Dungeon crawling fun for Dragon Warrior fans.
User Rating: 7.8 | Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibouken 2: Fushigi no Dungeon PS
Torneko: The Last Hope is a game that will only appeal to two types of gamers; fans of Dragon Warrior/Quest and fans of dungeon crawling games like Azure Dreams of Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon. If that's not you, go ahead and find another game to play because there is a very strong likelihood that this game will not appeal to you. If you're one of these two types of gamers or just adventurous and want to try something new, this game might just be for you. Torneko first appeared in North America in Dragon Warrior IV as the merchant Taloon. However in an effort to be true to the spirit of the series, his name was changed back to his Japanese one. In this series Torneko has become a successful merchant, living peacefully with his family in a small kingdom. However a crisis is on the horizon and to prevent an invasion of monsters Torneko must explore various dungeons that are appearing all over the land and find treasures that will put an end to the plotting monsters. The action of TtLH takes place in dungeons where many monsters lie. Inside the dungeons battles will take place but only at speeds you determine. For every step or action you take, the monsters will also get one action. Games like these don't come around too often so the gameplay is unfamiliar to most. However, it only takes about 15 minutes or so to understand it, though mastering it will take several hours. While in the dungeon Torneko will gain levels of experience, but upon exiting he will lose all of it. So in order to thrive in the dungeon you'll need to find powerful swords and shields and upgrade them at every chance. Nostalgic is a great way to describe the game. The graphics are cute enough, but it's pretty clear to see that this game is not stressing the Playstation's processor and it does seem like the game could have been on the Super Nintendo. That's okay though because everything still looks clean and crisp. The music is actually quite good though and several of the tunes in the dungeons are very pleasant to just sit back and listen to. Best of all though many classic Dragon Warrior monsters are found in the dungeons and you'll be battling them in a whole new way. Seeing a slime or a skeleton in the dungeon for the first time will make you break out in a smile and bring back memories of the first time you saw them in early Dragon Warrior games. So overall the game is a lot of fun if you enjoy dungeon crawling games and will especially appeal to Dragon Warrior fans as it continues the history of one of its characters. While the audience for this game may be very particular, it is a solid game and won't leave anyone disappointed. 
