If you appreciate the work done within the wiki, please consider supporting The Cutting Room Floor on Patreon. Thanks for all your support!
This article has a talk page!

Alundra

From The Cutting Room Floor
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Title Screen

Alundra

Also known as: The Adventures of Alundra (EU)
Developer: Matrix Software
Publishers: SCEI (JP), Working Designs (US), Psygnosis (EU)
Platform: PlayStation
Released in JP: April 11, 1997
Released in US: January 7, 1998
Released in EU: June 5, 1998


ItemsIcon.png This game has unused items.
RegionIcon.png This game has regional differences.


A pointy-eared boy is shipwrecked on a strange island plagued by nightmares. To solve the island's mystery, he must journey through a series of dungeons, collecting swords, bows, bombs, gloves that let him throw rocks, and a rod that shoots fire.

So yeah, imagine Zelda with a heavy emphasis on puzzles and plot, and a very high body count.

Hmmm...
To do:
Debug leftovers.

Unused Items

There are two unused items in the game that are upgrades of existing items, and take their places on the menu if hacked in.

  • Alun-oakring.png Oak's Ring - Yes, it's called a "Ring" despite that the icon is clearly a necklace (and a palette swap of Nava's Charm). It raises strength, making it a better version of Olga's Ring.
  • Alun-refresher.png Refresher - Basically a better version of the Recovery Ring that restores your HP quicker.

Secret Warp Zone

Use an Action Replay device to enable high jump and land directly on top of the fountain in the middle of the village. A dialog will pop up allowing you to cycle through all the Chapters in the game.

Regional Differences

Hmmm...
To do:
  • European version differences (save text regenericization, etc.)
  • Revisional differences between USA 1.0 and 1.1

Script

"Dude, it's okay if not everyone here believes in the gods.
The faith of a few and a little weed is all we need, bro."

This game was "localized" by Working Designs. Next, please.

Intro

Japan International

In the Japanese version, the intro video that plays after the opening logos consists of a long string of prerecorded gameplay videos set to the game's main theme. Working Designs, noting not-unreasonably in the manual that "this didn't get us too excited about the game", decided the best thing to do was put together their own intro instead. They accomplished this by cutting up footage from the game's animated ending sequence and splicing it together with their own gameplay videos (which seem to be offscreen camcorder recordings, complete with visible game HUD). This was then stitched together with poorly-overlaid CGI effects and set to some new RAWK 'N' ROLL music that clashes quite frightfully with the game's orchestral soundtrack.

Surprisingly, the original intro was actually left in. It now plays after idling at the title screen for a while.

Gameplay

Hmmm...
To do:
Specifics on the easier switch puzzle.
  • The Japanese version defaults to "Start" on the title screen if no save files are detected, and selects "Continue" otherwise. The US version and its European descendants always default to "Start". This may have been changed to avoid checking the memory card prior to the title screen, on the off chance of some sort of problematic data corruption.
  • The timing of a switch puzzle in Elene's dream was made more forgiving in the US version.
  • The US version switches around the button assignments. Aside from accommodating the PlayStation controller's regional X-O button swap, it uses L2 and R2 instead of Start to open the menu.

Enemy Stats

Here's what the US manual says with regard to changes in the game's difficulty:

"Monster difficulties were also rebalanced, generally to make a few of the bosses easier to kill. However, bosses were also made more dangerous in that if they managed to hit Alundra, their blows were much more lethal. This lessened some of the boredom of the later bosses, where they really weren't much challenge to fight, but took forever to kill."

That doesn't sound so bad, except it's completely wrong. In reality, the vast majority of the enemies in the game – all of them, not just bosses – were made more difficult by increasing their HP and sometimes Attack. There are only two enemies that were given slightly less HP, and there appears to be exactly one case where a boss was made easier in any way – and even then, it was given 50% more HP!

While the HP and Attack values in the table below should be self-explanatory, the Magic columns require some explanation:

  • V: This indicates the vulnerability settings for that magic type. This can be one of four values:
    • N: Normal vulnerability.
    • O: "Super-effective": Enemy will die to this type of magic in one hit.
    • X: Attacks with this type of magic always do 1 HP of damage.
    • -: Enemy is immune to this type of magic.
  • M: The base multiplier, which ranges from 0 to 3. The magic's type-specific base damage is multiplied by this value when calculating damage dealt. If this is zero, the base damage will be reduced to 1 HP.
  • B: The damage "bonus". This is a constant added to the total damage done after the multiplier bonus has been computed.

As shown, the only instance in which those settings were touched was for a single boss, where the bonus for all magic was increased from 6 to 8. Combined with the 0x multiplier, this essentially means spells do 33% more damage against that boss in the US version.

In lieu of proper names, the "Index" column here refers to each enemy's entry number in the index of BALANCE.BIN, which contains the enemy difficulties (among other things).

In the tables below, instances in which a stat rose have been marked in red. The rare cases where a stat actually decreased are marked in green. Instances in which a stat rose by more than 5 points and constituted a change of 50% or greater from the original amount appear in magenta. Enemies whose stats didn't change are omitted.

