Eragon (GBA)

Eragon PSP Version article is here 

As i said the other day, i will review another Eragon game. This time it's the GBA version, though it's made by same company (Amaze entertainment) in same year (2006).

The title screen is uglier than in PSP version. Though that blue glowing vein does add charm a little. I just realized that if you replace 'E' letter on Eragon with 'D', you will get dragon. How creative [light sarcasm]. Yes, i'm digress. Let's hit new game!

 

The game begins with Arya and her companion get ambushed by Urgal. So far, they're fine but their horse are ridden with hole by hail of arrow. Then for some reason the ambusher ditch their well-thought tactic of "keep spray them with arrows!" with ordinary charging. Thus 1st battle ensues...    

 

Unlike PSP version which is combat flight simulator, this one is turn-based RPG. When one of party member's turn has come, you can choose your target by using d-pad and pressing 'A' or 'B' button to initiate attack and form combo up to 4 hit. Certain combination will results in special attack. But only Arya who has said special attack. 3 'A' button attack then 1 'B'  will produce Star Striker which is an attack that hit all enemies regardless their position.

 

Arya told me to run by holding 'B' button and direction. Oh, please Arya! That's standard stuff on any JRPG (including Tales of Phantasia) but i appreciate your tutorial lesson. She also told me that i can save anywhere as long as not in combat phase.

That's the same expression of me loot any chest. So we do have something in common. :D

 

Then some Urgal manage to sneak us from behind. Arya said that this particular Urgal is very strong so she told me about a combo that can deal hefty damage. B,A,B,A isn't so complicated and easy to remember so i do that.

 

When we go through some wide passage on north. Arya paused and think about how to hinder Urgal pursuer. Faolin said we have to kill their leaders and they're expected to be in west cave and east cave. I don't think that was a good idea but i have to obey because for plot progression.

 

We found a chest that contains (smelling) salt that act as resurrection item. It's more reasonable than whiskey in Koudelka. And some Urgal manage to sneak on us, again. But this one isn't scripted encounter. So far there's no random encounter like any JRPG. You can see the enemies and you can outrun them. Though they run quite fast so i have barely time to react here.

 

I decide to investigate the west cave first. We encounter shaman that can cast flame magic from back line where he's saved from any melee attack of ours. But unlike other spellcaster in any RPG, this shaman is way too durable. In fact, all of the enemies here felt like very tough to crack (especially those 2 Shockman) . Yes even, the backliner such as archers or mages. I know that their toughness is meant to compensate our ability to do attack that's more than 1 hit but still too much. Moreover, there's a chance that some Urgal will revive their fallen comrade by using Salt. This is the most tedious combat in RPG besides in Summoner.   

 

We triggered some event encounter so i reckon we have to go to other cave. Then we trigger this event. Ok! Show me what you got!   

 

Another battle with group that contain Shaman. On the bright side warriors who act as frontliner, are the least durable type. They can be taken down relatively easy and fast. Meanwhile on my team, Arya is the most valuable member simply because she's the only one who can deal the most damage thanks to loot equipment that only she can equip and  also her special attacks. Glenwing is second most useful as he can targets any enemies with his bow and arrows. Therefore Faolin is the least useful and he's the only perfect candidate to be item user. Meaning, i mostly waste his turn to use healing item to any member.

 

Turn out, the encounters respawn limitless. Though, Faolin says that it's best to retreat but i didn't listen to him. Compare to other ordinary encounter, they're easier to beat...

 

...besides i got various use-item from them. Number besides the item name is the quality grade of said item. Kind of like item's level. The greater the number the greater the effect. Do you remember those abnormal-status curing items in any RPG? They're specified to related status like antidote for poison. In this game, the curing item (named Cure) will erase a number of status with random pick upon use. For example, this Cure 2 item will cures 2 random statuses on a party member. Quite unusual but i like for its simple function. By the way, negative status only last in a battle. It won't carries to non-battle section.

 

Finally here's the commander and he want to take bath with our blood. Dude. That's gross! Seriously.

