Crimson Shroud (3DS) Review: A Welcome Change

When I first bought my 3DS to review Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, I questioned my purchase. Not because of the game (It was a winner), but because of the titles available for it. Sure, there are some classics such as Luigi's latest outing, Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time port, but by-in-large I felt the well was dry. That was, until I stumbled upon the Nintendo e-Shop and the wealth of treasures that lay within. One such gem was Crimson Shroud, a cracking little title brought to us by our friends at Level 5. So, let's dig in.

Crimson Shroud is a return to the old table-top fantasy format, but brought into the video game era. Imagine Dungeons & Dragons, but miniaturized and you're just about there. It revolves around turn-based combat, with the outcome of spells, attacks and random events dictated by the roll of dice. That element alone adds a nice little change, an aspect of chance that I feel has been missing from RPG's of late. There are no grand cutscenes, even the characters don't move. Instead, they are figurines like the days of old whose equipment visibly changes as you upgrade their gear.

On the subject of equipment and upgrades, they are your staunch ally in this game. There is no levelling system and instead your might is dictated by the quality of your weapons, spells and armour. You get scrolls for various magic which you can then bond to your gear, which means that un-equipping that stuff strips you of those powers. You also only have three party members throughout the span of the story that consist of a swordsman, a mage and a ranger. So what you have is a revisiting of the old build-up but with greater accessibility for the newer generations. And it does that job with flair.

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The story is really what you make of it. At various points, you are given the option to reflect upon your companions' pasts or you can skip it. If you choose to, it makes no real impact to the overall story line. But if you choose to inquire, you will be rewarded with a heart-warming rendition of how the three came together. To strip it back to its bare bones, you and your group are Chasers who hunt down both people and objects for coin. You have been hired to recover something, but all doesn't go according to plan. Expect the odd twist, but in general it is all typical fantasy fanfare. 

The artwork is very Eastern, from your anime-like character models to the background art upon which the text-based story plays. The music is spot on in parts, yet some of the heavier battles don't carry the weighted, dramatic music that they required. However, that wasn't enough to bring the game down. It was visually pleasing, if somewhat pixellated. Saying that, it could have looked better considering the fact that they were not required to animate their characters.

You can squeeze maybe six hours play out of this game, which is acceptable considering its £7.19 price tag. That's only the main quest, though. Crimson Shroud offers you New Game +, a feature that this kind of game deserves. It requires multiple play-throughs to acquire decent gear, and other extras will no doubt be available on a second run-through, which I am currently doing.

So to wrap this up for you fine folk, Crimson Shroud is a throwback to the days of yore, and it is a route I highly advise you take. You can't say no to that price, and there is no other game like it currently on the market. It's a good time-killer and has a story that explores places that fantasy has not-quite tread before. Check it out, while you can.