Azurik had potential but, unfortunately, falls short.

User Rating: 6.5 | Azurik: Rise of Perathia XBOX
This game has several very negatice aspects. From the get-go, the cut scenes are cringingly awful and laughably pathetic. After watching a few minutes worth of opening, however, the game simply begins. Every once in a while you will find a pad giving a helpful hint, but for the most part you're on your own. After only a few minutes into this game, I got lost and confused, with no apparent goal in mind. This is not only due to the lack of direction, but also how complicated things are. "You need to get this to get this so you can reach that and get this" and so on.

However, Azurik did have potential. After finding an amazing walkthrough online, I did continue with my journey and actually get into it. There were just some things no one would ever think of. "Oh, yeah, I'll just jump into this giant spinning water-wheel to be carried to a whole new world." With direction, though, this game is decently fun. The worlds are big and at many points pretty, and the platforming elements aren't bad. You must work too hard to reach these parts, however.

Once you get some idea of where you're going, there really is only one glaring problem: the combat. The enemies take much too long to kill unless you use their weakness. Unfortunately, your powers are limited so this is not always an option. To add to this frustration, the enmies are everywhere. You'll develop a very negative reaction to seeing groups of enemies because they will gang up on you.

Despite all of its shortcomings, I can't say Azurik is as bad as many people claim it is. It's very unique in that the whole point is to figure out what to do. You just explore the massive enviroments and gain new powers to gain new power, etc. If puzzles are your thing, then there is a reason to give this game a shot.