JRPG Journey 2022: Arabian Nights: Spirit King of the Desert (Summer Bonus Game)
August’s game: Live A Live
September’s game: Star Ocean: First Departure R
Arabian Nights: Spirit King of the Desert is one of those so-called lost SNES RPGs that only got a Japanese release. Well, in 2012, the good folks at LostTemplar translated this oddity. Developed by Pandora Box, who I hadn’t heard of, since (aside from one obscure arcade title) they’ve only released Japan-exclusive games, Arabian Nights follows a young girl named Shukran, who happens to find a ring that gives her control of a powerful djinn named Ifrit. She gets one wish, and wouldn’t you know it, decides to save the world from another djinn, who’s gone power-mad. Yeah, she’s one of those plucky, hopeful anime protagonists, and it works here. Arabian Nights is upbeat and beautiful, with some of the best art I’ve seen on the SNES, though, that’s not surprising since it came out at the very tail end of the era, in 1996 (only a week before the N64 came out in Japan).
The main reason I wanted to play it was its Arabian setting — I hadn’t seen that in a JRPG before. During the opening cinematic, which shows how Ifrit got imprisoned in the ring in the first place, and for first hour or so, I thought I was in for an epic quest. The music, the lengthy dialogue for a SNES game, and the amount of NPCs and personality on display in the starting town hooked me in. Sadly, all these aspects faltered the deeper I got into the game. First of all, the game’s short, probably around 12–15 hours if you’re not rushing. While I enjoy the Arabian flair of the music, it lacks variety as well as quantity, and several songs are either mixed too low to hear over the sound effects or have tinny, high-pitched screeches that get obnoxious if you’re playing with headphones. Since few areas get unique themes, even though the tunes are solid, they wore on me over time.
Dialogue, too, is snappy and fun to read, but the game mulches over the same territory so often I found myself breezing through it, not caring much. You’ll rescue a djinn, who thanks you, gives Ifrit their crystal, and joins your squad; then it’s off to the next one. Repeat that about six times, with the occasional trip to a mountain or dungeon to fetch some random item, and that’s the whole game. While the overall story is solid, the individual plot points are half baked, making Arabian Nights feel more generic than I’d hoped. Djinns have distinct personalities that are only expressed in a few boxes of dialogue, then never mentioned again. Few NPCs are worth talking to once you realize there’s hardly any side content, and you’ll spend the overwhelming majority of the game in battles.
Oh boy, Arabian Nights has a high encounter rate, especially on the world map. The party eventually gets a flying carpet to overworld battles, but dungeons are often complex and filled with enemies who can quickly wear down your HP. There’s no healing spells, so I relied on buying dozens of healing items, and the occasional level-up, which thankfully restores both HP and MP.
Battles themselves are turn-based and feature a card system that’s weirdly complicated for how little of a difference it makes. You’ll get a random card at the end of a battle if you have room, and cards are numbered from 1–5 (there’s special “0” cards, too, but they’re not worth the effort) and have an element associated with them, too. This ain’t a card battling game, though. Party members attack, defend, or use spells or items like most JRPGs, except, at the start of each turn, you can choose to play a card that takes effect at the end of the turn. Cards last three turns, and they look pretty sick, changing the field completely. Enemies can play cards, too, and if you both play a card of the same level, they’ll cancel each other out. Otherwise, the card with the higher number wins and takes effect. This all sounds pretty cool, but most of the cards don’t impact the battles enough to be worth using. Even against bosses, sure, I could use a Fire 4 card to raise my team’s attack, but the boost is so small it wouldn’t matter. Same with cards that deal elemental damage — it’s usually only a few hundred or even single digits, to enemies with thousands of HP.
This lack of balance extends to most aspects of combat. Ifrit learns plenty of attacking spells, but they’re only slightly stronger than his regular attack, and enemies are often immune to certain elements, so it’s rarely worth guessing which ones will work when you could be dealing solid physical damage. By the time he gets AOE spells, the game’s almost over, though they’re very useful in the last few dungeons. Same for Shukran’s summons — you can use them, but combat is generally easy enough that there’s no point, especially after the first few hours once you’ve got good equipment. Another party member is a thief, who learns tons of skills I almost never used, since he’s also better off just doing damage. Health items are so cheap that you can fully restore your party after every battle if needed, and by the endgame, enemies and bosses pose no threat at all. I was especially underwhelmed by the final boss, who I obliterated in a few turns and didn’t need to use any of my cards against.
Arabian Nights might be worth checking out if you’re a big fan of JRPGs and are running out games to try, but if I went back in time, it wouldn’t rank high on my plan-to-play list. It’s not bad by any means, just nothing special.
Thanks for reading this little summer bonus quickie review. Join me next month, when I’ll discuss Star Ocean: First Departure R.
