Graphics: Blaze & Blade was initially a visually unimpressive PlayStation port, and has since become an amazingly unimpressive and absolutely forgettable visual experience on the PC. Glancing at its box, loading screens, and in-game characters, it becomes obvious that the title is attempting to capitalize on the relatively recent upsurgeance of anime-styled games’ popularity. In-game characters have a distinctly Japanese-influenced look, which can be a boon if it’s done well. It is, however, done extremely horrendously. Blocks are a recurring visual theme, as characters are very rectangular, just as virtually every angle within the game has been tapered off to be square-like. Monsters appear to be little more than a series of colored blocks glued together, lending little to no variety in combat. It seems necessary to mention the foul owlbear once more, as it is the single most visually horrendous and pathetic creature I have ever seen within a PC game since my days with the Commodore 64. My first experience witnessing its face led to two reactions: laughter and revulsion, both stemming from my disbelief that such poor graphics could actually be distributed in today’s gaming market. Rather than having a texture or drawing as a face, the owlbear’s visage, featured prominently when it threatens you, is nothing more than a series of large, colored, blocky pixels. If you’re particularly perceptive, you might make out its eyes and perhaps its nose, leading it to be a sort of digital “magic eye” picture which you need to cross your eyes to correctly see.

There are only two elements in the graphics department that warrants the accorded star: The professionally hand-drawn loading screens, and the nice, bright colors that give the game its only real semblance of character. The end result is that everything comes off as being colorfully ugly and amateurish. In fact, it looks very much like it would be right at home back in the days of the 8-bit Nintendo, where it probably would have enjoyed some success. In the modern day of the PC, it looks absolutely abysmal.

Interface: Easy to install, and more importantly, to uninstall, Blaze & Blade features some of the most convoluted and counter-intuitive series of informational menus around. Rather than clear up the menu system for PC gamers, the developers have left the PlayStation system in effect. So, instead of pressing a simple button to view your map, you have to hit a button to bring up the status screen, followed by a combination of vertical and horizontal arrow presses. A character’s increase in a particular attribute is similarly muddled, as a somewhat indistinct number flashes above their head. This might have been a merely average way of displaying the proper information, but your party members follow you single-file, a formation from which they very rarely stray. This means that whenever you turn in a circle or double back on your path, they lump together, making it impossible to distinguish between characters. The only item which clears things up even a little is the statistic box at the bottom of the screen which displays your characters’ vital information.

Blaze & Blade also suffers from terrible camera control, a problem which is usually only reserved for 3D-action titles. There are two methods of controlling the camera, either of which will confuse you and provide you with endless hours of frustration. If you’re lucky, you might be able to traipse about the The Forgotten Lands while being able to see a certain area around you, but no matter how hard you try, the camera is always positioned so that a monster can sneak up on you from a different angle. To work around that particular issue, you must sacrifice motion visibility, which makes Blaze & Blade’s already difficult platform-style running and jumping puzzles downright impossible.

Gameplay: “Monotonous”, “dull” and “frustrating” are all words that sum up Blaze & Blade‘s gameplay experience. Its primary focus, combat, is incredibly difficult as your characters, with the exception of the Hunter, cannot easily inflict damage upon their opponents but must align themselves perfectly so as to stand a chance at even hitting them. This becomes downright deadly when your party finds itself surrounded, and renders bosses practically impossible to beat. Its secondary focus, questing, is incredibly boring and clichéd as your party must perform some of the most inane and dull quests known to the RPG universe: “kill X”, “find Y”, or “kill X to find Y.” While the final focus, platform action, is appropriately frustrating due to poor controls and camera angles, it can occasionally lend itself to some amusing moments. Figuring out how to arrange some boxes within a house so as to grab a powerup is good example, though even these minimally amusing moments are sadly few and far between.

In yet another throwback to its PlayStation roots, Blaze & Blade allows up to four people to control party members. This is amusing only when you’re looking to goof around and annoy the other players, since everybody must move in the same direction for the screen to continue forward. If somebody chooses to wait at the opposite edge of the screen, then the party is stuck waiting for the other person to catch up. This necessitates a near-military unison and discipline during party travel, and having to coordinate party movement isn’t exactly entertaining.

Sound FX: At their best, the sound effects are vaguely reminiscent of a Super Nintendo, bleeping almost musically during menu screens and occasionally during battle. At their worst, they hearken back to the days of the 8-bit Nintendo, with monsters’ vocal ranges consisting of little more than hisses and pops. The only truly decent sound stems from the narration of The Forbidden Lands’ background during the introductory movie. The narrator speaks with confidence, in a voice which hints at mysticism. It suits its purpose, which is more than can be said for the remainder of the game’s sound effects.

Musical Score: Music is omnipresent in Blaze & Blade, gently sliding through your speakers through most of the game. It is either powered by MIDI or sounds as though it would be, which isn’t necessarily a good thing in today’s day and age. Fortunately, the music is relatively passable, swelling triumphantly during certain battles, and trilling softly while taking a break in the local inn. Overall, it possesses a very soft feel, which contributes to the title’s gentle nature, and can sometimes overtake the inherent frustration. It’s moderately well-done, and is easily Blaze & Blade‘s high point.

Intelligence & Difficulty: From your teammates to your enemies, the artificial intelligence is all-around mediocre. Enemies charge you with whatever weapons they have in hand, offering no particular strategy beyond simple rushing. Your teammates fare little better, as they simply stand still during combat, only raising their weapons when they themselves are attacked. This may ensure their own survival, but does absolutely nothing for yours.

This is unfortunate, as your well-being is often imperilled by the hordes of monsters, the terrible camera angles, and the awful control. These faults render the game incredibly difficult, carrying it to the point of hopeless frustration. Only being able to save after stumbling upon save-points is not only an obvious console carry-over, but proves to be incredibly irritating as you are forced to repeat the same battles over and over until you’ve mastered it. This pushes the difficulty level past any degree of amusement and solidly into the realm of endless frustration.

Overall: When a game is unforgivable in any one department, such as graphics or sound, its other elements may sometimes be of sufficient quality to overshadow the title’s inherent faults. As Blaze & Blaze is replete with nothing but problems in virtually every conceivable department, one would be incredibly hard-pressed to find a reason worth playing the game. Given, the music is passable and the bright colors are appealing, but when you consider the atrocious graphics, the convoluted interface, the dull and repetitive gameplay and a control system seemingly designed for a Zen master, you are left with no choice other than to stay away.