Reviewed: October 11, 2001
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Sierra Entertainment
Developer
Click Entertainment
Released: September 25, 2001
Genre: RPG
Players: 8
ESRB: Mature
6
5
6
6
5.8
System Requirements
Recommended System
More suitably titled "Clone of Darkness", Sierra releases yet another RPG game that gave me that eerie feeling of déjà vu, especially since I had just finished playing their other recently released RPG, Arcanum. I suppose if you enjoy these types of games and can tolerate the same monotonous gameplay with minimal changes in visuals and game dynamics then you will probably enjoy this RPG set in a feudal-Japanese setting.
Everyone, from people who have played the game to reviewers and even the designers themselves seemed bent on comparing this game to Diablo. While comparing your game to one of the best selling RPG's in gaming history might give your title a positive tilt in the press, most gamers are looking for something new, and not a rehashing of concepts that were born over six years ago.
The one thing Throne of Darkness does have going for it is its innovative use of group (or party) adventuring. While controlling multiple characters is nothing new to RPG fans, it is fairly rare that the concept is used in a Diablo-clone. The game seems to be haphazardly designed around this group concept however. Sometimes you will find that multiple characters are almost critical to the gameplay while at other times you could easily complete a section of the game with a single character. And there are times when multiple characters can actually get in the way and diminish the experience.
The story behind the lengthy adventure you are about to undertake, while unique to the genre, is nothing you wouldn't expect. Seems that the local Shogun, in his careless attempts for eternal life, has been possessed by the demon Zanshin and now the land is populated by his evil demon hordes.
Throughout the game you will be in control of seven unique samurai as you clean up the land and vanquish the demon. While you can only control up to four warriors at a time, you can switch them around almost anytime you want. Each character has their own unique attributes that serve the collective party in one way or another.
Throughout the adventure you will acquire additional items that you can allocate to the various characters. This allows you to further differentiate each samurai to your personal liking. Learning the abilities of each samurai then creating a balanced party is essential in completing the various missions and the main adventure.
If you have ever played Diablo or any isometric RPG game in the past six years then you have already played Throne of Darkness. You click on your character(s) to select them then point and click to where you want them to move. Click on enemies to attack with the current weapon or spell then click on the various items and chests they leave behind to get your reward.
Experience points are awarded based on individual combat, which tends to generate an uneven balance in your party after a few hours of gaming. Your heavy hitters will tend to do most of the combat and therefore increase in levels much faster than your Wizard, Ninja, and Archer characters.
Spell points are also awarded with each new increase in level. You can spend these points to upgrade your current library of spells to more powerful versions. While the variety of spells is unique, their implementation is poor. For the most part, your entire party has access to most of the same spells blurring any magical distinctiveness between your party. Additionally, you can only setup one default spell for each computer-controlled character. Since many spells are designed to work in tandem with other spells, this severely limits the effectiveness of the entire spell system unless you are prepared to constantly tweak the AI settings in your party setup.
If the thought of managing four characters seems daunting, have no fear. The game uses AI to control the three characters that are not under your immediate control. This AI can be fully customized using the advanced Tactics Editor that lets you fully customize the formation and attack patterns of your team. Each character can be meticulously placed and customized to a variety of aggression levels and weapons preferences.
One very nice feature is that the formation settings are based on attack style (melee, ranged, spells) rather than individual characters. This makes switching out characters seamless and eliminates the need to reconfigure the tactics each time a new member is integrated into the party.
For as advanced and innovative as the tactic editor is, it's disappointing that the game doesn't really require its use. You can easily ignore formations and tactics altogether and simply play the game straightforward, allowing the AI to fill in the gaps.
Gameplay is further complicated by an immense inventory system that you are constantly being forced to tweak and rearrange. This causes frequent interruptions in the flow of the game as you allocate new items to certain individuals and decide which things to dispose of.
Another limitation is your inability to sell your excess inventory. The only way to earn gold in this game is to find it or get it from slain enemies. Since gold is the only way you can enchant your weapons and armor and since the amount of gold available in this game is minimal, you will not get to play with this feature nearly as much as you would like unless you use a cheat code to increase your wealth.
Once again, Sierra offers us another RPG that is locked in at 800x600. With the lack of any zoom ability you are fixed at a view that is often too close and since your view is locked onto your party's location you are also unable to scroll around the map without moving your team to the edge of the screen.
The textures are crisp, detailed, and quite authentic for the time period, but the color palette tends to get bland and repetitive after a few levels. Even after you get outside, the various levels all start to look alike. The samurai are exquisitely modeled and detailed so they all look unique and are easily distinguishable, even during confusing combat situations.
Monsters are varied and actually quite original, often styled after mythical beasts of Japanese lore. Their varied attacks are brought to life with detailed animations and special effects. Speaking of effects, the spell system offers some spectacular visuals that look amazing. The library of effects can't begin to compete with the vast number of spells, so you will start to see many spells sharing the same effects as you get deeper into the game.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the stunning opening movie. Combining elements from cell shaded animation, anime style art, and some traditional Japanese animation effects, the action packed intro simply blew me away.
The sound is average at best. The voices are suitably authentic to the Japanese theme of the game but offer no outstanding performances. The music is also quite good, featuring authentic Japanese instruments appropriate to the era. Sound effects range from the simplistic clank of clashing metal blades to the whoosh of arrows or the sliding of door panels. Spell effects are equally average, and while they get the job done, there just isn't anything outstanding about them.
As with any RGP game, you have your main quest that is broken up into several smaller objectives. There are also a few excursions you can take during the adventure to give the game an open-ended feel allowing you to decide how long this game will last. You can expect at least 20-40 hours of gameplay based on your skill level and how much of the game you decide to complete during the main adventure.
Unfortunately, about 8-10 hours into this game your characters will most likely be at a high enough level that all challenge is eliminated from the game. At this point you will find yourself in a repetitious gaming rut of killing and collecting stuff, rinse and repeat. Even the touted reward system the designers brag about is nothing that special. Weapons and other reward items also get repetitive after the first half of the adventure offering little incentive to finish the game.
No modern day game would be complete without multiplayer options, and Throne of Darkness allows you to take your team of warriors online to team up with others to battle the demon, Zanshin in a "king of the hill" style of game. This is a long and drawn out process that you will most likely not finish in a single online session. If you do manage to defeat Zanshin, you will become the new "dark lord" with a new set of demonic warriors under your control to fend off the attacking "good guys".
You can host your own games or locate others on the Sierra.com Network. The latter also offers additional features such as a chat room. It's a free service and makes finding other Throne of Darkness players easier.
Throne of Darkness is an average game that suffers from severe "More of the Same" syndrome. The few above-average features that make this game unique aren't exploited to their fullest potential. The tactics editor is a great feature but poorly implemented and frankly, not even necessary to successfully completing the adventure. The game begins to drag about halfway through with repeating graphics and gameplay, and the reward system that is supposed to keep you "wanting more" gets just as stale.
Unless you simply have to play every RPG game that is released, there is nothing here to make this game stand out above the multitude of other RPG games currently available. Hopefully, designers will pick up on the few innovative features this game introduces and explore them more thoroughly in future releases.