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Soul Blazer (JP) is an action RPG released on the SNES in 1992 for Japan and North America and in 1994 for Europe. It was developed by Quintet and published by Enix. In this game the Master's servant, controlled by the player, travel through monster infested dungeons to save the captured souls of the world's inhabitants.
Plot[]
Spoiler warning: The following information contains spoilers. Please read at your own risk.
King Magridd, consumed by greed, has made a deal with Deathtoll. However, Deathtoll deceived the king. The deal allows Deathtoll to destroy the Freil Empire, trapping the souls of creatures in monster lairs. The Master sends down his servant, Blazer (or whatever the player chose for a name). His job is to restore the world and defeat Deathtoll. To help him on his journey, he has the power to speak with all living creatures.
Blazer travels the kingdom, restoring all of its inhabitants. There are six villages in total. Each has its own colored stone. Six colored stones are required to open the path to the World of Evil, Deathtoll's home. However, there are three extra things that the player must collect in order to defeat Deathtoll. Three red hot items (Red Hot Ball, Red Hot Stick, and Red Hot Mirror) are needed to obtain the magic of the Phoenix.
Along his journey, the player learns that King Magridd forced Dr. Leo to make a machine that could contact Deathtoll. Under "counsel" from his wife, Queen Magridd, the king agrees to sell the souls of his subjects for gold. However, he gets imprisoned himself!
It turns out that Dr. Leo was still present in the castle, and the player frees him by destroying a certain monster lair. Dr. Leo has the key to an airship that will allow Blazer to fight Demon Bird and free the king. However, Dr. Leo's plan is foiled by Queen Magridd, who shows up at the dock where the airship is. The queen's forces defeat thd soldiers who were trying to help Dr. Leo. Dr. Leo slips the airship key to Blazer. Then, Dr. Leo charges in the queen and blows himself up, killing the queen, her guard, and himself.
Due to Dr. Leo's sacrifice, Blazer is able to continue his journey. He makes it to Deathtoll and defeats him. Afterwards, The Master returns him to heaven. However, The Master soon realizes that Blazer misses his life as a human. The Master returns him to the ground, but erases his memory. There, he meets Lisa again, but he doesn't remember her. They leave to rekindle their friendship, and the story ends there.
Major Characters[]
- Blazer
- The Master
- Lisa
- Dr. Leo
- Turbo
- Lue
- Nome
- Marie
- Queen Magridd
- King Magridd
- Deathtoll
Locations[]
Towns[]
- Grass Valley
- GreenWood
- St. Elles Seabed
- Mountain of Souls
- Dr. Leo's Laboratory
- Magridd Castle
Dungeons[]
- Underground Castle
- World of Evil Painting
- Water Shrine
- Fire Shrine
- Light Shrine
- Southerta
- Seabed
- Shore Reef of Rockbird
- Durean
- Blester
- Ghost Ship
- Snow Mountain
- Aurora's Ridge
- Ice Field of Laynole
- Lune
- Basement of Laboratory
- Model Town
- Power Plant
- Torture Chamber
- Basement of Castle Magridd
- Left Tower
- Right Tower
- World of Evil
Bosses[]
- Metal Mantis
- Stone Lion Head
- Skull Master
- Poseidon
- Tin Doll
- Demon Bird
- Deathtoll
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
Equipment[]
Swords[]
- Sword of Life
- Psycho Sword
- Critical Sword
- Lucky Blade
- Zantetsu Sword
- Spirit Sword
- Recovery Sword
- The Soul Blade
Armor[]
- Iron Armor
- Ice Armor
- Bubble Armor
- Magic Armor
- Mystic Armor
- Light Armor
- Elemental Armor
- Soul Armor
Magic[]
- Flame Ball
- Light Arrow
- Magic Flair
- Rotator
- Spark Bomb
- Flame Pillar
- Tornado
- Phoenix
Items[]
- Actinidiea Leaves
- Big Pearl
- Black Stone
- Blue Stone
- Brown Stone
- Delicious Seeds
- Door Key
- Dream Rod
- Goat's Food
- Green Stone
- Harp String
- Leo's Brush
- Leaves
- Magic Bell
- Master's Emblems
- Medical Herb
- Mermaid's Tear
- Mobile Key
- Mole's Ribbon
- Mushroom Shoes
- Pass
- Platinum Card
- Power Bracelet
- Purple Stone
- Red Hot Ball
- Red Hot Mirror
- Red Hot Stick
- Shield Bracelet
- Silver Stone
- Strange Bottle
- Super Bracelet
- Thunder Ring
- VIP Card
Souls[]
- Soul of Magician
- Soul of Light
- Soul of Shield
- Soul of Detection
- Soul of Reality
Gameplay[]
The player has a sword that they can swing. A magic orb floats around the player. This orb houses 'souls' that the player meets on his adventure. One soul allows the player to see hidden paths, and another lets them use magic. The player can also use magic and "crabwalk". There are several different spells that can be collected. Magic is dependent on the player's gem count (which are dropped by enemies). While crabwalking, the player can move in any of the four directions, but will always face the same way. In dungeons, crabwalking causes gems to float towards the player.
The goal is to restore a town or similar location that has been destroyed (six in total) and free all of the creatures. In order to this, the player moves around within a dungeon, defeating enemies. When all of the enemies for a "lair" (red-colored tiles that spawn monsters) are defeated, it turns green. If the player steps on the green lair, it will do one of two things. It may temporary return the player to the the dungeon's respective town so that the player can see what creature they freed. It could also clear a path in the dungeon, allowing the player to move forward. Sometimes, the player will have to leave the dungeon and talk to the newly freed townspeople to clear an obstacle or puzzle in the dungeon. When the player defeats a boss, they may move to the next area. However, not all monster lairs can be cleared immediately. Sometimes, the player will have to come back to a dungeon after getting an item that only shows up later in the game.
Development[]
Reception[]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 86% |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 33/40 |
| Famitsu | 32/40 |
| Game Informer | 25.75/30 |
| Nintendo Life | 9/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 3.9/5 |
Soul Blazer received generally favorable reviews upon release.
Sales[]
Soul Blazer sold about 295,000 units worldwide. Most of these (200,000 units) were sold in Japan. It sold only about 70,000 in North America and 25,000 in Europe.
Trivia[]
- Many fans and game jouralists consider this game to be the first in an unofficial trilogy (with the other two games being Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma). This is because all three games were made by Quintet, published by Enix, and share many game elements.
- Both this game and Quintet's previous game featured a god-like character called The Master.
External links[]
- Soul Blazer at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Soul Blazer at GameFAQs
- Soul Blazer at MobyGames