Yay!Diablo on GBA!
All we have is JRPGs. Final Fantasy, Riviera:The Promised Land, Phantasy Star... Hack-n-slash games on the GBA? Keep dreaming.
THe lord of the rings?Nightmare. Back to stone? I'm sick of it. But, thankfully, people somehow managed to make a good hack-n-slash for the GBA, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance(BG:DA)
I know that BG:DA is just a port of the original game, but I've never play the original. So I'll just tell you what I know. The storyline of BG:DA is average, they're much worse than Diablo II. It's really simple. You were robbed and unconscious, you get help in finding the robbers, you find out that they schemed something evil and you have to go save the world... The storyline isn't good, but at least it have some twists to make you surprise(example: you think a guy is nice but turns out he's evil and you're trapped), the map is not to small and there are a handful of missions for you to handle.
About the missions, they aren't really complicated and there isn't a variety of them. You go somewhere, kill something, you find an item, you rescue someone,... the missions are repetitive(but not frustrating) thanks to the not-so-small map, and the good gameplay and enemy that the game provides.
Just like any other hack-n-slash game, you can choose between different classes to play, each has certain strength and weaknesses. For starters there will be three different classes: Warrior, Wizard, and Archer.(I told you BG:DA is much worse than Diablo because the GBA is weaker than PC, so there aren't as many classes.
Class No.1: Warrior.
Yeah! The mighty warrior! No hack-n-slash game would complete without this character.
The warrior is a great option for all starters. A lot of health, good attack(can deal up to more than 150 damage per hit), can almost block any attacks from the enemy and with a variety of weapon to choose from, warrior is great.
But warrior has weak range attack and could be hard battling some bosses. His speed and flexibility is bad, too.
Class No.2:Wizard.
Just like any other RPGs, the wizard is almost opposite of the warrior. Low HP, weak physical attack, can be killed with just few attacks... but it's flexibility and the ability to do a good long-range attack, plus summoning and negative and positive buff makes it a formidable character, also.
Class No.3:Archer.
Amazon version of BG:DA. A perfect candidate for hit-n-run lovers, but doesn't have any specific strength or weakness.
Faster than fighter, better in physique than wizard but hard to develop in a particular way. It's best for pros.
If you won the game once, you can play as a new class: Elf. Elf combines the strength of all the classes, so I think it's the strongest class.
BG:DA is not a revolutionary RPG, but it did great in retaining the goods of a RPG even when the GBA is not a strong handheld. You move with the D-pad, attack with A, defend with L, perform action with B, use item by using the L,A,B button rapidly. You use R to switch between weapons. The control is great and easy to catch up, although it's a little hard to move and use item rapidly(especially when fighting bosses-because you can't attack, and it's really easy to mistake the buttons.
Now, we talk about the layout of the game. The game, I must say, did an amazing job in creating such a world and keep the player in it. From the city to the forest or the snow mountains, you always finds something unique(mostly monsters) and the missions doesn't get lame because the map is big enough for you to scout around.
The enemy in the game is not dumb,either. I must say, the game developers did a great job in making a good AI. The enemy with come to you recklessly, they know how to make the best out of them. For example, a pack of spiders would try to surround you so you are unable to block, the melee attackers(like the kobolds and the thieves) would try to attack you from behind, and the range attackers(like archers) would hide behind obstacles, run away when you try to approach them.Trust me, if you just blindly attack them,you will never win this game!
Your character is very interesting. You can "modify" your character's look by changing the equipments of your character. But trust me, it isn't easy. You usually get 5-50 golds from monsters, chests,... but good equipments costs 1000-2000 or more golds.And leveling up the characters are hell, too. The character levels up so slow that you can take a nap during that time.
But the character also has great skills and upgrades that can be use "for a greater good". You can increase the number of items you can carry, or making a laser line that increases accuracy, or increase your health regeneration, or increase your damage... That's a variety of upgrades for you character.
Finally, for the game's graphic and sound. Even this is a GBA game, the graphic was done great. The sound was good, too. Play and you will know it.
But the archer=the warrior=the wizard.Yes, the three looks just the same. It sucks eh? I don't like a thin muscle-warrior and a muscle thin-wizard! And the game is way too short.
Besides all of that, the game is awesome!