Arabian Nights: Spirit of the Desert King for SFC
Review #2009
Arabian Nights: Spirit of the Desert King
Don't call him Genie
Gameplay
Only three playable characters total, but you get all three early on, which I like. Fast movement (not on the overworld) and one of the best pause menus I've seen in a JRPG. Optimal equip and a nice auto-battle feature. The one gimmick is the ability to play tarot cards which have random effects, like making critical hits more common or enemies hitting hard on your characters that have a 2 in their level. I'm not a huge fan of this unpredictability, but whatever.
I only have two complaints, but they are big ones. The overworld is an absolute mess. You walk slower than a snail (that's not an exaggeration) and the encounter rate is insane. I'm talking 3-5 steps. It's so bad that I guarantee you will not make it to the first dungeon before you level up to about 10. Otherwise the gameplay is great.
Level Design
Massive difficulty spike just after the first town. The dungeons are fine and the cities are overstuffed with useless NPCs. There's a "diary" which tells you your current objective. The towns all have a similar look and there's no map so I didn't get a sense for the scope of the world. Maybe that improves later in the game. And I certainly hope you get better traversal options. Flying carpet, maybe?
Theme
You're a djinn trapped in a ring who seeks revenge on someone who prevented you front exacting revenge on a guy who stole your powers. Yeah it's a bit strange but I love the Arabian Nights motif. The three main characters have distinct personalities and some intersting dialogue, even if the djinn character is kind of a hotheaded idiot. You'd think he would've gained some wisdom and patience after hundreds of years. Still, I really enjoy the setting of this game.
Art Style
This is yet another game that steals the Ogre Battle isometric view. The sprite work is a step down from OB and the other games that use this perspective, so while I like the graphics, I don't think it's quite up to that level. Also, sprites and tiles are reused a lot, making the areas feel samey.
Audio
Much of the music has an Arabian flair. Some songs, though, have a very upbeat, dance vibe, which feels a little weird. Overall the music is good but not outstanding. Certainly not something I'll listen to outside the game.
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