What was the most memorable part of Faxanadu to you? Please consider supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through RUclips membership by clicking the JOIN button above!
I remeber play this game at 80s... What a memories... Anyway, this game it´s amazing in those times when we don´t have internet I finished without any help... Took me around 5 months more less. To bad we don´t have a remake on PC for this great game. Regards!
1 of the best intros if not the best intro to a nes game when you turn it on for sure and the soundtrack is great too! Don't think negative thoughts remember your Mantra👌👍
The misty area was memorable, all the shopkeepers were blinking like crazy so they were probably lying, and I think you can only get the death spell if you grind in the beginning.
As a kid I rember only getting as far as a few screens did not know what to do but a few months ago I decided to try to beat the game cuse I always whated to know what other things were in the game and glad I did was really fun to grind get better gear
Miserably underrated game. Visually it got its charm, gameplay was well constructed, and the music was the highest point, simply fantastic and memorable.
I agree. This game and Dungeon Magic should get remakes or at least both be ported to the Nintendo Switch NES online service. Save states would make both Faxanadu and Dungeon Magic much more tolerable.
Same here. Fighting those jumping white creatures over and over again. But when I finally had the shield and the Death magic equipped, it felt really rewarding.
I rented this game several times as a kid. When the local video rental store was getting ready to discontinue NES rentals, I finally bought the game for $10. I never beat it, but I remember leaving the password music track playing in the background as I did homework. Love the music!!
I love this game. Apart from the unique monster designs, great soundtrack and fun exploration the story is really dark and original for a NES game. It may not be clear at first, but the monsters you fight are all dwarves mutated by the meteorite. I didn't know it when I was young, but now I feel the game was probably inspired by Lovecraft's Color from Space. It's great!
This was one of my most memorable games I've played for the NES. As a kid I was only able to play it when I successfully convinced my parents (by leveling up my speech craft) to let me rent it on weekends instead of renting a movie at the local video store. Thanks for covering this game.
One minor correction: if you earn a new title at the Church, this will actually cause you to start with more than zero gold when you die. Your amount of starting gold is set by your rank, of which I believe there were 15. As for my memories: I'll always remember this at the first time I ever remember your gear changing how the hero appeared. The music is - as you said - also amazing, to be sure.
One of my most beloved games for the NES. I still remember the day when I bought it, sitting in a restaurant and reading the instruction booklet. And since 2013, I play it on the first saturday in january every year.
@@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302 Even after you learned it, it was still slow and grindy because of all the crap you had to buy with hearts and how long it would take to build those hearts up sometime, and God Forbid you ever die while trying to farm hearts as you'd then start back from 0.
@jorixpalorn3738 that's what 8 year old me thought after being stuck in Simon's and then trying this game. While still being a bit obtuse puzzle wise at times, I never got stuck to the point of frustration like in Simon's quest. It had better music, bosses epic character portraits, story, no hearts that counts both as money, experience and sub-weapons. Just better in every way.
I love Faxanadu, I remember playing it back in the day, the myst level and the track that goes along with it was my favorite part, used to give me nightmares as a kid yet it made for very fond memories about the game. Funny enough and for anyone interested, a game very similar to Faxanadu just dropped this month (few days ago) called Infernax! It’s an awesome and very well made retro experience and I’m happy to see this video out so it creates a bit more awareness for these retro titles that made growing up in that era so cool for me.
One of my favorite NES games, and one I have revisited and played through several times. I always enjoyed games like Zelda 2 and Simon's Quest, and Faxanadu may just be my favourite side scrolling action RPG. The atmosphere is excellent, and the soundtrack is simply phenomenal.
I wish this was on NSO. With save states, this game isn’t as much of a chore to grind through. I remember the foggy dark centre of the world tree vividly. Haunting music for the time.
This was definitely one of my fav RPGs as a kid. This, Willow, and Crystalis were all amazing games with great soundtracks and addictive gameplay. I sort of lump all 3 together since they were the games I'd go through multiple times and couldn't get enough of. Faxanadu was such a long, deep game for its time.
I remember one time playing it in my youth and grinding for HOURS to get the Death spell from an early shop. It was like, 23k gold and you were picking up 10 or 20 at a time. It was ridiculous, but many when I got it....I could only fire it a few times. lol. It was super OP, though.
I remember this game when it came out and played it through several times. I do remember learning of one trick, where you get the 1500 golds from the king, go to the stores and spend each one of the 1500 until you are left with 0, then go back to the king and get an additional 1500. Unfortunately, because of the limit on number of items you can carry, you could only do this trick once, as you couldn't spend the new 1500 golds completely.
I love this game. I've played through it many times throughout the years. The most memorable part of the game for me has always been the music. Everytime I hear it it always gets stuck in my head for days, and sometimes it'll just pop in there out of nowhere. If only my NES wasn't buried at the moment I'd be tempted to play it again (it's been a few years).
I'll always upvote Faxanadu. The music is banging. This game was my first Dark Souls. It really draws you in with it's atmosphere. What really stood out to me as a kid was equipping different armour and weapons actually changed your sprite.
My buddy brought this to my house one time. I didn't even play it very much that day, but the sound track has been stuck in my head for the past 32 years.
I do remember it. Once the music and the pictures of the shop owners kicked in I got a big smile on my face. The other ones you mentioned too, Simon's Quest and Battle of Olympus were some of my favorite games. I would love to play Faxanadu again. Thanks for posting
For most of my childhood, I lived down a dirt road, and would pretend I was starting off on a great adventure with the sound of my feet shuffling through the dirt, like when the game first starts. I really did love this game, but never beat it... Also, an edit, because the weapon and armor merchant looks like Bill from King of the hill. Coincidence? likely!
