> Dark Savior is separated into five parallel stories. You select one depending on how quickly you get to the captain's cabin on board the ill-fated prison transport ship. You can arrive before, during or after Bilan finds its way there (the timer in the bottom right corner changes color when those windows of opportunity expire -- when it turns red you can only arrive after Bilan has). The story unfolds differently from that point onwards. The quicker you get to the cabin, the harder the parallel. Throughout some of these parallel plots even more choices can be made which can steer the outcome. Will you rescue Drizzit from Deadman's Castle or not? It's up to you. Each parallel is pretty linear in other respects, but seeing how events play out according to how you tackle the beginning is a novel fork in the road scenario.

     > Dark Savior followed in Landstalker's isometric footsteps yet lost its real time combat (something I missed). Instead, battles are one on one best out of three fights on a one-lined diagonal battle grid where Garian can block, slash at different ranges and charge up a power bar to do a special four hit combo attack. A few more moves would've been nice, but this is compensated with the ability to capture opponents and use them in combat. Captured monsters have a wide range of tricks and moves, non-melee attacks included (unlike Garian who wields a sword).

     > There is no monetary system on Jailor's island for obvious reasons. However, you can trade bottles, chocolate and magazines for points and very few items. Points can be earned through combat as well, and can be spent on raising your hit points, restoring health or avoiding fights. All this is done through Jack, your knowledgeable flying blue-feathered comrade (he shares advice too). Surviving falls costs you points; if run out, a fall will guide you to the game over screen. Very few bargaining items can be found and very few weapons can be bought/found. I feel that the game focuses less on item collecting even though it worked so well in Landstalker where you could find and equip so much. Towns are full of talkative people, but little else. You can't go back - well you can in some cases but no one says anything new. My last gripe with this game is its length: the first two parallels are great individual stories separated from each other by one element yet entirely different, but the last three are very short lived indeed. The overall game is still a worthwhile adventure.

     > Garian seems to be caught in a time loop. Every time you complete a parallel you wake up aboard the prison transport ship amid Bilan's escape. It is said that when someone is carbon frozen, they experience endless nightmares. Could this be the tragic fate of our dark hero? Locked within a truly inescapable prison island dreamt up by his subconscious and fighting to no avail? How cruelly ironic.