Bruce Von Stiers

Just when you thought all the fantasy / sci-fi themes had been played out in console gaming, TDK Mediatactive has come up with a different twist. The heroes of their new PS2 game are a unicorn and a troll. This new game is called Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn.

This game calls upon the conventions of trolls, unicorns, nymphs, elves and evil presences. It features a unicorn by the name of Pryzm. She has been put in charge of seeking out plague flowers in the land and changing them back to their former, healthy status. The head troll, Karrock, is distrustful of the plan. So, reluctantly he goes along with Pryzm on her journey.

It seems that a mighty plague had devastated the lands. The gnomes and trolls blamed the unicorns for this black magic. A prophesy came into being that a unicorn with a sunburst would come to the rescue of all the creatures. When Pryzm is born with a sunburst birthmark, the prayers seem to be answered. But some factions are still mistrustful. Pryzm slowly comes of age and is given the mighty task of restoring the flowers back to loving, nurturing beings.

There are four distinct areas that Pryzm and Karrock have to travel to. These areas are the Troll Mountains (Lum-mas), Gnome Hills (Lum-moo), Nymph Marshes (Sas-lum) and Elven Woos (Quin-lim). The Troll Mountains is a mountainous area that once was the blessed home of the trolls. By the same token, Gnome Hills were once the resting place for the gnome population. The Elven Woods is where the elves hung their hats and the nymphs used to prance around in the Nymph Marshes.

One of the side effects of this plague is that it turned regular beings into some pretty nasty looking and acting creatures. They dot the countryside creating terror among the regular beings. Once Przym is successful in turning the flowers back to their old selves, the affected creatures will also get back to being themselves.

Some of the skills that Pryzm has is the ability to hover and hop around a bit. She would be able to fly, but the unicorn leaders insist that Karrock ride on her back. She also has some horn magic. As this is a Teen rated game, the developers didn’t add any tacky gratuitous violence like having Pryzm gore somebody with her horn.

Karrock is old and very crotchety. He can do some magic of his own. His main things is his staff. He can lash out with that bugger in eight different directions. It is pretty deadly (ask anyone who has gotten whacked by an old man’s cane). He is really grumpy and terribly distrustful of Przym and this whole “turn the flowers back” gimmick.

The graphics are quite good. I was a little surprised. When I heard that TDK Meditative was releasing a value priced PS2 title ($ 19.99 U.S.), I thought that it would be pretty junky. That is what usually happens in this type of situation. Instead I found that the game had pretty solid graphics. The characters weren’t boxy looking and both Karrock and Pryzm were drawn well. The background music is not too bad either.

Players looking for blood and gore won’t find it here. Neither will they find overly done violence. There is aggressive fighting but you don’t get graphic details of the damage done.

I liked playing Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn. It has all of the elements of a fantasy adventure without the blood, gore and sex that seem to permeate in the games that are being produced these days.

Older teens, who have been used to playing those other types of games, might get a little bored with this one. But if you are into a fantasy adventure with trolls and unicorns, you can’t go wrong with Przym Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn.

The game should be on store shelves just about now.

Check out the online comic, or some additional information, at www.pryzmgame.com. You also might want to visit the TDK Meditative web site at www.tdk-mediactive.com.