I bought faxanadu at the same time i bought probotector, i remember that well. Probotector was the europe only version of contra. With robots instead of humans. I loved the design of the robots. They were very japanese mecha and reminded me a bit about macross/robotech designs.
I had this game as a kid and I remember playing it once, not liking it and putting it aside. Then a bit later, decided to show my friend the game, we ended up figuring it out and finishing it pretty quickly! Definitely one of my favorite gaming memories!
I remember when I finally got the giant blade, believing it would solve all my problems and allow me to cruise through the game with relative ease. I could not have been more wrong. Beautiful game but entirely brutal.
It's a game I played as a kid but never finished it until 20 years later. The music is great. I think the attack animations and hit detection are really good with that feeling of getting a good hit on the enemies and the ability to push them back.
I found the game tough back when i was a kid. I remember grinding for keys and potions lots of times and kind of took the fun away. I was learning english back then so some of what i had to do, well , it just didn't make sense. Kids in school talked great things about this game and shadow gate i remember well. But what a magical time to be a kid in the 80's. So happy for that.
This game holds a dear place in my heart, more so than all other NES cartridges I had or happened upon hah. I just hear any bits of the music and I’m taken back 30 some years 😁
Another welcome review of this golden-oldie and I remember playing Faxanadu and Zelda II, both my favourite NES games as a teenager in the 1990s. Most memorable moment was the ending as the player begins their journey with nothing but the tunic on their back and the land is all dried up, only to return a magnificent Elf-knight in shinning armour and water restored. Very cheerful.
48 years old here, been gaming since atari 2600 and Intellivision 2. The 8 bit NES era was the best time ever for gaming for me. Brings back so many memories. Faxanadu - amazing. Played the hell out of it.
I consider this game just as big a part of my childhood as Zelda or any of the NES's other big hitters. Some of the music still pops into my head from time to time, especially that 'overworld' theme.
when i got it, one small thing blew me away, U COULD ACUTALLY SEE THE DIFFERENT WEAPONS AND ARMORS YOU USE. Do u have any idea how amazing that was back in the days ? that early area, the music, the graphics, it was a dark game, people were smoking.....it felt so surreal. I remember one time, me and my brother, we grinded the first area with monsters for hours to get enough money to get that death spike magic from the start....turned out it wasn't that powerful. Recently, a game called ALWA'S AWAKENING has an almost exact vibe, people should check it out....it has so many things in common, even the fonts and the text sounds, amazing stuff.
Loved this game as a kid. There are definitely ways to exploit it as well. The main one being leveling up and getting a new title. Different titles actually start you with set amounts of gold when you restart, so you can actually grind some money, buy expensive equipment, get a password and restart with your new gear, and with gold again.
I first played this game around 2007 or so, so about 15 years ago, when I randomly found a copy for sale extremely cheaply. I think I paid £1 for it fully boxed. I wasn't the biggest fan of the game though. I remember at the time feeling like it really hadn't held up well but I did give it a try but I just couldn't appreciate it enough to make myself want to continue. I know my taste in games has changed significantly since then though, so maybe I should return and give it another shot! I know I still have that copy in my NES collection.
This the best commentary/summary of faxanadu thst I have seen! Well done. I played this game as a 6 year old when it was released and I remember it being really challenging, but this game holds extreme nostalgic value for me, especially the music
Fun fact: It is called Faxanadu because it is the Famicon edition of the series. Also, The thing I remember most of this game is the crazy blinking rate all the townspeople have when they speak. 😆
Played and passed this game back in the late 80s and also replayed it like 2 years ago and had a blast. Storyline and gameplay is good. Spells make the game really good. Would been great if you cover some of the spells and items like the winged boots.
The way I see it, the game has 3 major flaws. 1, peoples face-cards blink wayyyyy too much. 2, the pendant, found at the tower of suffer, makes you weaker, rather than stronger, and 3, the point of the game is not THAT clear. Another challenging aspect is that the flying boots time decreases as your level grows, creating a situation in which for a short time at the very start of the game, you can't level yourself up very much. But don't forget, if you spend the king's money gift all the way to 0, then revisit the king, you'll get the money over again! Useful for the early shop with the death magic and the magic shield.
While I normally love your reviews, I have a few complaints: 1. Can't hit the spiked shells? That's what the deluge is for! 2. You have the mantra and restart at the last level you have reported to the guru, along with that level's aloted money. 3. You can have several keys at the same time, at least in the European version. Even multiple copies of the same key. Other than that, good job on your reviews!
To me the most memorable part of this game was that a friend had it. I don't remember ever playing it or watching them play it or anyone else for that matter, but it's possible that it happened back then.
I remember grinding the “golds” to get the death spell at the first available shop. I can’t recall if it was 2 or 4 at a time. My brothers were not happy that my “turn” at the Nintendo lasted for several hours.
Great run-down of the game - I think you were spot on. If you're revisiting this game - emulated is the way to go. Just having save states makes it just more enjoyable. Also we just covered this game on our podcast, the Museum of Modern Games. Would be curious what the author of this video thinks! We certainly seem in agreement on most aspects of the game.
I never even heard about this game until college. A roommate saw me playing old nes games on an emulator and asked if I'd heared of Faxanadu. I said Faxana..wha? I can still remember playing it for the first time and dying trying to get past the first enemy of the game. "Oh" I said, "I see game." My roommate new me well. Love this game.
This game was great, but very challenging. I remember using the Nintendo Game Genie with this game which allowed you to apply cheats to the game, one was infinite golds. The effect was that you don't lose any golds, so the bad part was that you had to earn the gold first. A little grinding it out in the beginning and you could go through the game at a fun pace. Great memories, thanks for this vid.
