Alundra

Alundra (アランドラ, Arandora), released in Europe as The Adventures of Alundra, is an action-adventure / action RPG video game developed by Matrix Software for the Sony PlayStation and was released in 1997. It was published by Sony in Japan, Working Designs in North America, and Psygnosis in Europe.

It won great critical acclaim for its well-written story, smooth game mechanics, and challenging gameplay. The game's protagonist is a young man named Alundra, who learns that he has the power to enter people's dreams. He is shipwrecked near the village of Inoa and proceeds to try to help the locals, who have been suffering from a terrible curse. The narrative becomes gradually darker and more twisted as the game progresses. There is an emphasis on puzzle solving.

A sequel entitled Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins was released in 1999.

Gameplay

Alundra is considered a spiritual sequel to Climax Entertainment's Landstalker on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. In addition to a similar looking main character, the game's development team consisted of former employees of Climax Entertainment. The gameplay style is top-down action-adventure and is known for containing many extremely difficult puzzles, some of which cannot be accessed if the player progresses further in the game, making some items unattainable. It is also known for its music and dark storyline. A range of terrain and surfaces also add variety, from sand, which causes the player to move more slowly, to lava, which damages the player. Upgrades throughout the game can help the player to overcome many of these obstacles, encouraging exploration.