Faxanadu (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
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- čas přidán 12. 12. 2018
- A playthrough of Nintendo's 1989 action-RPG for the NES, Faxanadu.
For my full write-up on the game, check out my review at www.nintendocomplete.com/faxanadu
Please note that there is one spot (19:18 at the screen transition) where I cut out some grinding I did for gold. The first boss (the big flying blue guy) drops a good chunk of change when he dies, and he respawns every time you reenter the screen, so I spent about an hour killing him over and over which set me up pretty nicely for what was to come.
Faxanadu is an action-platforming RPG created by Hudson as a spin-off of Xanadu, the second game in Falcom's Dragon Slayer series. That's quite a respectable heritage, wouldn't you say?Though Faxanadu is not part of the main Dragon Slayer series, it is related to Sorcerian (Sierra, PC), Legacy of the Wizard (Broderbund, NES), and Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes (Hudson, TG16 CD).
It's a highly regarded classic, and rightfully so. It's an impressive game, no doubt, and it is a blast to play. I wouldn't say I'm totally in love with it like some seem to be, but I do like it quite a bit. It is very impressive looking for a title that was produced in 1987. The backgrounds are some of the most detailed you'll see on the NES, and many of the stages use multiple layers to obscure the playfield for effect: just check out the fake-transparency effects used for the smoke haze at 44:04! I've always found the overall style and color choices super ugly and dreary, but I can't deny how well done they are.
Even though the game is an ARPG, the RPG-elements generally take a back seat to the action. You can upgrade your equipment, buy spells and healing items, and you'll spend your time hunting for items needed to continue further - if you've played Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Battle of Olympus, you'll immediately notice the similarities. It generally plays well, but the stiff controls and the irritating precision needed for many of the jumps tend to get in the way... especially on occasions where missing a jump that requires pixel-perfect placement and exact timing will force you to spend ten minutes retracing your footstep just so you can try it again.
The game has a lot of personality and spirit, though, which helps to offset its shortcomings. While I don't think it can't quite match the likes of Castlevania 2 or Battle of Olympus, Faxanadu is a very likable, very hard ARPG that will really appeal to anyone that loves 80s quest games.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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I loved this game when I was 13 years old. That was in 1990. I’m 43 now. Time flies.
I was 12 then. This was one of my favorite games!
I hear you. I was 8 when it came out. Hardly seems possible now :)
Same here. Lost it in my memory some time back. Remembered and had a hell of a tome finding it a couple years ago.
Crazy L me two I could not believe I beat it, this was so very fun😃😃😃
I hear ya
One of the most underrated and amazing games I've ever played.
This was actually fun, and genuinely interesting! I'd play it now!
I play
I know it is very amazing and very underrated I remember playing that at my aunt's house when I was like six amazing game for the time good storytelling and world-building
I miss this game
Same. This was a childhood achievement for me.
Those late weekend nights. Sitting in the glow of the TV. Soaking up that ambiance. This is pure feels right here.
An underrated classic with a catchy as hell soundtrack. Always loved how they thematically handled passwords as 'mantras,' they were doing everything they could to not break immersion.
I like how compact everything is. No time wasting. You enter the castle and there's the king, no need to walk for a minute. The guy had no idea what was going on and 3 minutes later he's been given a royal quest and knows about the wells running dry.
Tight as a tiger.
For real. They don’t make games like this anymore. There were no cinematics, no loading screens, no endless walking. Having grown up on this I can’t really play modern video games.
@@michaelmcdermott1315today's games are like movies that keep pausing and you keep having to press play every time
Thank you for playing.
Hey sir u much costly weapons u broken shop now hahahahaja
Thou has used Mattock.
No problem, and Nello!
@@NintendoComplete ahaha Nello xD
Nello to you Tool/Weapons Shop Guy!
The sound it makes when you kill enemies in this game is just so satisfying.
your username and profile pic made your comment more epic
I felt that grind at 19:18. I'll never forget the hours grinding the same 2 screens over and over to get enough gold for the magic shield and death
Lol... likewise
Magically from 7k to 37k G 😅
No way in hell am I ever gonna call this game "Fah-sanadu". To me it will always be "FaXXXanadu". And I'll stand by that until the day I die...
