Gameplay

Circle of death

The idea behind Revenant is simplicity itself; kill more monsters so you can raise more levels so you can kill more monsters so you can get more gold so you can buy more stuff so you can kill more monsters so you can save the princess. The storyline is standard, though the dialogue goes from routine and mundane to wacky and smartassed, giving the distinct impression that the writers got bored partway through and decided to have some fun.

Never mind the dialogue, though, because you'll be too busy hunting and killing monsters to pay much attention to all them fancy words. There's enough variety of monsters, in both looks and fighting style, to keep even the most psychotic postal worker hacking away for a good chunk of time. Exploration is thrown into the mix fairly seamlessly; if you want to explore, there are plenty of chances to do so. You don't have to in order to complete the game, but you can find fun new stuff you otherwise wouldn't know existed if you do.

Yeah, and if a frog had wings

Over the river

It's sooo simple!

Revenant is a good mix of a fairly complex and innovative fighting system with fairly standard gameplay and a dime-a-dozen fantasy setting. The game isn't terribly complex, the exploration is very straightforward, and the difficulty is low (especially because one spell, Physical Paralysis, is extremely overpowered), but nonetheless, the game is quite addicting. This is largely due the addition of a fun combat system (like, how many times have we said "combat system," anyway?) into the tried-and-true ¾ overhead RPG action you all know and love.

That, and Revenant is smartly designed. For instance, different monsters require vastly different fighting styles; while Ice Bolt may be effective on the Undead, it generally moves too slow to hit Demons. While you can run up to an ogre, smack him with a club, then run away, the same will not work on a creature as nimble as a gremlin. While a pogo-stick contest on a sloped roof might seem like fun, you'll be crying in the ER. While . . . well, you get the picture.

Big skeleton

Oldschool flea market