A Treasure Lost in Japan

Recently, I've decided to delve further into the SNES' depressingly staggering list of RPGs trapped in the land of the rising sun. Enter Rudra no Hihou, or Treasure of the Rudras.

This game was, as you can see by the little logo on the bottom left, made by Squaresoft in their prime. Released in 1996, it was one of the last titles to ever be released on the Super Famicom. This resulted in the game being very pretty, with good looking spritework and stellar animations. The in-game art style is something of a mix between the smaller, chibi characters of Final Fantasy V and their slightly taller, more detailed counterparts in Final Fantasy VI.

This is what the field will generally look like.

These are battles.

In Rudras, words are power. See that gibberish on the bottom of the battle screen? That's a spell. Spells in this game are literally written, or enscribed, in a spellbook you access from the menu. Certain words mean certain elements - Tou is thunder, and Aqu is water, for example. Prefixes or suffixes can be added for extra affect. Youtou will be a slightly stronger thunder spell. Touna will target everyone. Likewise, Youtouna will be a stronger version of Touna.

And don't think that it ends with set prefixes and suffixes - you can get several variations on spells depending on what you use. How do you learn what words to use? Simple. You discover them throughout the world, from hearsay and hidden in drawers. You can experiment on your own. Or you can look it up on the internet, but I doubt that was the original intention.

Interestingly enough, if you put in CHUCKNORRIS, you get a super powerful 45 MP Holy spell. If you put in CAMELOT, you get a really cool lightning spell that looks like a golden pyramid. This means that there must be an algorithm to the wordplay I don't understand, because it looks like you can fool around and put anything you want in there, and sometimes get something really awesome out of it. Everything you put in results in something, even if it's a low level Void spell (which many random combinations are). The mantra system, as it's called, is incredibly unique.

Of course, the game has the typical equipment upgrade cycle of other RPGs, as well. The battle system is basically Final Fantasy's ATB set on wait mode (at least by default) with the mantra system replacing a more typical magic system.

The story is good, but not great. Every 4,000 years, something called a Rudra awakens and destroys the dominant race of its time. By the time the game starts, this has already happened four times.

Four races were wiped out, or close to it, and now, it's almost the humans' turn. Uh-oh.

There's a heavy mix of technology and medieval themes to the story, which Square seemed to be particularly fond of during this era. It reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy VI in this regard, with a heavier emphasis on the technology part. There's an overarching narrative about the world being insanely polluted and humans destroying the earth on their own, which is pretty cool.

What elevates it beyond good is that there are four stories, three of which are playable. The four main characters of Sion, Surlent, Riza and Dune all end up with something called a Jade, a crystal marking them as chosen ones to end the constant cycle of destruction that occurs every 4,000 years. The world is going to end in 16 days, and you play through Sion, Surlent, and Riza's stories as they lead up to the coming of Armageddon, Ragnarok, the apocalypse, or whatever else you want to call it.

Sion,

Surlent,

Riza,

and Dune.

Dune is an interesting offshoot of this idea, being a jadebearer in which you name along with the others, but not being playable. In fact, he's generally antagonistic towards the others.

Dune also has a companion named Cid. (I told you this was a secret Final Fantasy game). The two of them are essentially petty thieves who constantly get in everyone's way.

As for the three playable leads, each scenario has its own director, leaving each character's story with its own style of writing, mood, tone, and atmosphere. This is especially appealing because they do share a world and interact with each other, with stories affecting the other characters depending on actions you take. The world is both unique and unified.

Each story feeling so thematically different from the others does the game more good than harm, as changing the lens through which you see the world should rightly make it seem very different. The overarching plot also fits together nicely, which is impressive.

Sion has a very typical JRPG story, with tournaments, sky islands, lost childhood friends and kings to serve. Surlent is an archaeologist who seeks knowledge, and his game feels the most unique - without going into spoilers, it takes some very creative turns and doesn't rely on tropes for any of its characters or plot points. Riza is the chosen one, a priestess meant to save the world. Each character also gets their own music, from world map themes to battle themes.

Speaking of the music, it's awesome!

I don't know what else to say other than that it has some of my favorite peaceful town music since Star Ocean 2, and some killer dungeon themes. My only complaint is that it starts over after every battle, so you end up hearing the beginning of each theme more than the rest. A lot more.

I haven't finished the game yet. I'm about halfway through each character's story. My major complaint with the game is that it throws you some very heavy difficulty spikes as it goes on, with bosses becoming impossible to defeat without fooling around with the mantra system. Grinding also seems necessary at times.

Overall, I'm really enjoying it, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed other Squaresoft games during the SNES era.