Faxanadu was the most rented game I played when I was a kid. I cant recall if I got passed the town of mist. But I remember my mom rented it for us a dozen times and she knew she would have to help write down those confusing passwords for us which I still have in notepads. It's still one of my most favorite Nintendo games.
This game brought me to the KOEI franchise Romance of the three kingdoms. One of my favorite games on the NES , good battle system, absolutely love the soundtrack. I hate cliches but where has the time gone. For a quick second I thought I was on the couch in my parents basement watching my older brother beat Sima Yi. Thank you.
Lol I commented on a Faxanadu review video sorry about that. Actually Faxanadu was the first game I got as a gift so it has a special place for me personally.
Massively atmospheric. Art direction and music amazing. 8 bit Souls/Elden Ring (giant tree!). I need to know if anyone who worked on this worked at Fromsoft later
Crystalis was my favorite action RPG, and I dare say, possibly the best on the system. I really wish it had made a sequel on the SNES or PS. Faxanadu was solid though. Similar to Castlevania II, but Castlevania had parts where it absolutely wasn't obvious what the hell the game wanted you to do, and I don't remember running into those with Fax. There were however, a lot of long treks back to buy stuff.
Great video mate. Subbed. That game looks cool. I would have loved this as a kid, it's a real shame I missed out. Now adays I struggle to play these longs grind style games, due to time and other things to do. It looks like it was a cool alternative to Zelda. And those tunes were very nice!
I'm glad to see Faxanadu finally getting some love in recent years. It was my favourite "questing" NES game growing up, and one my Dad and I would play endlessly. Sadly, it wasn't really that popular when first released. I'd hoped to get the remaster that was made a few years ago, but I guess Konami stepped in and quashed it. Too bad, seeing as how they've done bugger all with the IP. Also, minor correction to the video. Your "Golds" don't reset to zero when you input the password. Whatever your current title is determines your starting Golds when putting in the password. Despite its flaws, for me Faxanadu holds up better than Zelda 2 or Simon's Quest, but that could be because I don't have nostalgia for those.
Got good news for you bud. Faxanadu Remastered, as well as a half dozen other 'remastered' games for the NES by Ed Findlay, aka RetroGamer3, can be found here: www.retrovideogames.store/ Faxanadu Remastered has been out since around summer 2016, and he's released a bunch more since then. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Returns Faxanadu Remastered Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Revised Friday the 13th Revisited Rygar Vengeance Ninja Gaiden Master Edition Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Rebitten in both regular and special editions TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): Reshelled Check them out. He charges for them now though, so be aware. But there is a nice bundle where you can get 7 of his 9 games for a discount. The website defaults to Canadian money but if you use the 'Shop Now' button on the front page it takes you to a shop page where you can change the currency. Then just go to either 'Game Downloads' or 'Game Discs' under the 'Game & Gear Shop' header depending on if you want digital or physical copies. Just headphone warning if you play the sample videos on any of the pages. They are super loud. And just found out you are (or were) an Idaho National Guardsman and served in Iraq in 2004-2005. I was in the Washington state National Guard there too in 2004-2005. Small world.
@@gameusurper thank you so much for the link! I thought Konami had nuked all the unofficial remasters. Yes, I was in Iraq with the 116th during OIF III. Most of the brigade was on FOB Warrior in Kirkuk, though I was with a small detachment that was first with 1st ID in Baquba, then occupied a small patrol base in Kirkuk we called Barbarian. It was during that time that I actually wrote my first book, "Soldier of Rome: The Legionary" as a means of escapism. Never would have guessed it'd turn into a career (my twenty-seventh book comes out next month)! I'm guessing you were in Kirkuk as well? I spent most of my time as a 19K, later 19Z when I made E-8, retiring as a MSG in 2014.
@@legionarybooks13 Konami DID shut Ed down for a time. He tried to do an Indiegogo (or some other crowdfunding thing) I believe and they shut it down, sending a cease and desist order, because they're assholes. He came back a year or so later just doing it on his own without blatantly asking for money publicly and it's been up ever since. I was lucky enough to get Faxanadu Remastered and a few of his other earlier works for free back in 2016-2017 before he started charging for them. Faxanadu is my favorite NES game, so any new game based on it I was glad to have, even if not official. In regards to the military, I was actually in Baghdad the entire time. I was with the 1-161 Infantry (Mechanized) out of Spokane and Eastern Washington, which itself was part of 81st Brigade I believe. I was in HHC Company; there was an Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie company that was part of us too. Our base was Highlander, which was right in or near the Green Zone of Baghdad, I forget exactly. I would go back and forth on rotation between that and some other base I don't remember the name of. I was 31U Signal Support Systems Specialist (Commo). I worked with the computers, radios, and antennas between the two bases. I was a FOBBIT (what they called the people who didn't go out regularly) most of the time, either being at one base or the other. I never made it past E4 (Specialist), mainly because I didn't want to, and I had no intention of doing 20 years. I left in 2006 after my initial 6 were up and wound down my inactive time for 2 years until August 2008, then I was out for good. I don't know what 19K or 19Z are. My MOS designation changed partway through my time in service to something like 25U I think, I don't recall exactly. Congrats on your writing career. You've been pumping them out steadily sounds like, with a minimum of 1 per year, sometimes more. Are they all military focused, or do you write other stuff too?
