Alcahest (video game)

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Alcahest
Single-player

Alcahest

bosses
. Throughout the journey, the player encounters guardians who help Alen with their power and allies who join his party to stop Alcahest.

The game was directed and designed by Atsushi Kakuta, with Satoru Iwata serving as producer. The soundtrack was composed by Jun Ishikawa, known for his work on the Kirby franchise. HAL intended to publish it under the name Guardian Blade, but the company ran into financial issues. Square changed the name to Alcahest and published the game, and its release was accompanied by a strategy guide. Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2002.

Alcahest garnered generally favorable reception from critics who reviewed it as an

super deformed
style prevalent on Super Famicom, balance between action and adventure, variety of companions, arcade-style gameplay, and combat system. Some reviewers expressed mixed opinions regarding the music, while criticism was geared towards the scenario, lack of proper interactions between characters, puzzles, repetitivity, and short length.

Gameplay

Alen attacking enemies using the flame Guardian Blade with princess Elikshil as a companion

Alcahest is an arcade-style game played from a

top-down perspective similar to titles like Gauntlet (1985), The Legend of Zelda, Dungeon Explorer, and Soul Blazer.[1][2][3][4] The book A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games describes it as an action game in role-playing (RPG) clothing.[5] The plot takes place in a world where an emperor leads his army towards conquest of the kingdom of Panakeia in the midst of the revival of the demon god Alcahest, who was previously defeated a thousand years ago by a swordsman aided with the power of guardians. Babilom, an envoy from hell, seeks to prevent the swordsman's reincarnation before reaching his full potential.[3][6][7][8]

The player acts as the swordsman Alen across eight stages filled with a variety of blocks that propel him forward or send him leaping to another area, exploring and searching for

bosses.[1][5][6][9][10] During the journey to stop Alcahest, the player encounters allies who join Alen's party one at a time. They are the young wizard Garstein, princess Elikshil, the knight Sirius, the android Magna, and the shape-shifting dragon goddess Nevis. Allies attack and use special powers, but they cannot be controlled directly and special points (SP) are required for their special move.[1][2][3][5][11]

The player attacks enemies using a blade given to Alen by the guardians. Alen can also perform dash attacks while running and block enemy projectiles by standing still with his shield.

passwords given at the start of each stage.[6][8]

Development and release

Alcahest was developed by

Super Famicom on December 17, 1993.[3][5][17][18] The release was accompanied by a strategy guide published by NTT Publishing.[6] Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2002 by Frank Hughes (F.H.), which was later revised and corrected in 2014.[7][19][20] In 2017, the game's main theme was included as part of a compilation album published by Hyperdub.[21]

Reception

Alcahest received generally favorable reception from critics who reviewed it as an

Soul Blader but noted that while the Japanese text can be an issue, it does not prevent going through all the levels.[25] Super Play's Tony Mott commended the game's graphics, gameplay, and level design, but criticized aspects such as the puzzles and lack of proper interactions between characters.[27]

Gary Harrod and Rob Bright of Nintendo Magazine System (Official Nintendo Magazine) gave Alcahest positive remarks for its graphical department, sound effects and enjoyable gameplay, but felt that the music did not convey an atmosphere and criticized the repetitive action.[26] Computer and Video Games made positive comments about its varied visuals and sprites, sound effects, and gameplay, but criticized the music and repetitiveness.[22] Super Game Power's Roberto Carnicelli highlighted the game's intense action and graphics,[2] while Piefranco Merenda and Massimiliano Diaco of Super Console commended its playability and challenge due to multiple difficulty levels but criticized the musical score.[28]

Super Famicom.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: アルカエスト, Hepburn: Arukaesuto
  2. ^ ガーディアンブレード (Gādian Burēdo)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Aki, Terri (January 1994). "International Outlook - Alcahest". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 54. Sendai Publishing. p. 82.
  2. ^ a b c d e Carnicelli, Roberto (July 1994). "SNES: Alcahest". Super Game Power [pt] (in Portuguese). No. 4. Nova Cultural [pt]. p. 25.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Le Japon En Direct: Alcahest". Consoles + [fr] (in French). No. 27. EM-Images. December 1993. pp. 52–53.
  4. ^
    Future Publishing
    . March 1994. p. 13.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1838019143
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-4871882828
    .
  7. ^
    Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived
    from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  8. ^ a b c d アルカエスト (取扱説明書) (Japanese ed.). Square. December 1993.
  9. ^ "FINAL FANTASY POST: アルカエスト - 個住的な仙人役がいてこそ早が還り上がるってもの". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 258. ASCII Corporation. November 26, 1993. pp. 154–155.
  10. SoftBank Creative
    . December 10, 1993. pp. 54–55.
  11. ^ "FINAL FANTASY POST: アルカエスト". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 256–257. ASCII Corporation. November 12–19, 1993. pp. 150–151.
  12. ^ "FINAL FANTASY POST: アルカエスト". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 259. ASCII Corporation. December 3, 1993. pp. 152–153.
  13. ^
    Super Famicom). Square. Level/area: Staff. (Ending screens by VGMuseum [The Video Games Museum]. Archived 2002-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
    )
  14. ^ Kulikowski, Patrick (July 14, 2015). "Hip Tanaka pays tribute to the late Satoru Iwata". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  15. ^ a b Greening, Chris (2008). "Jun Ishikawa". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  16. ^ "NEW SOFT: ガーディアンブレード". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 182. ASCII Corporation. June 12, 1992. p. 162.
  17. Future Publishing
    . pp. 14–17.
  18. Kill Time Communication
    . Spring 1997. pp. 30–31.
  19. ^ "Interview with F.H." FantasyAnime. December 2003. Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  20. ^ Jurkovich, Tristan (June 5, 2020). "10 Classic SNES Games That Are Still Stuck In Japan". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  21. ^ "Diggin' In The Carts". Hyperdub. Bandcamp. November 17, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-29. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  22. ^
    EMAP. July 1994. p. 98. Archived
    from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  23. ^
    Famitsu.com. Archived 2020-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
    ).
  24. ^ a b Zashy (March 26, 2012). "Test de Alcahest sur SNES par jeuxvideo.com". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  25. ^ a b c Morisse, Jean-François (February 1994). "Super Famicom Import (Version Japonaise): Revoilà Squaresoft — Alcahest". Joypad [fr] (in French). No. 28. Hachette Disney Presse. p. 141.
  26. ^
    EMAP
    . pp. 76–77.
  27. ^
    Future Publishing
    . p. 34.
  28. ^ a b Merenda, Piefranco; Diaco, Massimiliano (July–August 1994). "Review: Alcahest". Super Console (in Italian). Vol. 1, no. 6. Futura Publishing. pp. 72–73.
  29. ^
    Future Publishing
    . p. 74.
  30. Tokuma Shoten Intermedia. April 15, 1998. p. 160. ASIN B00J16900U
    .
  31. ^ Dragmire, Hagen (November 17, 2009). "Alcahest". Retro Gamer. Imagine Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

External links

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