Rudra no Hihou (which means "The Treasure of Rudra" -- in case you didn't know either) is a classic SNES, turn-based RPG. The game itself, takes place in a beautifully drawn world that has, in my opinion, the right mix of magical elements and realistic features to make it adventurous without being over-the-top.  The game involves three characters that you may choose from at the beginning (and again whenever you load -- so it's possible to play all three story-lines at once). This allows the player to experiment with the different characters without being bound to one. It also allows you to play to where the characters pass each other in the story, so that you can see all three perspectives within the same time frame.

I gave the over game an overall score of a 7.5. When it was created, it probably would have earned in 8-9, but I'm writing for modern gamers with modern perspectives, so it gets a 7.5. I'm also not someone who hands out "10s" like they're candy, so don't take it personally if I ding your favorite childhood memory. I'll walk through each section, then end with a summary of positives, negatives, and suggestions for hacks. Thus, if you want the short version, just scroll to the bottom and get the review at-a-glance.

Overall: The game is your classic dungeon crawling, stop the ancient evil, gain-a-character, lose-a-character type of RPG. The fighting system is pretty well designed, though weapons upgrades in towns are typically weak and the armor upgrades aren't shown on the sprites (which I hate, but that could have been a memory limitation). The characters level up at an acceptable rate, however each new area requires A LOT of grinding (like 10-15 levels) to be able to advance the plot. I feel that this could have been better scaffolded with more side-quests. It introduces some interesting features (covered in the story section) and a unique approach to magic (discussed in the depth section). All-in-all, it's a game worth playing if you're not looking to compare it to Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger and you ARE willing to do the level grinding that it requires.

Graphics: The world is beautiful. I'm not talking about the world map (which is fine, but simple by design), I'm talking about the actual "dungeon type" maps. The backgrounds, color-choices, and general "feel" of the world is, by far, my favorite aspect of the game. I especially like the use of water and waterfalls at great heights. Furthermore, the battles have well drawn monsters and decent in-battle backgrounds.

Sound: typical midi files, they don't distract but they don't have you singing the theme the way Zelda and Ninja Gaiden do. The battle music is passable, and there are enough songs to get you through the game without hitting the mute button. It's an SNES game, I'm being realistic with my expectations.

Addictiveness I don't see a lot of replay value here. The biggest draw, initially, is the choice of different characters with different stories. This definitely pulls players in, and makes it easier to tolerate difficult spots (if you get really annoyed, don't rage quit -- just switch to a different story for a bit). However, the over all story doesn't change based on storyline choices, and the grinding required to get through the game (and lack of side-quests) makes it hard for me to think about replaying.

Story(ies): This is one of the more unique aspects of the game. The player may not only choose which character to use when starting, but may jump between storylines as often as they like. It's the jumping between that makes this unique, as other games allow similar choices. The stories themselves are interesting enough, though they can be someone anti-climactic; moreover, the overall story is rather interesting. The world is going to end in 16 days (though, strangely, EVERYBODY IN THE FRICKIN GAME seems to know this). Thus, time is moved in chapters as day turns to night and the plot advances. Which day you're on, has nothing to do with real time, of course -- so GRIND ON you crazy diamond, there's no pressure.

Depth: The game has three story-lines with some decent main ideas to offer, but lacks heavily in side-quests. The "Tales" Games easily put the best of Rudra to shame in this department. Some of the side characters (the thieves, for instance) add a charming aspect to the overall plot. The most unique aspect is the magic system which works like observable "blue" magic. Characters literally write they're own spells by recognizing the word parts and pairing them together to form stronger and more modified spells. I highly suggest you play around with this for about 30 minutes, observe enemy spells for another 30 minutes... and then Google search the spell list.

Difficulty: I scored this a 9, not because it requires intelligence and skill, but because getting through the game (without endless grinding) is impossible. The fighting system's greatest flaw is the regulation of speed. My characters can be of adequate level and have speed enhancing accessories... and it doesn't matter. One battle I'll destroy an enemy, the next it'll hit me twice with multi-target spells before ANY of my characters can attack. I don't know what the designers were doing... but attack speed and battle order need a fix. This flaw makes planning tactics frustrating at best.

In Summary:

The GOOD: Beautiful world, decent stories, unique approach to character choice, unique magic system.

The BAD: No good side quests, not a lot of replay value, requires A LOT of grinding, small battle system flaws.

The HACKS: fix the Speed/battle order issue, up the MP on some of the characters (seriously... my fighter had 30 and I used items to raise this!), consider creating graphics for armor changes. Also, how hard would it be to add a few mini-games? I would love to see a reason to do so much grinding that isn't just getting to a higher level.

Lastly: Sorry about the underlines... for some reason it's underlining EVERYTHING instead of just the section titles. I've tried editing, but nothing changes.