@@gameusurper 19K is Abrams Tank Crewman. At E-8, 19K and 19D (Cav Scout) merge to 19Z (Senior Armour Sergeant). Same with infantry MOS's. I had 20 years, 8 months when I retired. While I don't regret it, sometimes I think those who punched after six were the smart ones. And nothing wrong with being a FOBBIT. Our attitude was that everyone had a job to do and we were all in it together (whether we agreed with the war itself or not). Thank you for the kind words on my writing career. Yes, most of my books are military based. I personally consider my works to be very anti-war (which is why they are at times exceedingly graphic); however, I don't ham-fist any sort of "message". I just tell the story and let the readers interpret it for themselves. Regarding games, Faxanadu never got the love it deserved back during the NES era. It's still one of my personal favourites even to this day. My Dad and I never really shared much in common, yet we managed to bond through video games, especially "questing" ones, as we called it (I don't recall ever hearing the term "RPG" back in the late 80s or early 90s). I should have him over to play the Faxanadu remaster. I just purchased it, and yeah, it is quite a bit harder than the original!
@@legionarybooks13 Oh yeah, it is definitely harder than the OG Faxanadu. Getting poisoned early in the game is a death sentence unless you've found some antidote potions (which they don't even sell in the first or second town). I like the locked treasure boxes Ed put in the game. Gives you something to use the keys on other than doors. He also made the rank and title system from the first into actual level-ups that make your HP and MP gauges longer. Also love what he did with the Wing Boots, making them a permanent special item that has a rechargeable meter while you aren't using them. So much good stuff in there. My advice is to not buy any upgrades until you've scoured the areas around the town for locked chests (and open them) and secret breakable blocks. Hope you enjoy.
Loved this game during the day. I didnt use the save feature. Would just pause the game and put the tv back on regular channels. leaving the system on. best way around not losing gold.... If you havnt yet do Shadowgate for the NES. The music from that game is still etched in my brain after 30 years LoL
I LOVED Faxanadu!!!!!! I remember being away sick for a bunch of days in high school, and my mom rented this. Just barely beat it before taking it back. Gooooood times
I never played Zelda 2 but I did play and complete this and The Battle of Olympus as an 8 or 9 year old kid. Replayed both recently and loved revisiting them but I could see how someone trying first time could find them a bit dated. Still classics to me.
This game was so amazing to play when I was young. It's still great. It's very much an early example of a Metroidvania :) I would also like too add that it may not be as popular as Zelda 2, but its far more accessible gameplay wise. Not easy, by any means, but Zelda 2 is pretty punishing imo.
Solid choice for a video. I like your production quality and analysis. Only thing is I'd like to see NES composite footage to compare with the crisp text and numbers from emulator footage.
The most memorable thing about this game for me was that I never once heard of it until I was already an adult. Still have yet to go back to check it out, though this video has me wanting to do so
I really enjoyed your video and have just discovered your Chanel. Your camera or whatever software you used to make this Faxanadu video was very good ! Very super High Definition , my eyes popped while watching this, usually I don't see videos of this quality at all! , especially for old NES games . I don't know how you did it but it looked very good ! . Very impressive ! And about the game, the Music will haunt you for the rest of your life ! Very melodic , catchy, mysterious and sad all at the same time ! I haven't played this for at least 20 + years but I still remember the sound & music very well ! I think that says a lot .
I felt like the color scheme and backgrounds correctly conveyed a unique otherworldly/fantasy realm that I hadn't otherwise seen. And the soundtrack which I feel is still better than legend of Zelda.
What was the most memorable part of Faxanadu to you?
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I remeber play this game at 80s... What a memories... Anyway, this game it´s amazing in those times when we don´t have internet I finished without any help... Took me around 5 months more less. To bad we don´t have a remake on PC for this great game. Regards!
1 of the best intros if not the best intro to a nes game when you turn it on for sure and the soundtrack is great too! Don't think negative thoughts remember your Mantra👌👍
i played this game when i was young but never got very far because i was not patient in my 11th year of life to grind lol
The misty area was memorable, all the shopkeepers were blinking like crazy so they were probably lying, and I think you can only get the death spell if you grind in the beginning.
As a kid I rember only getting as far as a few screens did not know what to do but a few months ago I decided to try to beat the game cuse I always whated to know what other things were in the game and glad I did was really fun to grind get better gear
Miserably underrated game. Visually it got its charm, gameplay was well constructed, and the music was the highest point, simply fantastic and memorable.
The music man.. it still brings back memories of being 9 years old and playing this all day on a rainy Saturday.. damn
@@vannthybun2546 Still go back to play the fog music. :P
@@hajkie the best theme in the game
I agree. This game and Dungeon Magic should get remakes or at least both be ported to the Nintendo Switch NES online service. Save states would make both Faxanadu and Dungeon Magic much more tolerable.
+1 to everything Psycho Machinery said.
I remember grinding in the opening area to get the magical shield way too early. We’re talking about 500 screen scrolls to get the money needed. Lol
Same.
Same
Same
Same
Same here. Fighting those jumping white creatures over and over again. But when I finally had the shield and the Death magic equipped, it felt really rewarding.
Loved this game as a kid. Still holds up to this day. One of the true gems on the NES.
I rented this game several times as a kid. When the local video rental store was getting ready to discontinue NES rentals, I finally bought the game for $10. I never beat it, but I remember leaving the password music track playing in the background as I did homework. Love the music!!
I love this game. Apart from the unique monster designs, great soundtrack and fun exploration the story is really dark and original for a NES game. It may not be clear at first, but the monsters you fight are all dwarves mutated by the meteorite. I didn't know it when I was young, but now I feel the game was probably inspired by Lovecraft's Color from Space. It's great!
This was one of my most memorable games I've played for the NES. As a kid I was only able to play it when I successfully convinced my parents (by leveling up my speech craft) to let me rent it on weekends instead of renting a movie at the local video store. Thanks for covering this game.
Thanks for sharing your memories with it!
