Dual Orb 2 (SNES) review "The medical world of today is a quickly progressing community. New cures for a large variety of illnesses are discovered each day, but sometimes the vast number of different diseases is overwhelming. Once a person thinks about it however, why should we try to defeat all these different diseases? We have to draw a line somewhere. Cure common illnesses? Sure, no problem with that. Solve the issue of malnutrition in third-world countries? I’m up for that. Try to extend the average life span? I’m al..."

The medical world of today is a quickly progressing community. New cures for a large variety of illnesses are discovered each day, but sometimes the vast number of different diseases is overwhelming. Once a person thinks about it however, why should we try to defeat all these different diseases? We have to draw a line somewhere. Cure common illnesses? Sure, no problem with that. Solve the issue of malnutrition in third-world countries? I’m up for that. Try to extend the average life span? I’m all for that.

But once we try to defeat death itself, then we move away from a realistic and moral goal. Death is something that must happen; to even try to stop it would cause disaster of gigantic proportions.

Such is the focus of Dual Orb 2. Millennia ago, a highly evolved scientific civilization tried to harness the power of an artifact known as the Orb able to control life itself, in order to defeat death. The inevitable result was the civilization’s downfall, putting the world on the brink of destruction. The survivors of the devastation decided to seal the Orb away, making sure it could only be obtained by a person who held three gems.

Years later, friends Lagnus and Aleth, Prince and soon-to-be High Priest of Garade respectively, are requested to take a journey to the nearby town of Saleth. It is here that they discover a young goddess named Serra whom is suffering from amnesia, and the first of three gems. Coming back to Garade, they find it destroyed by the Kardosa Empire, a military nation hell-bent on conquering the world through the use of the Orb. Thus begins an epic story containing plot twists and betrayals a-plenty.

You’ll find the story rewarding if and only if you manage to complete the game. This is because every two steps you take will occur in a hard battle. While nowhere near the difficulty of 7th Saga, Dual Orb 2 is annoying. You’ll be required to level up six times on a paltry amount of experience per battle before tackling another dungeon. Thankfully, the fighting is simple.

In battle, you have your classic Attack, Defend, and Items. A fourth slot is the individual character’s special ability, such as Song for Cassius the Bard, or Stab for Karina the swordswoman. Something of note with the magic-using characters is that you ACTUALLY see a difference when you use status-changing spells.

Another thing is how weapons work. Instead of just buying new weapons, you can also take your weapon to the blacksmith and level it up. Eventually, the weapon will turn into a new super-weapon with even greater strength. However, costs soon begin to get hefty, as the fee to level up your weapon doubles each time you get it reforged.

One is quite right to wonder whether Dual Orb 2 was released before or after Final Fantasy VI, as the graphics are relatively the same, and the overworld graphics look EXACTLY the same. Being released later though, this game ripped off Final Fantasy VI’s overworld and background graphics. In terms of character models however, the characters look neater, with better lighting and texture.

I’m amused at how superior sleeper hit music is to the sound of well-known games. Dual Orb 2 has no shortage of good music, from the three catchy tracks of saddening music, to the endgame music that gets you hyped up for the after-game scenes, to the exhilarating boss music.

Dual Orb 2 isn’t just a game. It makes a person muse over life itself, and where we should stop trying to better our quality of life. It’s a game that certainly has better philosophy than Black and White, and perhaps that’s why it was never released in America.

Community review by yamishuryou (October 16, 2004) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.