You play as a knight that gets talked into investigating Harlech Island by a scholar. On the island he encounters a warrior named Dvorak whom gives him a fatal wound. To save his life, a guardian is attached to him. Now the knight is bounded by Harlech and its guardian. He'll die if he ever leaves, unless he can find the Dragon Slayer.
What makes Xanadu Next interesting is the gameplay loop. Typically you hit monsters, they drop gold and loot. You use that to buy better equipment so you stand a better chance while crawling the dungeons. There are two ways to attack, either with physical weapons or with spells. Weapons such as swords grant the user skills. You can use these skills so long as you have that weapon. Now if you master a weapon (100%), that skill is unlocked and you can use it freely without that weapon. You can still use that weapon until you reach max your profiency (200%). Your weapon of choice will do a lot more damage now. Xanadu Next gives you the choice: do you switch weapons or do you keep it. Of course you can also use spells. Both spells and skills use mp, but regular weapons also have standard attacks. So Xanadu Next gives you a lot of choice in how you build your character. Keep in mind you're limited to only four skill/magic slots.
I played this game last year when it finally released in English and it became my game of the year. Kinda sad if a game originally from 2005 beats the rest of the competition, but it was that good. That gameplay loop feels so satisfying. Exploring dungeons and beating giant bosses is amazing. Xanadu Next may not be a looker with its ugly as sin models, however I forgot about that one hour in. At least I can appreciate the way Falcom tries to frame scenes in their games. Xanadu Next still used some FMV instead of animated cutscenes, which has a certain style to it I like. While you do play this game for that satisfying gameplay loop, I got punched in the gut when the story catches up. I absolutely love this game and will continue to shill it to ya'll.