 

For this battle Arya teach me to decrease damage of incoming attack by pressing 'A' button (for ranged attack) or 'B' button (for melee attack) at the precise moment, kind of like in Super Mario RPG. This certainly help as Arya is kind of soft to any attack.

After that boss fight, i learnt that we only have slain 1 commander so i have to go back to the first cave. I thought that this is dead end but no. We can climb this vine thus our journey continues...  

 

In this encounter there's green Urgal called Duster that has relative low hitpoints but deal great damage and the bone casters that can inflict negative status such as blind or paralyze. Due to very-limited curing items, we best retreat. The battle isn't unwinnable but it's really tiring to see the heroes miss with their attack because they're blind. There's Meditation command that hopefully will dispel any abnormal status but no. It only allow a party member to recover measly amount of hitpoints and nothing else.       

 

I can see the commander on top-left corner but that chest looks very tempting. So we have to go around to get it before finishing my mission in here. It contain other piece of armor and bow that only Arya can use. It allows Arya to attack any enemies but deal less damage plus she doesn't have special move for bow. So it's pretty much worthless.  

 

Sensing hardness on this boss battle, Arya now can cast magic! Wish you can do that earlier, lady. -_-

 

Then i have to choose what magic that i want Arya to cast and to whom. I choose fire magic Brisingr because i knew it from PSP version. Then there's blue bar that move left or right swiftly that will determine how powerful the magic is, kind of like power meter in any golf or billiard game.  

 

Then here goes Brisingr to that specific bastard. Hey! That's the same magic that those Shamans cast that we can dodge by pressing 'A' button when the blaze is at our backside. As you can see that there's red bar on members that represent out hitpoints but there's no indicator for mana, MP, or what have you. So what's the cost of casting magic? The answer is simple: hitpoints. Yes, you sacrifice your own hitpoints to decrese enemy's. This may sound obtuse in theory but in practical the damage you inflict with magic (assuming there's no element affinity yet) is roughly three time hitpoints you sacrificed. So it's working quite well. This reminds me of magic system in Shadowrun game in Sega Genesis.

 

Naturally, healing magic also requires caster's hitpoints. The green number is the amount of recovered hitpoints while the white number is the amount of decreased hitpoints. As you can see, Arya gains considerable hitpoint surplus even though she's the one who cast the healing magic. Obviously, she can do more efficient healing if the recipient is someone else than her.

 

With Urgal commanders gone, we're free...to be decimated by Durza. I know this is going to be scripted-lost battle as he has this move named "Into the darkness" where he damage us all big time by simply plunging his sword to the ground. Demoman_sf12_badmagic07.wav

 

We must endure 2 losing battles. Fantastic! [Large Sarcasm] First where Faolin and Glenwing try to buy Arya some time and second is where Durza catches up on Arya. Just imagine a powerful enemy RPG that can cover all screen with water thus suffocating you or engulf all screen with fiery flame! Durza is the guy.

Like in PSP version, cornered Arya teleports the stone/egg to Eragon in wilderness. But on this occasion we got to see Durza's wrath face that ain't pretty. *Shudder*    

 

First thing Eragon does once he have the stone/egg: trade it for beef. But the butcher refuses it and begin to rebuke him to further ruin Eragon's day that he almost cry. Fortunately for him, this old man Horst will pay for the steak and the butcher's daughter agree with that. From Horst's saying Sloan the butcher has bitter memory of losing his wife in The Spine where Eragon found the stone. Sloan denies that but insist on thinking that The Spine is bad place and bring misfortune.

 

Then i control Eragon back to his uncle's house. He almost refuses the steak but when Eragon says he will pay Horst by working tomorrow, his uncle immediately says let's cook it.   

That night, Eragon dream of Arya being interrogated and later get slapped. She really having bad day.

 

The day has come for Eragon to work his muscles to pay that good old guy. But he won't be alone. Roran (Eragon's cousin) and Katrina (the butcher's daughter) will help him. Yesterday, Katrina said that she want to see Eragon's cousin [Hint! Hint!].

