|
Digital Downloads
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:00 |
 It seems strange reviewing a series an episode at a time, but here we go with another episode of ::deep breath:: The Tower of DRUAGA -the Aegis of URUK-. Hereinafter referred to as Druaga. After a love-it-or-hate-it first episode, it's time to get down to serious business...
Because of a blunder during his first battle, Neeba fires Jil from the group - his lack of experience will either prove to be a burden or get him killed, and Neeba doesn't want responsiblity for either. Jil's naturally upset, but doesn't let that affect his desire to defeat Druaga. In the meantime, though, he has to find a new job. Meskia has a marketplace where adventurers can meet and join up, but he soon finds that a newbie like him has trouble being taken seriously - until he meets a mysterious girl named Kaaya and her untalkative colleague Ahmey. They're adventurers, looking for someone to lead them to the top of the Tower, and Kaaya's decided that Jil's just the man for the job. Meanwhile, Neeba's learnt of an assassination plot against King Gilgamesh - the legendary hero who last defeated Druaga - and plans to use his team to thwart the plot. When Jil overhears their planning, he decides he needs to help them out...
I was firmly on the "hate" side of the fence with volume one, and if this series had only been available via pay-per-download that would have been the end of it. Thanks to YouTube, though, I was able to give this episode a spin for no charge (albeit in wonderful block'o'vision), and suddenly the future for Jil is looking a whole lot brighter.
Jil had only been brought into Neeba's gang as they're half-brothers - the rest of Neeba's group really didn't understand why he was there, and when his first outing with them turns into an embarassment it's not surprise that they're all keen to see the back of him. His new alliance with Kaaya and Ahmey looks to be a more successful grouping, though - they prove towards the end of this episode that they can work well together, even getting the jump on Neeba's group in the race to save King Gilgamesh's life, and that raises the possibility of an ongoing rivalry between the two brothers as their teams battle their way up the Tower.
The Tower itself is also turning out to be quite interesting - the city of Meskia is built within the Tower, giving an idea of its huge scale, and a whole economic system has built up around the adventurers who try - and invariably fail - to scale it & defeat Druaga. It's actually quite an interesting setting, and I'm hoping there's good use made of it.
New characters Kaaya and Ahmey are a mixed bunch - Kaaya is probably my favourite character in the series so far, with her petite figure and soft-spoken nature only barely hiding a feeling of unrestrained power (she's a magic-user, and I'd guess a powerful one). Ahmey's more of an enigma - a useful fighter, she only speaks when spoken to, which leaves her feeling like a token warrior who may not have much of a role to play. Hopefully that'll be addressed later. The ending credits tell me there are two more characters yet to join Jil's group.
There are a few questions that the show still needs to answer: what's the significance of the opening sequence, where most of the characters are shown in "real-world" situations? What did Gilgamesh mean with his cryptic line about "the time I came to save her" - a throwaway that clearly has significance? With the trading system that's been built up around the Tower, would you really want it destroyed anyway - and if Druaga is so evil, why is there no evidence of his reign of terror?
The episode ends on a cliffhanger that leaves Jil in a situation that he's going to have trouble talking his way out of, and I was surprised to find I was quite looking forward to seeing what happens next. That shows that the series is onto something (unlike fellow experiment BLASSREITER), and after a poor start I've now got hopes that Druaga will turn out to be a worthwhile series.
Watch this episode
|
