NES #13: Faxanadu

Okay so it looks like Faxanadu is the next one up, and this is kind of an odd one. It's also a game that I always really liked. There are a lot of things that are interesting about this one. First of all I'm not sure why Nintendo published this game. It was made by Hudson who were publishing quite a few NES games at the time. In fact, they published four games on their own the same year Faxanadu came out. I think that even under Nintendo's strict publishing policies they could've released another one. Maybe Nintendo felt like they needed another first party RPG style game in lieu of a new Zelda game.

Another thing I always thought was interesting about this game was its look. This game has a really earthy look to it thanks to the heavy use of browns and greens. The world itself also has a unique look to it. I love these old 8 bit RPGs because they have such interesting worlds. Where else would you find a town at the top of a hollowed out tree or at the end of a cave? Its sorta like like in Battle of Olympus where you will go through a door of a cabin in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden you're in the middle of the city. The graphics aren't all good though. The shopkeepers and other characters in this games are a real rogue's gallery. They're supposed to be elves, but there's nothing elfish about them. I'll show you what I mean.

The key salesman looks downright depressed. He's also a very sweaty nicotine addict. I guess I can't blame him for being so sad when his whole day consists of sitting behind a barrel and giving people a key with a K or a J on it. Of course this is one of those worlds where after you use a key once it disappears. Also, since most of the locked doors lead to horrible dungeons only brave heroes have much need for keys. No wonder he looks so sad. It's also one of the rare times you see smoking in an NES game. This was unusual for Nintendo, but fairly common for Hudson.



Now I don't know what the deal is with the meat man but he kinda gives me the creeps. He's got that weird smile on his face at all times, and it really looks like he's wearing his butcher's robe with nothing on underneath. Put a shirt on guy! I just want to buy some dried meat!

So that's enough about the graphics. As far as gameplay goes this one is a mixed bag. On the more negative side it is a bit on the short side. There's only about half a dozen towns, and most of the dungeons are small. The thing that stretches out the game is going back to town to buy more keys. There's also not enough monsters. For most of the game the dungeons have the same two bosses repeating. Would it have been too much trouble for them to make a new boss for every dungeon? Now the last two dungeons have unique bosses, but that's a little late to start adding variety. Also, the password system drives me a little crazy. They aren't ridiculously long, but there are way too many characters that look the same. If you're writing them down make sure you double and triple check them. My advice is to take pictures of the passwords with a digital camera. At least that way there won't be any mistakes.

I do think that this is a game where the good outweighs the bad. Other than the cool look of it there are several things I like. I like that it moves with a logical flow, and it's easy to figure out what comes next. Many NES RPGs are ruined by being far too cryptic and confusing. I also like that when you get new equipment your character on the screen actually changes. This is an innovation that is still somewhat rare today. How hard is it to make the character on the screen look like he's wearing a new suit of armor?

I actually had a pretty good time playing through this game again. It moves at a quick pace so I never got bored. This was one of my favorite games to rent when I was a kid, and it's pretty easy to see why. I always was a sucker for a decent action RPG. I'm still not sure why Nintendo published this one, but I'm glad somebody did.