As a longtime fan of publisher Working Designs I’ve been trying to collect every game they’ve released. They had a real knack for making their audience feel respected and put a lot of tender loving care into their translations and packaging. This holds especially true considering they hail from an era where most companies didn’t really care. Working Designs has focused mostly on RPGs through the years, and they were most prolific on hardware that used the CD format. One of their early releases was an action RPG for the Turbografx-CD add-on and it was called Exile. It took a little doing but I managed to track it down finally and give it a shot. Is Exile worth the high price? Well, let’s jump right in and find on out.
Exile has a very, very different atmosphere from most role playing games. This plot takes place during the crusades. Religion was pretty much avoided by most games of this era, and while Exile’s story centers around it Working Designs did dance around a few historical references in the translation. The protagonist here is a warrior named Sadler who, upon returning to his home village, learns of an enemy spy that has retreated out to the desert. He and his childhood friend Rumi set out to find him and get caught up in a religious struggle between the crusaders and natives. It’s very odd for a game to be loosely based on real historical events, but it works here.
I was surprised to learn that Exile isn’t actually the first game in the series. It’s actually a remake of the second with it and its predecessor being developed for various Japanese PC platforms in the 80s. That’s why this one kind of just throws you into the world with a low key explanation and events based on those which have unfolded elsewhere. On a positive note Exile is full of anime style videos depicting character interactions and story events as well as more voice acting than you can shake a stick at. Thanks to Working Designs tender loving care the spoken dialogue is pretty good.
Exile has two different basic gameplay modes. The first of these has you exploring town areas via an overhead view wherein you guide Sadler and his party as they interact with other characters. It is here that you can purchase weapons/items and progress the plot. Upon leaving you’re given a static map and can select your next destination. The second method of play is more akin to a side scrolling action game. These are the dungeon areas and where all of the action in Exile takes place. You can walk left/right, duck, jump, and swipe enemies with Sadler’s sword. All in real-time.
Sadler’s life is determined by his hit point gauge at the bottom of the screen. This is joined by an MP bar which is designated for magic use. When your life is drained you die and must start from your last save. Becoming stronger in Exile is much the same as it is in any RPG. You gain experience points by defeating foes and when you reach a specific amount your stats (including hit points and MP) increase. This means it’s possible to grind levels in traditional fashion, but because everything is in real time you can stand in the same room and spawn enemies repeatedly. You can also get stronger by equipping new swords as well as armor.
So how does it play? Well, it’s awkward to be honest. Exile is either tough as nails or a total cakewalk. There really is no in-between. Generally when you reach a new area you’re going to be under-leveled and you’re going to want to find a good place to farm experience points. Gaining just one level makes a world of difference. You’ll go from enemies requiring five or six hits to just one or two. It’s all depends on what level you’re at. It makes Exile feel a little unbalanced to be honest. If you’re patient (like I am thanks to my experience with the genre) you’ll probably level up to the point where nothing is really going to challenge you here.
Exile really falls short in the dungeon segments. They can be downright annoying even when you’re leveled up. Enemies often fly in at you too fast, and you have to stay on your toes especially with the flying ones. You literally have less than a second to react even in the first dungeon. The boss encounters are equally frustrating, but in different ways. They generally have very small hit boxes and move fast. If you aren’t over-leveled they are frustrating and overly difficult. Finding their hit box, and figuring out just how to dodge their attacks so that you can hit it has quite the learning curve. I was on the verge of pulling my hair out several times because of this.
The dungeons themselves are annoying as well. Rather than designing inventive puzzles or linear progression you’re often greeted with a room full of doors. Of course there’s only one way forward, and you’ll have to explore each room and simply guess where you’re supposed to go. Rinse, lather and repeat. The problem I have is that this is half of the rooms in every dungeon later on. There’s very little sense put into the design and Exile’s length is padded by being vague. Then there are the moments where you have to get an item, leave, and then come back. It’s lazy design, and it’s fair to consider it cheap even as a game released back in the 80s.
For a game on the Turbo Duo Exile is quite pretty. The overhead view segments are slightly less so and lack a lot of detail, but they’re serviceable. In these sections of the game Exile looks more like an 8-bit RPG than anything else. The dungeon sequences are what push it ahead. The backgrounds are full of detail, Sadler’s character sprite is very large (with fantastic animation), and there are no real framerate hiccups. It’s a very impressive looking game considering the hardware. In terms of audio the game is even more impressive.
Let’s start with the voice acting. Some of the lines are delivered with weird inflection, but for the most part it’s really well done. The villains are given weird accents or echoes but I think they fit with the cheesy atmosphere of the story. The music makes use of the redbook audio of the CD format, and to great effect. There’s a lot of atmospheric audio that fits the dungeons incredibly well. Other tracks tend to steer more toward the techno-pop motif. It’s all very flamboyant but I loved it. The music in Exile fits it extremely well and it’s a soundtrack I may have to track down.
