0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Alundra 2 A New Legend Begins

Alundra 2 A New Legend Begins is an action role playing game developed by Matrix Software and Contrail Production, and is the second game in the Alundra franchise. The game was developed for the Playstation 1 and was published by SCEI for its Japanese release, while Activision handles the UK and US release of the game, with their German and French arms handling their respective releases.

The game first released in Japan on the 18^th November 1999, with a North American release the following February of 2000, European fans had to wait until June before getting their hands on the game. The game although named Alundra 2 has no links to the previous game with this being a standalone story.

Unlike the original Alundra the follow up uses a 3D game engine allowing for even more puzzle options to the developers, another major new addition is the camera can now be rotated a full 360 degrees with the player character being able to move in any direction.

The gameplay involves fighting enemies, interacting with NPC’s, puzzle solving with some platforming and exploration, general interactions between characters are handled through text boxes, however the game does have voiced cutscenes.

The player character Flint uses a sword in combat, as well as being able to use a shield which provides a passive damage reduction when in combat. Stronger versions of both the sword and shield can be found throughout the game.

Flint is also able to learn additional successive strikes for his sword these skills are known as combos, the player is able to learn these skills by collecting items called Puzzle Pieces and exchanging them with a character called Lord Jeehan. The game also features magical items that grant the player character additional special powers with skills including levitation and the ability to traverse over harmful enviroments

The games story has no connection to the events of the first game and is a standalone story, which is set in the Kingdom of Varuna where a powerful sorcerer called Mephisto is using magical wind up keys to control humans and turn animals into mindless mechanical creatures.

The beginning of the game sees Flint a pirate hunter infiltrating a flying airship, once inside he discovers the ship is manned by humanoid robots with suspicious key like objects protruding from their backs. On board the airship is a family of three pirates Zeppo, Albert and Ruby.

After eavesdropping on the pirates and learning that Mephisto can create mechanical men through a technology only he knows, Baron Diaz untrusting of Mephisto has tasked the pirates with keeping an eye on him. At this point Flint is discovered and the ensuing  battle badly damages the airship and it crashes.

Flint who fell into the ocean is washed ashore where he is found by a villager, after recovering he meets with a Princess Alexia, joining forces with her find her missing father, who she knows Baron Diaz who had used pirates to get rid of him.

In their search for proof the pair encounter the evil Mephisto, during their battles with mechanical abominations and their investigation into the Church of the Key. Eventually they are detained by Mephisto and taken by sea to Varuna, Flint is thrown overboard but survives and reaches the capital to confront Baron Diaz.

The Baron threatens Princess Alexia’s life and tasks flint with retrieving three ancient relict in exchange for no harm befalling the princess, after retrieving the three relics Baron Diaz enters a tower in search of the lost treasure of Varuna. As it turns out Mephisto was prevented from entering the tower by a wizard named Lumiere, however once the seal is broken he is able to finally enter and put his final plan into action using a star key to mutate the planet and take control of it.

Alundra 2 received plenty of praise from critics however overall there was definitely a drop in review scores for its sequel, as usual however we will start with the best of the. The first up is GameGenie who awarded the game the maximum of 100/100 with their review conclusion reading, This game is great. I can't recommend this or the original enough to people.

 I was surprised at what a departure this game was, but pleasantly surprised. Players will find themselves stuck to their seats with excitement and keep coming back for more and more. The humor is nice and clean and oddly enough actually funny at times. Not something I expect from most games these days. The enemies are often fresh and interesting and the storyline, while derivative in portions, still manages to feel fresh. A bang up job.

GamePro (US) also awarded the game the maximum score with their conclusion reading , Whatever is its that you look for in a game, you're bound to find it in Alundra 2. This action/RPG has got it all. From intense fighting, to hours of exploration, not to mention seriously complex puzzles. Players looking for a little of everything will not be disappointed.

PSX Extreme even rated this game higher than the original with their 94/100 with there review conclusion saying if you have player Alundra you must pick up Alundra 2 as soon as possible concluding that this is definitely the game that defeats Zelda 64 in almost every way.

