Secret of Ultimate Legendary Fantasy Unleashed

By: Derek Yu

On: May 8th, 2007

Secret of Ultimate Legendary Fantasy Unleashed, or “Soulfu,” is a dungeon exploring game by the guy who made Egoboo, and like Egoboo it’s got a great graphical style but lacks any kind of purposeful gameplay. The idea, I think, is to grab a bunch of friends with USB gamepads and romp through some randomized dungeons, but without a story or any sense of meaning to drive you forward, what’s the point?

The developer’s website tells you everything you need to know about the depth of Soulfu’s gameplay.

EDIT: You know what, this game is really geared toward multiplayer, so it’s kinda unfair for me to review it based on a singleplayer experience. It also probably gets better as you get further in. But damn, playing it on my own, I really didn’t want to keep going. It’s solid, it just… it’s missing something. I had the same feeling when I played Egoboo. I dunno, maybe I’ll talk about it more in the comments.

(Thanks, Pyabo, for the heads up!)

Posted in Action, Multiplayer, RPG, Windows

Estavan

It’s called dungeon crawling.
Derek

Well at least tell me that there’s an Amulet of Yendor or Orb or Zot or a princess or something at the end?
Albert

The point seems to be, as you put it, “to grab a bunch of friends with USB gamepads and romp through some randomized dungeons”. I don’t see why that can’t be deep gameplay on it’s own. Dungeons and Dragons has surely gotten away with it.
Estavan

Quite true D&D got away with throwing dice on a table and drawing out maps. But I think each book or what ever it’s called at LEAST had an objective.
“Rid the dungeon of goblins and defeat the golem.” “Retrieve the sword of Kadhgar (K’s and G’s make it sound more medieval)

I think it’s fun and will probably coarse my girlfriend into playing. I got her addicted to lan games of Diablo 2… Up until we got to Diablo and couldn’t defeat him. Then I had to explain level-grinding to her. She then explained that she has retired from the party. lawls

I digress, It’s pretty fun so far, and looks pretty good on full settings. I love rogue likes and will absolutely keep this in my collection.
Aubrey

I tried it myself, but the control setup sort of put me off… you couldn’t press the button you wanted for the command you wanted. Instead, you had to pick a button number from a drop down. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what the 360 joypad’s numbers were so I could only get it set up with awkward button layout before giving up. That needs fixorization!

But then I saw a youtube video which made it look like a lot more fun than what I tried – got his dude all levelled up I guess. Looked interesting.

Still, needs some in-game help to get you going quicker.
Pyabo

Me? Recommend this game? Noooo… Was I inebriated?

I recommended the game with crappy graphics but deep gameplay.
Doctor Allen

Does he enjoy playing games with terrible control schemes? Because I don’t enjoy playing them.
crackers

Is there any way to make the game not feel wooden? I didn’t find that setting anywhere on the options screen.
Estavan

Is everybody playing this with the keyboard? It’s not fun with a keyboard you need a game pad. Also this game isn’t meant for “deep gameplay.” For right now he’s got a good ground going for some fun nights of dungeon crawling. The character does turn a little slow and his turn radius is close to that of Saturn’s orbit of the sun. He’s also asking a hefty fee for what can be unlocked without a promise.

The controls are similar to a PS2 controller. Analog to move, top row are your left and right hands, bottom row was special and inventory. L and R 2 spun the camera, and L1 was the second special. I guess it’s pretty tough if you’ve never played console video games before…

I cant sit here and make it the greatest game ever, it’s nowhere near a ADOM or Zangbang ya know, it’s just a time killer, especially with no save (UGH). It’s also extremely difficult and the death penalties are extreme. I got up to level 3 and died in a tough fight a few times, I came to realize that my character has basically sunken back down to level 1, but with better gear. The reward / penalty rate is horrid and needs to be reworked.

Also windows has a control panel for gamepads. That- guess what? Tells you your button layout. WOW how cool right… you memorize maybe 2 or three buttons and then change them in the game. He does need to make the config easier but allowing a “push to map” feature but hopefully that will come.

Sad to see so many people not enjoying it.
Derek

Maybe I chose the wrong word when I said “depth.” I just meant that it’s missing whatever glue it needs to make it a more compelling experience. There are also some weird control issues.
rinkuhero

How compelling something is depends on the player though — I’m not one to yell ‘subjectivism!’ but how compelling a game is really is one of those cases where it’s different for every player. Different people are compelled by different kinds of games. Dungeon crawlers don’t appeal to me either, but I can see how some people might find the game fun.
Shih Tzu

A lot of games can be completely banal single-player and yet perfectly enjoyable as a group experience. See Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles or any given online RPG. A friend of mine is a big fan of this PS1-to-PC port called Blaze & Blade, which he freely admits has a stupid plot and horrible, horrible menu design. The thing is, you can play with up to 4 players co-op. Somehow co-op play magically turns blah games into worthwhile pursuits, because no matter what the experience is, you’re sharing it with a friend. In fact, elaborate storylines can often get in the way.

So I dunno. Grabbing “a bunch of friends with USB gamepads and romp[ing] through some randomized dungeons” sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon, provided the game isn’t thoroughly incompetent.
Albert Lai

At the very least, you’ve got to give him the credit for the awesome title.

Maybe if Secret of Ultimate Legendary Fantasy Unleashed XI: Primeval Evils and the Dragon Orb of Dridraldibar had some rogue-like elements as well – there is something fiendishly addictive about rogue-likes that I haven’t quite been able to nail down, though a highly immersible game world is probably one of them (as well as a nonexistent respawn system).
Fishy Boy

I, in contrast, really liked the game. I only got to play it single player so far, but I still enjoy it. It’s fun. To me, fun is the only one thing that keeps any game great, and everything else is just a pleasant/unpleasant detail. Although, the one thing I feel the game could use is a level editor. You could get so much value with that, and the games level desing suggests it wouldn’t be too complicated. Chances are he could just pretty up his current level editor (for the masses), and add some things to load external levels. Still, the game is fun.
Alevice

What I really lack is a purpose. While I like mindless murdering spree of rats, I’d prefer a reason to do it, if only because there is a mystic treasure underneath the castel that turns out to be a bunch of gold that is useless whne you reach that point of the game.
Fishy Boy

My wish came true! The authors devtool was included in version 1.4! It also allows you to edit other things as well, including models/music. Pretty groovy!