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Baroque

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8.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
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Based on 16 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Atlus USA

Developer: Sting

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: April 8, 2008

Summary

Baroque is a dungeon-crawling action RPG in which you awaken to find the world in ruin, your heart beset with unexplained guilt. A cataclysm has destroyed the cities and empires of men and disfigured the spirit of humanity. In this nightmare, it falls to you to descend a mysterious tower in search of absolution. Battle merciless foes through treacherous dungeons, scour for new items to aid you in your travels, and unlock the secrets of a devastated land. You will find death in the depths, yet learn that death is not the end of the story; in the twisted world of Baroque, it is only the beginning. With its many ever-changing levels, each teeming with perverse monsters and tormented souls, the world of Baroque is a frightening and unforgiving realm. Take part in a unique story progression system in which the end of your life only serves to drive the adventure forward. Each time your character dies, more secrets about the forsaken world are revealed! The player has full control over how he shapes his character and how he plays the game. Find and equip a vast assortment of weapons and items, some with a variety of uses. Acquire powerful stat-boosting parasites and combine them to multiply their potency. Only the resourceful will survive! [Atlus USA]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

RPG Fan

The gameplay can be cheap, but it does have a good degree of challenge. Technical aspects are weak, but there is some style going for it.

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Games Radar (in-house)

It takes a certain type of person to plunge into a deep and randomly generated dungeon, but if you’re that type, Baroque is a very satisfying plunge.

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Zentendo

Baroque is a marmite game: you’ll either love it or hate it. It’s a piece of interactive fiction genius and although the gameplay can be a little poor at times, the entire package is great and is well worth picking up if you enjoy a hard, dungeon crawler challenge.

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GameSpot

A fiendishly difficult, randomly generated dungeon crawler that at times can be an incredible work of interactive fiction, and at other times, a muddled mess.

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Cubed3

Baroque is an odd one, even by roguelike standards. It has all the elements of the genre that will put off 'regular' players – random dungeons, deadly difficulty spikes, loss of items and experience on death – but it also suffers from technical shortcomings that even roguelike fans won't enjoy.

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NGamer UK

You know us, we love to champion the odd outsiders, but Baroque drinks your praise only to then puke it in your lap. Horribly interesting. [July 2008, p.62]

IGN

Baroque is unique in concept but lacking in fun. That idea that you have to die in order to put the pieces of your life together is interesting and could work, but you still have to give the player a sense of direction and accomplishment.

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n-Revolution Magazine UK

Not a terrible game but if you want to be scared witless, go for Resi 4 instead. [Issue#22, p.78]

Edge Magazine

The only area in which the game satisfyingly realises the twisted ideas is in mental ailments. [July 2008, p.96]

Thunderbolt

Investing time and money into Baroque comes down to your tolerance for the genre - those experienced with ‘roguelike’ dungeon crawlers should find a lot of hidden depth here mixed in with an engaging story. For everyone else, Baroque is a more often than not, distant, vague and unfairly difficult experience you could probably do without.

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games(TM)

Settle into the initially jarring pace of the game and it eventually becomes the sort of RPG that you simply play for the sake of playing, immersing yourself in the world and discovering its many surprises as you go. [Sept 2008, p.108]

Maxi Consolas (Portugal)

Just in case you’re great fans of long journeys inside dungeons, almost no conversation and don’t mind restarting from zero every time you die…you can probably find it somewhat interesting. But the majority of players will turn their backs at this concept. [July 2008]

Games Master UK

We love original ideas, but there's no point in crazy innovation if you don't nail the basics. [Sept 2008, p.80]

Cheat Code Central

It's a real pity that there are so many parts of Baroque that don't work, because the title also features some innovations for the dungeon-crawling sub-genre.

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

It tries to be different but falls flat on its face. It's repetitive, dull and we doubt that you'd see out the first hour. Avoid. [Sept 2008, p.93]

AceGamez

If only the graphics were prettier, some better character customisation was included and the punishment for death had been significantly reduced, then Baroque could have been sitting smugly near the top of the Wii game chart, instead of floundering about in the lower regions.

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G4 TV

If wandering through endless hallways and engaging in unsatisfying, three-move combat for countless hours with no indication as to your progress or your objectives is your idea of a good time, then Baroque will satisfy you to no end. If you find yourself tearing your hair out just reading that description, stay away…far away.

