Soul Blazer Retroview
Blazing Trails for Future Success
Back in the day, Enix was a mainstay publisher for the Super Nintendo. Titles such as ActRaiser helped establish it as a premier source of quality games. The developer behind ActRaiser was a small company known as Quintet. After its success, Quintet released a game that would unofficially begin the Heaven and Earth Trilogy. This game blends concepts from ActRaiser and the Zelda franchise, creating a top-down RPG adventure filled with interesting concepts with dark undertones. I recall my cousin coming over with an SNES cartridge that had the top corner broken off, exposing some of the inside circuitry. That game was Soul Blazer, and my brother and I were excited to explore a game neither of us was familiar with. It was a unique game for us, and we ruled the night as we began rescuing all the trapped wayward individuals hiding throughout the Freil Kingdom.
Soul Blazer tells the story of a world devoid of life due to the greed of the ruler of Freilia. King Magridd made a deal with an evil demon, who promised riches beyond his wildest dreams, but only if he agreed to sacrifice his subjects. This story gradually reveals itself to players, but immediately, it is apparent something is wrong in the world. All the lands within the Freil Kingdom are eerily empty, and divine intervention was obviously needed to fix the world. For an RPG created in the early 90s, this game has a good story that starts ominously and is darker than many of its peers at the time.
I sure hope that chest has something I can use to fight that goblin!
Governing from up above is a heavenly entity known as the Master, who finally feels the need to step in and liberate the world below. Needing a host to travel to Freil to survey and assess the damage, the Master sends down the protagonist, who goes by Blazer, or whatever the player wants to name him. The hero is a silent protagonist who starts off with no equipment and limited information on what to do or where to go. Leaving the Master’s side through a teleportation portal sends Blazer to a room with a monster and a treasure chest, providing the hero with his first sword.
Blazer has a simplistic attack pattern; he can slash his sword in any direction. He can also acquire a handful of magic spells, and when magic is equipped, a floating orb hovers around him. The direction he is facing determines where the magic fires, so position and timing are key. Beyond weapons and magic, Blazer can also find armor and items for him to equip. The system is basic, but with the addition of leveling, there is enough deviation with all the battle mechanics to keep players engaged throughout the journey.
Scattered around dungeons are monster spawning points, pumping out vile beasts to infest and pester players exploring these areas. Blazer will need to navigate these dungeons to locate these spawn points and vanquish all the enemies that pop out of them until they explode. What happens next varies, but the scene usually cuts back to the desolate village as one of the trapped souls is freed. This is the major recurring system in the game, as sometimes the player will need to go back to the town hub and talk to the newly freed person, place, or thing to advance the story.
Saving all the inhabitants of Freil is rewarding in multiple facets. It unlocks new areas, allowing the player to advance further in dungeons, plus it also breathes life back into the world, giving players a good reason to go back to the hub towns so they can interact with the newly freed beings. These souls can be people, animals, and inanimate objects like flowers. Blazer’s journey will see him re-populate many towns, explore several dungeons, fight tons of bosses, and save countless souls. There is a lot of backtracking involved, but it is usually a quick trip back to the hub since shortcuts usually open up when it is prudent to head back.
This tulip is asking the real questions.
The music in Soul Blazer is all over the place, ranging from peaceful town themes to tracks that feature deep bass beats. The game has quite a unique soundtrack, and while nothing is groundbreaking, there is a lot of variance that makes every location feel distinctive. There is also the familiar callback sound when Blazer gets hit by an enemy that is taken directly from Actraiser.
Replaying this game has me remembering those happy memories from my childhood, but it was also an enjoyable experience on its own. Soul Blazer has its ups and downs, and the format can become a tad repetitive, but it is also a relatively quick game to get through. Soul Blazer has a certain charm associated with it that you do not see in many RPGs of its time, and for that, I appreciate what it tries to accomplish. I can see myself replaying it, because saving souls trapped in purgatory is a fun concept. While I feel its successors are better games, you can see the framework has Soul Blazer in their essence.
Disclosure: This review is purely comparing this game to other SNES RPGs. Nintendo Power issue 40 has an article for this game.
Saving souls feels rewarding
Unique soundtrack
Can be repetitive
Graphics are nothing impressive
Blazer looks like he stole Adol's outfit
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