Nightcaster

One of the first ?RPGs? for the Xbox isn?t an RPG at all?it?s NightCaster, a fantasy-action spellcasting game of elements.

NightCaster, a fantasy action game by VR-1, casts you as Arran, a young wizard who must discover his magical powers and defeat the NightCaster, an evil sorcerer who has shrouded the entire land in night. Along the way, he must master the four elements of magic (Fire, Water, Light, and Dark) and grow from a novice young man to a powerful elder wizard. Sounds like a decent plot for an RPG, eh?

Well, NightCaster isn?t an RPG?though, what with all the magic and goblins and all, you?d be forgiven for thinking so. NightCaster takes spell-slinging in the other direction, becoming a trigger-twitching action game of fast reflexes and quick thinking. There?s definitely a strong element of tactics involved, too: If you use Fire against Water creatures, for example, your spell will do extra damage. Thankfully, all enemies are color-coded for easy dispatch, so you?ll know to use purple magic against yellow wolves, red magic against blue slimes, and yellow magic against goblins on purple horses. The fact that you?re making these decisions on the fly with enemies swarming around you and flinging missile spells is what makes NightCaster difficult.

NightCaster looks like a first-generation Xbox game with polished character models and environments lost in careless camera angles and big, flashy special effects. The game is dark as could be expected from a game with this title, but the color-coded creatures seem hokey and out-of-place. NightCaster also sounds very nice, with dreamy music and booming spells, but repetitive voice bits when casting spells (pronounced in Real Gaelic!) begin to grate on the nerves.

NightCaster?s biggest innovation is its control scheme, which takes a lot of getting used to. You move with the left stick and control the Orb with the right, enabling you to aim spells and run in opposite directions. You?ll get the hang of aiming the Orb quickly, but you?ll wonder why they ever gave you the third-person, non-Orb?aiming view since the camera angles in that mode are more disorienting than an afternoon in a centrifuge.

NightCaster is not an RPG. It is an update of Robotron with a fantasy backstory. If you?re looking for a new kind of shooter, NightCaster will do?but RPG fans, you?re still in the dark.

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