I know and it's faxanadu forever LMAO
It's a silent x - used in words such as xylophone, xenophobia, and xanthan. Deal with it!
@@WiltshireByways How is that a "silent" X when you are pronouncing it? It isn't "shy-lophone," It is "ZY-lophone." Which isn't SILENT. Do you even English, bro?
@@WiltshireByways X is pronounced that way when it is placed at the beginning of a word, but not in the middle.
@@WiltshireByways Dude, in English the pronunciation of each letter changes based on its relationship to the other letters in the word.
I mean, you don't call an apple an ape-ple, do you? Or carry a puh-hone in your pocket? And my name is Alex. I'm pretty certain that the X isn't silent there, nor is it silent in any of those words you mentioned. It can sound like a Z or -KS.
Fazanadu is merely the transliteration of the Japanese characters used to render the word in that language (ファザナドゥ). In English, being spelled Faxanadu, it should sound like Faksanadu.
Because stressed syllables. Phonics.
My dad and I used to play this in the early 90's. This brings back so many memories.
Faxanadu is an eminently likable ARPG that has built quite the well-deserved following for itself over the years. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it's quality game with a lot of personality and spirit.
How did your gold jump 30,000 at 19:58
@@RageShroudI noticed that too, he must have kept going back and forth through that complete section Killing all the monsters over and over again. Tedious, but it allowed him to buy all the great items you're not supposed to get until later on. I'm right at this part, I'm going tp bed and walking up to grind that part out. This is such a hidden gem! Can't believe I'm just now knowing about this great game!
@@DiedrichSeth Yup, I explain it in the description. Totally agree, it's great.
@@RageShroud He definitely gold farms at 1:37:05 ;) DIdn't catch the instance you noticed
@@NintendoComplete what is the ARPG I only now noticed you put an a before it.
I picked this game up the week it came out. I was 12 years old and got it on a Friday after school and was overjoyed to have the weekend off with this game. This is a 2D Dark Souls! The memories!
i like this comparison. I played it for the first time when I was 12, but when I got a replacement nes in the eraly 90s. great music, so hard....couldnt figure this out as a kid, yay for technology like this that we couldn't use in the 90s :D
8:59 wow this music is giving me a major trip. totally clearing the cobwebs out of my head of old memories.
I really like the music of the final dungeon at 1:38:17. I still own my copy of the game, but never got that far as a kid
I know what that's like it man I've had a couple of shots to drink and yeah all the old memories coming back of all the old nests games I used to play and searching for it on CZcams is easier than ever great times we live in
Wow! Im 13 years old all over again. This took me back! Thank you for the memory!
The music is a flood of nostalgia by itself. No idea these tunes were somewhere etched in the depths of my memory.
Same, especially the market theme, pops into my head completely at random on any given day 😂
Haha same, I haven't heard them since the early 90s and I remember every note. Music is powerful isn't it.
I just bought a CIB faxandu in beautiful condition. Ah the memories!
Fantastic underrated game !!! I was so addicted by it. Nostalgie now. Playing it again !! Old school memories !!
One of my all time favs on NES. Then lately, I learned that this is one of Team Cherry's influences for Hollow Knight. I almost got teary eyed upon learning that since HK reminded me of Faxanadu for some reason during my first gameplay of the former.
God never heard of this one. There are so many gems for the NES.
It is really good.
If you ever search for Xanadu (video game) on the wikia, you'll take notice that this game is actually a spinoff of Dragon Slayer.
This game is quite the hidden gem, one still worth playing even as we speak.
GREAT game for when it was made, still fun today if you don't mind the old style/mystery behind what to do.
I remember renting this game many times when I was a kid, and laughing everytime one of the shopkeepers said Hello...it looked like Nello.
And Nello to you to fine sir...
Try not to think negative thoughts and remember your mantra.
7fkHOlP0GUbe9?.!sopWQa?,GhzM5Lpx&l1
Same wow the memories from the 8-bit era. My dad used to take me to the video store near me and I'd rent stuff like this every weekend. That's how I originally got into the Final Fantasy series I never owned the first one right away...I had rented it first.
I really loved this game. So much like a great adventure you could go on.