Hmmm...
To do:
Enemy names. Also, double-check to make sure none of the entries below are spurious, since BALANCE.BIN also seems to contain some non-monster-related stuff.
Enemy Stat Changes JP->US
Index HP Attack Earth Magic Water Magic Fire Magic Wind Magic
V M B V M B V M B V M B
149 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
14A 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
14F 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
152 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
155 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
158 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
15B 2 -> 3

+1, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
15E 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
15F 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
164 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
165 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
16A 8 -> 12

+4, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
16D 8 -> 12

+4, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
16E 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
173 8 -> 12

+4, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
174 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
179 4 -> 6

+2, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
182 4 -> 6

+2, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
185 24 -> 36

+12, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
188 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
18B 20 -> 30

+10, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
191 16 -> 24

+8, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
194 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
19A 4 -> 6

+2, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
19B 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
19C 160 -> 240

+80, 50%

8 -> 11

+3, 38%

- 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0
19D 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

8 -> 11

+3, 38%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
19E 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

20 -> 28

+8, 40%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
19F 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

10 -> 14

+4, 40%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1A2 60 -> 68

+8, 13%

20 -> 30

+10, 50%

N 0x 1 - 0x 0 N 0x 2 - 0x 0
1A3 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

40 -> 60

+20, 50%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1A4 10 -> 8

-2, -20%

20 -> 30

+10, 50%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1A7 5 -> 4

-1, -20%

20 -> 35

+15, 75%

N 0x 0 N 0x 0 N 0x 0 N 0x 0
1A8 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

20 N 1x 0 - 0x 0 N 1x 0 - 0x 0
1A9 20 -> 30

+10, 50%

5 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 O 0x 0 N 1x 0
1AC 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1AF 4 -> 6

+2, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1B0 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1B5 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1B8 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1B9 20 -> 30

+10, 50%

10 N 0x 8 N 0x 8 N 0x 8 N 0x 8
1BB 12 -> 18

+6, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1BC 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1BE 40 -> 48

+8, 20%

16 -> 28

+12, 75%

N 0x 1 - 0x 0 N 0x 1 - 0x 0
1BF 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

24 -> 42

+18, 75%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1C0 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

20 -> 35

+15, 75%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1C1 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 O 0x 0 N 1x 0
1C2 15 -> 22

+7, 47%

16 -> 28

+12, 75%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1C4 20 -> 30

+10, 50%

4 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6
1C5 32 -> 48

+16, 50%

16 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1C6 50 -> 75

+25, 50%

20 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 O 0x 0 N 1x 0
1C7 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1C8 48 -> 72

+24, 50%

16 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1CA 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1CB 28 -> 42

+14, 50%

2 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0
1CC 18 -> 27

+9, 50%

1 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0
1CD 30 -> 45

+15, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1CE 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1CF 50 -> 75

+25, 50%

1 N 0x 1 - 0x 0 N 0x 1 - 0x 0
1D0 96 -> 144

+48, 50%

60 -> 90

+30, 50%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D1 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

20 -> 35

+15, 75%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D3 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D4 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D5 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

28 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D6 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

10 -> 15

+5, 50%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D7 120 -> 135

+15, 12%

1 N 0x 6 N 0x 8 N 0x 6 N 0x 8
1D8 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

7 -> 9

+2, 29%

N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1D9 24 -> 36

+12, 50%

8 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 0x 0 N 1x 0
1DA 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1DB 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1DC 120 -> 180

+60, 50%

4 N 0x 8 - 0x 0 N 0x 8 - 0x 0
1DD 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1DE 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1DF 50 -> 75

+25, 50%

20 N 0x 1 - 0x 0 N 0x 1 - 0x 0
1E0 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

32 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E1 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

16 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E2 100 -> 150

+50, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E3 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E4 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E5 80 -> 120

+40, 50%

6 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1E6 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E7 1 -> 2

+1, 100%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1E8 100 -> 150

+50, 50%

4 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1E9 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1EA 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1EB 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1EC 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

4 N 0x 6 - 0x 0 N 0x 6 - 0x 0
1ED 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1EE 120 -> 180

+60, 50%

6 N 0x 6 -> 8 N 0x 6 -> 8 N 0x 6 -> 8 N 0x 6 -> 8
1EF 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

7 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0 - 0x 0
1F0 6 -> 9

+3, 50%

4 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F1 50 -> 75

+25, 50%

12 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6
1F2 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

12 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F3 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

1 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F4 200 -> 225

+25, 12%

6 -> 9

+3, 50%

N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6
1F5 200 -> 225

+25, 12%

6 -> 9

+3, 50%

N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6
1F6 3 -> 4

+1, 33%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F7 3 -> 4

+1, 33%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F8 12 -> 18

+6, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1F9 20 -> 30

+10, 50%

3 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1FA 200 -> 255

+55, 27%

6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6 N 0x 6
1FB 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

6 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1FC 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

2 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1FD 60 -> 90

+30, 50%

8 N 0x 1 N 0x 1 N 0x 1 N 0x 1
1FE 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

20 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0
1FF 10 -> 15

+5, 50%

8 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0 N 1x 0