after the first couple of years of his life. I make my selection, pay the man, and he says "Thank you for shopping." It's a grimy tool shop, not a department store, you ignorant knucklehead. But the problem lies in the fact that I have to complete this process for EVERY SINGLE ITEM. That's just irritating; it makes me unhappy. I want to revoke my preferred customer status.