RPGs in general follow a basic adventure formula, you start out as a lowly hero, usually eventually having a chosen one vibe, then it goes to finding certain key items and passages to get through the entire game from start to finish. And it's the NES games that fit this to a tee, having players go back to previous locales after getting the means to which others need them, and so forth.
Minelvaton Saga feels like an ultimate fetch quest which frankly creates more boredom than excitement. Vague hints from NPCs are vague, they simply say rumors, but like any other RPG cliches, rumors end up true eventually. The lengths to getting those rumors to be true however was quite nasty when it came to this game. Your first quest is simple enough, prove you're the prince. Then go to the next town. And the next, find clues, go through dungeons, go back, go through the same dungeons again, ah! See the problem? It becomes monotonous really quickly. The big issue that combines itself with this is the encounter rate and battle system. Encounter rate follows simple, potentially annoying formula, and battle system is a weird action RPG style thing reminiscent of Hydlide's system, where you run into enemies and damage is given to whomever. Bad!
Yet interestingly enough, you'll likely run into a dungeon you're not supposed to reach yet early on, likely getting your butt kicked in short order. Or you can prevail and get a lot of levels from it. In fact, leveling up in this game becomes an afterthought as you gain levels quickly. Too bad stat gains and armor that you get don't really equal a whole lot of invulnerability though. The game includes separate characters to substitute for a party, which I guess works in a pinch? Plus two extra party members are nice, although they have AI that tries to get away as much as possible for their long range abilities. By the time someone is ready for endgame they have 99 antidotes (for nothing but poison status anyways in this game) 99 medicines, 99 keys (yes, you NEED keys and there are too many locked doors here), and likely 99 of most attack items. And why do you need all this? Cause the game is gonna be an outright marathon during the endgame parts. The entirety of Rabant Castle is a huge maze, then ANOTHER maze with the aptly-named Gorgon's Maze after it, then FOUR tower tours each with a boss and fixed encounters and lots of key doors and dead ends before the naturally confusing final dungeon of the game.
Do yourself a favor and if you wish to play this game by any means use the guides, or you're not gonna even come close. Or just flat out don't play it at all.
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