| Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence | |
| Developer: | Microcabin |
| Publisher: | Microcabin NEC (PC Engine CD) |
| Genre: | Action role-playing game |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | PC-98, FM Towns, PC Engine CD |
Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence is the final game in a fantasy role-playing video game series called Xak developed and published by the Japanese software developers Microcabin and NEC. Xak III was originally under development to be released for the MSX2 but shortly after was released, the development project was halted. After several years the project was continued and finally released simultaneously for the PC-98 and FM Towns. A year later, Xak III was released for the PC Engine CD; this version has since been unofficially translated into English.
Xak features a typical high fantasy setting. According to the game world's legends, a great war was fought between the benevolent but weakening ancient gods and a demon race, which led to the collapse and eventual mortality of the gods. After this 'War of Sealing', the gods divided the world into three parts: Xak, the world of humans, Oceanity, the world of faeries, and Xexis, the world of demons. The demon world of Xexis was tightly sealed from the other two worlds as to prevent reentry of the warmongering demon race. Some demons were left behind in Xak, however, and others managed to discover a separate means to enter Xak from Xexis anyway.
At this point in the series the main hero, Latok Kart, has become a powerful adversary against the demons and their plots to conquer the world of Xak as he has triumphed over many powerful demons, including Zemu Badu, Zamu Gospel, Zegraya and Gazzel. Latok is a direct descendant of an ancient god of war, Duel, and his deeds have since become well known throughout the world of Xak as the legendary "Duel Knight", armed with a powerful relic known as the "Xak Sword". During this time a short-lived peace has been disrupted by the sudden attack of the nearby Kingdom of Farland led by a demon named Zomu Dizae. Latok learns of this and sets out for the Kingdom of Farland.
Latok is the only playable character in the game. Notable non-player characters Latok meets include:
Xak III is a classic dungeon crawl, in that the game proceeds by the player finding his way through labyrinthine maps, defeating opposing monsters on the way. In each map, keys, NPCs and other objects have to be found to gain entrance to the room where a boss dwells. After defeating the boss, the player can proceed towards the next map, where the structure repeats. Various sub-quests involving NPCs are present, most of them obligatory.
Combat is in real-time. The player's character walks around on the game maps, as well as the monster characters. Each character has an attack and defense rating, different for each of its four sides. Moreover, Latok's ratings change depending on whether he is attacking or defending. As Latok or a monster takes damage or wards off an attack, the character is pushed backwards. This combat system requires some manual dexterity, especially during boss fights—bosses are generally several times larger than Latok himself.
Latok advances in power through a classic leveling system. He starts from experience level 50, where Xak II (and The Tower of Gazzel) ended. Moreover, there are several shops scattered through the game where Latok can buy stronger swords, armours and shields. Gold, the game's currency, and experience points are awarded for killing monsters that wander the map.