Retrospective: Alundra

The year was 1998. The original PlayStation has become a certified hit, attributing its success to many memorable games that have seen the console as its official launching pad. Proving that top-notch 2D or 3D gaming was possible, depending on whoever is handling the game's production, it can serve as an art form that people can admire or a wretched disaster that basically tantamounts to their time being wasted.

In the same year, luckily, one particular game belongs to the former.

Alundra is a story of the adventurer of the same name who is also a Dreamwalker, one with the ability to cross towards dreams, and help save a town that is cursed by a plague that involves villagers being attacked where they are most vulnerable, that being dreams.

Zelda has always been the "top-in-mind" when it comes to platform RPG's, and with good reason. But when it comes to a more mature taste in terms of the story, Alundra has done exceptionally well. The story is real captivating, the supporting characters are fun to interact with, and more importantly, the challenge was right there! There are many places to explore and puzzles to solve (from the easiest to the downright dirtiest), giving players hours to overcome these obstacles and proceed with the story that's coated with conspiracies and difficulties. It was a 2D experience that's rare to come by, and by the end of the day, the entire experience was fulfilling to those who yearn for more than just another Zelda per se. It wasn't all happy and cheery (though it had elements of it, which is nice), as it can be as dark when the time calls for it, offering many gamers a very balanced treat. 1998 was certainly a great year indeed.

A "sequel" was released soon after, Alundra 2, but it was not as epic as the original, if you ask me. Yes, it suffered from the "Men In Black 2" syndrome.

Working Designs, the publisher responsible for this game, may have been defunct after around 20 years of existence, but this game will forever be remembered as one of their classical gems when we look back in the history of games in general.