Secret of the Solstice
- Area: USA,Global
- Official Site: Secret of the Solstice
- Publisher: Outspark
- Developer: DnC Entertainment
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
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- Area: USA,Global
- Official Site: Secret of the Solstice
- Publisher: Outspark
- Developer: DnC Entertainment
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
Review
Reviewed by Brendon LindseyGraphics don't make the game. It's an expression I've always been rather fond of; as I grew
up playing the Commodore 64, I never really cared too much for how well a game presented itself. Thus, finding that Secret of the Solstice had opted
for the Super Nintendo RPG look didn't present the enormous barrier for me as it may have for others attempting to play it for the
first time. I feel this way, and always have, because in place of a next-gen graphics engine, games such as this generally seem to focus more on the
actual gameplay instead, and more often than not provide a more enjoyable playing experience.
This one, however, did not. Secret of the Solstice
begins, like many a mind-numbing beginning before it, by asking you to complete a somewhat lackluster tutorial that appears to last about fifteen minutes longer than should.
You are sent gallivanting around town to speak to a series of NPC characters and collect an assortment of different items; however each of them will send you running
automatically to the next, and aside from the occasional chance to kill an enemy or two, the interaction of the tutorial pretty much ends there. It feels a great deal more
like you're watching someone else play than actually playing it yourself, and while it does cover a great deal of ground and introduce many of the elements
found in the game, I discovered that I had already forgotten most of them by the end, and really just wanted to get out there and kill a few things.
And kill a few things
I did, and a few more after that, with little more than the click of my left mouse-button in rapid succession. This pattern continued for quite some time, with
the occasional quest thrown in here and there to help break the monotony. It didn't break the monotony, though, nor did it in any other MMORPG before it.
Killing, questing, and getting a little bit stronger each day that you do is the MMO mantra as it were, and things are sadly no different here. If anything, they may actually
come off as a little bit worse, as the dated graphics (however beautiful they may be, in their own right) remove all elements of eye-candy from the equation, and leave you
with little more than an RPG for the Super Nintendo that lacks the engaging story and lovable characters.
The archaic click-to-move navigation system and limited class
selection only make the grinding aspects of Secret of the Solstice more abundantly obvious, as all players begin playing as the same class, and
remain that way until they attain level 16, at which point they are allowed to specialize by choosing from one of four generic class templates: the
Squire, Apprentice, Neophyte, and Acolyte (Warrior, Mage, Rouge and Healer respectively).
Players have the option of PvP on occasion, can partake in social events, or focus on
their crafting, but really, there isn't anything here that hasn't been done a hundred times before and better.
It's a solid attempt at a grind-themed MMO. However, the large download size, appalling class selection and limited gameplay mechanics just don't hold up well enough on their own without the support of a shiny graphics engine. If you're too ingrained in old-school games to have fun/understand current
3D ones, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, there's very little outside of the dated graphics that Secret of the Solstice does
better than the dozens of other titles out there.
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