Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger!
System: NES
Release Date: June 1991
Developer: Game Arts
Publisher: Nexoft
Genre: RPG
Defeat an evil Wizard and save the land in Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger! The Kingdom of Faria was once besieged by a cruel wizard. The army could do nothing to touch the rogue, returning in defeat. But the king’s sorcerers were able to create a dragon to take the fight to the bad guy. Once defeated, the sorcerers trapped the Wizard inside of a special sword. A warning was passed along that if the Wizard were to ever escape from his prison, only a warrior from a faraway land would be able to defeat him. Well the spell was lifted! And you awake in Faria with a solemn quest ahead of you.
You’re dropped in town and given no real direction, so you walk into people to talk to them. They have a line of dialogue that might be useful, but it’s an RPG and I have money, so it’s off to the weapon shop to suit up. There aren’t a ton of levels of weapons and armor to upgrade, but you can equip a sword, bow, armor, and shield. I took a higher priced Dirk and the Hide Tunic. Afterward, it’s off to see the king. Leaving town, I’m beset by enemies in random battles. You’re transported to a wilderness screen with some combination of enemies to defeat. They move around on screen and most will charge you when in a cardinal direction from you. You swing the sword with the A Button and hope they drop some money for your efforts. Heading into the forest or a cave is a good way to die quickly, especially if you encounter an invisible enemy.
Making it to the king, he says the princess has been kidnapped and I need to rescue her. In a display of generosity that more rulers who want me to do stuff for them should take part in, he gives 100 gold for equipment. Looks like I can afford a shield after all. Then it’s grinding so I can get money for a bow. The grinding sucks because the enemies don’t always drop gold and when they do, it’s not worth much. At least you gain a bit of experience so you can eventually level up. Also leading to a less than stellar experience is the music design. The music is so shrill and it starts over anew every time you go in and out of battles. It’s as if the sound designer had no clue on how to make something sound pleasant. I know we’re still on the NES, but there have been somewhat pleasant music and sound effects elsewhere.
As the game progresses, you can purchase a bow and arrows, two magic spells, jump shoes, bombs, and magic glasses. Pressing the Select Button changes what you have equipped and they are limited in use. I found having to move your item option to the magic glasses during battle to be a stupid design choice. You put me up against invisible enemies for half the game, finally give me a way to see them, and in the process take away my access to other weapons. Stupid. I didn’t mess with the bombs much, but the spells were a nice utility. You can escape from battles from the menu, but the instruction manual scared me so hard that you can lose experience, gold, or items, that I just took the L and loss of gold if I died (or just time traveled if in a dungeon). The battery on my flashlight went out while in a cave and I had to feel around a black screen. I pulled up a map and eventually figured out where I was and how to get to my destination and then out.
The game is extremely linear, otherwise. Go to new town, find out what their problem is, go to the nearby tower to solve the problem, repeat. The towers are also an exercise in masochism. They’re quite large and mazelike. Some rooms have enemies and you may need to kill them in order to open an exit. I tried playing them straight and exploring, I really did, but I lost patience with the one way doors. Even playing with maps didn’t make it much easier. Some enemies can confuse you, which makes the computer take over your movements and switch through your secondary items and attack randomly. This only worked in my favor once against a boss, no less. There’s an item that makes you faster, but I thought it was limited use, so didn’t get one until the final, fastest speed that you find in a tower. By the end, I was using the jump shoes to run through rooms and over enemies. The final boss was incredibly easy and that sent me back to the king for the ending complete with my new caterpillar lady bride.
Graphics: 2.5
I like the sprite work and character portraits, but I don’t find them amazing.
Sound: 1.0
Music is shrill and the hard cuts are really jarring.
Gameplay: 1.0
Some battles are horribly designed. I really didn’t like the mazes. Some gameplay mechanics are flawed.
Difficulty: 1.0
Invisible enemies are cheap. The tower mazes are rude. Your light losing battery is stupid.
Fun Factor: 1.0
This just really isn’t a fun time. It’s not completely broken, but it’s mean, and I didn’t like it.
Overall Rating: 1.3
Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger! earns a D+. There are some nuggets of potential buried in a poorly executed game. I suggest you don’t waste your time.