It is a bit unclear, to what genre Zeliard belongs. It features action, like a platformer, it has got puzzles for you to solve, but, and maybe the most important one, it relies heavy on some crude RPG-elements. Espescially later on in the game, where certain demands are being made to your health bar which grows as long as your character gains experience, this RPG-element becomes apparent. But still, calling it a RPG would be wrong. Zeliard is a combinations of factors, a well balanced combination, for that matter, and it delivers quite an interesting title, albeit one that can barely keep its head above water, in the enormous amount of similar titles that swarm the internet and game stores these days.

The game starts with quite an impressive intro to the storyline, although the story itself is the clich? 'collect crystals to save the princess' life'. But watching the intro is quite a treat, and sets the mood perfectly. When the actual game starts, the graphics keep their colourful appearance, and each area in the game is a nice oppurtunity for the artists to show of their skills. They did the job quite well, and even in the current age of 3d Rendered backgrounds, some backgrounds are amazing to look at, knowing that it was all drawn by hand.

You play a single character which has to travel through a dozen of cities to collect crystals, all cities being seperated by huge caves, which also act as large and slightly annoying mazes. In these caves, you'll encounter tons of different creatures, all protecting treasures, and ensuring that noone walks through unharmed. When you slay these creatures with your sword, they will sometimes turn into pieces of 'Almas'. Almas can be handed in at the bank, to be changed into the local currency, which is your standard gold, all at an exchange rate the bank decides, of course. Gold can be used to buy new equipment, and special items, including magical items. At first, the sword you start with seems to last just fine throughout the first levels, but as levels get harder you'll find out that buying and repairing equipment becomes essential to your survival. Also, the more creatures you slay, the more experience you gain, which can be exchanged for a boost to your health bar at the local fortune teller. On your travels you'll meet quite a few so called 'boss creatures' who'll make your adventure a tad harder, but they aren't that difficult once you find out their weak spot, and every single boss has one.

At first, the game seems like a lot of fun, and you might even get addicted to it. But after the fourth or fifth cave you traverse, things get a little tedious, and memorising the layout of the cave gets harder with every one you encounter. You'll get lost quickly, and frustration is an obvious result of that. Only very patient players will finish this game, but they too won't save the princess with a smile on their face, since it took way too long. If the caves were a little bit smaller, the pace of the game could increase just a little, a necessity these days, since gamers don't have the attention-span they used to.

Sound, on the other hand, does nothing but entertain you, and add just that little extra to the mood. The music is well composed, and plays on exactly the moments you want it to, and the sound that being attacked makes, will after a while make you nervous every time you hear it.It is too bad that Zeliardgets tedious after a while, since it could've been a great title. Flaws aside, this title still is a good example of what other games those days should've looked like. With its superior graphics, enjoyable music and extremely well-balanced genre-elements, Zeliard is a title you shouldn't miss, and at least have tried. I suggest you download it, and see how far you'll get. Chances are, you'll throw it in the waste bin after a while, but maybe you're one of those few hardcore fans, that can't get enough of it. If that is the case, then I wish you good luck. It'll take a while.