Name: Gadyurin (ガデュリン)
Type: Science Fiction RPG
Available Languages: Japanese
Ladies and gentlemen, once again we visit the Super
Famicom! Today’s game came to me entirely by coincidence. During a conversation
with a fellow retro gamer and friend who loves the SNES, I was asked a question
that I had no answer to. “What do you think of Gdleen?” To my intense
embarrassment, I had never played it, even though it has the distinction of
being the first Super Famicom RPG. This needed to be rectified, both to answer
my friend’s question and to soothe my bruised ego. So three days later and six
dollars lighter, I found myself in possession of a slightly used ‘Gadyurin’
cartridge. I will be calling it Gadyurin from here on out, because Gadyurin is
the name on the cartridge and ‘Gdleen’ just looks strange to me. From the bit
of pre-game research that I’ve done, Gadyurin is based on an anime that is
based on a series of light novels. Hopefully this doesn’t require any prior
knowledge of the series, as I’m quite the fish out of water here. But RPGs are
supposed to be an adventure, so let the fun commence!
We start the game as the hero Ryuu, who has just had
the misfortune of crash-landing on a strange planet. Several websites tell me
that his name is Ryu-n, but the game and the Japanese websites that I’ve looked
at say Ryuu, so that’s what I’m going with. After removing himself from his
escape pod, Ryuu grabs his gear, including a laser gun, and heads out to find a
way back home to Earth. It appears that we have landed in a place called the
Forest of Rurua, but as that information means nothing to me, I suppose that we
should keep exploring. Thankfully, the pod will allow Ryuu to rest as needed,
so the all-important level grind can now come into effect.
Once he is less likely to die, it’s time to take
Ryuu onward through the forest, past a disturbingly still river, to the Water
Shrine’s Ruins. There is a grave keeper here, and he’s as full of doom and
gloom as you could wish. Apparently this place used to be a bastion of strength
against monsters, but lately they’ve found their way inside. So let’s head
right in! I want to find this Taranto boss monster that he sounds so frightened
of. I’ve spent enough time shooting lasers at mooks. After catching up with the
local humanoids and looting their stuff, Ryuu heads out to perform some amateur
heroics. He really doesn’t have much of a choice, as Taranto is between us and
our destination.
I’m surprised at how much this game holds your hand
as you progress. There are healers everywhere, it seems. First the space pod,
then two healers in quick succession in the shrine. Either they’re trying to
lull me into a false sense of security, or this is one of the easiest JRPGs
ever made. Given prior experience, I’m going with the former until proven
wrong. Taranto, as the name indicates, is a giant spider. Anyone who knows me
well is aware that I have a severe case of arachnophobia, so this thing has got
to go. With big red eyes, eight spikey toed legs, and a methodically munching
fanged maw, Taranto is 16 bit nightmare fuel. It hits surprisingly hard and can
poison you, giving proof to my earlier claim that this game appeared to be way
too easy.
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| Taranto in all his spindly nastiness. |
Once Taranto has been squished, and the creepy
crawly feeling has passed, it’s time to take Ryuu further through the bowels of
the shrine. After passing yet another healer and leaving through a horribly
ugly courtyard, we find ourselves on the other side of the disturbingly still
river. Apparently we couldn’t just ford our way across it. After covering
another section of the Forest of Rurua, we run across an even more disturbingly
still waterfall and, after a bit of searching, find Fana’s Spring. There we run
smack dab into a cut-scene with a naked girl with fairy wings, who turns toward
the protagonist with the camera cutting away at the last moment to taunt the
audience. It seems that she speaks a different language than Ryuu, but can use
a ring that she possesses to communicate with him. Surprisingly, she seems to
be perfectly find with being buck naked in front of a strange man, and even
hugs him. Turns out she wants in on our little quest and so becomes our next
party member who, coincidentally, bears the name Fana. Lucky you, Ryuu. So
Ryuu’s journey through this strange world continues, and so far I am satisfied
with it. After all, it’s not every day that I get to kill a giant spider with a
laser.
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| Fana seems quite comfortable in her own skin. |
The battle system is your classic first person view
turn-based system, with options to attack, run, use items, use special attacks,
and defend. What is interesting is that this game also has a command that
allows you to talk to the enemy, during which you can use one of several
options in order to try to win them over to your side. You can tempt them with
items, gems, and gold, or try to coerce them with your words. It’s surprisingly
complex.
This game looks much better than I had anticipated.
I was frankly shocked at how nice the appearance was in comparison to several
other games of this era that I have played. I don’t know whether that says more
about Gadyurin or about the companies who didn’t utilize the Super Famicom’s potential
as a system. It’s not a visual marvel in any sense, but it passes muster for
1991. That being said, the mapping in some scenes was rather uninspired, and
the character’s slow gait made getting around feel like an eternity. But to
balance that out, there were a few enemy designs, such as Nemuri Hime, that I
absolutely adored. The cut-scene with Fana, all subtext aside, was nicely done
as well. Some of the music in this game is really catchy too, and I found
myself stopping to listen to it more than once. Gadyurin, like many games of its
era, was written in furigana, so it’s a great game for beginning learners of
Japanese to start out with.
When all is said and done, I like Gadyurin. It was
worth the investment of time, and certainly was a good place to drop six bucks.
I had, of course, heard of this game before, but probably wouldn’t have gotten
around to it for years if it wasn’t for the mention given to it by my friend.
While he goes unnamed in this post, I want to thank him for giving me the push,
intentional or otherwise, to play this game. I’ve truly enjoyed it, and I hope
that this in some way answers his question. My quest through Gadyurin will most
certainly be continuing.
If you feel like hearing more of my
gaming prattle, feel free to follow me on Twitter. You can find me at @bejiita_buruma
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