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Destructoid

The first twenty minutes of playing this game, I detested every second of it.

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Gamervision

If a dungeon-crawler with mediocre graphics, terrible combat, annoying characters, and no story sounds appealing to you, then you should definitely run right out and buy this game.

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Nintendo Power

All in all, Baroque has few redeeming qualities, and your money is better spent elsewhere. [Apr 2008, p.90]

Play.tm

And so then, with forty long and irretrievable hours of my life behind me, I pressed the Wii eject button on Baroque for the final time. What relief! I promise you, pushing one little white button has never felt so good.

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Wii Brasil

Baroque is the true Patience Game: it has more negative than positive points. And for the ones who get easily sick of these games, you'll try to throw Baroque out of the window.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nachi K. gave it a10:
Best game ever. Any critics that didn't like it either played it for like 30 minutes or are stupid. Or both. "You can only fire the gun five times!!11" lol. "It's too haaaard." Double lol. I didn't know what a Roguelike was until I started this thing, and I have to say that those sound a bit dull. The awesome plot development more than makes up for whatever else this game lacks, which in my opinion is very little. The battle system is not "flawed;" it's difficult. Get over yourselves and go watch a movie if you can't handle pushing buttons more than once every hour. Surviving the dungeon requires more skill than luck, and is a constant and exciting challenge. The music is awesome. The story is awesome. The setting is awesome. This game is awesome. And sadly, totally unique. If you want a fun, mentally and physically challenging game that can be played for hours on end, Baroque is for you. Ignore the critics, who probably shouldn't be reviewing video games seeing as they find them so "difficult" and "pointless," (both features of every great video game ever) and get it before it's impossible to find.

THONDOR USA gave it an8:
Like the other guys stated- "if you like roguelikes you'll love this." Although, this gameplay occurs in real time- takes a special kind of gamer to "get" and appreciate this game. This is not a mainstream game by any mewans and I'm sure Atlus didn't expect oustanding critical/commerical success. Re-making this game and bringing it to the West was an act of love for a great game that will really be enjoyed by it's, admittedly, very niche audience. After losing interest in Square-Enix after getting ripped-off by "my Life as a King" this is my premier choice for this genre of game over Chocobo Mystery Dungeon on Wii. Yes, the character has amnesia, however, it's not like Final Fantasy where everybody BUT the character knows what happened- you really discover what happened along with the character and trust me, this story can't be easily guessed at.

Josh S gave it a9:
I am an Atlus fan and mainly got this because it was an Atlus RPG for the Wii...but before I got it, all the reviews flooded in. They gave it horrible scores and, after playing the game, I wonder if they knew what they were getting into. It's like they played it expecting Kingdom Hearts or something. I love it, it may be hard but hating it for that reason means you have to hate Fire Emblem.

Jojodahobo H. gave it a10:
OK, you critics are entitled to your opinion, but severely abuse that right by giving this game such low scores. It was awesome, and creating characters made it more awesome. I almost always agree with the critics, but you got me on this one.

A H gave it a10:
Great game. You'll get a bit tired of Gray and Brown, but overall, the graphics, combat, music, items and most importantly, the story are all great.

Chris C. gave it a5:
The idea of the game is really good. The battle system is just poorly designed. Poor control, no real combat options other than 'attack', and your ability to survive in the dungeon is completely based on the quality of the item drops you happen to get.

Hodge gave it a7:
If you like Roguelikes, you'll love this. If not, you'll hate it. Really, you'd think reviewers would have enough of a background in niche gaming to see a game like this for what it is. It's a Roguelike (a dungeon crawl with RPG game mechanics. Unlike most RPGs, there much more emphasis on survival and using what comes your way through random item generation, and far less on simply accumulating power). The story is actually well-developed for a Roguelike, and hinges on exploration and experimentation with changes each time the game world resets. This happens upon either death or reaching the bottom o f the main dungeon. Each reset causes a change in the world, as long as you managed to find a way to advance the plot. Nothing is spelled out for you, but so far I haven't encountered anything that couldn't be figured out through experimentation. On the other hand, there is a genuine sense of mystery to the plot that's generally lacking in games. At the end of the day, though, it's not a pretty or polished game. But it is quite good at being what it's meant to be, which is a niche game aimed at a set of gamers who don't really care about graphics or polish in the first place. 7.8.

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