{"id":1353,"date":"2025-01-03T19:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1353"},"modified":"2024-12-28T13:16:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T18:16:19","slug":"chakan-the-forever-man-issue-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/chakan-the-forever-man-issue-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Chakan: The Forever Man \u2014 Issue 51"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A for\u00adev\u00ader mediocre mess<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mix of RPG<\/span> and mag\u00adic can\u2019t save Chakan from ter\u00adri\u00adble fate<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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As Sega and Nin\u00adten\u00addo fought for more ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry in the final arc of the 16-bit era, Sega tried to stick with new orig\u00adi\u00adnal prop\u00ader\u00adties in unre\u00adal\u00adized gen\u00adres. I recent\u00adly was rein\u00adtro\u00adduced to Chakan: The For\u00adev\u00ader Man, a game with a cool orig\u00adi\u00adnal theme that did\u00adn\u2019t grow to the poten\u00adtial that devel\u00adop\u00ader Extend\u00aded Play Pro\u00adduc\u00adtions envi\u00adsioned. I would even dare say that with its dark theme, it could have been the Gen\u00ade\u00adsis\u2019 answer to Castl\u00ade\u00adva\u00adnia, which lat\u00ader appeared on Gen\u00ade\u00adsis. How\u00adev\u00ader, dark and spooky does\u00adn\u2019t equal great.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on Robert Kraus\u2019 com\u00adic book series, Chakan is what hap\u00adpens when the super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal meets a leg\u00adendary swords\u00adman. You take on the role of Chakan, a leg\u00adendary swords\u00adman with blade and spell skills who boasts he can defeat Death with\u00adout any prob\u00adlems. As a result, Death chal\u00adlenges Chakan to a duel to the death stat\u00ading if Chakan wins, death will grant him eter\u00adnal life. The bat\u00adtle end\u00aded with Chakan vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adous and Death, keep\u00ading his promise with a sin\u00adis\u00adter twist: While Chakan won eter\u00adnal life, he is now tasked with elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading all evils of the under\u00adworld. With the heavy bur\u00adden of ever\u00adlast\u00ading life upon him, Chakan must embark on a right\u00adeous requiem to earn eter\u00adnal rest. <\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe graph\u00adics in Chakan are the usu\u00adal fan\u00adfare for 16-bit sys\u00adtems. The theme of super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal bat\u00adtle would be a mean\u00ading\u00adful change for a Gen\u00ade\u00adsis game that could have been expand\u00aded on, but the graph\u00adics placed the game at an unfair dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtage because they are so bland and bor\u00ading. Despite the hand\u00adi\u00adcap placed on the graph\u00adics, the music sticks to the game\u2019s theme of fight\u00ading demons and per\u00adfect\u00adly pairs the music to each stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Con\u00adtrol\u00adling Chakan is easy but can be cus\u00adtomized. Chakan has a spe\u00adcial spin attack like Son\u00adic the Hedge\u00adhog and can use fire and oth\u00ader ele\u00admen\u00adtal attacks using alche\u00admy potions. My prob\u00adlem with the con\u00adtrols is obvi\u00adous\u00adly imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly: the Gen\u00ade\u00adsis con\u00adtroller has too many func\u00adtions. Every\u00adthing from move\u00adment to weapons and alche\u00admy is time-con\u00adsum\u00ading and a test of my patience.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s a neat con\u00adcept game, Chakan isn\u2019t great at all. The many prob\u00adlems real\u00adly start with the lack of hind\u00adsight to hire Kraus to con\u00adsult on game devel\u00adop\u00adment. This would have allowed more insight into the char\u00adac\u00adter. It\u2019s also frus\u00adtrat\u00ading that Chakan\u2019s time lim\u00adit pre\u00advent\u00aded me from locat\u00ading his spe\u00adcial weapons. Also, the var\u00adi\u00adous sym\u00adbols rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading alche\u00admy were con\u00adfus\u00ading. Try\u00ading to deter\u00admine which sym\u00adbol matched the ele\u00adment Chakan would need to fight mul\u00adti\u00adple ene\u00admies was a chore. <\/span><\/p>\n

Chakan: The For\u00adev\u00ader Man is sad\u00adly a game with a great con\u00adcept that was decades ahead of its time. While I give Extend\u00aded Play Pro\u00adduc\u00adtions cred\u00adit for try\u00ading to intro\u00adduce a dif\u00adfer\u00adent con\u00adcept, the pres\u00adsure to help Sega defeat their com\u00adpeti\u00adtor blind\u00aded Chakan\u2019s poten\u00adtial. More time should have been used toward the game\u2019s devel\u00adop\u00adment and intro\u00adduc\u00adtion of Chakan as an anti-hero. Kraus will con\u00adtin\u00adue Chakan\u2019s quest for a peace\u00adful death but, for now, he deserves a well-earned rest.<\/span><\/p>\n