One minor correction: if you earn a new title at the Church, this will actually cause you to start with more than zero gold when you die. Your amount of starting gold is set by your rank, of which I believe there were 15. As for my memories: I'll always remember this at the first time I ever remember your gear changing how the hero appeared. The music is - as you said - also amazing, to be sure.
Also, how much you start with when resuming from a password.
One of my most beloved games for the NES. I still remember the day when I bought it, sitting in a restaurant and reading the instruction booklet. And since 2013, I play it on the first saturday in january every year.
Thank you! What a legendary underrated nes game. The environment and soundtrack are kinda heavy and sad but nostalgic as heck.
Faxanadu is basically what Simon's Quest WISHES it was. Also probably my favorite nes game.
Simon's Quest was pretty awesome... once you learned it.
@@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302 Even after you learned it, it was still slow and grindy because of all the crap you had to buy with hearts and how long it would take to build those hearts up sometime, and God Forbid you ever die while trying to farm hearts as you'd then start back from 0.
i agree, it was my favorite nes game
@jorixpalorn3738 that's what 8 year old me thought after being stuck in Simon's and then trying this game. While still being a bit obtuse puzzle wise at times, I never got stuck to the point of frustration like in Simon's quest. It had better music, bosses epic character portraits, story, no hearts that counts both as money, experience and sub-weapons. Just better in every way.
I remember playing this over 30 years ago. One of my favorite games on NES.
I love Faxanadu, I remember playing it back in the day, the myst level and the track that goes along with it was my favorite part, used to give me nightmares as a kid yet it made for very fond memories about the game.
Funny enough and for anyone interested, a game very similar to Faxanadu just dropped this month (few days ago) called Infernax! It’s an awesome and very well made retro experience and I’m happy to see this video out so it creates a bit more awareness for these retro titles that made growing up in that era so cool for me.
I remember renting this one. 3 day rental and it went back beaten twice. Lol, kept me up all night the first day. One of my top NES game picks.
I remember being blown away by the smokey overly levels. I hadn't seen that kind of foreground effect on an NES game before. Made it super creepy
One of my favorite NES games, and one I have revisited and played through several times. I always enjoyed games like Zelda 2 and Simon's Quest, and Faxanadu may just be my favourite side scrolling action RPG. The atmosphere is excellent, and the soundtrack is simply phenomenal.
I wish this was on NSO. With save states, this game isn’t as much of a chore to grind through. I remember the foggy dark centre of the world tree vividly. Haunting music for the time.
Yes!!!
This is one of my top 10 NES games. Back in the day a buddy and I rented this and I stayed up beating it.
This and Zelda II have shared duty as my favorite NES game(s) for over 3 decades. Criminally underrated? I think it has twelve warrants out on it.
This was definitely one of my fav RPGs as a kid. This, Willow, and Crystalis were all amazing games with great soundtracks and addictive gameplay. I sort of lump all 3 together since they were the games I'd go through multiple times and couldn't get enough of. Faxanadu was such a long, deep game for its time.
I have also reviewed Crystalis, and plan to review Willow soon!
I remember one time playing it in my youth and grinding for HOURS to get the Death spell from an early shop. It was like, 23k gold and you were picking up 10 or 20 at a time. It was ridiculous, but many when I got it....I could only fire it a few times. lol. It was super OP, though.
yep i did this too.. death spell is waaay too powerful :) i think last boss takes like 1 or 2 hits from it then dies :P
I remember this game when it came out and played it through several times. I do remember learning of one trick, where you get the 1500 golds from the king, go to the stores and spend each one of the 1500 until you are left with 0, then go back to the king and get an additional 1500. Unfortunately, because of the limit on number of items you can carry, you could only do this trick once, as you couldn't spend the new 1500 golds completely.
You can pay for training and sell keys/items. I usually get it 3 times, one last time before exiting the city.
I love this game. I've played through it many times throughout the years. The most memorable part of the game for me has always been the music. Everytime I hear it it always gets stuck in my head for days, and sometimes it'll just pop in there out of nowhere. If only my NES wasn't buried at the moment I'd be tempted to play it again (it's been a few years).
I'll always upvote Faxanadu. The music is banging. This game was my first Dark Souls. It really draws you in with it's atmosphere. What really stood out to me as a kid was equipping different armour and weapons actually changed your sprite.
Found this game for $3 when I was 8 or so. Tough game for a young kid. Looking forward to watching.
My aunt had this game when i was kid and she beat the crap out of it. I tried later and couldnt come close!
What a cool Aunt ! 😎
My buddy brought this to my house one time. I didn't even play it very much that day, but the sound track has been stuck in my head for the past 32 years.
Excellent game, it was the first game my best friend and I completed as children. I will always love it.
I do remember it. Once the music and the pictures of the shop owners kicked in I got a big smile on my face. The other ones you mentioned too, Simon's Quest and Battle of Olympus were some of my favorite games. I would love to play Faxanadu again. Thanks for posting
For most of my childhood, I lived down a dirt road, and would pretend I was starting off on a great adventure with the sound of my feet shuffling through the dirt, like when the game first starts. I really did love this game, but never beat it... Also, an edit, because the weapon and armor merchant looks like Bill from King of the hill. Coincidence? likely!
I did this too !
I bought faxanadu at the same time i bought probotector, i remember that well. Probotector was the europe only version of contra. With robots instead of humans. I loved the design of the robots. They were very japanese mecha and reminded me a bit about macross/robotech designs.
When I think back to the NES, I (always) remember Faxanadu before any other game. It left it's mark on me. Loved it.
Think it was actually one of my favorite games on Nes. It got something unique to it even today.
Hoping that there will be a remake or something for the Nintendo Switch. Sooooo many great memories with the game! At least I have my roms now.
Rented it several times, it was a great game. Definitely stood out.
