克苏鲁拯救世界
Cthulhu Saves the World

Zeboyd Games, 2010
Windows 和 Xbox 360

Zeboyd Games, 2010
Windows and Xbox 360

克苏鲁拯救世界(Cthulhu Saves the World)由 Zeboyd 双子星组合 Robert Boyd 和 Bill Stiernberg 联手打造,虽然体量小、采用线性叙事,但内容丰富。它以复古的美术风格与对克苏鲁神话的荒诞化演绎而著称。

从结构与玩法来看,《克苏鲁拯救世界》无疑是一款简单的 JRPG 游戏。它的亮点(也是值得探讨的重点)在于情节、人物以及创作者对两者所倾注的热爱。你所扮演的角色是旧日支配者(The Old One)克苏鲁,某种神秘之力剥夺了你的力量。想要重获法力,你要先成为一名真正的英雄——只有这样,自己才能实现毁灭世界的邪恶计划。游戏剧情构思精巧,诙谐幽默,如果你喜爱洛夫克拉夫特[1] 的作品,那么本作应该会合你的口味。

Cthulhu Saves the World is a small and linear but content-rich RPG, put out by the prolific Robert Boyd and Bill Stiernberg duo at Zeboyd. The game is mostly notable for its retro aesthetics and hilarious take on the Cthulhu mythos.

In terms of structure and gameplay, Cthulhu Saves the World is a straightforward JRPG. Where the game shines – the reason it is worthwhile to talk about at all – is its plot, its characters and the obvious love that the developers had for both. You begin the game as Cthulhu, the Old One, being deprived of your powers by an unknown force. In order to regain them, you must first become a true hero – only then may you resume your plans to destroy the world. It's a well-constructed and humorous story that most fans of Lovecraft should be able to appreciate.

《克苏鲁拯救世界》在 Xbox Live 首发。后来,Zeboyd Games 通过众筹网站 Kickstarter 募集资金,在 2011 年为原作发布增强版与 PC 移植版。

Cthulhu Saves the World was first released for the Xbox Live. Zeboyd Games then ran a Kickstarter to fund an enhanced version and a PC port, which was released in 2011.

本作复刻了各种经典 JRPG 游戏的元素,如《梦幻之星(Phantasy Star)》的多屏式过场动画。

The game takes elements from various classic JRPGs, such as the multi-panel cutscenes from the Phantasy Star series.

战斗系统虽然是典型的 JRPG 风格,但也有些许改动。例如,每过一轮,敌人的属性会变强 10%,你必须速战速决。

Combat is the usual JRPG fare, but with a few twists. For example, each round the enemies get 10% stronger, forcing you to kill quickly.

讽刺的是,人物塑造既是本作的亮点,也是最大的败笔。诚然,主角克苏鲁那副“满脸不情愿+气呼呼”的救世主形象让人欲罢不能,有些同行队友机智幽默的个性也让人眼前一亮,但有些角色让人心生反感,毫无存在的必要。你的第一个队友,是一个名叫由美(Umi)的花痴迷妹,这种人设初看有趣,但玩久了就倍感无聊。相比之下,其他角色要有趣得多,如十月(一位死灵法师,October),小锋[2] (一把灵智已开的剑,Sharpe),毛爪(一只外星猫,Paw)。这些角色与本作荒诞诙谐的风格(戏说克苏鲁)相契合,同时各具魅力、引人入胜。

作为一款游戏,《克苏鲁拯救世界》虽然内容丰富,但不能给人留下深刻印象。主角团这一帮子“救世主杂牌军”在一个线性的大地图里四处探索,搜集物品,打怪升级。就战斗触发与战利品掉落而言,有些内容是开发者亲自设计,有些则由程序随机生成。战斗画面采用典型的 JRPG 布局,主角团与对手面对面盯着彼此,遵循回合制原则,轮流攻击对方。

也许我的表述会让你觉得这款游戏不过如此,打消游玩的念头,但事实并非如此。本作的同伴各具特色,敌人类型丰富,你可以做出多种战略部署。这一点离不开巧妙的角色系统——每次升级,玩家都要从五花八门的技能和各式各样的属性增益里选择合适的组合搭配,以提升战力。

最后一点,如今你只要花上 2 美元,就能在 steam 上买下这款游戏。鉴于这款游戏所带来的莫大乐趣,这实在是太划算了。《克苏鲁拯救世界》,就像《毁灭战士(Doom)》一样,是一款难得的游戏。你能通过游戏理解游戏开发者自身,了解他们的喜好,感受他们所处的年代,品味他们所沐浴的文化。单从这一点来看,任何有志于成为 RPG 鉴赏大师的人都不该错过这款游戏。

Ironically however, the game's characters are also the game's biggest weakness. While you never get tired of Cthulhu cast in the role of “grumpy and unwilling saviour”, or some of his tag-along friends and the sharp developer wit their personalities exhibit, other characters are downright obnoxious and unnecessary. Your first companion, Umi, is a tiresome groupie whose shtick gets old really fast. Other characters like the necromancer (October), the sword (Sharpe), or the cat alien (Paws) are much more interesting and switch between parodying tropes of the genre, being cool characters in their own right.

As a game, Cthulhu Saves the World is a sufficient but forgettable experience. You walk across a fairly linear overworld or map with your band of ragtag saviours, collecting items and fighting battles, both random and hand-placed. The battle screen takes you to the standard JRPG line-up, where enemies and player characters stare each other down face-to-face, taking turns to inflict damage upon each other.

You might think the game is bad or bogged down from my choice of words. This, however, is not the case. Cthulhu's characters and enemies are varied and you have plenty of different tactical options at your disposal, thanks in part to a clever progression system that offers a choice between different skills and stats bonuses at each level-up.

Ultimately, Cthulhu Saves the World is more than enough fun to justify the measly 2 dollars being asked for the game on Steam these days. It is one of those rare games, like the original Doom, where playing it gives you a sense of who its developers were, what they enjoyed, which time they were raised in, and which culture produced them. For this reason alone, the game is worth a glance from any would-be RPG connoisseurs.

__________

1 译者注:Howard Phillips Lovecraft,美国恐怖、科幻、奇幻小说作家,代表作《克苏鲁的呼唤》,开发出克苏鲁神话体系。
2 译者注:也有译法采用音译,如夏普(Sharpe),帕尔玛(Paw)等。

GameDB 相关游戏: 克苏鲁拯救世界

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