Orphen: Scion Of Sorcery

Overall: C
Violence: B-
Sexual Content: A
Language: B
Drugs/Alcohol: A

Platform reviewed: Sony Playstation 2
Publisher: Activision
ESRB rating: T

One of the benefits of Sony's new PlayStation 2 is its ability to accept both CD-Rom and DVD-Rom based games. With videogame developers wanting to include more photo-realistic images, video, and movie clips, the approximately 600 megabyte capacity of a standard CD (once considered huge) just doesn't measure up to the gigabytes of information a DVD-Rom can hold.

PlayStation 2's Orphen (an action / role-playing game) introduces the DVD-Rom format in this new capacity. According to the promotional material, you can play as one of six people in the cast, including Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, the star of a Japanese comic book and animation series. I'm not familiar with this anime (the term used for Japanese animation), but my research indicates Orphen is a powerful but careless and lazy sorcerer who believes being a hero is too much work. After an hour or so with this title, I can't say I disagree with him.

Beginning with a movie scene that resembles the stilted style of anime, Orphen (who has given up sorcery for an easier career as a moneylender) and his friends hop aboard a ship headed for the lucrative city of Arvanrama. But as videogame luck would have it, a storm rages and sea monsters begin attacking the boat, eventually leaving the group castaways on Chaos Island. With time on their hands, they set off to explore the uncharted land.

While this sounds great, in reality Orphen may be a very different experience. Most of the DVD-Rom's increased capacity accommodates large sections of spoken information, so not much reading is required as you move through the game. This talkative guidance was helpful, but the animated movie sequences that begin every few steps were only fun for the first few scenes. After that, I simply yearned to have more control of what was going on.

The battle mode was even more frustrating. When faced with a giant crab that broke through the ship's wall, my only choices were a sword, some sort of lightening bolt, or a fiery blast. As Mr. Crab waddled across the gaping hole like a duck in a shooting gallery, I struggled with the confusing and clumsy targeting system. Although I managed to blast off various "bites of lightening," I quickly became crab hors d'oeuvres. Smarter on my second attempt, I used my shield to ward off the rock-hurtling crustacean, and my trusty sword to finally bring him down. Yet even then I had that "lost in a movie" feeling and wondered if any of my button pressing had any consequence.

During a later battle with a sea serpent, the fancy graphics--including an underwater camera angle showing the creature preparing for another fly-by attack--simply became another hindrance to conquering my foe. With my memory card still on order I was unable to save my progress and never did set foot on Chaos... although I felt like I had experienced a taste of it.

In the small section of the game I did see, a few minor profanities were present. Parents should also note that according to the package, the game has been given a T-rating because of violence. What I witnessed was more fantasy than gore, but I suspect the portions of the game I did not see will contain more objectionable depictions that the enhanced graphics may make even more realistic. Considering the hefty price tag on PlayStation 2 software, and the awkward playability of this title, you may want to leave this Orphen to find another home.

Rod Gustafson

If you're interested in other Fantasy/Adventure games, check out our review of Nintendo's Shadowgate 64.

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