Check out the locksmith eyes. He’s been ripping that blunt
I got this for my birthday in the very early 90s. Matter of fact, it was the last NES game I got before I got Super NES that Christmas. I'd spend hours on this getting weapon, spell, item and title. To this day, I hum the shop theme every time I go into a small store.
I got this for my birthday in the very early 90s. A matter of fact, it was the very last 8 Bit NES game I ever got because I got an SNES that same Christmas. I played this to death. To this day, I still him the Shop Theme every time I go into a small store.
Awesome stuff. I remember I used to get stuck on one stage when I played this as a kid. Always wondered what the gameplay was like til the end.
Very cool game with some "modern" touches like the player's sprite actually showing their current equipment!
Awesome music.
I could not even begin to tell you how many years I have thought about this game. I've probably wondered for the last 20+ years about its name. I could not remember the name. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I owe you one.
One of the NES hidden gems, alongside with Moon Crystal and Battle of the Olympus.
I can still remember buying this at the Play World toy store in Mesa, Arizona, in the early nineties. Good times.
I remember trying to play this with a friend before none of us undestood english. I think we were around 7-8 and at that time games were hard to come by; you played what you had.
Such an underrated under appreciated gem forgotten to time. So sad that it never got sequels or remakes. Still my favourite RPG on the NES as it reminded me a lot of my beloved Wonder Boy in Monster Land game which was my favourite game in the SMS! Hudson Soft were involved in both so doesn't surprise me I guess!
These musics hypnotises me since 30 years 😍. Such an amazing and underrated game !
For some reason this pops into my head once every couple of years. So excited to find a play through.
Used to be my fave game. I even got a promo T Shirt of this
I used to love playing this game as a kid!
Oh man I want that promo shirt!
@@inthefade haha the t-shirt was really small even back when i was 10 years old. I think I still have the T-shirt hidden somewhere in my old parents home
This,Battle of Olympus,Willow,Crystalis were amazing.
Wow, this game was given great attention to detail. I've had an NES for 30 years and I have never heard of this game.
After 30 years with this game I've never beat it. Laughed at the last line being "What a restless guy!"
I've been trying to remember this game for almost 20 years. All I could remember about it was the title screen had a big ass tree behind the castle and somehow I found the name of it by searching up and looking through stuff close to that
Same here!!!! I could remember the beginning with the guy walking towards town and I remembered the main battle map song! So epic! My older Brother played this and I never got very far lol I got hooked on the Zelda games during this time. Strange how old this is now!
IIRC: A tip for anyone playing, if you spend your king's money to perfectly 0, he will give you the money again.
Wish I would have known that 30 years ago
Yup, iirc I did that in this playthrough. Too easy to pass up once you know.
@@alexkokkola You didn't have Nintendo Power or GamePro? And you call yourself a gamer...(snark)
YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO SAVE FOR DEATH MAGIC!!
I remember playing this when I was 4 or 5 years old and have been looking for it ever since. I am 34 now. I could never remember the name of it.
"What restless guy!"
That had to be the last line of the game?
That old game cheesiness.
Hey, the Ending for Contra was WORSE. "Congratulations. You have destroyed the Vile Red Falcon and Saved the Universe. Consider yourself a hero." Seriously. We had worse endings back then. Except for Final Fantasy and Shadow of the Ninja. Those games ROCKED.
Sounds like something the guy in Magician Lord would say.
Faxanadu: The adventure of a man who would become a hero!
One of my favorite NES games of all time. Thank you so much for this upload.
One my favorite games of all time
One of the creepiest games on NES esp. the fog level
I know it's all bright and cheery lmao
You're not kidding. I was totally freaked out by the music on the fog level. That game has a weird occult vibe to it that made it really eerie but cool.
The music was creepy too.
Aw man. The poor elf king with alzheimer's keeps dishing out 1500 golds.
I get a strong Wonder Boy in Monster land/Monster World vibe.. And the sword attack sound effects, and the general setup. Hudson Soft did Adventure Island that was based on Wonder Boy too.. I love the Monster world series, so I really enjoyed watching this! Nice!
I really enjoyed playing this when I was a kid, it really is a fun game.
