Roleplayers find themselves embroiled in the frightening, real-world equivalents of the dangers and adventures they used to create with dice and maps around the kitchen table. Sound familiar? I know it did to me. This title, produced by Cold Fuzion Studios, ventures down a well-worn path, and they don't really uncover anything new along the way. The over-the-top, angular manga artwork and designs are the sort of things we've seen a thousand times before as well.
A group of friends are embroiled in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons-esque role-playing campaign, but they keep getting kicked out of the spots they choose for game play. Finally, they turn to the home of the King of all Gamers, an older fellow dubbed the Druid by the gaming community. The problem is that the kids happen upon the wrong sourcebook in their host's unusual library. Meanwhile, an ancient evil arises anew in the modern world.
Well, you can say one thing about Edu Francisco... he's not lazy. The exaggerated characters and vague settings in which they can be found are meticulously detailed... to the Nth degree. The visuals here are incredibly busy, and it makes for a cluttered read. The reader can never be certain of what he or she is meant to focus on. Furthermore, the colors come off as gaudy rather than brilliant, and the unique, manga-inspired lettering approach interferes with the visual side of the storytelling as well.
The characters here are completely one-dimensional, and it makes it hard to cheer for them. There's the valiant one, the sneaky one, the brutish one and the chick. Typical roster for this sort of story, and we don't get to know any of the characters on anything but the most superficial of levels.
Given the derivative nature of the characters and plot here, I have a sneaking (yet admittedly unfounded) suspicion that this project might have started out as yet another 1980s cartoon revival. Anyone else remember the Dungeons & Dragons anime-influenced television program of the '80s? I do, and there are more than a few similarities here. Even if they're not intentional, the creators here have tapped into the same kind of sword-and-sorcery storytelling template, and the formulaic quality shines through and makes for an unengaging read.
There was some potential for this to be a good read for younger readers, especially given the interest in magical stories fostered by J.K. Rowling these days. But some gratuitous gore and gazoombahs eliminate that potential.