I love this game.It is one of my childhood's best memories.
I had this game as a kid and I remember playing it once, not liking it and putting it aside. Then a bit later, decided to show my friend the game, we ended up figuring it out and finishing it pretty quickly! Definitely one of my favorite gaming memories!
This game needs more love, it's honestly one of my favorites on the nes
I remember when I finally got the giant blade, believing it would solve all my problems and allow me to cruise through the game with relative ease. I could not have been more wrong. Beautiful game but entirely brutal.
It's a game I played as a kid but never finished it until 20 years later. The music is great. I think the attack animations and hit detection are really good with that feeling of getting a good hit on the enemies and the ability to push them back.
This was one of my mom's favorite games when I was a kid. I was never any good at it.
I found the game tough back when i was a kid. I remember grinding for keys and potions lots of times and kind of took the fun away. I was learning english back then so some of what i had to do, well , it just didn't make sense. Kids in school talked great things about this game and shadow gate i remember well. But what a magical time to be a kid in the 80's. So happy for that.
This game holds a dear place in my heart, more so than all other NES cartridges I had or happened upon hah. I just hear any bits of the music and I’m taken back 30 some years 😁
Another welcome review of this golden-oldie and I remember playing Faxanadu and Zelda II, both my favourite NES games as a teenager in the 1990s. Most memorable moment was the ending as the player begins their journey with nothing but the tunic on their back and the land is all dried up, only to return a magnificent Elf-knight in shinning armour and water restored. Very cheerful.
48 years old here, been gaming since atari 2600 and Intellivision 2. The 8 bit NES era was the best time ever for gaming for me. Brings back so many memories. Faxanadu - amazing. Played the hell out of it.
I consider this game just as big a part of my childhood as Zelda or any of the NES's other big hitters. Some of the music still pops into my head from time to time, especially that 'overworld' theme.
Absolutely loved it. The music was the most memorable, although the key system was also memorable, although much less fondly remembered.
when i got it, one small thing blew me away, U COULD ACUTALLY SEE THE DIFFERENT WEAPONS AND ARMORS YOU USE.
Do u have any idea how amazing that was back in the days ?
that early area, the music, the graphics, it was a dark game, people were smoking.....it felt so surreal.
I remember one time, me and my brother, we grinded the first area with monsters for hours to get enough money to get that death spike magic from the start....turned out it wasn't that powerful.
Recently, a game called ALWA'S AWAKENING has an almost exact vibe, people should check it out....it has so many things in common, even the fonts and the text sounds, amazing stuff.
Loved this game as a kid. There are definitely ways to exploit it as well. The main one being leveling up and getting a new title. Different titles actually start you with set amounts of gold when you restart, so you can actually grind some money, buy expensive equipment, get a password and restart with your new gear, and with gold again.
I first played this game around 2007 or so, so about 15 years ago, when I randomly found a copy for sale extremely cheaply. I think I paid £1 for it fully boxed.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the game though. I remember at the time feeling like it really hadn't held up well but I did give it a try but I just couldn't appreciate it enough to make myself want to continue.
I know my taste in games has changed significantly since then though, so maybe I should return and give it another shot! I know I still have that copy in my NES collection.
Got this game as a kid from a friend.. and loved every minute of it, underrated game for sure.
Totally was!
Ahead of it's time. I couldn't hang at 7 years old but I came back to it a few years later and wow challenging rewarding and fun
This the best commentary/summary of faxanadu thst I have seen! Well done. I played this game as a 6 year old when it was released and I remember it being really challenging, but this game holds extreme nostalgic value for me, especially the music
Fun fact:
It is called Faxanadu because it is the Famicon edition of the series.
Also,
The thing I remember most of this game is the crazy blinking rate all the townspeople have when they speak. 😆
loved this game on NES. I still get the tune from being in the town stuck in my head sometimes. Another gem from Hudsonsoft was Milon's Secret Castle.
Played and passed this game back in the late 80s and also replayed it like 2 years ago and had a blast. Storyline and gameplay is good. Spells make the game really good. Would been great if you cover some of the spells and items like the winged boots.
The way I see it, the game has 3 major flaws. 1, peoples face-cards blink wayyyyy too much. 2, the pendant, found at the tower of suffer, makes you weaker, rather than stronger, and 3, the point of the game is not THAT clear. Another challenging aspect is that the flying boots time decreases as your level grows, creating a situation in which for a short time at the very start of the game, you can't level yourself up very much. But don't forget, if you spend the king's money gift all the way to 0, then revisit the king, you'll get the money over again! Useful for the early shop with the death magic and the magic shield.
While I normally love your reviews, I have a few complaints:
1. Can't hit the spiked shells? That's what the deluge is for!
2. You have the mantra and restart at the last level you have reported to the guru, along with that level's aloted money.
3. You can have several keys at the same time, at least in the European version. Even multiple copies of the same key.
Other than that, good job on your reviews!
To me the most memorable part of this game was that a friend had it. I don't remember ever playing it or watching them play it or anyone else for that matter, but it's possible that it happened back then.
As a kid I thought the game was called Faxanady, because of the way it was written on the cartridge.
Like Final Fantasy 1, my strongest memory of this game is grinding outside of town so I could buy everything before moving on.
I remember grinding the “golds” to get the death spell at the first available shop. I can’t recall if it was 2 or 4 at a time.
My brothers were not happy that my “turn” at the Nintendo lasted for several hours.
Criminally underrated! Top 5 NES RPGs of all time. The music alone is amazing & then there's the rest of the game.
Right on!
The most memorable part of the game is "This is not enough GOLDS"
I have no idea how I found or subscribed to your channel but glad I did! Great stuff.
