The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon
Developer(s)	Arika, Chunsoft
Publisher(s)	Namco
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date	2004
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game, Roguelike
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Media	1 DVD-ROM
Input methods	Dualshock

The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon (ザ・ナイトメア・オブ・ドルアーガ 不思議のダンジョン) is a console role-playing game developed by Arika and Chunsoft and published by Namco in 2004 exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to The Blue Crystal Rod and the eighth game in Chunsoft's Mysterious Dungeon series.

Set in a fictionalized version of ancient Babylon, the story follows Gilgamesh (shortened to Gil) in his journey to save his fiancée Ki from the evil sorceress Skulld. The story is told primarily through real-time cut scenes.

[edit] Gameplay

The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon consists primarily of two types of gameplay: town sections and dungeon sections.

Town sections are free-roaming areas where the player can purchase items, upgrade equipment, and accept side-quests, as well as talk with townsfolk. Townsfolk will offer helpful information and some residents transport Gil to side-dungeons. The plot is generally advanced by defeating the bosses at the end of each of the dungeons under Ishtar's temple.

Gil battles a Roper in Druaga's Tower near the end of the game.

Dungeon sections consists of turn-based play within the grid-based levels, in which enemies move or attack only when the player moves or attacks. Dungeons appear as a variety of areas, including caves, temples, forests, and sewers. While in the dungeons the player's vision is limited by the light generated by Gil's armor; to maintain Gil's brightness the player must occasionally give items as offerings to Ishtar. These dungeons containing randomly generated items and monsters, and advancement initially requires the player to find a key on each floor and bring it to the exit. Subsequent visits to the floor allow the character to break down the locked door at the end, leading to a secret level with rare items and tough foes. Much like the The Tower of Druaga, the game contains some foes which are far too powerful for the player to fight initially and these foes must instead be avoided.

Weapons and armor change Gil's speed relative to the foes within the dungeon as well as altering the range of his attacks, lending a sense of strategy to equipment choices. Rare magic items can be found which allow Gil to cast powerful area of effect spells, and items can be imbued with elements which allow Gil to deal extra damage to vulnerable foes. Gil can also combine items while in town, creating a new item of the same type which shares the properties of both.

The game is known for its relatively unforgiving difficulty, as death in the game results in the loss of nearly all items and half the player's gold, though a small amount of items can be specially marked in Ishtar's temple so that they remain with the player upon death. A special auto-save feature prevents players from resetting to avoid these penalties by treating a reset as a death as well; this results in a lengthy discussion with Ishtar before the player is allowed to resume their game.^[1]

[edit] Plot

The game begins with a prologue detailing Gil and Ki's war against the demon, Druaga, which took place during the first four games of the Druaga series. Three years later, Ki and Gil are set to be married as Gil is to be crowned king of Babylon.^[2] The evening before the ceremony, Ki is captured by an evil sorceress, Skulld, who takes her back to the Tower of Druaga. Gil enters the portal shrine under Ishtar's temple to save her.

Gil, as he appears for the official art for this game. Gil wearing his gold armor blessed by Ishtar.

Fighting his way through the formerly sealed tower, Gil encounters the Shrine Mother, Callindra, who Gil returns to Ishtar's temple instead of leaving her to save Ki.^[3] Gil confidently states Ishtar and Anu's blessings will protect him, but Callindra informs Gil that the protection seems to be weakening.^[4] Gil returns to the dungeon to save Ki, regardless.

Venturing deeper and deeper into the dungeon, Gil finds Skulld and Ki on the bottom level of the dark ruins. Skulld refuses to free Ki, explaining that Druaga didn't kill Ki when he captured her because she attracts powerful monsters.^[5] A giant slime approaches and Gil is forced to kill it to protect Ki. After the battle, Skulld imprisons Ki with the Chronos Orbs, a barrier Gil cannot destroy.^[6] Skulld then knocks Gil out and transports him back into the temple.

While Gil prepares to try to rescue Ki, Callindra explains the Chronos Orbs.^[7] Gil resolves to destroy the orbs to save Ki.

[edit] Reception

The Nightmare of Druaga received a mixed reception from reviewers. GameSpot called it a "dungeon hack of the most boring kind", noting poor graphics, plodding gameplay, and forgettable music.^[8] GameSpy praised the game's graphics, highlighting the "eerily beautiful interplay of light and shadow", but noted the game's punishing save system as a fault and called the penalty for death "totally crippling".^[1] EGM summed up the game by stating "Advances in game technology are usually referred to as 'improvements' for a reason" in reference to the game's retro elements.^[9] 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish praised the game's music and interface, stating that for those who enjoy roguelikes it's "easily one of the best", though fans of typical console RPGs are "going to be absolutely miserable".^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Site(Japanese)