I've said it countless times and I'll never tire of saying it in my reviews, but The Legend of Zelda saga is one of the most representative, epic, long-lasting and inspiring sagas in the video game industry, and its success over the years is proof of that. From its oldest titles to the most current ones, it has known how to keep alive and improve each of its mechanics, so it's not at all surprising that there have been and even are currently video game developers who took and take inspiration from this great saga when creating their own video games. SEGA, being at one time the opponent of the great Nintendo, had the great Sonic against the plumber Mario, however it didn't have a mascot that could compete with the brave Link, therefore, as well as other video game development companies, seeing the success that the saga The Legend of Zelda had, SEGA decided to create its own, and even though for obvious reasons it wasn't a very well known title, they were able to create a video game that takes many of the main characteristics of The Legend Of Zelda and added some totally different and original ones, thus creating a video game that despite the great similarities is a title with quite a lot of personality and charisma of its own.
Today's Retro Review is about: Soleil.
Soleil or also known as Crusader of Centy, tells us about the adventures of Corona, a brave young man who lives in the town of Soleil and as it is tradition in said I can at the age of 14 should be instructed in the art of fighting with sword, thus being a faithful soldier of the kingdom (something that at present would be considered child abuse), however our protagonist is determined to become a great soldier to defend its people, therefore inherits the sword and shield of his father, who previously was also a soldier, but died in battle.
In the universe of Soleil, like many games of this style and being a title openly inspired by The Legend of Zelda, we are in a medieval and fantasy world, so we will be able to see all kinds of creatures throughout this world and its landscapes. As it is very common in games of this genre, Corona (main character) is going to leave in an adventure to eliminate the evil that is threatening the kingdom and the world. However, at a certain point in the story Corona gains the ability to talk to animals and plants, and even talk to those creatures we thought were our enemies, so that we realize that perhaps some of these so-called beasts, may not be as bad as we thought.
Soleil or Crusader of Centy, maintains many aspects of The Legend of Zelda as I had already mentioned, but also adds others such as the ability of our protagonist to talk to animals, plants and creatures that are always fighting with humans, and because of this, we can understand the motives of some of these monsters in such a way that we will realize that some of our actions and the actions that humans have done for several years may not be appropriate, although there are also exceptions.
Graphically it's very good, it's very similar (once again) to The Legend Of Zelda, especially it has some resemblance to The Legend Of Zelda A Link To The Past, although in Soleil the scenarios are a little simpler, both in details and in quality of textures, in this aspect the Nintendo title is superior, but despite that limitation it's a game that really fulfills this section and looks good, with good colors and despite not having great details, every scenario and every town we go to with our brave hero has charisma and personality typical of a fantasy world.
Soleil is one of those games whose graphic style is one of my favorites, it emanates that retro look that I like so much in video games and that just seeing it makes me want to play it. The character designs are equally simple, there aren't many of them that stand out too much in this aspect, however there are a few designs, including the main character that stand out over the designs of others, and well, this is normal since you have to know how to differentiate the important characters from others. Besides their animations are also decent, in fact, have few animations, but the enemies do have a greater pattern of animations because, especially the final bosses, having a larger sprite is necessary that these look good on screen, that's why in most of these bosses have a better animation and set of movements. (As a curious fact, we can find Sonic himself in a certain part of the game).
For an adventure game and an Action RPG like Soleil you need a good soundtrack and this game fulfills that purpose very well in this aspect. In Soleil we are going to find a list of tunes that are really good, I really didn't expect it to have such a good soundtrack, but it does and this adds even more value to this game. His list of tunes are the typical ones we will find in games where we find ourselves in a fantasy world, full of magic and adventure, in this aspect it's not surprising, but what is surprising is its good sound quality, tunes that fit in every situation and on every stage, they adorn very well some situations within the game and create a captivating and welcoming atmosphere. However, the sound effects are not so good, they are somewhat limited, but they don't bother too much either, I guess not everything can be perfect.
Video Author
As I mentioned in the sound section, Soleil is an Action RPG and an adventure game, and of course, I'll say it again, just like The Legend of Zelda, but even though the comparisons are hateful, it's very obvious all the inspiration they had in creating this game, so it's necessary to mention The Legend Of Zelda at least 2 more times.
Soleil has pretty good gameplay, with simple controls that react very well to every action we do. We fight with a sword and with it we must attack our enemies, there's not much to mention in this aspect, since Soliel, as well as other games that belong to this same genre do not change their mechanics much and are maintained (in some occasions) in the same way since it's the way that has worked even in current games, therefore in Soleil we're not going to find an extremely difficult game, its level and difficulty curve is moderate.
Also as it is common in this type of games we are going to have to solve a great amount of puzzles that are going to allow us to obtain certain objects, to fulfill some mission or simply to solve riddles that allow us to arrive at certain places, the difficulty of these puzzles is not elevated, but they are very well thought challenges.
As I mentioned at the beginning, Corona, our main protagonist, in a certain part of the story obtains the ability to talk to animals, plants and enemies, no doubt a very well thought out and original skill for a game of this style, since mechanically we see that by being able to talk to animals, some of them will be able to be recruited and will join us in our adventure. When recruiting animals they have certain skills that we can use, both in battle and when solving certain puzzles, the use of animal skills gives Soleil a certain strategic aspect, since we must give an appropriate use to this skill.
Soliel, a game clearly inspired by The Legend Of Zelda, this is obvious, but SEGA knew how to take all those aspects that made the Nintendo saga great and created a title that despite not having a great reputation or popularity, is a game that maintains to some extent its own personality and charisma.
