Game Review - originally written by (wraith)

Alright. First things first. This is not a Seiken Densetsu (”Secret of Mana”) game. Yes, it says Seiken in the title, but that does not make it Seiken Densetsu. Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way…

Seiken Psycho Calibur is a Zelda clone for the Famicom Disk System (Hence, you need Famtasia or fwNes to emulate this game). It's your classic over-head view hack and slash adventure. It's pretty decent, but it lacks the character of Zelda. And it tries so hard to be like Zelda, too. The play mechanics are like Zelda, the enemies seem like something out of Zelda, even the screen scrolls EXACTLY like it does in Zelda. But the plot isn't that very interesting … there's no hook. Sure, there's this Demon-thing trying to take over the country. But the situation doesn't seem all that desperate, and the side quests just don't have much to draw you into the game. Where's my MOTIVATION, dammit!?!?

But, my opinion is being swayed by the likes of Final Fantasy IX and Shen Mue, so it may be a bit loaded right now. No. It IS a bit loaded. There's definitely no maybe involved.

(editor's note: the mentions of early NES emulators Famtasia and fwNES, as well as mentioning Final Fantasy IX and "Shen Mue" as current games, dates this review to before 9/11 happened! wow!)