Alundra
Encyclopedia
, released in Europe
as The Adventures of Alundra, is an action-adventure game
developed by Matrix Software
for the Sony
PlayStation and was released in 1997. It was published by Sony in Japan, Working Designs
in North America, and Psygnosis in Europe. It won great critical acclaim for its bizarre story and smooth game mechanics. The game's protagonist is a boy named Alundra, who learns that he has the power to enter people's dreams. He is shipwrecked near the village of Inoa and proceeds to try to help the locals, who have been suffering from a terrible curse. The narrative becomes gradually darker and more twisted as the game progresses. There is an emphasis on puzzle solving.
to Climax Entertainment
's Landstalker
on the Sega Genesis. In addition to a similar looking main character, the game's development team consisted of former employees of Climax Entertainment
. The gameplay includes a combination of top-down platforming
, action-adventure
, and RPG
elements, quite similar to Zelda
series. It is known for containing many extremely difficult puzzles, some of which cannot be accessed if the player progresses further in the game, making some items unattainable. It is also known for its dark storyline and music.
A range of terrain and surfaces also add variety, from sand, which causes the player to move more slowly, to lava, which damages the player.
Upgrades throughout the game can help the player to overcome many of these obstacles, encouraging exploration.
Suddenly Alundra wakes up and after getting out of his cabin, he finds out that there is a huge storm above the ship. The captain tells the crew not to worry but they sail into the reef and the ship breaks from the middle. After this Alundra loses consciousness.
Alundra wakes up from a beach and a man named Jess comes and rescues him. Jess takes Alundra to his house and lets him sleep upstairs. In the village of Inoa, Alundra discovers he is a Dreamwalker and undertakes many quests, playing both in people's dreams and the village surroundings.
.
The game takes a similar camera view to that of many RPG such as Secret of Mana or The Legend of Zelda, it employs an also similar style to that of the main weapon and sub weapon equipment, and like any other RPG it allows the player to obtain even more powerful weapons, use of magic or via side-quests develop new items.
The game features cartoon sprites with great detail at the time of release and the statics and details varied on the scenarios which featured textures, lights and cinematics that complimented the colorful yet sometimes twisted views that the player meets throughout the story.
Interestingly and despite his cartoonish appearance and overhaul classic RPG, Alundra presents complex themes related the nature of human kind, something not seen on RPGs of the time, featuring themes such as the fear of death, skepticism related to fate and God, many religious motifs and matters of reality and illusions, thereby the fact that the player meets the dreams of the characters which reflects their personalities, moods and fears.
More recently, Alundra has been made available as a downloadable game on the PSOne Classics service for the PlayStation 3
, based on 9 reviews, making it the 13th highest-ranking PlayStation title of 1997 and the 73rd highest-ranking PlayStation title of all time. In regards to the PSN release, Platform Nation's Julian Montoya said the game "is very enjoyable and definitely worth playing" as well as stating it is a "long, fun, hard, mildly mature and full of personality adventure".
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as The Adventures of Alundra, is an action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed by Matrix Software
Matrix Software
is a Japanese video game development company located in Tokyo. Founded in July 1994 by former members of Climax Entertainment and Telenet Japan, the company has since created games for a number of systems beginning with their role-playing title Alundra in April 1997...
for the Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
PlayStation and was released in 1997. It was published by Sony in Japan, Working Designs
Working Designs
Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese console role-playing games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various video game platforms. Though the company had published many 'cult hits', it was known best to fans as the...
in North America, and Psygnosis in Europe. It won great critical acclaim for its bizarre story and smooth game mechanics. The game's protagonist is a boy named Alundra, who learns that he has the power to enter people's dreams. He is shipwrecked near the village of Inoa and proceeds to try to help the locals, who have been suffering from a terrible curse. The narrative becomes gradually darker and more twisted as the game progresses. There is an emphasis on puzzle solving.
Gameplay
Alundra is considered a spiritual sequelSpiritual sequel
A spiritual successor, sometimes called a spiritual sequel or a companion piece, is a successor to a work of fiction which does not directly build upon the storyline established by a previous work as do most traditional prequels or sequels, but nevertheless features many of the same elements,...
to Climax Entertainment
Climax Entertainment
Climax Entertainment is a Japanese video game development company. Climax got its start during the 16-bit era, primarily developing games for the Mega Drive console...
's Landstalker
Landstalker
is an action-adventure video game that was developed by Climax Entertainment originally for the Mega Drive/Genesis. A follow up game called Lady Stalker: Challenge from the Past was released in Japan for the SNES in 1995. The Sega Saturn game Dark Savior is considered its spiritual successor...
on the Sega Genesis. In addition to a similar looking main character, the game's development team consisted of former employees of Climax Entertainment
Climax Entertainment
Climax Entertainment is a Japanese video game development company. Climax got its start during the 16-bit era, primarily developing games for the Mega Drive console...
