[:plant:] Happy Surprises - Or Games You Enjoyed Even Though Gamespot Rated It 3.5

Azure Dreams got a slating over here when it was released with reviewers saying the graphics were shit, it was repetitive and it was essentially far too damn hard.

I bought it before I read the reviews (Although the guy in the shop did say he didn't know anyone who had finished it as, you know, it's really hard) but I absolutely love the game. Sure the graphics are garbage but it's an rpg, who cares? It probably would be monotonous if you're not into that kind of thing as the whole game is basically one big fuck-off level grind as your character resets to level one each time you leave the tower so you need to find all the items to upgrade your sword that you can and if you're making a serious attempt to get up the tower you need to spend as long as possible on the lower floors levelling up first. Also, it is pretty difficult at first as the items you need to constantly feed your monsters to keep them alive are pretty scarce and if you die in the tower you lose all your stuff.

Persevere however and you soon end up with a strong enough sword to get to the tenth floor without needing your monsters, you learn to only get them out when you need them and you discover that one type on monster can eat any item you want. Thus the difficulty drops down to sensible levels and you're left with a great little dungeon crawler with a passable story, the hilarious trying to get eight girls to date you at once bit and the village design and stuff.

Jam it back in, in the dark.