This one be a shorter review with it not having much to say, being a budget game. Another game of my past and one I played for many hours, especially when there was no memory card. A overlooked game back then and one that’s quite common to find around these days due to how cheap it was. A simple game with RPG mechanics with dice and cards. Exploration for treasure and… a shop owner giving you missions? This is my review for Battle Hunter for PlayStation.

Graphics: 7
Using 2D sprites in a pseudo-3D tile maze, the graphics seem to be par on other budget games. It didn’t aged badly but the simplicity isn’t something to brag about. The characters are well designed and are placed in the maze in a pseudo-3D state, and fluidity is not that bad either. Colorful sprites but the mazes usually have a dungeon aesthetic (in terms of colors) and thought it should’ve been a bit more vibrant. Of course there’s not much of a background with it being dark space around a bunch of tiles to create the labyrinth. Overall graphics aren’t that bad, inspired by anime drawings, but could’ve been more lively with color during gameplay,

Sounds: 8
The sound and music are surprisingly good for a budget game. The music, though not memorable, really brought the game to life with each maze having their own BGM. From use of guitars, drums, bass and more, it was a pleasant hearing, though more emphasis on the guitars. The use of songs can range from a bit of rock, somber music, even heavy metal and a little bit of jazz mixed in.

Story: 6
The story is a bit ludicrous. Finding a cure for the human existence you were hired by a… shop keeper? You work under him and help him find some relics for his clients which eventually leads to finding specific items and finding them before a secret organization grab their hands on them. The story itself is very out there and even though set in the future… a shop keeper? Okay then…?

Addictive: 5
I wouldn’t say the game is addictive due to its gameplay but the music and basis is a nice pick me up to play once in a while. It’s not one of those games that’ll get you hooked on but it helped pass time during its PlayStation years (or rather the end of it since it came out in 2001). I wouldn’t say it’s a bad game it’s more so like a mobile game in terms of addictive, a few hours a day.

Depth: 4
For a budget game it does have a bit of customization, you start off creating a “Hunter” and customize their stats by a predetermined amount (30). The stats being:
Movement- every three stats give a +1
Attack- every one stat gives a +1
Defense- every two stats give a +1
Health- every stat gives a +3
Then you can select one of eight characters. Each have 8 color options to choose from, and if you’re wondering… no there’s no difference between each character other than appearance and “weapons” as everything relies solely on the stats.
Going into the game with your new hunter, you only have one option of gameplay which are missions. There you meet a shop keeper and he assigns you missions to find a specific item for the mission so he can deliver to his “clients”, thus getting paid. Extra items collected in the maze you can sell for more money which you can use at a clinic to either recover your health or level up.
This is where the fun begins as you start your hunt with three other hunters (Either AI controlled or other players can join. Even with one controller they can be four people). Each maze is “generated” randomly though I feel like most are the same shape in some way or manner. And within each maze there are boxes to open to collect items which some are beneficial for your stats as long as they’re in your inventory, hearts to pick up for bonuses and special surprises like extra health or an extra turn.
Each player takes turns like an RPG. You start off with five cards in a deck of 100 shared among you and other players and each card has a number to determine your percentage or movements. Each player picks a card and a random dice card appear on the screen with the number that has been rolled. You can go next to another player and engage in a battle or they can engage with you and you can either defend, attack, surrender or run away. Different cards have different effects
Red- boosts attack power during battles, not useable during exploring
Yellow- boosts evasion from traps by a percentage of the number (example: 3 yellow means 30 percent protection) during exploring. Increases defense during battle. A and D cards give immunity to traps. D gives double defense while A is immunity during battle.
Green- lays traps onto the floor to cripple opponents
L- Leg damage, causes the player who steps on the trap to lose a +1 on movement
S- Stun causes a boulder to hit the opponent, incapacitating them for one turn. Defenseless and easy target to attack
D- Damage to the player losing a random amount of health. Can cause a zero HP
E- Empty damage which electrocutes the opponent, losing all their cards.
Blue- boosts movement depending on the number. An E teleports you straight the the exit. Very handy if you got the target item
Though what’s and RPG without enemies? Every dungeon have Three types of enemies that pop up randomly. From a crab like robot shooting you to a vacuum looking bot and a slime. When the cards on the deck drop to zero then a special monster appears. A panther looking creature who will chase anyone who has the target item and defeat them. If the person is defeated… all is lost and you have everything revoked. Money, items and if you lost half your health, it’ll stay like that until you gain money back. Easier to just load your previous progress.
Though once you finish the mission it’ll rank you by how many points you accumulated during the play through from 1st to 4th. Once done you can go back to the shop keeper and let him appraise your items and give you details which you can look through the menu. Speaking of the menu you can customize the background to a few presets and make it look nice to your liking. Simple save and load and new character icons and of course the clinic. Overall not much it offers but what it does offer they put what they can for a $15 game

Difficulty: 3
Game is easy to pick up and play. Nothing too challenging and it’s meant as a budget game for some playability. Though there are some specific missions that make you rescue a client or some specific items for the story to progress and if you fail instant game over. Other than that the game does feel like it cheats itself at times making you far away from the target item or an opponent literally next to the box and exit to win before you had two turns… other than that there’s really no challenge to the game other than the panther

Overall: the game itself was meant to be an easy pick me up and it’s fun for a few hours but you’ll get easily bored. Back then it’s a different story since it was the PlayStation era. Things were more patient back then and more enjoyable since we haven’t been spoiled by newer games. The overall rating will be a 5.5 but that doesn’t make it a bad game. Simple game to pass the time nothing else

Overall: 5.5
My rating : 7.5