Soul Blazer

Developer : Quintet

Publisher : Enix

Platform : Super Nintendo

Release Year : 1992

A Saviour from the Sky

Over the past thirty years I have played through Quintet’s 1992 Super Nintendo game, Soul Blazer, over and over. I remember renting this game all the time when I was kid, playing through the first area again and again, but never really getting all that far. I also remember getting tips on how to defeat the first boss from one of the employees at the good ol’ Rogers Video. I don’t know when I did finally beat the game, but over the decades I have gone on to finish it over and over and over, enjoying the journey just as much as I did when I first experienced it as a kid. There is something special about Soul Blazer’s gameplay loop, and it wasn’t until Dark Cloud’s release years and years later that I played something similar (I have yet to play Terranigma, which is a travesty, I know), but even then, it didn’t come close to scratching the itch the same way as Soul Blazer.

Gameplay

Soul Blazer is a classic top-down action-adventure game where you play as a divine warrior sent down from the sky by the Master to revive the world and defeat the evil spirit known as Deathtoll. The gameplay loop is so simple, yet so satisfying: to revive the world, you delve into a variety of dungeons, hacking and slashing your way through hordes of monsters in your quest to release the imprisoned souls trapped in the monster lairs. The animals, people, and plants you release from the monster lairs repopulate the world’s towns and will aid you in your quest by giving you helpful hints and healing items. This loop of dungeon delving, monster slaying, and town reviving is wonderful, and even all these decades later, I still get a sense of accomplishment every time I rebuild a town.

The magic system here really unique and is something I have yet to see again all these years later. Orbiting the player is the spirit of a mage, and from this circling orb you cast your spells. Where the spell goes off depends on where in the orbit the spirit is and in which direction your character sprite is facing. So, for example: if you cast your fire ball when the spirit is ‘below’ you and you’re looking to the right, the fireball flies out ‘below’ you and to the right. While it’s not the end all and be all of magic systems on the SNES, I do like that there is a bit of strategy in how and when you cast your spells. It’s also helps that there is a decent variety of spells, with all of them all doing something different, which is nice to see in such an early SNES game.

There are also other souls, like the mage, who will join you in your quest. These souls will give you new abilities such as illuminating dark place, revealing secrets in the castle’s dungeons, and protecting you from a volcano’s fire. These souls are from the sky just like you, and they are more than happy to aid you on your quest to revive the world, and defeat Deathtoll.

Presentation

I love how this game looks. Full stop. Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that it is the best looking game on the SNES, because it’s not, but I can’t help fawning over it. The sprite work here is simple and clean with a few neat visual effects scattered about the world such as the clouds drifting their shadows over Green Valley, or the aurora dancing above the Mountain of Souls. Along with a rich colour pallet, and a solid art direction inspired by that distinctive late ‘80s/early ‘90s anime look, I think Soul Blazer looks wonderful. Yet, you easily can tell that Soul Blazer come out barely two years into the SNES’s lifespan, because compared to the game’s that would follow in the coming years, it does look basic at times. The sprites don’t have much detail, and the animations across the board aren’t mind blowing, but it looks great to me.

Soul Blazer’s soundtrack is also awesome. I have loved it ever since I was a kid, and I have been humming this game’s songs to myself for thirty years. I will also admit that I am way too biased here to really be objective when it comes to the OST, so you will have to listen to it for yourself and see how you like it. The sounds effects are also really good (I love how the sword swing sounds, and also the little diddy that plays when you release a soul back into town), and they totally get the job done, but once again I am way too biased to make any kind of sound judgement here. The soundscape here has stuck with me, and I don’t see it leaving my mind anytime soon, if at all.

I just love who this game looks and how this game sounds. Everything about it is amazing to me, but I 100% understand that is all because of my nostalgia and history. I was only six when I first played Soul Blazer, and it has left a lasting impression that has followed me for the better part of three decades now. I think we all have those games, the ones that leave long lasting impressions and give us those long-lasting memories, and I think that’s awesome; I love hearing about other people’s games like this, and I think the game’s they love say a lot about a person.

Story

Soul Blazer is a story about bringing a world back from the brink. You play as a divine warrior sent down to earth by the Master (God) to defeat the evil spirit, Deathtoll, and restore life to the world. Not long after you start your adventure, you meet a young woman named Lisa and learn that she is the daughter of the famous inventor, Doctor Leo. Lisa tells you how King Magridd kidnapped her father and forced him to construct the machines that not only contacted Deathtoll but also opened the way to the World of Evil. Magridd, after holding council with his wife, made a deal with Deathtoll, trading the world’s souls for gold. In the end, even they were imprisoned by Deathtoll, leaving the world empty and lifeless, aside from the monsters prowling the dungeons. It is now up to you to revive the world and her inhabitants, defeat Deathtoll, and seal the way to the World of Evil forever.

The quest is twofold: first, you are to collect the six magic stones by defeating each of the region’s bosses; second is to collect the Red-Hot artifacts (the rod, the orb, and the stick) so you can wield the power of the phoenix, which is the only way to defeat Deathtoll. Along the way you will meet a handful of characters who lived with Doctor Leo, and each of them will give you some backstory on the world, and on Doctor Leo. It’s good to remember that this is all told very minimally: you are not going to be reading walls of text here, because most of this story is implied more than outright told.

The story of Soul Blazer is both epic and basic at the same time. On the one hand, you are a divine warrior sent by the Master to save the world from evil, while on the other, you are told basically nothing about the wider world, or even how you fall in love with Lisa, the game’s “love interest.” Even when you compare it to other RPGs from the time, the story here is pretty barebones when it comes to details, and more than a lot is left up to your imagination.

A World Revived

Soul Blazer is always going to hold a special place in my heart. Everything about this game is magical to me, but I am going to be the first to admit that I cannot be even remotely objective when it comes to this game. So, I know everyone’s milage is going to vary when it comes to this game. Would I recommend that everyone try Soul Blazer? Yes, I would whole heartedly recommend playing this game, no questions asked. I recommend it even knowing that it is not going to be as amazing for them as it is for me. It is a game that I love to share with people, always in the hope that they will love Soul Blazer as much as I do, hell, maybe even more!

It’s good to gush about the things you love from time to time. Sure, it’s good to be critical of the things you like, but at the same time, there is nothing wrong with singing the praises of the things you love. So here I am, singing my lungs out, hoping that I get across how much Soul Blazer means to me, and that maybe, just maybe, someone will give it a go after reading this. A dude can dream, can’t he?