This game kept me occupied for hours as a child.
"The dwarfs are already in town. It looks like the end is near." And just =WHAT= do you have against dwarfs ??
Not Tolkien Dwarfs, but Dwarves from Norse Mythology... Hence their appearance ranging from walking mushrooms to monocular heads on a single leg, to fire shitting wyverns that inexplicably drop pickaxes... Oh did we forget to mention that Aliens decided to fucking mutate the Dwarves into Lovecraftian monstrosities?
@@MogofWar Do you know about these "bulky" creatures with hood and whole black face that shoot fireballs in the beginning of the game, after the initial hometown? I haven't seen anything like this in other games or lore. What are they? Dwarf magicians? And yes, this game is probably the most fascinating NES game ever... it was so special to play it for first time in my childhood. Very hard too.
I'm thoroughly convinced this game gets all the praise that it's slathered with all over the internet mostly because everyone thinks it was some unknown, obscure little game that only they knew about. Every time I see this game mentioned anywhere, least of all in this very comment section, there's sure to be wild overstatements on its sterling quality and disturbing odes to its angelic perfection. The reality is, this game was featured prominently in Nintendo Power, where it consistently showed up in the top 30, really isn't all THAT underrated, and sold quite well. It's the perfect example of a game I couldn't beat when I was young that I thought was this huge, unending adventure I'd likely never see the end of, but I was shocked to find was actually quite short having replayed it later on in life. I love the color palette, the classy sprites, the awesome music, and it's focus on inventory, but I don't find it very compelling after it's first third. It starts really ambitious and hides it's secrets from you pretty well, but loses a lot of that, descending into rote maze navigation and repetitive battles pretty quickly.
Such a wonderful game. So many good memories ...
Every other NES game seemed awash in garish, bright colors. The gritty earth tones in this gave it a dark, mysterious look that I loved.
I remember this game! I had long forgotten the name of it!
I enjoyed this game so much from my childhood. I just thought the password system to continue was brutally complex for its era! Also, the entire world inside a giant tree was a creative concept. Definitely underrated.
The soundtrack, especially the misty level, has been with me my entire life. But listening to it now years later it’s all really good for being 8bit. The game was hard but I beat a few times back in the day with my father’s help. (I’d have never figured out how to fly up that fountain without him).
I used to play this game with my NES. I was very good in racing games and very bad in fantasy ones, I remember this as one of the hardest I've ever played.
This was one of my favorite games growing up. My daughter is 11 & loves it. She has gotten surprisingly far considering how challenging it is. We are determined to beat it!!!
When this video reaches 20:00, before player enters town, shows he has 3,727 gold. then suddenly he has 39,137 gold once in the town.. how was this achieved? A glitch? Or was footage altered/cut? 🤔 would love to know this 👍 that being said.. I love this game! 😀 Been a favorite since I played it as a kid ❤
I’ve played this game countless times. It’s one of the best hidden gems out there. I don’t know anyone else that has played it but I’d you’re looking for a fantastic nes game to try out look no further.
I didn't play Faxanadu when it came out. I played it retrospectively in a "best NES hidden gems" kind of fashion. It still blows my mind that this game is basically a metroidvania in the castlevania : symphony of the night sense on NES (of all consoles). Metroid came out one year earlier sure, but faxanadu was way beyond it's time.
I just beat this game last week on my nes nintendo. It's a wonderful game. I played it many years ago when I was a teenager to.
Easily in my Top 3 best nes games of all time.
Oh my goodness I remember playing this game way back then. Really creeped me out
awesome game, fantastic soundtrack, great memories! thx for uploading this video 🫶
That's crazy how fast they beat this game! It took me countless hours
Oh man this brings memories, I just thought of this game and came to check it out. I see now why I like it so much, it has similarities with Zelda 2, same style..very nice!
Fun fact. The pendant code is broken. You begin the game with the atkp boost of the pendant and if you get the pendant, it actualy lowers your atkp. Program mistakes that was made back then.
my fav game, still, today
I LOVED THIS CART SO MUCH AND I STILL DO!
If you casually hum the background music from this game in your day-to-day life than you are a legend
I don't know why but this game really frightened me as a small child.