Great run-down of the game - I think you were spot on. If you're revisiting this game - emulated is the way to go. Just having save states makes it just more enjoyable. Also we just covered this game on our podcast, the Museum of Modern Games. Would be curious what the author of this video thinks! We certainly seem in agreement on most aspects of the game.
i used to own that game, it was pretty fun, the password system was long but it was a good game, we need more sequels
I rented this every weekend for two months until I beat it. Wonderful game with a wonderful name.
There should be a remake version of Faxanadu!!
The Hudson Soft company did a wonderful job at that time.
I never even heard about this game until college. A roommate saw me playing old nes games on an emulator and asked if I'd heared of Faxanadu. I said Faxana..wha? I can still remember playing it for the first time and dying trying to get past the first enemy of the game. "Oh" I said, "I see game." My roommate new me well. Love this game.
I remember this game and found it weird that it's in the same series as Tokyo Xanadu which is if I remember more like a modern~futuristic JRPG.
This game was great, but very challenging. I remember using the Nintendo Game Genie with this game which allowed you to apply cheats to the game, one was infinite golds. The effect was that you don't lose any golds, so the bad part was that you had to earn the gold first. A little grinding it out in the beginning and you could go through the game at a fun pace. Great memories, thanks for this vid.
Once forgotten... now remembered! wow the music takes me back. Thanks for the video.
Faxanadu was the most rented game I played when I was a kid. I cant recall if I got passed the town of mist. But I remember my mom rented it for us a dozen times and she knew she would have to help write down those confusing passwords for us which I still have in notepads. It's still one of my most favorite Nintendo games.
This game brought me to the KOEI franchise Romance of the three kingdoms. One of my favorite games on the NES , good battle system, absolutely love the soundtrack. I hate cliches but where has the time gone. For a quick second I thought I was on the couch in my parents basement watching my older brother beat Sima Yi. Thank you.
Such an underrated game!
Lol I commented on a Faxanadu review video sorry about that. Actually Faxanadu was the first game I got as a gift so it has a special place for me personally.
@@robertmartins1712 no worries!
Massively atmospheric. Art direction and music amazing. 8 bit Souls/Elden Ring (giant tree!). I need to know if anyone who worked on this worked at Fromsoft later
Yep, very good game taht was ahead of its time
@@Xygor do you know what other games the composer worked on?
My first time playing this game I grinded up for the Death spell at the beginning because the game totally lets you.
Crystalis was my favorite action RPG, and I dare say, possibly the best on the system. I really wish it had made a sequel on the SNES or PS. Faxanadu was solid though. Similar to Castlevania II, but Castlevania had parts where it absolutely wasn't obvious what the hell the game wanted you to do, and I don't remember running into those with Fax. There were however, a lot of long treks back to buy stuff.
I love this game so much. It was a random on sale Christmas present.
I loved this game when it was released... remember playing it until I beat it... great game that is definitely underrated...
Great video mate. Subbed.
That game looks cool. I would have loved this as a kid, it's a real shame I missed out.
Now adays I struggle to play these longs grind style games, due to time and other things to do.
It looks like it was a cool alternative to Zelda. And those tunes were very nice!
I must've got my parents to rent this game for me 20 times back in the day. It's definitely one of the most memorable games from the era for me.
I'm glad to see Faxanadu finally getting some love in recent years. It was my favourite "questing" NES game growing up, and one my Dad and I would play endlessly. Sadly, it wasn't really that popular when first released. I'd hoped to get the remaster that was made a few years ago, but I guess Konami stepped in and quashed it. Too bad, seeing as how they've done bugger all with the IP. Also, minor correction to the video. Your "Golds" don't reset to zero when you input the password. Whatever your current title is determines your starting Golds when putting in the password. Despite its flaws, for me Faxanadu holds up better than Zelda 2 or Simon's Quest, but that could be because I don't have nostalgia for those.
Got good news for you bud. Faxanadu Remastered, as well as a half dozen other 'remastered' games for the NES by Ed Findlay, aka RetroGamer3, can be found here:
www.retrovideogames.store/
Faxanadu Remastered has been out since around summer 2016, and he's released a bunch more since then.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Returns
Faxanadu Remastered
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Revised
Friday the 13th Revisited
Rygar Vengeance
Ninja Gaiden Master Edition
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Rebitten in both regular and special editions
TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): Reshelled
Check them out. He charges for them now though, so be aware. But there is a nice bundle where you can get 7 of his 9 games for a discount. The website defaults to Canadian money but if you use the 'Shop Now' button on the front page it takes you to a shop page where you can change the currency. Then just go to either 'Game Downloads' or 'Game Discs' under the 'Game & Gear Shop' header depending on if you want digital or physical copies.
Just headphone warning if you play the sample videos on any of the pages. They are super loud.
And just found out you are (or were) an Idaho National Guardsman and served in Iraq in 2004-2005. I was in the Washington state National Guard there too in 2004-2005. Small world.
@@gameusurper thank you so much for the link! I thought Konami had nuked all the unofficial remasters.
Yes, I was in Iraq with the 116th during OIF III. Most of the brigade was on FOB Warrior in Kirkuk, though I was with a small detachment that was first with 1st ID in Baquba, then occupied a small patrol base in Kirkuk we called Barbarian. It was during that time that I actually wrote my first book, "Soldier of Rome: The Legionary" as a means of escapism. Never would have guessed it'd turn into a career (my twenty-seventh book comes out next month)! I'm guessing you were in Kirkuk as well? I spent most of my time as a 19K, later 19Z when I made E-8, retiring as a MSG in 2014.