In a rare occurrence German Publications Mega Fun and Video Games have a significant difference between their review scores, 13 points in total with Mega Fun awading Alundra 2 an 87/100. Just behind Mega Fun with an 85/100 is Absolute Playstation who concluded by saying. Alundra 2 uses many different methods to entertain and challenge you. There is a mildly entertaining story that is intertwined and thought provoking and that makes this a pretty enjoyable game.

IGN could not but compare the game to the first Alundra and Zelda in their 77/100 review concluding with, verall, as a stand-alone game, Alundra 2 isn't all that bad. In fact, it's a worthy purchase for any fan of the action/RPG genre. However, if you're a fan of the first game or are looking to experience Zelda on your PlayStation, you'll probably be disappointed. Just pretend that this has nothing to do with the original Alundra or Zelda, and you'll probably enjoy this game just fine.

We now head to the other end of the review scale down to a 40/100 from GameSpot who said few games reek of grasping, guileless profiteering in the game industry as much as Alundra 2 in their review conclusion. Power Unlimited were less insulting but still highly critical rounding off their 45/100 review with the following. Alundra 2 is really a very mediocre RPG and is - unless you really have nothing to do better - not really worth it.

Game Revolution were very disappointed with the reviewer expecting so much more from the game their review of 50/100 concludes with I wanted to see so much more come out of the game, but I came away disappointed.

The annoying timing issues in battle and the lack of driving characters and plot takes away from the experience. However, the younger crowd will appreciate the simple story. The puzzles are good, though not enough to cover up the tweaks the game needs.

Eurogamer.net (UK) gave the game a 60/100 however fans of the original Alundra are best off avoiding this game and simply forget this sequel was ever made. RPGFan in their 68/100 review had the following to say about this sequel. it's an overwhelmingly subpar action RPG. Because it has nearly nothing in common with the first Alundra, from storyline to presentation, I can't recommend it even to fans of the first.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit five online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com,  eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, I will also be including Ebay.com as well

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, where if you are looking to trade in your copy of the game you will be looking at around $9 from Gamedude, if you are in the market for a copy of the game this will set you back around the $19 mark which is a mark up of 111%.

Heading to Retrogames.co.uk who sadly don’t stock this title, so we quickly head of to eStarland.com who have three copies of the game available, the first is a used copy with no case priced at $18.38, the second copy is just the disc and is priced at $14.70. The third copy of the game is the Japanese imported version of the game, while they do stock this title it is currently out of stock, normally this is priced at between $10.77 and $17.95.

Plentiful supply of copies of Alundra 2 available on Amazon.com both the North American version and the Japanese version of the game with prices for both starting around the same price point of $13. Which for a Japanese version of the game will get you a very good quality and complete copy of the game.

However for a complete and very good condition copy of the North American version you are looking at a minimum of just short of $30. If you are in the market for a new copy of the game, again these is a big discrepancy in the price of the Japanese version to the North American version.

A new copy of the Japanese version of the game can be picked up for $17.24 this comes with free shipping as well, while a North American version of the game at the cheapest will cost you $74 once you add the shipping costs in. new copies in Japan reach a high price of $32 while the North American version reaches a high of $100.

Now heading to Ebay.com and once again we set our shipping location to the UK, the first item available is once again a Japanese version of the game, a complete copy which is available for $12 + $6 for shipping so $18 in total. Again like the first Alundra game shipping costs are very expensive with the remaining copies shipping from the US.

So at this point I will switch my shipping location to California, the first copy available is a disc only copy for $9.99 with free shipping however this copy has not been tested to see if it works so is best avoided. Another couple of disc only copies are available and are priced between $10 and $12.

A complete copy in very good condition of the Japanese version can be picked up for just $11, a complete copy of the North American version will cost you slightly more on Ebay coming in at around the $16 mark for a good quality complete copy.

If you are in the market for a new copy the minimum you are looking to pay for one is $44.99 this copy comes with free shipping as well, prices from her for a new copy rapidly rise with the North American version reaching a price hight of $149.99 while the European PAL version tops out at $179.99.

 

Written by

P J Gibbon