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vCheats.com - Baroque
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List Price: $39.99
Our Price: $19.49
Your Save: $ 20.50 ( 51% )
Average Customer Rating:  
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Atlus Video Games
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20
Amazon Minimum Age: 144
Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Atlus
EAN: 0730865530250
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Feature: Hardcore dungeon crawling RPG action
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Atlus Video Games
Manufacturer: Atlus Video Games
Model: BA-53025-0
Platform: PlayStation2
Publisher: Atlus Video Games
Release Date: 2008-04-08
Studio: Atlus Video Games
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Features
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Hardcore dungeon crawling RPG action
Many ever changing levels and perverse monsters
each time your character dies more secrets are revealed
deep customization options with vast amounts of weapons
aquire powerful stat boosting parasites to multiply their potency
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not A Game For Everyone,
Comment: Oh dear, what to say about this game...The cover is really cool o_0 But seriously this game is geared toward a VERY specific group here. It is a dungeon crawler, and when you die, say goodbye to all your items, weapons etc.. Part of the game is to die in order to reveal more story. Not my favorite. Not recommended for newer gamers/those new to dungeon crawlers as this game will kick you down and laugh at you as your on the floor crying
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not really my thing, but...
Comment: Baroque is a dungeon-crawler RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world in which you, the main character, have lost your memories, yet have an unexplained feeling of guilt weighing down on your heart.
Dungeon-crawlers aren't really my cup of tea, yet Baroque had a sincere creepiness to it as I descending down into the dungeons. It was enjoyable, and kept me on edge due to the ever-changing dungeon rooms. Every time you entered the tower, it was different.
If you're a fan of games like Diablo, you'll enjoy Baroque. Not my thing, but it may be yours.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Oh, the ways in which I've died...
Comment: Finally, a game for roguelike fans! This game is essentially a Japanese realtime Nethack with a unique storyline -- it's incredibly fun, in a masochistic way. Consequences for dying? Who would have come up with such a thing!
I admit that I was skeptical of this game when I bought it. I've played my share of crappy, run-of-the-mill Japanese RPGs that drag on for hours in endless tedium.
But after having played Baroque for at least 15 hours and having died at least 7 times, my hope for RPGs has been restored! The game is pure anti-tedium. The wealth of randomly discovered items and actions make each attempt like a new game. The rule of thumb is: "Use your items or die!" No point in hoarding!
Sure you lose everything. But when you die, your effort does not go unnoticed... A deterrence from save/reload! (thank you god).
I can see how players can be quickly put off by the bare-essential graphics before they have a chance to unlock the depth of strategy. Anyone who is familiar with the genre knows that graphics are primarily there for reference. The PS2 and Wii versions can both be played in 480p (assuming use of PS3), and the main difference becomes optional widescreen mode and slightly worse controls for Wii.
If you are a fan of roguelike games (Nethack, Toejam & Earl, ADOM, original Diablo) and you keep an open mind about graphics and game direction, then you must buy Baroque. Going into a game store, I now automatically compare all other games to Baroque -- nothing measures up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: throw aside preconceptions, and Baroque becomes a unique and rewarding experience
Comment: Baroque is by no means for everyone, but if one wishes for a bizarre, surreal, and unique experience, Baroque is a good choice.
First, Baroque is actually a remake of an original Sega Saturn release. Baroque's development team, Sting, is probably better known for their Sega Dreamcast series, Evolution, and their more recent offerings on hand-held platforms, including Yggdra Union for the Gameboy Advance. This team is not a large one, and their inexperience with more recent 3-dimensional game systems shows. Often games of this sort are never picked up for an English localization.
Gameplay: From the outset, Baroque is befuddling, as it gives the player no obvious instruction and sends them blindly into the Neuro Tower. The tutorial dungeon is not opened to the player until after his first death or successful decent, and further tutorials are unlocked after further attempts at the Neuro Tower. Baroque is an action-RPG with quite a bit of hidden strategy. Much of the fun comes from devising creative uses of the items one finds while wandering the Tower and planning for future attempts by storing items for later use. One particularly amusing combination of items I found was to use a 'Summon Torturer' followed by an invincibility and experience bone, then boom bones to wipe out every enemy on the level I was on. One must never get too attached to the player character, as he and his inventory reset with each attempt at the Tower. Perhaps the weakest element of the gameplay is the player's attack repertoire, which consists only of a weak combo attack, a fierce attack, and throw options. Still, there have been successful games that have offered less.
Story: The story plays out through dialogs triggered by approaching NPCs and walking into 'Plot Rooms' scattered throughout the Neuro Tower. There is no obvious linear plot, but this is not a Final Fantasy style RPG. All cutscenes and dialog can be reviewed under the database available with each Baroque game save. Some may find the amnesiac lead character trite, but in reference to the story, it is appropriate; everyone in the world of Baroque is fractured in some way, the player's character is just more distorted than he physically appears. Some may be put off by the treatment of a fictitious faith based on Christianity, but one must remember that the developers of Baroque live in a country where people of Judeo-Christian faiths are the minority.
Graphics: The graphics in Baroque are relatively spartan, belying its small budget and small studio origins. Though the bestiary are rendered with a low polygon count, the texture maps are quite detailed, effectively displaying just how horrific the 'Metabeings'/'Grotesques' are. At some points, I wonder just how this game managed to slip by with only a Teen rating, with just how disturbing and provocative some of the monsters are. There are a variety of dungeon themes, some more aesthetically pleasing than others, but all are quite industrial. The environment is limited mostly by the random generation of the dungeon.
Overall, this game is not intuitive or obvious, but that is its challenge and fun. Players are most often shocked and frustrated by the odd mechanics that occasionally encourage strategic deaths. Once one lets go of expectations and actually plays Baroque as it was designed to be played, the game becomes a surreal, nightmarish, and philosophical experience.
Side Note: The artistic term Baroque actually fits this game's aesthetic quite nicely; Baroque period art and literature was known for its drama and grandeur, but is often remembered for being grotesque, horrific, and extreme, as exemplified by Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. The word Baroque is derived from a French term for an irregular or misshapen pearl, which the game's developers applied to the irregular and misshapen beings formed by 'The Blaze'/'The Great Heat'.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun, but very repetitive
Comment: I loved the whole theme of the game. At the start, the game was incredibly fun, but after about 8 hours or so started becoming very repetitive since all you really do is play through the same dungeon over and over. The dungeons are randomly generated the way Diablo I & II dungeons are. Loved the gameplay, sort of didnt like the fact that you had to "start over" at certain points, but I got over that bit. Overall, I would say I initially enjoyed playing it, but I got bored halfway through.
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