Cthulhu Saves the World – Fhtagn!

The world may have been spared from yet another apocalyptic prophecy, but that doesn’t mean that another isn’t just around the corner. When the world is in peril, it’s good to know that Cthulhu has our backs. At least until he recovers his power, taken from him by a mysterious stranger’s curse, by becoming a true hero and then using those powers to destroy us all. MADNESS! You know, because he’s Cthulhu.

 Old school sensibility

Cthulhu Saves the World came out in July of 2011, but it looks and feels like a classic JRPG. Think something like Dragon Warrior (with better graphics) if you’re not familiar with the genre. Control your blocky pixel characters through the overworld map from town to town and dungeon to dungeon while facing random encounters with monsters all the way. If you owned an NES, then you’re probably already very familiar with exactly how this works. Controls are simple and require no more than directional input and four buttons (you’ll usually use two, but a third comes in later for travel and another is used to open your game menu) with enemy encounters being handled through text menus.

Comedy and romance

Where this game towers above its inspiration is in the writing. Similar to Zeboyd’s earlier offering, Breath of Death VII, Cthulhu is full of legitimately humorous dialogue. The self-aware writing lends itself beautifully to the characters poking fun at various tropes of the genre such as checking every bookshelf in a game for items. Of course, I didn’t find a single item, but every one has a book with some degree of witty title or story. They don’t limit the jokes to the JRPG genre either. If you look around enough in the volcano dungeon, you will find a chest containing rings of power. If a LotR joke doesn’t make you chuckle, leave now and never come back.

Of course, where would our tentacle faced hero be without followers? Cthulhu manages to tote along a woman that falls in love with him and develops a budding romantic interest in. Apparently even gods that slumber below the waves dream of being loved. Not that she’s the only follower you pick up; there’s also a space cat, a dragon, a living sword, and others. Each one adds their own particular flavor to the game and keeps the story entertaining.

Not so maddening game play

All of the characters also bring their own style and abilities to combat. So as is normal with RPG games, assembling the right group is an important aspect of success. Thankfully characters all gain XP together regardless of whether they participate in battles or not. The level up process allows for great control over characters through decisions about what bonus they receive with each new level. Personally, I tend to choose whatever gives me more agility whenever possible because I hate acting last in fights. The item system is simple and direct with each character equipping only a weapon and one piece of armor.

Combat is a joy in Cthulhu. Firstly, there are a limited number of random encounters to be had in any given dungeon and you can see how many are left if you pull up your menu. Your menu also contains a “fight” option which is great if you just want to get the encounters out of the way and then explore in peace. It will also let you continue fighting monsters after the random limit has been reached. Secondly, the descriptions of what everything is and does are clear and easy to understand. The visual layout is simple and effective and it doesn’t hurt that the developers have a sense of humor. Lastly, combat is not designed to be drawn out. No half hour boss battles here unless you really have issues deciding what powers to use. Enemy strength increases by a factor of 10% each round (they start at 100% and go up to 110% by round 2, 120% round 3, etc), so you really do need to try and finish them as quickly as possible.

Just give in and join the following

Come on, you know you always wanted to help Cthulhu save and then destroy the world. Cthulhu Saves the World is an impressively entertaining take on a classic genre. It also has loads of extras including director commentary and a bestiary. There’s even a special Soulcaster dungeon for those that really enjoy searching for every remote location in the world. You’ll probably go insane trying to find a better game for the price.