 

Katrina gives us other tutorial about advanced party management. There's skills that useful in exploring and can boost member's stats further when he/she levels up. Magic skill allows you to read spell book to learn magic and reduce hitpoints cost of magic casting. Weapon skill allow you to duel with some NPC and increase potency of melee attack. Herbal skill allow you to pick medicinal plants on the wilderness and brew potions. Endurance skill allows you to break crates. Hunting skill allows you to track footsteps and increase potency of ranged attack. You can freely set the focus on skill whatever you like but each member can't focus on all of skill depends on his/her characteristic. Besides, i believe focused skill build is more rewarding than evenly-distributed skill build. 

 

From the list of Eragon's special attack, i know that he can handle both melee weapon and ranged weapon well. That's very good. So far i saw special attacks that only effect are deal multiplied damage from normal attack but Roran's can inflict stun or paralyze by certain chance. Katrina's can also inflict paralyze and insta-kill! I can tell that this group has potency to be better than Arya's but i have to memorize the combination. Eragon can either switch attack button or stick with same attack button. Roran's combo requires same attack button while Katrina's is the opposite.   

 

Off, we go to the village nearby. This arrogant soldier want a duel but sadly Roran's weapon level is too low. I assume not only we can bash that schmuck's face but also there's gold reward if we win. So let's leave him for time being.

 

I found Horst and he's blacksmith. He allows us to refine our equipment with some of forging item that he gave and some gold. Once i finish modified our equipment, i talk to Horst but he only replies with "you can use forge whenever you like" instead of telling us how we can repay Eragon's debt. So i assume we're free to earn gold for him by any means necessary. Not by doing criminal though. We're the heroes!

 

Hark! footsteps and Eragon's hunting level is adequate to track them down. I wonder what can we found.  

 

Our first defeat apparently. :C

This is beginner's trap! Eragon's detection level may allow us to track this bandit but our party is underleveled compare to him. He can wipe each of us with 1 hit. Although Arya's inventory is transferred to us, i don't think it's wise to throw away Salt that she hoard at least not now.  

 

The game implement checkpoint system when we're defeated, which is unusual for RPG. Not i complain though. On contrary, i feel grateful because i didn't save my game before tracking that bloody footsteps. Later, some kids challenge us to Hide and Seek game. Well, if your reward is gold i'll do your little game, boyo!

 

Instead of child, we find bandit encampment! Don't blame us to find your hideout where is so bloody near our village! Stop looking at us like that! -_-

 

Unlike that bandit we first met, these gits are much easier to deal with. Some of them don't have guts to battle and run away. By the way, have you ever seen RPG character that fight with pair of butcher's knife? You're in luck! Katrina is the one. She looks unconventional but don't makes fun of her. She has insta-kill attack, remember?

 

After we pillage chest from bandit's hideout, we finally find the children. They have good sportsmanship to not hide inside in any building so they're not hard to find. They gave us their finding which is item and some gold, as the reward. Is this some kind of money laundry? But who am i kidding? I need gold!

 

On south of the village, there's some forest and we happen to find box that can be break open if only Roran's endurance level is higher.

 

Not far from that box, we meet this friendly hunter that informs us about chest that could be ticket to redeem the IOU. Engineer_thanks01.wav    

 

After battling some bandits, i reckon our health potion supply is running low. I wish there's shop where i can sell some equipment that we found or restock our items but there's none. Instead, i found this kind lass that will teach me how to make our own potion if we gather some plants that grow near one of that kid's hiding spot.

 

Mortar and pestle to make (better) potion? Oh, please! I have played Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion to know about that. :V

 

Maybe unlike in RPGs, there's no slime or giant rat on Eragon's world. But if this forest is really filled with only bandits that as many as Alcatraz's prisoners back in the day, then there's definitely something wrong with this setting. Put wolves or something for god sake! On the bright sides, these bandits are noticeably weaker than Urgal. Even we can only attack with 2 hit maximum, they're going down pretty easy. As within their job, the bandit bound to steal items from us but you can recover them if you kill the stealer. Yes,  i say kill. See that bleed status on one of their fallen comrade? No way someone just knocked out because of bleeding. That bleeding status is caused by Katrina with her father's knife that we "borrowed". She's fearsome DPS character, reader.

