The God Slayer

Crystalis was an Action RPG released by SNK in the United States in 1990, it was renamed from the Japanese title "God Slayer" and it had science fiction incorporated elements and themes set in a dystopian future where a hero from the past awakens to defend it from those who would use a terrible power to enslave it.

The story is set 100 years after a terrible cataclysm takes place in the year 1990 within the game's history, something that comes as amusing being that was the year it was released. Surely SNK would never think that if you started playing the game you would inadvertently ignite apocalypse. After a very depressing and nicely detailed intro we come to the title screen to start the adventure. The hero which you are assigned to name wakes up from his cryogenic slumber and is immediately thrown into the prophecy of destroying the evil that would plague the new world once again without any other explanation. That's rough.

The game itself borrowed elements from some Anime like Nausicaa of the Valley of The wind where you fight a gigantic worm-like creature that resembles those featured in that Anime film, as well as a battle system akin to what could be compared to The Legend of Zelda for the same system, walking on a world full of monsters while acquiring items that will help you make progress where otherwise you would not be able to pass through.

The sword you use is also the sole item you can be equipped and upgraded with elemental powers to battle your way as well. On your way you encounter villains who plot to conquer the surviving world and plan to raise the floating tower which is said to contain power enough to destroy the world. The hero ultimately faces off in said tower, destroying its core and bringing peace once again, along with him adapting to this dystopian future along with a lady on his side.

In Japan it was known as God Slayer, which comes as curious being that in the English translation does not mention anything about gods, although probably the tower was referred as a place of such. The American commercial featured an amusing set up of the actor playing the hero fending off against a gorgon like character and then gets turned into a statue as she laughs evilly while the title of the game appears at the end. This really just added the despair of the world its set in my opinion.

Crystalis was given a GameBoy port, but was poorly received due to some changes that made gameplay quite more difficult to muster plus the story would be changed to a point where the last boss was said evil overlord who tried to get the tower instead of the AI you had to shut down in the final battle.

Crystalis was a title which it felt like you could finish on pretty fast although the opposite is quite the case. Most often than not it was more like a fetching quest type of game and patience would led you to conquer some enemies which would not be even touched unless you were of a higher level and with the proper sword power-up equipped. It is however a fantastic sci fi adventure which was one of a few unique titles for the NES when it was released.

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	overdrive - February 20, 2019 (01:29 PM) When I first played this game, I loved it; but when I played it a few years back, it was kind of a chore. Part of that was the stuff you mention in the last paragraph: some of those fetch-style quests like the one where you have to run all over the one town and castle talking to people to find which one is the queen or king AND those times I'd have to run around a big field killing enemies until I got a couple levels to make enemies manageable (not as bad as NES Willow got at the end, but still a grind). But for me, the worst offender was how poorly the sword system aged. There were times where it felt I was spending as much time in menus swapping one sword for another as I was actually using those swords. Just a limitation of the system and its controls, as even if it'd been on the SNES, they could have used the shoulder buttons to switch between weapons without going to a menu. But with the NES, you had to switch via the menu and in dungeons where everything wasn't vulnerable to the same weapon, that was a hassle.
	CptRetroBlue - February 21, 2019 (01:33 PM) Indeed, Crystalis seemed to be a bit ahead of its time with said game controls and menus, if anyone ever tries bringing it back as a remake, I do hope it has the same menu as Phantasy STar Online games where you can hold down a menu and just cycle through it until you choose what you need or similar as you said. I think if it were to be brought back it would work better as an Android title really.
	Masters - February 22, 2019 (07:09 AM) I always wanted to try this game, The Adventure of Link, and Castle of Olympus. I digged the aesthetic the NES 'quest' games showed off. I rather enjoyed Astyanax (more of a hack and slasher, I know) and Faxanadu (criminally underrated!).
	overdrive - February 22, 2019 (10:48 AM) Faxanadu is one of my personal NES favorites. When I bought it, I think I beat it over and over for probably 3 months. Going that long without begging for a new game probably had my parents freaked out in that "He must have gotten tired of games if he isn't asking for more of them...wait a minute, then what is he doing in his room all day, then?!?!?!"