We're standing in a cave, trying to catch our breath, after having fended off the last horde of monsters. In our right hand is a giant stick with what appears to be a cuddly toy of a bat perched on the end, and in our left, a shield made out of half a lobster. Oh, and that's not forgetting Kuu, the little, round, pink eating machine that follows us around, groaning whenever he starts to get hungry, while only occasionally attacking the baddies, if and when he feels like it. Having finally cleared the floor, we take a look around, and go up the stairs, only for a message to pop-up on screen. "Bonus floor!" Uh-oh. No sooner has the stage loaded than we're immediately surrounded by a horde of monsters. Outnumbered, and easily out-gunned, there's no way this is going to end well - but that's the luck of the draw. There's a stare down, as we go through our items, trying to find something that might even the odds, but it's no use. We step forward, they attack, and we black out. Bonus, my backside.
This, is Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God, a game that's about as deviously hard as it is fantastically named. Starring the hapless curry fan Pupuru, a blonde princess type, the story here is one spawned of a love of curry and all that's good and spicy. When a large chain of curry houses opens an outlet in a small town, with a media storm pulling in the customers far and wide, Pupuru's favourite eatery - Smile Curry - ends up being in danger of going out of business. Never one to let her friends down, though, our somewhat ditsy heroine decides she's going to set off on an adventure to help put things right, and embarks on a quest to gather the ingredients for the mystical "Ultimate Curry", which just might save the Smile Curry restaurant.
It's a crazy enough story, but in Sorcery Saga, the cutscenes hardly come thick and fast. Instead, this is a game that's all about strategy, beating up enemies, and a heck of a lot of luck. Part of a rather exclusive genre of role playing games known as "rogue-likes", this is one of those games that's pretty tricky to explain, yet instantly makes sense when you have it in front of you. Rather than a game that revolves around turn-based battles, in Sorcery Saga, everything is turn-based, whether you're in combat, moving around, or even equipping items. If you stand still, the game effectively pauses, with the enemies in the dungeon only moving/attacking when you take your turn.
Kuu, who wouldn't look out of place in Pokemon, will occasionally go in for the kill on enemies by himself.
While you think the gentle pace my help stop you getting overwhelmed, rogue-likes are known for being incredibly unforgiving, and Sorcery Saga is no different. For starters, you don't really "level" as such - while you'll gain XP, level up, and slowly earn extra health as you beat enemies in each dungeon, your level doesn't actually carry over when you've finished each stage. As soon as you step foot outside the dungeon, you'll revert back to level 1, with the same amount of HP, and same weak stats. The only things that truly carry over from one dungeon to the next are your items - and even then, you only get to keep them if you survive. If you black out, not only will you lose all your money, but you'll also lose all the items you have on hand, including the ones you have equipped. All of which presents the game with something of a paradox.
If you can't level your character up (in a permanent way), you can't save your game mid-dungeon (you can create a temporary save, which quits you back to the main menu, but nothing you could actually use as a checkpoint if things go wrong), and the items you have are lost when you're defeated - how are you actually meant to progress? Instead of being something you can grind at, and get stronger through hard work and perseverance, at times Curry God becomes more about luck than anything else.
In the land of Sorcery Saga, pickled onions give you extra HP. Our editor must be the healthiest guy around, in that case...
With no random people to chat to, no cities to explore, and no world map to roam, Sorcery Saga is a game that takes place entirely in a series dungeons, which see you fighting from the ground floor all the way to the very top, with an aforementioned "bonus floor" thrown in every now and then, which can mean the difference between life and death. Get a good bonus floor, and it might be full of rare, powerful items - get a bad one, and it could be full of enemies that start right next to you, or can hit you from a distance. Take one step forward in that room, if you don't have a handy "kill everyone" scroll in your inventory, you'll be dead.
And it's a shame, because there's so much else Sorcery Saga gets right. Seemingly having put half of its budget into the soundtrack, your ears will be assaulted by some criminally catchy tunes on the menu screen, on boss floors, and when you trigger a monster house, which you'll be humming away to yourself for hours afterwards. It's a game that looks cute enough, too, with Pupuru and her rotund pal Kuu tackling some of the least aggressive looking monsters you've ever seen. From the "Cheerful Golem", who looks like a distant, flatter cousin of Morph, to the (groan) Maa-Maid, a fish in a maid outfit who sweeps up stray items, they're hardly fearsome, yet often terribly named.
Still, all hope isn't quite lost, as when everything else has let you down, there's always curry. Smashing crates and beating enemies as you move through the caves will net you items - and there's only one thing Pupuru wants to do with those items. Gather together a spice, a "secret ingredient", and some rice, and Pupuru can take some time out in the middle of the dungeon to cook herself some curry. Mix together the best ingredients for the best results, and you can make an incredibly powerful curry, which, when eaten, will give you a mega stat boost - and net you more experience for every enemy you beat, too.
We've come close, but we've never managed to make a perfect curry...
And then, of course, there's Kuu, the eternally hungry, somewhat rotund buddy that follows you around during your adventures. Not only is he a pretty useful pet-thing to have around, as he can take quite a licking, and dish out a fair amount of punishment of his own, but he's also a walking rubbish bin, who can take your unwanted items, and use them to level up, restore his health, and even learn new skills. Find an item you don't want, and all you have to do is turn to Kuu and chuck it at him for him to gulp it down in a single mouthful - although you can never tell if it's going to heal him, or take yet more health off.
While it takes a bit of getting used to - and certainly isn't explained as well as it could be for rogue-like novices, even though it has one of the lengthiest tutorial sections you'll ever see, you'll eventually figure out the secret to progressing through Sorcery Saga is in your items. Head back to your house once you're in the town, and you can access a crafting option, which lets you fuse weapons together for stat boosts. While mostly this just turns your Lobster Shield +3 into a Lobster Shield +4, even fusing a few items together can make a big difference - especially if it's a weapon that can level up. Yes, while Pupuru's level resets at the end of each dungeon, oddly, there are certain weapons that can level up independently - and they retain their level from one quest to the next. Pack a Transportation Scroll with you wherever you go, and you'll be able to make a speedy exit when the going gets too tough, with a new stash of items you can weld together back at base, in the hope of making something stronger.
Still, for everything it gets right, Sorcery Saga is hampered by two, large problems - it's just too damn hard, and it relies too much on luck. While rogue-like purists may appreciate the added difficulty, for accessibilities sake, it could really use a "beginner's" mode - or at least the ability to create a checkpoint mid-dungeon that you can restart from should things go pear shaped. As it stands, Sorcery Saga is one of those games that will go down rather well with a hardcore audience, but that may be too difficult for some of the wider audience - despite its colourful looks. While it's arguably a more approachable challenge than something like Dark Souls, this is the man vs curry of the gaming world.
Format Reviewed: PS Vita
