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5 /5

When you hear the words 'Zelda clone', what comes to your mind? Do you picture rolling green hills with monsters descending from mountains, a la Willow? Or perhaps you think of traipsing through the dungeons in Alundra. Maybe your mind shifts to even more recent titles like Soul Reaver and Dark Cloud? Any of the above might be true. But unless you're a true lover of games odd and mostly forgotten, you probably have never thought of one of the best of the clones, a cartridge from Wisdom Tree known as Spiritual Warfare.
In Spiritual Warfare, your job is to...witness. You're not saving the Princess, you're not bringing the chosen one to the confrontation with the evil witch, and you're most certainly not sucking the souls out of people. But souls are involved, as you're trying to win people to God. To do that, you're going to wander through all kinds of areas: a park, the slums, the warehouse district, downtown, the beach, the docks, and finally the prison, under which lies the greatest of all evils. Of course, this witnessing gig is quite difficult, so along the way you're going to be collecting the pieces of the Armor of God.
If I haven't made the game sound appealing yet, it's because the concept driving it isn't all that fresh. However, the gameplay rises beyond that. Things start out simple enough, in the park. You move from screen to screen and watch as they scroll, Zelda-like. Enemies rush toward you and you shoot out God's words, which cause them to drop to their knees in repentence. At this point, it's likely a demon will fly out. You can silence it with more spiritual words. Then the praying person flickers out of sight. Sometimes, something stays behind, mana points. You can use those to buy stuff. Fruit of the Spirit, vials, whatever. But where do you shop? Without a clue, you continue wandering through the park, coming to one barrier after another, clearing away brush and trees, looking for an escape. Then you find the tunnel, and you venture inside, and when you finally come out one boss encounter later, you have the belt of truth. Suddenly, you can move boulders. You can proceed to the next area.
If the Bible absolutely sets your teeth on edge, you're going to have a hard time enjoying Spiritual Warfare; the Bible trivia and the hymns assure that, not to mention the occasional presence of an angel or demon.
If, however, you can ignore that or if you actually have convictions in such areas, then Spiritual Warfare is likely to be one of the most rewarding game experiences you've ever had.