. The gameplay includes a combination of top-down platforming
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
, action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
, and RPG
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
elements, quite similar to Zelda
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
series. It is known for containing many extremely difficult puzzles, some of which cannot be accessed if the player progresses further in the game, making some items unattainable. It is also known for its dark storyline and music.
A range of terrain and surfaces also add variety, from sand, which causes the player to move more slowly, to lava, which damages the player.
Upgrades throughout the game can help the player to overcome many of these obstacles, encouraging exploration.
Plot
The game starts with Alundra being on a ship. After walking around and talking to the people, Alundra decides to take a nap. He has a mysterious dream where a strange being named Lars tells him that he is a wizard and one of the guardians of the seal. Suddenly, Alundra sees a vision from the village of Inoa. After that, Lars calls Alundra 'Releaser' and tells him that north of the village there is a dark lake and below it there has lied a demon for over 1000 years and now the demon has awakened once more. After telling this, a creature named Melzas appears and points out that nobody has the power to stop him, especially not a human like Alundra. After talking with Lars about humans and the 'Releaser', Melzas disappears. Lars tells Alundra to travel to Inoa and stop the demon.Suddenly Alundra wakes up and after getting out of his cabin, he finds out that there is a huge storm above the ship. The captain tells the crew not to worry but they sail into the reef and the ship breaks from the middle. After this Alundra loses consciousness.
Alundra wakes up from a beach and a man named Jess comes and rescues him. Jess takes Alundra to his house and lets him sleep upstairs. In the village of Inoa, Alundra discovers he is a Dreamwalker and undertakes many quests, playing both in people's dreams and the village surroundings.
Characters
- Alundra, the protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and player characterPlayer characterA player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, is an elfElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
from the clan of Elna, the Dreamwalkers. He comes to Inoa because of a recurring dream in which a mysterious figure who calls Alundra "Releaser" tells him that he must save the villagers from the evil of Melzas. His ship is caught in a storm and he is later found washed ashore unconscious. After arriving, he starts being blamed by the townsfolk for all of the terrible happenings that occur. Alundra is a silent protagonist.
- Meia is also part of the clan of Elna. She is also seeking to destroy Melzas. She has a troubled past that is eventually revealed during the course of the game.
- Jess is the blacksmith in Inoa. After Alundra's ship is swept ashore and destroyed in a storm, Jess finds the unconscious Alundra and takes care of him for as long as he remains in Inoa. He is good-natured and always trusts Alundra, even when others do not.
- Septimus is a scholar and a close friend of Alundra. He travelled to Inoa to help lift the curse that has afflicted it, but has met with little success. He helps Alundra discover many ancient and forgotten secrets of the world and his power of dreamwalking.
Antagonists
- Melzas is an ancient and powerful demon. Though he was imprisoned long ago by the Guardians of the Seal, he has returned and is terrorizing the villagers of Inoa. He is the primary villain of the storyline.
- Ronan is the priest of the village's church, the Sanctuary. From Alundra's first arrival in Inoa, Ronan constantly acts to turn the villagers against him due to his hidden agenda.
- Zazan is the leader of a clan of white monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
-like creatures known as the Murgg. He is being commanded by Melzas to destroy Inoa and steal the seven crests.
- Zorgia is a powerful demon and a servant of Melzas. He is vicious, cruel, sadistic, and utterly loyal to his master.
Development
It was published in America by the now-defunct Working DesignsWorking Designs
Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese console role-playing games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various video game platforms. Though the company had published many 'cult hits', it was known best to fans as the...
.
The game takes a similar camera view to that of many RPG such as Secret of Mana or The Legend of Zelda, it employs an also similar style to that of the main weapon and sub weapon equipment, and like any other RPG it allows the player to obtain even more powerful weapons, use of magic or via side-quests develop new items.
The game features cartoon sprites with great detail at the time of release and the statics and details varied on the scenarios which featured textures, lights and cinematics that complimented the colorful yet sometimes twisted views that the player meets throughout the story.
Interestingly and despite his cartoonish appearance and overhaul classic RPG, Alundra presents complex themes related the nature of human kind, something not seen on RPGs of the time, featuring themes such as the fear of death, skepticism related to fate and God, many religious motifs and matters of reality and illusions, thereby the fact that the player meets the dreams of the characters which reflects their personalities, moods and fears.
More recently, Alundra has been made available as a downloadable game on the PSOne Classics service for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
Reception
Alundra was generally well-received upon release. It had an average score of 84.90% at GameRankings, based on 10 reviews and an average score of 86/100 at MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, based on 9 reviews, making it the 13th highest-ranking PlayStation title of 1997 and the 73rd highest-ranking PlayStation title of all time. In regards to the PSN release, Platform Nation's Julian Montoya said the game "is very enjoyable and definitely worth playing" as well as stating it is a "long, fun, hard, mildly mature and full of personality adventure".