questing needs: a sword,
shield, keys... "This is not enough
Golds," to my dismay
Additional Comments:
Faxanadu is an interesting piece of classic NES gaming. Its mix of fantasy and RPG-esque action/adventure platforming seemed to be a true rarity - well, a true rarity in the sense that it was done well. Most games that fell into this niche always put me off for some reason. They were either too bogged down with unnecessary devices (qv Zelda II) or just ridiculously awkward to play (qv Castlevania - yes, I can already imagine the hate for that, but there are some of us out there, namely me, that just don't like the Castlevania games). However, if a Venn diagram existed for all that was right in these two games, Faxandu would clearly represent that ideal slice right in the middle.
Sometime in the late 90s a friend lent me the game and I was instantly awed by the mysterious "World Tree" mythology around which the game was built. This especially held true in the World of Branch where the graphics showcase the idea of adventuring within a giant tree perfectly. Essentially, the story, graphics, and gameplay were quality enough to draw me into a marathon session one afternoon and play it from beginning to end. It's very rare, if ever, for me to do that with any game the very first time I power it up.
I can't say what my opinions on difficulty were, but considering I took it down in a single afternoon, it couldn't have been all that trying. Although I specifically recall one particular screen in the World of Branch that frustrated the hell out of me due to suspect enemy placement. But other than that one instance, the game won me over and stayed on my A list for years to come. Heck, according to my top 25 NES games I listed back in 2010, Faxanadu ranks at number 5!!
But now that I've returned to the game years later, Faxanadu sadly took a bit of a tumble. I was looking forward to returning to this game, and did so with open arms. What came as a result is I found myself teetering on the same jagged edge that I found myself on with Dark Cloud - a beloved game that was suddenly put under a steely-eyed microscope embittered over a whole new world of imperfections. I began to see flaws that I either initially missed or chose to ignore for the sake of a joyous romp through a comparable Yggdrasil. However, unlike Dark Cloud, I'm a bit more apprehensive about what side of the line I'm throwing my weight towards. Fundamentally, Faxandu is still a brilliant game, but it's hampered throughout by stupid little details that could have easily been fixed with some simple tweaking - namely smooth scrolling.
The largest flaw this game faces is poor sprite placement which becomes more and more noticeable as the game wears on. The issue is not so much initial placement if you view each world map specifically as getting from point A to point B like a typical platformer. In this respect, placement is fine. I can think of a couple instances where this is not entirely true, but it's not anything to cry over. However, since Faxanadu has a Metroid style layout where you can backtrack all the way to the entrance of Eolis if your heart desires - not that you would - poor enemy placement suddenly becomes a nagging issue. To boot, the game does rely on backtracking resulting in forced hits on occasion. Even more frustrating is when I ran into the same exact trap that got the best of me on my initial playthrough back in the late 90s - although said trap was further enhanced by flawed ladder mechanics (more on that in a moment).
On my latest playthrough, I began to see similarities between Faxanadu and Mega Man. Obviously, they're worlds apart, but level design, despite having a Metroid style layout, felt eerily reminiscent of some early Mega Man stuff - could be those insufferable ladders. However, I think Faxanadu made a giant misstep by presenting the entire game as a series of single screens as opposed to utilizing some basic scrolling here and there. There's probably good reason why Falcom chose to go that route, namely the whole interconnected overworld design, but still. And by allowing scrolling in specific key areas, poor sprite placement would immediately be thrown out the window.
But what really gave me that Mega Man déjà vu is the overabundance of ladders carved out of the tree's woody interior. Unfortunately, I let the Mega Man similarities seep in far too much causing consistent brain farts on how one properly exits a ladder tile. I cannot even begin to express how much I hate the ladder mechanics in this game. Why can't I jump off them? Why!? Why do i always have to suffer an inevitable hit by some sword swingin' Dwarf Knight as I'm desperately trying to maneuver my way off the top of one of these things? Why the fuck would they design a screen entrance of a ladder coming up from the bottom of the screen with a pit on one side and a ledge with a Gladiator on the other with stupid ass ladder mechanics and the most dreaded of all game mechanics: knockback!? The same goddamn trap infuriated the hell out of me...again!! (Oh wait, I've already mentioned that...) Fortunately, halfway through this playthrough I realized you can use deaths to your advantage allowing backtracking skips. Heh, you've got to love games that do that - improve one's seemingly dire fate by actively walking into the bloodthirsty sword of thy enemy.
As far as knockback is concerned, it's a fairly trite mechanic and terrible at best, although there are games out there that make decent use of it - the Mega Man series comes to mind. I don't remember pulling my hair out over it the first time I played Faxanadu, and it didn't exactly get under my skin like it does in other games this time around either. The other design flaws likely trumped knockback enough to deem it forgivable. Although there were moments where I found myself cursing it, namely around screen boundaries thanks to constant enemy respawns.
Otherwise, it is a good game. It definitely suffers from bad design, but unless you nitpick the game, it's easy to forgive, overlook, and just enjoy the ride. The story unfortunately trickles out and the leveling.... Well, I'm not entirely certain why an experience system exists in this game other than to manipulate your Golds by repetitious suicide. Is it still a top 5 NES game? For me, no. But it can still knock about in my top 25 easily. Sure, the game stumbled in my eyes, but I'm still glad I went back and played it again after all these years, and although it wasn't the same experience I had years ago, it was well worth it. Not to mention, I got to listen to that wonderful soundtrack once again - another golden moment in Nintendo's early years. Beautiful pieces like Opening Theme, King's Castle, The Kingdom, and one my personal favorites, Daybreak run rampant throughout the game. And if anything, that's a perfect high point to end this critique on. Huzzah!
Rating: 3.5 tobacco smokers out of 5*
*Given Nintendo's ironclad grip on censorship and age appropriateness throughout the years, it's just so weird to see NPC's actively smoking...or am I simply misinterpreting that particular line of pixels? Huh...
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