Gave me a crippling fear of opening doors, 10/10
Elminage Gothic is Wizardry at arguably its most brutal. Every dungeon is more vicious than the last, and there are a good number of dungeons here, even more in postgame. Some of them, like [spoiler]Igdra Underground Church, Uhlm Zakir Hall, and Soldier of the Giant Gods[/spoiler] are pure hell; you’ll come out of them exhausted, even somewhat changed as a player. There’s no dopamine rush here, only relief that you’ve survived to the end.
Visually, the dungeons are stark—little more than a couple textures repeated endlessly. One that I can think of changes it up after a couple floors, but then the new textures repeat for the rest of the dungeon. There’s a bit of furniture, a couple puzzles, and a few fixed events here and there, but for the most part you’ll be staring at unchanging corridors for hours. You’d be fair to call it lazy design, but I think it adds to the brutality. There’s little relief in sight, and the only thing you’re promised is more monsters.
And the monsters. Oh, these monsters. They start off normal enough for a fantasy RPG: slimes and rogues and goblins and the like. But as you press further, they become more and more deranged: towering dolls, bishops in bondage gear, rocking-horse dullahans riding on scythe blades, Easter Island statues, crucified women in coffins bleeding from their eyes, massive eldritch horrors you’d never think someone would commit to paper. They are terrifying, psychotic, and absolutely beautiful. They are also varied in their attacks and abilities, so you’re constantly figuring out how to best deploy your limited resources to keep your party alive. Every new monster you encounter can give you pangs of dread: how do I handle THIS one now?
This ♥♥♥♥ should not be fun, but I couldn’t put it down. More than anything I’ve played, it gives me a sense of danger; of being in places you should not be, facing things no one should face, surviving what no one should. It’s a unique experience, even among classically inspired DRPGs. If you’re the type of lunatic this appeals to, it’s worth picking up—cheap at full price, an even better deal on sale.
