Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel review

When RPGs go wrong

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Nice 2D art

  • +

    A decent plot

  • +

    Not too distant from the show

Cons

  • -

    Insane number of random encounters

  • -

    Confusing paths in dungeons

  • -

    Yawn-inducing battles

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Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel looks predictable: nothing special, but possibly something fans of the anime series will at least enjoy. In the beginning, this seems to be the case. Once you leave the first battle, though, the game will quickly shows its nature… way, way too quickly.

We’ve played a lot of RPGs in which enemies randomly ambushed us as we walked from place to place - that's practically a staple of role-playing games. But we can safely say Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel has one of the most ridiculously high random encounter rates, ever. Approximately one to three steps is all it takes for the screen to freeze and for an assembly of evildoers to assault the party. This isn’t more than a second or two, folks. If this sounds irritating, you don’t even know the half of it - most areas are set up to have at a lot of dead-ends, with not even an item for your hard work. It’s a confusing process of selecting the correct path based on your gut instinct, which will inevitably become more tortuous as areas look more interchangeable.

More info

GenreRole Playing
DescriptionIt seems like an acceptable RPG transition from the television series until you take your first baby steps in the first dungeon. We guarantee even the most hardcore Inuyasha fans will become ill because of the random encounter rate - literally.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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