The third installment of the MARDEK RPG series of games, which is also the current one, is absolutely massive. I had to stop playing because it was suddenly 3 AM, and I have class tomorrow. MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 on Kongregate, has to be the single largest flash-based RPG I have ever played... ever.

If you haven't taken a look at them, you can find reviews here for MARDEK RPG: Chapter 1, and MARDEK RPG: Chapter 2 on this site. It isn't required that you play through either chapter, but rest assured you will be missing out on valuable levels, equipment, and plot detail. These games, eventually there are supposed to be 8 chapters, have save game files that carry over from one to another. So as long as you manage to finish the chapter before it, your saved file will carry over.

Well for the first chapter, this wasn't bad. After 30 minutes you were done... the second chapter was significantly longer at close to 3 hours of game play available... And to give you an idea, I am nearly 5 hours into the 3rd chapter (the game play clock carries from one chapter to another), and I have only completed the first main story arc. Conveniently, the author has made a number of changes in game play to the third chapter, some good, and some bad.. still has no real music.

*Note, if you are unfamiliar with the majority of the game, I suggest you read over chapter 1 review, it will give you a brief understanding of the game.

The first thing that has been noticeably changed is the difficulty level. Boss fights have become harder, average monsters deal more damage, and maps are a lot larger. To stress that point, some maps have become so difficult to navigate they actually have a fog over them where you can only see immediately around you, and your overview map is useless. These few changes alone take this game out of casual gaming space, and thrust it into the hardcore flash game realm. This game is going to take an eternity to beat, I am sure I will log close to 50 hours of game play by the time the series is over... but mark my words I will play through it all.

Your party is also becoming more and more diversified. If you get all of the possible members to chose from you end up with a very respectable selection size. As far as party composition, I would recommend having at least an off healer besides Mardek, this will let him dish out some physical damage when he needs to. Aside from that, just tailoring the specific party to each zone is the key to winning. Since party members can be swapped out at save point crystals this is something you should never neglect just because of laziness. Having the right party composition will make or break your boss fights.

Another feature that is now more and more prominent is the reaction's portion of the game. If you are unfamiliar totally with this, check out the picture in this article referencing the character and skills screen. Reaction's are something that are used during combat, they can be passive offensive and defensive, and either magical or physical. When that little bar starts moving across the bottom of the screen, and hits the filled in portion press [X]. This will trigger the Reaction, and whatever it's specified effect is. Some reactions will increase damage output, some critical hit chance, and others have nothing to do with combat at all. Balancing which Reations to use is also an important feature, and since you are getting more and more available reactions, some will start taking priority.

Another change is the wide variety of environments. There are sand tunnels, dark temples, winding desert paths, even a port that requires you to answer a series of questions, prior to boarding the ship, designed to add some comic relief to the game. I have absolute faith that as the saga of Mardek progress' even farther, more and more detailed and content rich features will be added to this game.

Now there is a full walkthrough written, I assume it was done by the author himself because it can be slightly vague at times, but still good enough to help you out. Also, there is A LOT of bonus content in this game. I would say that nearly half of the overall game play is from bonus questing alone. That being said, you are not required to complete these quests, but they do award you achievements on Kongregate, as well as better gear in the game usually. This means that future chapters will be easier.

My only qualm was not knowing how much I would wish I would have kept different types of items. This game has a massive inventory system, and dozens of spots for save files. I would suggest making use of these features, or at least the inventory space. Never sell any weapon or piece of armor that has any future potential, I guarantee you will regret it... I know I did.

I am avoiding most of the plot for a good reason. This game is driven by plot, I mean the actual game play is fun, but nothing is more desirable than finishing a quest only to have something horrible happen, or a new piece of information come to light. This is how I can tell that this series will absolutely go down in flash game history. To date I have never played a game as large or as rich in content on the flash system. Nor have I played one that carries over so much information from one chapter to the next. It honestly feels like one flash game spread out over different chapters... exactly how it should feel. The author pulls off everything he is trying to do with a wonderful degree of seeming perfectionism.

Overall I have to say, I can't wait to get home tomorrow night and see how this story arc ends. I also can't wait to start the next installment of MARDEK RPG. I would recommend everyone spend the time to play through this game start to finish. However, if you are only into casual flash games, this title will not be for you. It will not be over quickly at all.

Rating:

Longevity: 5.0/5
Interface: 4.5/5
Addictiveness: 4.0/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 3.5/5

Overall: 4.1/5

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