Parents' Guide to

Baroque

By Harold Goldberg, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

A deep, dark RPG with technical and design issues.

Game Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 2008
Baroque Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 3 parent reviews

paeloras
paeloras Parent
May 5, 2013
age 18+

Some Things the main review doesn't mention...

During our playthrough and within the first couple of hours you will notice some things. This made my wife and I stop playing this game on the Nintendo Wii straight away. There is a non player character who repeatedly uses the GD word every time your player character gets close to them before your character enters the "Neuro tower" the first time, this NPC is next to the character called the "Horny Woman". Many human type female enemy monsters inside the neuro tower are also in bikini type outfits, or are entirely topless with just their hair barely covering their chests while fighting your character. There is also a status/spell they can inflict you with that is sort of a lust type thing that transforms them and you into a blond human female that is completely nude and floats in the air wearing nothing and shows full frontal nudity with hands barely covering the private parts. I am a concerned parent and this should probably have been mentioned in the main review under the language and sex parts of the main review, especially since this much is found very early on in the game and there is no telling how much may be found later on the this title. Thank you for your time.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
jessica H.
jessica H. Parent
May 5, 2013
age 15+

ratings for adults is always useful

it had the g.d. word in it and it had this wierd alien thing in it that her boobs were kinda covered up by her hair. there were kinda violience in but nothing to worry bout it

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

BAROQUE is Atlus' unfortunate remake of an old Sega Saturn role-playing game. The best part of this single player disk is the fantasy story that unfolds incrementally as you play. While the story and the writing are key components to video games, this tale (accompanied by stylized background graphics) is the best thing this sad offering has going for it. In Baroque, you'll be taken to a nightmarish world that's been devastated by an evil force called The Blaze. It's not only wreaked massive physical destruction; it's crushed the spirit of the populace as well. The only hope that these people have is their strange fantasies, also known as their baroques.

You'll play Baroque as you play most role-playing games – by collecting items to increase your health or to upgrade your weapons. Store as many as 20 of these collectibles to move from level to level as you play (that said, 20 goodies in your cache aren't enough: you really should be able to store twice that amount or more in your inventory).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (3):

The problem is that you have to deal with lot of the characters to glean the true story, and that's fairly annoying since many of the characters are vague or secretive. You'll be hitting the manual or forums on the Web far too often to make this game worthwhile – unless you fall more on the hardcore side of gaming.

In the Wii version, the camera angles confuse and thwart your movement, and that's being kind. Although you'll swing the Wii remote to slash and cut as you fight, there's no way to block when your monstrous foes attack you. Faces don't really move when they speak, either. In other words, though Baroque has been remade, it hasn't been refined and updated properly. Atlus should have spent far more time to bring this game to the demanding specs of 2008. The upshot? It feels like an old game, albeit one with a compelling premise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about this game's compelling, sometimes circuitous, story in which a horrible disaster, known as The Blaze, has made life terribly difficult. Does this dark theme make the game difficult to enjoy? You can also discuss the unique background artwork, which recalls many of the graphic novels on the market today. Did you find the puzzles to be maddeningly hard to figure out?

Game Details

  • Platforms: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Atlus
  • Release date: April 8, 2008
  • Genre: Role-Playing
  • ESRB rating: T for Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Tobacco Reference
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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