Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is a fantasy action RPG where players lead a customizable party of four characters through the cursed Forbidden Land of Foresia. Once ruled by twelve Wisemen, the land has become overrun by demons and monsters that drop valuable items when defeated. With tactical character creation influencing abilities and behaviors, adventurers must cleanse the realm of evil in single-player or cooperative two-player mode.

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest: Review

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest, released in 1998, stands as a curious artifact in the annals of video game history. Developed by T&E Soft, this action RPG was an ambitious attempt to blend hack-and-slash mechanics with deep character customization and a rich fantasy setting. However, its legacy is marred by a litany of technical and design flaws that have left it largely forgotten. This review aims to dissect the game’s development, narrative, gameplay, and reception to provide a comprehensive understanding of its place in gaming history.

Introduction

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest was released at a pivotal moment in gaming history, when the PlayStation was dominating the console market and PC gaming was on the cusp of a revolution. The game’s developers, T&E Soft, sought to create an experience that would appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers, offering a blend of action and role-playing elements. However, the final product fell short of expectations, leaving a mixed legacy that is worth examining in detail. This review will argue that despite its innovative concepts, Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is ultimately a flawed and forgettable title that failed to live up to its potential.

Development History & Context

The Studio

T&E Soft, Inc. was a Japanese game development studio known for its innovative and often experimental titles. Founded in the early 1990s, the studio was responsible for a variety of games across different genres, but it was particularly noted for its work in the action RPG space. Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest was one of their more ambitious projects, aiming to push the boundaries of what was possible on the PlayStation hardware.

The Creators’ Vision

The creators of Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest envisioned a game that would combine the best elements of action and RPG genres. They wanted to offer players a deep character customization system, allowing them to define not just the appearance but also the behavior and abilities of their characters. This level of customization was relatively rare in the late 1990s, and it was a bold move by T&E Soft to incorporate it into an action RPG.

Technological Constraints

The PlayStation, while powerful for its time, had its limitations. The developers had to work within the constraints of the hardware, which meant compromises in graphics, sound, and performance. Despite these challenges, T&E Soft aimed to create a visually impressive game with detailed 3D environments and characters. However, the final product suffered from numerous technical issues, including poor collision detection, clunky controls, and subpar graphics.

The Gaming Landscape

In 1998, the gaming landscape was dominated by a few key titles and franchises. The PlayStation was the console of choice for many gamers, with titles like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid setting the standard for what a console RPG could be. On the PC, games like Diablo and Baldur’s Gate were pushing the boundaries of what was possible in terms of graphics, sound, and gameplay. Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest had to compete with these titans, and unfortunately, it fell short in almost every category.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Plot

The story of Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest revolves around a group of adventurers who discover an ancient lithograph during their travels. This artifact is said to be very valuable, and the adventurers set out to verify its authenticity. To do so, they must venture into various dungeons to collect magical gems that fit into the lithograph. The lithograph, when united with these gems, is said to impart great power to its wielder. The adventurers hope that by reuniting these treasures, they will prove the authenticity of the artifact and gain the power it holds.

Characters

The game allows players to create their own party of four characters, each with one of eight available classes. These classes include traditional fantasy archetypes such as elves, dwarves, sorcerers, and rogues. Players can also choose the sex of each character, adding a layer of customization that was relatively rare at the time. However, the characters themselves are largely interchangeable, and the game does little to differentiate them beyond their initial class and appearance.

Dialogue & Themes

The dialogue in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is often laughably bad, with numerous translation errors and awkward phrasing. This is a shame, as the game’s themes of adventure, discovery, and the struggle against evil have the potential to be engaging. However, the poor execution of the dialogue and the lackluster narrative make it difficult to invest in the story or the characters.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Core Gameplay Loop

The core gameplay loop of Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest involves exploring dungeons, fighting monsters, and solving puzzles. Players control a party of four characters, with one designated as the leader. The leader is the only character that the player can directly control, while the others follow behind and assist in battle. This setup is reminiscent of games like The Secret of Mana, but it suffers from numerous flaws.

Combat

Combat in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is clunky and unengaging. The game’s poor collision detection means that players can often walk right through enemies, and the lack of variety in attacks makes battles feel repetitive. Each character has only one type of attack, and the few special abilities available are not interesting to use. Magic spells are particularly underwhelming, with poor visual effects and difficult-to-use interfaces.

Character Progression

Character progression is one of the few bright spots in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest. Players can assign bonus points to their characters’ attributes, and as they gain levels, they can further customize their abilities. However, the game’s fast leveling system means that progression feels trivial and unexciting. Enemies also respawn quickly, allowing players to grind levels in one place without having to progress through the game.

UI & Controls

The user interface and controls in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest are cumbersome and confusing. The game’s manual is inexplicably difficult to understand, and the interface itself is not intuitive. Players often find themselves struggling to navigate menus and perform basic actions, which detracts from the overall experience.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Setting

The game’s setting is a fantasy world filled with dungeons, monsters, and traps. The Forbidden Land, formerly known as Foresia, is the primary location where the game takes place. This land is inhabited by monsters and demons, and it is up to the players to deliver it from evil. The world-building in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is serviceable but uninspired, with few memorable locations or moments.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is largely lacking. The game’s dark and dreary environments are not offset by any sense of wonder or discovery. The music and sound effects are repetitive and forgettable, doing little to enhance the game’s mood. The overall aesthetic is one of mediocrity, with few standout moments.

Visual Direction

The visual direction of Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is one of its most significant flaws. The game’s graphics are crude and uninspired, with simple polygonal geometry and flat, plain texture maps. The characters and creatures are often difficult to discern, and the environments are bland and uninteresting. The game’s anime-inspired style does little to save it from its technical shortcomings.

Sound Design

The sound design in Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is equally lacking. The game’s soundtrack is repetitive and forgettable, with few memorable themes. The sound effects are equally uninspired, with little variation or depth. The laughably mistranslated dialogue text is a particular low point, adding to the game’s overall sense of amateurishness.

Reception & Legacy

Critical Reception

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest received largely negative reviews upon its release. Critics praised the game’s character customization system and multiplayer capabilities but slammed its poor graphics, clunky controls, and unengaging gameplay. The game’s fast leveling system and repetitive combat were also major points of criticism. Despite its few bright spots, Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest was largely seen as a missed opportunity.

Commercial Reception

Commercially, Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest was a failure. The game sold poorly and failed to make a significant impact on the market. Its lackluster reception and technical flaws ensured that it would be quickly forgotten by most gamers.

Influence

Despite its flaws, Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest had a small but dedicated following. The game’s character customization system and multiplayer capabilities were seen as innovative for their time, and some players appreciated the game’s unique blend of action and RPG elements. However, the game’s legacy is largely overshadowed by its technical and design flaws.

Conclusion

Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is a game that had the potential to be something special but ultimately fell short. Its innovative character customization system and multiplayer capabilities were ahead of their time, but the game’s numerous technical and design flaws ensured that it would be largely forgotten. The game’s poor graphics, clunky controls, and unengaging gameplay make it a difficult experience to recommend, even to fans of the genre. In the end, Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest is a curious artifact of gaming history, a reminder of a time when developers were pushing the boundaries of what was possible but sometimes fell short. Its place in video game history is secure, but it is unlikely to be remembered fondly by many.