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"Baroque"'s just a dumbed down dungeon crawler
posted by JMichaud (BETHESDA, MD) Apr 12, 2008
Member since Jan 2008
32 out of 38 gamers (84%) found this review helpful
In Baroque, you play as some guy who has amnesia and is stuck in some sort of purgatory world. In order for him to escape and pay for his sins, he has to get to the bottom level in some tower.
It's too bad the game turns this setup into a dumbed down button masher.
Upon starting the game and going through the opening cut scene, I saw some very bad graphics; the scenery is bland and the monsters and other characters you meet are badly rendered.
After going through a training dungeon with a teacher who says "Goddammit" far too often, I headed into the tower.
Every level of the tower is the same: you wander about, beat up monsters by mashing the B button, pick up items and find the steps going down to the next level. Boring!
Most items don't do much and the inventory screen can get very cluttered; I had to throw away item after item to make room in case I found something useful.
Speaking of cluttering up my view, there's the map. It appears right in the middle of the screen and is transparent. This makes it hard for me to read it, so I had to wait for it to become opaque. Only then could I tell what areas of the level I missed.
But waiting about isn't something the game makers want you to do; your health bar goes down every moment that passes, like a timer. This forced me to run about the level searching for bland monsters to beat up so I can restore my health. If I didn't, my character would die and I would have to start the game over again from the beginning.
Amazingly, in order to get more insight to what's going on, this guy you play has to die a few times. But when you die, you have to start all over from the beginning. Going through the game once is frightfully dull. I have no desire to do it a second or a third time. Why can't they develop the story as you go through the tower?
Unless you are hard up for some mind-numbing, ugly, repetitive dungeon crawling action, then you best skip this game.
It's too bad the game turns this setup into a dumbed down button masher.
Upon starting the game and going through the opening cut scene, I saw some very bad graphics; the scenery is bland and the monsters and other characters you meet are badly rendered.
After going through a training dungeon with a teacher who says "Goddammit" far too often, I headed into the tower.
Every level of the tower is the same: you wander about, beat up monsters by mashing the B button, pick up items and find the steps going down to the next level. Boring!
Most items don't do much and the inventory screen can get very cluttered; I had to throw away item after item to make room in case I found something useful.
Speaking of cluttering up my view, there's the map. It appears right in the middle of the screen and is transparent. This makes it hard for me to read it, so I had to wait for it to become opaque. Only then could I tell what areas of the level I missed.
But waiting about isn't something the game makers want you to do; your health bar goes down every moment that passes, like a timer. This forced me to run about the level searching for bland monsters to beat up so I can restore my health. If I didn't, my character would die and I would have to start the game over again from the beginning.
Amazingly, in order to get more insight to what's going on, this guy you play has to die a few times. But when you die, you have to start all over from the beginning. Going through the game once is frightfully dull. I have no desire to do it a second or a third time. Why can't they develop the story as you go through the tower?
Unless you are hard up for some mind-numbing, ugly, repetitive dungeon crawling action, then you best skip this game.
Deja vu all over again... and again
posted by JCDenton (FREEDOM, NH) Aug 5, 2008
Member since Mar 2006
5 out of 6 gamers (83%) found this review helpful
Baroque is so innovative there was no room for the fun. Yes, this game is more a concept than entertainment.
Basically, you play a character who you know nothing about as he is sent through a multi-level dungeon crawl. The innovation: when you die, you lose everything. That's right, as many people have probably told you, dying in this game removes all your items, progress and levels. What many people don't tell you is that, if you do make it to the bottom of the dungeon and fulfill the goal laid out for you, the game gives you a cut scene... and then returns you back to the beginning of the game to start from scratch. Your reward for completing the dungeon: An even larger dungeon for you to crawl through.
Each time you die or succeed (ultimately starting from scratch), the world starts to feed you more information on who you are and what you're supposed to do. Why you should care is never really fleshed out. It pretty much feels like you're Sisyphus, continuing to roll that boulder up a hill, just to fail and start again. Annoying.
This unusual concept might be palatable if the gameplay was interesting, the dungeon original, the story interesting or the objectives clear. Unfortunately, none of these are presented, leaving you with a generic dungeon-crawling hack-n-slasher who's one innovation simply ticks you off.
I assume this game eventually ends and I hope it does for those patient and dedicated enough to play through. The question I have for those players is: why? What point is there to finishing a game that just throws randomized dungeons at you while with no defined objectives and simplistic gameplay?
Playing this game is the digital equivalent of masochism. It's aggravating, agonizing, frustrating, boring, tedious, monotonous... essentially it's "baroquen". Just don't bother.
Basically, you play a character who you know nothing about as he is sent through a multi-level dungeon crawl. The innovation: when you die, you lose everything. That's right, as many people have probably told you, dying in this game removes all your items, progress and levels. What many people don't tell you is that, if you do make it to the bottom of the dungeon and fulfill the goal laid out for you, the game gives you a cut scene... and then returns you back to the beginning of the game to start from scratch. Your reward for completing the dungeon: An even larger dungeon for you to crawl through.
Each time you die or succeed (ultimately starting from scratch), the world starts to feed you more information on who you are and what you're supposed to do. Why you should care is never really fleshed out. It pretty much feels like you're Sisyphus, continuing to roll that boulder up a hill, just to fail and start again. Annoying.
This unusual concept might be palatable if the gameplay was interesting, the dungeon original, the story interesting or the objectives clear. Unfortunately, none of these are presented, leaving you with a generic dungeon-crawling hack-n-slasher who's one innovation simply ticks you off.
I assume this game eventually ends and I hope it does for those patient and dedicated enough to play through. The question I have for those players is: why? What point is there to finishing a game that just throws randomized dungeons at you while with no defined objectives and simplistic gameplay?
Playing this game is the digital equivalent of masochism. It's aggravating, agonizing, frustrating, boring, tedious, monotonous... essentially it's "baroquen". Just don't bother.
Fun, challenging, dark...everything I expected
posted by jjohn2478 (OCEANSIDE, CA) Apr 13, 2008
Member since Feb 2008
5 out of 9 gamers (56%) found this review helpful
I pre-ordered this game and have only played it once since it came yesterday, but I fell in love with it immediately. I eagerly waited for it to come after ordering it weeks ago and in the meantime I looked up every screen shot, video, and review I could find. I wasn't put off by any bad reviews because I knew what the game would be like having played many others like it in the past. Playing the original Rogue throughout my childhood, and loving it even more in adulthood, I knew that Baroque would be exactly what I've been looking for in a Wii game since the console came out. I personally have zero complaints with the controls or graphics and I'm looking forward to enjoying countless hours of game play for years to come. People who own the PS3 or XBOX360 may be put off by the graphics and repetitive nature of the game, but gamers who enjoy Rogue-like RPG's will love it.
What Is the Concept For This Title? AVOID!!!
posted by miko25 (LARGO, FL) Apr 13, 2008
Member since Nov 2004
2 out of 10 gamers (20%) found this review helpful
I never was a fan of RPG's but the trialers made this look awsome' however I was sadly mistaken. The only cool part was the anime intro. All you do is walk around in a few rooms that have flying dead fish and nowhere to go and nothing to do.
I waited 5 days (as usual; despite that Tampa has a
ditribution center) just for 5 minutes of boring gameplay!
I waited 5 days (as usual; despite that Tampa has a
ditribution center) just for 5 minutes of boring gameplay!
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