Baroque

Developer: Sting Entertainment
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: April 8, 2008
Systems: Wii (reviewed), Saturn, PlayStation, PS2
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Nothing to do with the art style.

0:00 One of my friends recommended this game, and Atlus offered to send me a copy, so I figured, "Why not?"

0:01 The game's title appears over an expanding black mass. An anime intro begins, featuring lots of disturbing, disconnected images: a flopping fish out of water, a murder of crows, some bloody sword battles, the word "Absiste," a lonely king on a chess board. "Heal Your Sins, Heal the World," is the concluding message. OK, I'm suitably creeped out.

0:02 The speaker on the remote rings in a loud, high bell tone as I hit A to start a game at Normal difficulty.

0:03 "His EEG readings are moving violently," says one unseen doctor. "Increase the barbiturate sedative," says another. Much more medical babble commences as we pan over scenes of a green hyperbaric chamber.

0:04 A bit of loading and I'm put in control on a thin, blue-haired boy with some rather basic clothes. He's running around a dark, outdoor corridor with a brown dirt floor, gray brick walls and creepy music.

0:05 I pass a creepy-looking kid. "Picking up items is my hobby... though I can only hold five items," he says. This makes me grin. Then I accidentally hit the kid with a tap of the B button. "Don't hit me... just anything but that right now." Well, that's almost idiomatic English...

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer