Founded in 1987, Panther Software (formerly Studio Panther until 1991) was a Japanese studio known primarily for its games released on PCs of the time, namely the MSX, Sharp X68000, & PC-88/98, before switching over to mostly console development & porting from the mid-90s on. Probably the most "iconic" game for Panther Software would be 1993's Hamlet, a dungeon crawler/action-RPG for the PC-98 best known for both its sci-fi aesthetic & for delivering first-person gameplay within (very basic) polygonal environments on hardware that wasn't really intended to do such things. Hamlet would then later get remade in full 3D on the PS1 as 1995's Space Griffon VF-9, which did actually see English release via Atlus later that same year, before getting remade itself on the Dreamcast in late 1999, which itself would then get ported to Windows in late 2000; these last two versions would remain Japan-exclusive. By this point, the studio had actually changed its name to Interlex (not to be confused with either the social marketing/advertising company or the global law firm network), with Panther Software simply being a brand name for games, though in 2005 Interlex would sell off its gaming division, which would become Panther Software once again. Today, I have no idea if the studio is even still around (it was eventually acquired by eroge company Contents Traffic), as its website hasn't been updated since February 23, 2005 (though it's still up!), so its final game looks to be March 2005's Heroes of the Three Kingdoms 4 for Windows, a Japanese version of the 2003 entry of a Chinese series made by UserJoy that's still going strong today; an Xbox port of PC visual novel Kana: Little Sister was announced by Panther, but was cancelled on May 27, 2005. All that being said, there was a Qix clone called Shinobi no Okite/The three female ninjas released to Steam in early 2020 that claims to be developed by a "Panther Software", but doesn't feature the studio's trademark logo anywhere & doesn't credit its staff, so who knows if it's actually the same studio. In fact, I can't even tell if Interlex is still around, as while its own (extremely basic) website is still up, acknowledges its past as Studio Panther, & even has its copyright updated to this very year, there's really no information about anything it's done since moving to Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo in 2013, two years after re-releasing Panther's old PS1 games to the PSOne Archives for PS3/PSP/Vita in 2011; even its (supposed) Twitter account no longer exists!
But let's back up a bit. The OG Xbox would launch in Japan on February 22, 2002 (the second region to get the console) with 12 games in tow (that's a lot of 2s); one of these was a Japan-exclusive Xbox port of Nobunaga's Ambition (9): Ranseiki, a turn-based strategy RPG. Six days later, on February 28, two more games would come out in Japan, Genki & Lightweight's Zan Kabuki (a.k.a. the infamous Kabuki Warriors) & the subject of this B-Side review, Panther Software's Metal Dungeon. Considering what came out from the studio (that was wasn't a port) following Hamlet & Space Griffon's releases, like 2D platformer Kitchen Panic for PS1 (with a 3D Xbox sequel being cancelled), puzzle game U.P.P. for PS1, and dating sims Twins Story: Kimi ni Tsutaetakute... for PS1 & Braveknight for Xbox, Metal Dungeon would be the final RPG from Panther Software and (if that Steam game isn't actually by them) the studio's penultimate original game, followed only by Braveknight. Metal Dungeon would then get licensed for English release by Xicat Interactive, a publisher that only existed between 1998 & 2003, eventually succeeded by Evolved Games (which existed from 2003 to 2012). To no surprise, Xicat's "best known" games would include Charge 'N Blast on Dreamcast, the original Gothic on PC, Black Stone: Magic & Steel on Xbox (a.k.a. Ex-Chaser, the first IF Neverland game to ever see release outside of Japan)... & Metal Dungeon on Xbox, the last of which came out December 2002 internationally. With so few options of its ilk available on the OG Xbox (things would be similarly slim for RPGs on the Xbox 360, but much stronger overall), is Metal Dungeon truly as "unfavorable" as its reviews of the time indicated, or was this a case of people simply expecting much more than what Panther Software really intended this game to be?
The world of Alansas is one where science, technology, & magic all co-exist in harmony. However, various countries in the world have been at war for years, resulting in the creation of "Weapon Monsters", biomechanical creatures concocted by beings called the "Gods of Magic" (a very literal translation of the kanji "魔神/majin"; the back cover even uses "Magin"). The nation of Giamel, often outnumbered in battle, has managed to capture the Gods of Magic, though, with the intent of having an army of Weapon Monsters to claim as its own. Giamel's scientists have housed the entranced Gods of Magic within Force Valley, a research facility made up of 10 areas, but eventually the Gods of Magic, led by the powerful Demon Lord, have slowly started awakening from their trance, taking over the main computer of the facility & wiping out all of the scientists & guards within. Since the war makes it impossible to recall their army back to deal with the situation, the leaders of Giamel have no other option than to make a call for "Reinforcers", cyborgs of various classes & types, to head down into the "Metal Dungeon" that Force Valley has turned into & put a stop to the Gods of Magic, before things get worse.
To put it in simplest terms, Metal Dungeon is an old-school dungeon crawler, except that in place of the usual "pure fantasy" aesthetic is something more along the lines of "technofantasy", & instead of being based around a first-person perspective everything is instead done with a third-person perspective. Therefore, while there is technically a plot explaining why you head into the dungeon with your party, it's really nothing more than window dressing, as the only time the story is actually focused on is with the CG cutscenes at the beginning & end of the game, plus an audio recording at the start of each area, explaining what its respective gimmick is. Likewise, your cast of characters that make up your five-person party are essentially blank slates that are only characterized by however you wish to do so in your mind, as you create all of them from scratch at the start of the game. Simply put, the main goal of Metal Dungeon is to take your party down all 10 areas, each made up of multiple floors (ranging from 1 to 5), defeating the boss at the end of each area before you finally defeat the Demon Lord at the end of the 10th & final area. Afterwards you then gain access to an additional 90 floors to tackle, but these are literally just repeats of the first 10 floors nine times over, with each loop simply featuring stronger foes to fight & better loot (weapons, armor, etc.) to find. It's essentially a New Game+, more or less, though the fact that the game randomizes the layout of most areas every time you enter the dungeon (explained in-game as a "defense mechanism") at least prevents mere memorization from trivializing things; there are a couple of areas that feature static layouts, but randomize other elements.
As for character creation, you have five starter classes to choose from, most with their own "Specialty", with five more to unlock as you advance further into the game. At start there's the Fencer, a warrior-style class that uses swords & hammers and can damage all enemies in the front row with "Shockwave"; Striker, a monk-style class that uses "knuckles" & can potentially instant kill most non-boss foes with "Deadly Blow"; Caster, the requisite mage-style class that uses rods and magic & can avoid enemy spells with "Spell-Resist"; Analyzer, a more unique class that uses guns & allows the player to see how much HP enemies have left with "Scanning" (with the exception of bosses); & Broader, which is a generic "can equip everything" class, but at the cost of having no Specialty of their own. Those are the "Base Character Types", while the later "Special Character Types" are Gladiator (Fencer+Striker), Spell Fighter (Fencer+Caster), Arts Ranger (Striker+Analyzer), Sage (Caster+Analyzer), & Superbroader (what it says on the tin). Party placement is also something to take into consideration, as battles in Metal Dungeon utilize a "front row/rear row" system, so it's best to keep a Caster & Analyzer in the rear, so that they can attack either enemy row with long range magic and guns, while a Fencer & Striker make more sense for the front row, due to their close range weapons and higher HP & defense stats, in general; a Broader, due to their open-ended nature, can go anywhere, depending on the weapon.
So, after creating your party (which each come with their own respective starter equipment), what exactly can you do in Metal Dungeon? Let's start with Force Valley, your safe haven that offers a few areas to go to. First there's Base Camp, where you create & delete party members, change their equipment, change around their party placement, and so on. Then there's the Trade Booth, where you can buy & sell various items, equipment, & chips (which allow for the use of magic, for classes that can do so), though over time you'll be relying more & more on finding better equipment in the dungeon itself. Third there's the Laboratory, which offers sub-quests to accomplish in order to get more money, and they come in the form of either "Area Search", where you go through a specific area & get more money based on how much of it you uncover, or "Monster Hunt", where you aim to kill as many foes of a specific type as possible for more money. These missions are randomly offered, so sometimes you won't have any available to you, either due to cost, enemy level, or how much of the dungeon you can access. The Lab also allows you to exchange Elemental Orbs, which are found randomly in the dungeon, for a variety of special items, primarily ones to allow you to change classes, including the Special Types, which cost 5 Orbs each. The Dock is where you can revive dead party members, power your party up (which we'll get to a little later), & equip various upgrades & spells, all for a cost. And then there's the Trial Hall, which lets you fight in special battles against random Reinforcer parties to test your mettle & earn a little money; this requires a Core Stone to do, which can be found randomly in the dungeon. This is all done via a basic menu system, so there's no overworld to walk around in or NPCs to interact with; this is traditional with old-school dungeon crawlers, so I won't hold that against the game.
Finally, there's the Entrance option, which lets you choose which area of the dungeon itself to go into, as long as you've gained access to it. Naturally, this makes up the primary part of the game itself: Going into randomly-generated dungeon maps, finding loot in treasure chests, locating elevators or warps to head further down into areas, & eventually finding the boss of each area (usually after finding computer terminals to unlock access to it), all the while fighting enemy grunts in combat. Most notably, Metal Dungeon doesn't actually rely on random encounters for initiating combat, so when things start looking bad you can actually escape back to the surface while experiencing few (if any) enemy encounters. Instead, general combat is initiated either by making contact with floating drones roaming about the halls, which don't really actively hunt after you (though there is the rare one that will make a beeline for you), or by opening some closed doors, which I guess would be the game's equivalent to random encounters. As for combat itself, it's probably best described as "Final Fantasy's ATB System Taken to Its Extreme", as the battle never truly stops at any point like your standard turn-based system would, but unlike FF each member of your party has their own default action that they will do when their respective turn comes up (Casters in the back row do default to "Guard", though), resulting in battle that literally doesn't stop until it's over. At any point, though, you can press A to bring up a menu & assign specific actions to any of your party for their next turn(s) (using items, attacking specific enemies, using spells, etc.), while holding both L & R can attempt an escape from battle; Specialties are just randomly done, minus the Analyzer's, which is always active while they're alive. Magic is also worth noting as Metal Dungeon doesn't use the standard MP system that most RPGs tend to use, instead relying on a set # of uses for each spell (that reset whenever you return to the surface), similar to what the original Final Fantasy used for the longest time (some later remakes switched over to MP). Finally, I should also bring up that money isn't earned at all via encounters, only EXP, so the only way to make money is to sell items/equipment you no longer need, or completing Search & Hunt subquests (which cost money to accept, to start with).
Luckily, moving around the dungeon itself isn't difficult at all, as while the game technically uses tank controls with a camera that's effectively based around being directly behind your party's lead character (i.e. simply turning moves the entire map around you, due to the camera moving with you), an on-screen map is overlayed across the entire screen that fills in as you make your way through (& can be moved around on its own with the right analog stick), so it's actually tough to get hopelessly lost. It also icons specific rooms (elevators, terminals, morgues to retrieve dead characters from, random effect rooms, etc.) & shows if there are any chests nearby, as well as if you've already opened them, which is super handy. Again, the tank-style controls might make it sound as though maneuvering past drones is tricky, but the drones themselves aren't exactly fast movers, so aside from cramped corridors they really aren't a threat; plus, you move & turn rather quickly for tank controls. Then you have the usual RPG fare when it comes to the menus (accessed with B), where you can swap out old equipment with anything new you find or buy, use certain magic (like healing) when not in battle, check & use items, etc. An interesting change of pace does come about via leveling up, though, as while your party does accumulate EXP after each battle none of them actually level up while roaming the dungeon. Instead, you have to go to the Dock on the surface, between dungeon treks, where the EXP gets automatically converted into FP & for a fee you can then spend each character's FP to upgrade their stats individually (each stat upgrade has its own FP cost, determined by class), which in turn convert into level ups. A neat touch is that the higher someone's level is, the more expensive it is to upgrade them, so it's best to wait until you have at least 10 or so FP, which in turn can result in multiple level increases at once for as cheaply as possible.
Really, that's the biggest thing about Metal Dungeon: It's a mostly standard dungeon crawling RPG, only with the quirk of having an admittedly neat world concept behind it. Like any game of its ilk, the appeal is in the dungeon crawling itself, the unsure nature of what'll be around the next corner, if behind a closed door is a treasure chest or simply an empty room, and fighting stronger monsters as you make you way further & further down. While the concept of the world is cool, a lot of things seen have easy to find counterparts in other RPGs that might have more "traditional" settings. Admittedly, though, I actually do like how the battle system has that constantly moving feel to it (especially once you bump up the speed a little, removing the moments of time when nothing happens), and while that & the row system aren't original by any means they do still give the game at least some sort of gameplay identity. Also, though the environments themselves aren't anything to write home about, as they're just generally bland metal/technological environments that change with each area, the monster designs are at least cool. Befitting its technofantasy aesthetic, we have the usual fare of fantasy monsters, but now they all have some sort of sci-fi modification, like orcs that wield giant flamethrowers, oil slimes, zombies that are partially mechanized, mechanical toads, "sorceroids" that are "more machine now than man", giant crabs with "frickin' laser beams" attached to their backs, etc. Meanwhile, the bosses are a little more standard in design (though with some technological touches), but are still a rather varied bunch, including a dragon, a manticore, a hydra, & even an arahabaki & a T-rex cyborg!
That being said, though, I still enjoy playing Metal Dungeon. While dungeon crawlers aren't usually my thing, on occasion there is one that manages to keep my attention, and this just happens to be one of them. While I would have loved to see more done with the actual world Panther Software created here, as I think there's certainly great potential, I still really like the general aesthetic of this game mixing together fantasy & sci-fi in a very industrial way; the opening CG cutscene really sets the mood well. The way you move about the dungeon's areas is kind of unique, if a bit weird due to the how the camera works, and I actually think the way the game handles random encounters is really cool, encouraging exploration (& providing a chance to escape) without the threat of random encounters constantly interrupting things, while also making you think about what doors to open before you venture on. Not just that, but since specific rooms all come in a consistent shape (a square), you can actually use what you've uncovered from the automap to feel out where those rooms may actually be, removing a good bit of blind guesswork. Each area also has its own little quirk, like having to memorize what order to enter teleporters to advance forward, having gas that slowly drains HP (just 1 HP every 5-7 seconds, so nothing major), needing to activate terminals before magic can be used, a final boss rush, etc., forcing you to plan out your actions, instead of letting you just blaze forward with abandon. As for the battle system, while I'm sure some will hate the fact that most battles will simply play themselves without much input by the player, I think that's actually just fine & if you both increase battle speed & turn off attack animations then battles can go by very fast; personally, I found Battle Speed 2 & "Normal" animations to be the perfect balance. Sometimes, you just want a relatively simple & straightforward experience with a game, and Metal Dungeon is a perfect example of that.
This game was both directed & designed by Reisuke Kanda, who also designed both Hamlet & Space Griffon VF-9, so I'm now kind of curious about trying out at least the latter game at some point, too, as I kind of dig his general aesthetic.
However, it's definitely worth noting that the visuals for the game aren't anything beyond decent, at best. While you have ten different faces, both for male & female, for each class none of them are admittedly great looking; they aren't all terrible, but some are a bit awkward. At least the outfits themselves aren't too shabby, if a bit generic, while the various monsters you fight range from "basic" to "actually really cool looking". As mentioned, the areas of the dungeon itself are fittingly technological & drab, but at the same time they can be pretty repetitive; without the on-screen automap overlay it'd be literally impossible to navigate any of the maps. While I can chalk that up a little bit to the general dungeon crawler aesthetic, which tend to feature repetitive visual designs by their very nature, Metal Dungeon does admittedly never really try to do much beyond that; even something like a Mystery Dungeon game tries to mix things up within dungeon environments. As for the music we have a score by Shinichiro Sato (Dino Crisis 3, Gungriffon II), who at the time was a member of the venerable T's Music collective that has contributed music to a wide variety of games over the decades. Sato's score for Metal Dungeon is actually pretty good, giving each area its own effectively moody theme, while the songs for both general battle & bosses are appropriately tense in their own ways; sadly, they only max out at 2.5 minutes long, and there is a short period of silence before restarting songs. It is arguable that instant memorability may be on the low side of things, though eventually the general battle theme sticks in your head well enough, but it's certainly not a bad score, by any means; I say check it out for yourself, as it's on YouTube.
The game does also credit three Americans (Ann Karney, Clint Bajakian, & Julian Kwasneski) for sound effects and/or music, but I imagine that mainly just counts them as likely being the voices behind your characters when they grunt as they take damage & for doing some minor voice work, like the end of the CG intro & the introduction audio recordings for each area; it's possible that Karney & Bajakian did contribute a song or two for the musical score, though. Finally, on an amusing note, I could have sworn that some of the sound effects in this game, namely the ones used for menu navigation & saving/loading a game, sounded like they were just outright stolen from Phantasy Star Online, but after checking some footage of PSO they simply just sounded very similar, but weren't actually the same; likely was an influence, though.
On the one hand, I do feel that Metal Dungeon was probably judged a little too harshly by critics back in 2002, as they wanted something a little larger in scale for the Xbox's very first "traditional" RPG, and at the time simpler dungeon crawlers like this weren't really in favor anymore. On the other hand, though, one can absolutely find fault with Metal Dungeon for being nothing more than a rather straightforward & simple dungeon crawler, except with a technofantasy aesthetic & some minor quirks when it comes to gameplay & systems. At a time when the PS2, with its year+ head-start over the competition, had already received "traditional" RPGs like Final Fantasy X, Xenosaga Episode I (in Japan, at least), Tales of Destiny 2 (Japan-only), Grandia II, Shadow Hearts, Wild Arms 3, & even (Busin) Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land to its name, it was only natural for people to have grand expectations for what kind of RPG experiences the Xbox would be getting, especially those of the "JRPG" variety. Therefore, when Metal Dungeon wound up being the console's first "traditional" (J)RPG, and in the long run would wind up being literally the only one of that exact kind to see release outside of Japan, it understandably landed with a thud, both in Japan (where the console itself had instantly thudded upon launch) & abroad. Sure, it's not fair to immediately expect an equivalent to Final Fantasy X for the Xbox's first "traditional" JRPG (after all, the PS2's first "traditional" JRPG looks to be Tsugunai: Atonement), but an old-school dungeon crawler wasn't what people expected as the Xbox's first foray, either.
But, hey, it's been 21 years since Metal Dungeon first came out, so now it can be judged as the straightforward dungeon crawler it is, instead of being the hopeful first step forward for an entire genre on a brand new console. In that regard, while it certainly isn't going to go down as a must-play on the Xbox & isn't entirely all that original, it's still a fun & enjoyable dungeon crawler in its own right. It's really best as a game to boot up when you have a little downtime & want to attempt to clear an area, and if you can't then you can at least hope to return to the surface with some better equipment for next time, or at least weaker equipment to sell off. In true dungeon crawler fashion, it's not a game you can just blaze on through, but at just 10 areas (which, when completed from entrance to boss fight, shouldn't range anymore than 20-45 minutes each, depending on the layouts you get) it's also not a long slog by any means; remember, those later 90 areas are just a bonus. While playthroughs online are around 10 hours, I'd say it'll be more along the lines of 15-20 hours for most players, as while it's possible to clear an area on your first attempt (like I did for Area 6) it's not always likely. Yes, it's a shame that the OG Xbox didn't really get much more, and Atlus not localizing Shin Megami Tensei NINE certainly didn't help, as supporting servers for the game's originally planned online capability was the main reason why it stayed in Japan, though in the end SMT Nine never actually shipped with online support; whoops. However, I definitely do think that Metal Dungeon was just a tad too unfairly judged back in 2002, when people wanted more in their RPGs than an old-school dungeon crawler with little plot & an only somewhat different visual aesthetic than the norm. It certainly won't go down as some forgotten gem in the console's catalog, but it's also absolutely nowhere near the all-time worst, like Batman: Dark Tomorrow or Stake: Fortune Fighters.
Game © 2002 Panther Software
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