@@legionarybooks13 Konami DID shut Ed down for a time. He tried to do an Indiegogo (or some other crowdfunding thing) I believe and they shut it down, sending a cease and desist order, because they're assholes. He came back a year or so later just doing it on his own without blatantly asking for money publicly and it's been up ever since. I was lucky enough to get Faxanadu Remastered and a few of his other earlier works for free back in 2016-2017 before he started charging for them. Faxanadu is my favorite NES game, so any new game based on it I was glad to have, even if not official.
In regards to the military, I was actually in Baghdad the entire time. I was with the 1-161 Infantry (Mechanized) out of Spokane and Eastern Washington, which itself was part of 81st Brigade I believe. I was in HHC Company; there was an Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie company that was part of us too. Our base was Highlander, which was right in or near the Green Zone of Baghdad, I forget exactly. I would go back and forth on rotation between that and some other base I don't remember the name of.
I was 31U Signal Support Systems Specialist (Commo). I worked with the computers, radios, and antennas between the two bases. I was a FOBBIT (what they called the people who didn't go out regularly) most of the time, either being at one base or the other. I never made it past E4 (Specialist), mainly because I didn't want to, and I had no intention of doing 20 years. I left in 2006 after my initial 6 were up and wound down my inactive time for 2 years until August 2008, then I was out for good.
I don't know what 19K or 19Z are. My MOS designation changed partway through my time in service to something like 25U I think, I don't recall exactly.
Congrats on your writing career. You've been pumping them out steadily sounds like, with a minimum of 1 per year, sometimes more. Are they all military focused, or do you write other stuff too?
@@gameusurper 19K is Abrams Tank Crewman. At E-8, 19K and 19D (Cav Scout) merge to 19Z (Senior Armour Sergeant). Same with infantry MOS's. I had 20 years, 8 months when I retired. While I don't regret it, sometimes I think those who punched after six were the smart ones. And nothing wrong with being a FOBBIT. Our attitude was that everyone had a job to do and we were all in it together (whether we agreed with the war itself or not).
Thank you for the kind words on my writing career. Yes, most of my books are military based. I personally consider my works to be very anti-war (which is why they are at times exceedingly graphic); however, I don't ham-fist any sort of "message". I just tell the story and let the readers interpret it for themselves.
Regarding games, Faxanadu never got the love it deserved back during the NES era. It's still one of my personal favourites even to this day. My Dad and I never really shared much in common, yet we managed to bond through video games, especially "questing" ones, as we called it (I don't recall ever hearing the term "RPG" back in the late 80s or early 90s). I should have him over to play the Faxanadu remaster. I just purchased it, and yeah, it is quite a bit harder than the original!
@@legionarybooks13 Oh yeah, it is definitely harder than the OG Faxanadu. Getting poisoned early in the game is a death sentence unless you've found some antidote potions (which they don't even sell in the first or second town). I like the locked treasure boxes Ed put in the game. Gives you something to use the keys on other than doors. He also made the rank and title system from the first into actual level-ups that make your HP and MP gauges longer. Also love what he did with the Wing Boots, making them a permanent special item that has a rechargeable meter while you aren't using them. So much good stuff in there. My advice is to not buy any upgrades until you've scoured the areas around the town for locked chests (and open them) and secret breakable blocks. Hope you enjoy.
Loved this game during the day. I didnt use the save feature. Would just pause the game and put the tv back on regular channels. leaving the system on. best way around not losing gold.... If you havnt yet do Shadowgate for the NES. The music from that game is still etched in my brain after 30 years LoL
My childhood! The music is so good!
Completely forgot about this game. I never finished it but remember it being unique and fun
Faxanadu had such a special mood to it. It's my most memorable NES RPG game by far.
I LOVED Faxanadu!!!!!! I remember being away sick for a bunch of days in high school, and my mom rented this. Just barely beat it before taking it back. Gooooood times
it's my first nes game that I had when I was a child! a good game, only good memories! I hope they will make a remake one day!^^
I never played Zelda 2 but I did play and complete this and The Battle of Olympus as an 8 or 9 year old kid. Replayed both recently and loved revisiting them but I could see how someone trying first time could find them a bit dated. Still classics to me.
This game was so amazing to play when I was young. It's still great. It's very much an early example of a Metroidvania :) I would also like too add that it may not be as popular as Zelda 2, but its far more accessible gameplay wise. Not easy, by any means, but Zelda 2 is pretty punishing imo.
My strongest memory of the game was the music and the fog level. The fog was a super cool idea and looked amazing back then.
Solid choice for a video. I like your production quality and analysis. Only thing is I'd like to see NES composite footage to compare with the crisp text and numbers from emulator footage.
Loved this game as a kid. Always wanted to develop a spiritual successor to this when I learned game dev.
You can buy more then one of a key and when You die Your golds is determined by Your rank level. Also use deluge on the spikey things.
The most memorable thing about this game for me was that I never once heard of it until I was already an adult.
Still have yet to go back to check it out, though this video has me wanting to do so
Great video. This was a game that I missed when I was younger. I'll have to check it out now :)
I really enjoyed your video and have just discovered your Chanel. Your camera or whatever software you used to make this Faxanadu video was very good ! Very super High Definition , my eyes popped while watching this, usually I don't see videos of this quality at all! , especially for old NES games .
I don't know how you did it but it looked very good ! . Very impressive !
And about the game, the Music will haunt you for the rest of your life ! Very melodic , catchy, mysterious and sad all at the same time ! I haven't played this for at least 20 + years but I still remember the sound & music very well ! I think that says a lot .
Action RPGs used to be pretty common.... Cadash, Wizards & Warriors series, Ys III are some other good ones from around that time.
I felt like the color scheme and backgrounds correctly conveyed a unique otherworldly/fantasy realm that I hadn't otherwise seen. And the soundtrack which I feel is still better than legend of Zelda.