Virtual Hydlide is a terrible RPG in every sense.
The only redeeming qualities of this game is the small load times, and the similarities to Zelda, but even then, it's still a crappy Zelda clone.
----------Battle System----------
Virtual Hydlide is a 3rd Person hack and slasher. Your hero can block with the A button, attack with the B button and have a high slashing attack with the C button. If you combine the B and the C button will create a special attack depending on the weapon he is holding at the time. Some swords will create a fencing like stab at an enemy, while others will shoot out fireballs.
There's no experience in the game, but the hero does gain points after killing enemies, finishing quests or picking up gold. If you find a special red crystal on the world map, then you can buy stuff with these points, but you can't sell stuff back. One of the few cool things within this game is how you can drop an item on the ground and it will ALWAYS be there no matter what. This is kinda useful since the game features a "weight limit" on items that your character can carry. If you carry to much then you'll eventually have to drop some stuff.
There's only about 4 boss battles in the game (Vampire, Dragon, Mage and Final boss). You'll have the re-fight some towards the end though.
There's barely any monsters on the world map, and the ones that are on it can easily be disposed of. You can run across the world in about 2 minutes without getting hurt. The dungeons can give you trouble though because some require a certain piece of armor or weapon or just alot of healing/restoring items to get through with ease.
After you have completed a task, then you gain a level (kinda like Zelda). Your hero's max HP will go up 100 points, and his strength and defense will go up 10 points. Quests are easy to find and do if you follow the map on the easy setting.
----------Characters / Story----------
The game starts off with a FMV of a princess and some magic bubble that splits her into some fairies, and then the game starts. It makes no sense at all. There's no dialog in the game, the only text you'll read is signs scattered on the world map and in some dungeons. We never see the face of the main character either, just the back of his head or maybe his side. The game ends are abruptly and absurdly as it started.
----------Graphics----------
The graphics are very rough 3D game for the Saturn. The game starts and ends with a full motion video of an actress "acting" in front of a green screen with the graphics added behind her. The main character is a digital real life character similar to those of Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter the Movie the Game, but much much worse (considering it's 3D). Not exactly on a King's Field, Descent or Doom level of graphics here, which is saying alot. The only positive thing I can think of is the loading times, they're very short.
----------Sound----------
Ok, the music was actually good, it wasn't great, but actually good. The voice work in this game is hilarious though. The only time you get any voice work is before a boss fight with a humanoid character, they just mumble random gibberish.
----------World Map----------
The game randomly generates a world map, or you can type in a code to generate it yourself, but it's still pretty random. The dungeons are also randomly generated but you have to fight through the dungeons in the same order and all the main points inside of the dungeons are the same each time. So what's the point of randomly generating the world map and dungeons? I have no idea.
If you play the game on easy, like I did, then the game will point out each quest right on the map with a large X and a line directing you to the fast direction. If you play it on hard then you have no hints on what to do next.
----------Time to Complete Game----------
2:33:32
The game was short, the ending was stupid, the end.