 

You probably think that i can earn enough gold just by killing bandits. But i only earn 1 or 2 gold per encounter. Therefore, i have to rely on any finding (from chest, tracking, or box) and quest like this one where a mother lost her son from yesterday! She asked that arrogant soldier but he won't help at all. So it's up to us to find her beloved son.

 

I still can't find any shop but i found Brom's house and he doesn't like my usual RPG protocol of "searching NPC's house for loot preferable inside chest". But he seems cool once Eragon apologize. His portrait kind of resemble Dr. Strange. Makes me thinking that it's not bad idea to have Benedict Cumberbatch played as the storyteller.     

We have venture the woods long enough that makes me think that we have to move on to The Spine. There's tougher bandits but also new chests. One of them contain steel knife that has "thief slayer" property which mean deal extra damage to bandits. Katrina become more ferocious DPS character, reader. Meanwhile Eragon is hunter (for sure, duh!) that can be act as either light warrior or marksman. While Roran's hefty equipment and Endurance skill makes him a fine Tank. I can see that Eragon's party is functionally better than Arya's.

 

Here's party screen in case you're wondering. It also shows you the amount of gold that we have...in Eragon's account. That's halfway from paying old man Horst! You can also see what skill they currently learn. I won't change Katrina focus because we need to concoct more powerful potion than increasing her DPS potency further because she already impressive at that. Now that Eragon and friends are at level 13, maybe we can take on that first bandit that defeated us?

 

Sniper_revenge24.wav. He's pushover and he's outdone now. Not only we have our sweet revenge, but also we can claim chest near him. Sweet victory!

  

I have leveled up Roran's weapon skill so i reckon that he can challenge that guard and yes he can and also win at it. We win some gold and item, including re-learner item that can boost experience by 50%. There's no gimmick on gameplay, it's just 1 on 1 battle. Turns out he's just conscript! That smug bastard really deserve this miserable fate. Not only he looks down on everyone but also not helping that poor mother who lost his son. Speaking of which, we already rescue the boy who keep walking around in circle because there's lots bandit nearby. Once he's escorted out of The Spine, he leaves on his own after he thanks us and gives us his finding. When we report that we have rescued her son, she thanks us and about to give reward but Eragon decline it because he know that she's in rough condition because her husband is conscripted. I don't know whether this happens because we have enough gold to pay Horst or this happens all the time. Anyway, we can pay the old man now.

 

That dialogue and his face like as if Eragon want revenge on Horst for some horrible prank. :P

After that Katrina and Roran leave the party, the egg hatches, Eragon's uncle is murdered, then Saphira and Brom join the party. Okay! I'm done.  

 

Amaze entertainment's Eragon (2006) is RPG adaptation of the movie with same name. Is it good? Kind of, but i prefer combat flight simulator version than this. The pace of the game is much leaden even if compared to other RPG like Tales of Phantasia. Beside i don't like the story about how miserable Eragon's life in the beginning but i assume that's how happen in movie or novel and i'm being nitpicking. There's lots of game's element that's working and interesting, proofing that Amaze don't make this game carelessly even though they can since most people don't care about Eragon and they're probably on their way creating the PSP game. I give them a credit or two for that. The non-random yet visible encounter reminds me with the one in Sora no Kiseki/The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky. The skill system is interesting and certainly have charm. The attack combo system is like simplified version of Legend of Legaia yet slightly better on implementation. The interesting part of use-items is some of them can be used to boost party member's stats (like attack or defense) or give the selected party member ability to inflict negative status (like poison or bleeding) on his/her attack. I reckon that's quite unusual. The magic system is kind of bad but it's quite working. Casting magic with some of hitpoints, means you don't need to worry about MP or what have you. The graphic for character is fairly blurry though the graphic for place/setting is distinctive and quite nice. While the music isn't impressive even though i found 1 battle theme that's fairly catchy.

To put it simply, i can recommend you to play this game if you don't mind about sedated-pace RPG. Otherwise play the PSP version where you will be presented with fast and blasting action without worry about Eragon's poorness. Nice and simple. :D