And here we go. Yesterday, I talked about Betrayal at Krondor and praised it for all of its glory. Today, I will be talking a lesser rpg...much, much lesser. As I have stated in the last post, there were those in-between years when I could not make Krondor playable and had to settle for others. This game was one of my many failed attempts at recapturing the spirit of Krondor. What was it that was so bad? Why, it is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the Gameboy Advance system. No, not Lord of the Rings, the one fantasy story to rule them all. Yup, that's the one I mean. When that first film hit theaters in 2001, Lord of the Rings became quite the cultural wave. It was essentially Star Wars for a new generation. Of course, a money making hit fantasy movie was bound for video gamedom...especially, since the stories themselves had inspired every fantasy video game ever made. And, lucky me, I had the opportunity to play the version that was on the Gameboy Advance.
Okay, so the story of the game is basically the novel. In fact, the video game adaptations of Fellowship were only from the book and not the film, hence the lack of actor likenesses and incorporation from the original source material. Bilbo Baggins takes off on his eleventy-something birthday, but leaves a deadly ring of power behind for his nephew, Frodo. Gandalf advises Frodo of its evil and persuades him to go on a journey to destroy the one ring to rule them all. And so our tale begins. The first thing you have to do is sell your house to the Sackville-Bagginses...just like in the novel. How exciting. Of course, after that someone else will want you to do something for them...and another...and another. Yeah, this game sure was off to a rollicking start when I played it. I remember a lot of fetch quests that were not optional side quests. Finally, when you do get going on this adventure, you'll notice that the combat is turn-based as is typical of most rpgs. However, unlike Betrayal at Krondor, the combat sucks. Why does it suck when it is the same? Well, trust me, it's not. The combat in Krondor was filled with varied options and strategic decisions to make your turns count. It was exciting with exciting music and the epic clash of swords. In this game, however, your options are limited to a stick per hobbit and that is it. So, really, all you do is hit, wait your turn, hit again and hope you don't die. There is no strategy whatsoever. And it doesn't get any better once the hobbits upgrade their sticks to daggers and swords. That is really unfortunate. That's the kind of turn-based combat that usually puts me off of that system. It is more of an exercise in patience than a testament to problem-solving.
Now, let's talk about the exploration. There really isn't much in the way of an open world. True, you get to wander around some vast open spaces, but only in specific parts of Middle-Earth at a time. You can explore Hobbiton to your heart's content, but once you leave, that's it. You're just moving on from here on out. But that's okay, it doesn't matter, because this game has no side quests anyway. That's right, nothing to distract you from the main quest with something extra to help you level up faster. No, just plow through the game. One issue I have with the exploration was in the Old Forest level. It is maze-like which would be a nice puzzle to add to the game's variety, except there is nothing for you to solve. All you got to do is wander around the forest until you find Old Man Willow. Well, that's lame and boring. I guess there are some giant spiders to fight to help you level up, but how about some clues or a riddle to help us solve the mystery of the forest? Why is it just bland exploration? This happens a lot in this game.
But when you make it to Old Man Willow, you expect some kind of battle. A boss fight for sure, right? Nope, you just wander around until Tom Bombadil comes and sings his song. That is the first sign that this games lacks, you guessed it, boss battles. There are no boss battles whatsoever. Expecting a big fight as Gandalf against the Balrog? Sorry, got to play the PS2 or even the Snes versions for that. What could be boss fights just end up as cutscenes. Lame. And most of the exploration is uneventful and unexciting. You just get lost and eventually find your way to point B.
And then there are the treasure chests. You will find some treasure chests scattered along the journey, but guess what? You'll notice that you can't open them. Yup, the treasure chests don't open. Of course they don't. Why would they? It's not like in any other rpg treasure chests contain useful items and gold and what have you. Nope, in this game, they are for decoration only. B.S. It would have been nice to find some possible new weapons, armor and gold, but nope not in these chests. That's almost like finding the most powerful sword in a cave, wedged in a rock. Yet, your character wouldn't be able to do anything with because the developers though it would be funny to tease the hell out of you. That's just brutal. The chests are pointless.
Oh, but I haven't gotten to the best part yet. Ready for this? In the Mines of Moria, I remember distinctly entering a room that I was sure was the way to advance. The game froze up on me as soon as I entered. It froze. IT #$%@!@# FROZE UP!!! A portable handheld game. I was flustered and shocked. Never before have I experienced this in a handheld system. Sure, I've come across the freezing bug on pc games, but those made sense since they lacked the right matching specs. This game was tailor-made for the advance, but it came with that one glaring bug. And yes, that room was the only way to progress. I had just about given up on the game at that point. I looked up some help on the internet to get past the glitch and was able to progress and finish the game. As it turned out, I wasn't far off. The game ends not long after you get out of the Mines and it ends abruptly and strangely.
Bottom line: This game sucks!!! The battles are unexciting and stale, the exploration is dull and limited, anyway, the treasure chests don't add to anything but decoration, the sound and music aren't that great, there are no puzzles or strategy whatsoever, no boss battles and it freezes up. At one point, it seemed like a great idea to be able to control all nine members of the fellowship during combat, but it doesn't add to the excitement. It merely adds to the tedium, because you have to go through each one to make their mark. Is it ironic that Betrayal at Krondor is a better Lord of the Rings game than Lord of the Rings? Well this version is terrible anyway, which is really sad when you think how easy it would be for this story to be turned into game. And that is the bad rpg.
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