Especially the bee hive that guffs out ghosts.
I remember someone getting it based on the promise that the graphics were supposedly far in advance of other games from the NES.
19:49 ? How did you get from $3,668 gold, to almost 40k?! Glitch?
Its so weird to remember things from 30+ years ago, brought me right back
What happened at 20:00 when his gold was multiplied by 100 in a spilt second.
I was wondering that as well...
He probably edited out all the tedious monster hunting that probably took 5 hours to achieve that amount of gold. It didn't progress the story, so it probably was unnecessary to make the video longer just to get gold..
Way underrated and an excellent soundtrack.
Oh boy, beautiful memories coming up... :-)
I remember this game as the absolute 1st farming experience in videogames ever, killing the 1st skeleton COUNTLESS times to buy the mega shield at the starting city
I remember wanting this game but never played it back in the day
All the NPC's puffin' like the Marlboro Man
J'ai adoré ce jeu quand j'avais 13 ans, J'ai 37 ans aujourd'hui, et je suis très nostalgique de cette époque !
Vous avez raison, cette époque était merveilleux!!!
The blinking at 3:51 is out of this world! Love
Awesome video, dude! Never knew about thins game up until I got this on multicart for NES
You can get Full Plate for free in the town of Victim if you talk to the guy behind the barrel in the bar. You have to have achieved a certain experience level (I forget which), or the guy sends you on a wild goose chase quest instead, but then he'll give it to you when you return with enough experience. I remember that because when I originally played this game back in the day, I got to Victim and was quite disappointed that I couldn't afford the Full Plate, and then I was immediately delighted when the guy at the bar gave it to me for free.
Zelda II made me put this game on a shelf.. but never forgotten classic..
I love that the meta play at open is to double dip on the gift of gold by spending it all before leaving tutorial town
Only ever watched my aunt play the game as a rental. She made it to the mist town, Dartmoor, before she had to take the game back.
That moment at 11:05 encapsulates the experience of that late-80's gaming generation; it's the old leave-a-room-and-get-hit-through-no-fault-of-your-own routine. Eventually, it became hard-wired into our awareness to just stay ready for unfairness, thus reducing our overall expectations. Applied to life, the lesson became a nice mediator.
Maybe games today could use a bit more unfairness. You know, take a hit now and then for the sake of modesty, and keep the entitlement down. Maybe we could even learn to _expect_ life's difficulties.
los mejores recuerdos, un juego mega avanzado para su época, como no olvidar a la competencia de Zelda.
Blaster Master tambien era un juego adelantado a su epoca
This was one I'd rent and try to beat it each time, saving my passwords. I did finally finish it in the late 90's after picking it up from the game store I worked at (for like 3 bucks). It's not one I think I'd revisit, like say, Crystalis, but it was a lot of fun.
Not me. I play this once every year, along with Maniac Mansion and the Gateway text adventures. Love it immensely.
I rented it as well. Not one I usually play all the time. I didn't own it for years, because I never really understood the plot through the Engerish.
I’ve been blowing off my old cartridges recently and was just playing through Crystalis again last week!
Truer words were never spoken.
I used to love playing this game as a kid!
I loved this game, downloaded it for the Wii a few years ago, must play it again. Why didn't you take the pendant, it increases your sword skills?
@Stimulator7 Yep. There is a mod out there for the NES ROM which fixes that. Or if you're a real Faxanadu champ you just grab the pendant anyway and treat the decrease in attack power like a challenging handicap.
I have no idea how I acquired that game when I was a kid but that game was ahead of its time.
I barely remember playing this when I was nine.Would really be like to play again.
I just spent several hours trying to wrangle the name of this game from a core memory. I don't think I ever noted the name when I played as a child.
I started with the wikipedia list of all NES titles and started whittling it down, before realizing I should pull a list of just adventure games. Sure enough, this strange name was on the list not too far down and I found this video. Now I have to play it!
0:11 Faxanadu did the whole "Giant tree on the horizon" thing 30 years before Elden Ring.
I remeber just loving this as a kid
WOW . what a flash back. this game and Strider for NES were the first games i ever played. then my Grandpa showed me DooM and Duke Nukem.