Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Albert Odyssey for SFC


Image: MobyGames

Albert Odyssey

One continuous battle


Genre: strategy - turn-based tactics

Publisher: Sunsoft

Year: 1993

System: SFC


Gameplay Score: 4

Gameplay Notes:

Very interesting! Travel between cities is on an overworld that doubles as the battlefield. There's no gross and you can't see how far your enemies can move so movent is quite slow. That, and the menus are horribly slow and deep, so you'll be menuing more than playing. Still, it feels unique and fun to have a long, continuous fight from place to place. Your characters level up individually and only when an enemy is killed, so it's hard to give any exp to your white mage. Also the black mage gets overpowered since her attacks can melt multiple enemies in one shot. So the pacing and balance isn't great. Still, I liked what I saw!


Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

As mentioned previously, battles are very, very long as you move between towns. I had completely forgotten where I was going and why by the time I actually arrived at the first town. It would've helped massively to have more direction and shorter traversal.


Theme Score: 4

Theme Notes:

Pretty typical sword and magic setting


Art Style Score: 4

Art Style Notes:

Lovely sprites and animation. Reminds me of Tales of Phantasia. The mode 7 overworld looks good at first but after a while it becomes a strain on the eyes. Maybe it's the drab colors.


Audio Score: 4

Audio Notes:

What a shame! The amazing soundtrack is paired with some of the most annoying sound effects in an RPG. A loud metallic ping plays each time you advance a text box. It's enough to make you avoid speaking to NPCs. Numerous other loud and obnoxious sound effects plague this game. If only there was an option to turn them off!


Overall Score: 75

Review ID: 1525



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