----
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The soundtrack defines this perfectly. Particularly the music from the final dungeon [[spoiler:the Lake Shrine.]] and the song that plays during the credits.
* BreatherLevel:
** Meia's dream doesn't have any enemies in it whatsoever. Justified, since for once you are visiting a normal dream, and not a nightmare.
** Nestus' and Bergus' dreams, though they're toward the end of the game, seem to have easier puzzles than a lot of the dungeons you've encountered earlier.
* CatharsisFactor: Despite the game's attempt to give Ronan some measure of sympathy by pointing out that, in the end, he was just Melzas' pawn, it doesn't erase the fact that he committed many atrocious crimes, including [[spoiler:the [[WouldHurtAchild murder of a child]]]], under his ''own free will'' (unlike Giles, who at least had the excuse of being [[SanitySlippage no longer himself]]). Combine this with the man's [[TheFundamentalist overall]] [[EvilGloating unpleasant]] [[SmugSnake nature]], and you've got players who were more than happy to send his miserable, decrepit hide straight to hell; a place where he now [[EvilMakesYouMonstrous rightfully]] belonged.
* CompleteMonster:
** [[BigBad Melzas]] is a [[GodIsEvil malevolent deity]] from another world who literally thrives on the misery and suffering of mortals. Upon arriving in our world, Melzas learned that Earth's gods are empowered by mankind's prayers, which he decided he wanted for himself. To this end, Melzas established his own ReligionOfEvil with the aid of his loyal acolytes and began inserting his image into human culture by peering into the minds of vulnerable kings and making them his puppets. Eventually exposed as a fraud and [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned]] by the forces of good, the weakened Melzas then instructed his evil acolytes. Reestablishing themselves as "holy men" under the guise of a harmless, benevolent church, Melzas's priests then began gathering new flocks of worshippers, fooling people with false promises of harmony and wealth, while secretly [[HistoricalRapSheet manipulating multiple atrocities throughout history]], thus allowing Melzas to regain his lost strength with the end goal of one day destroying his prison and finishing what he started.
** [[SinisterMinister Ronan]] is the evil priest Melzas stationed in Inoa Village. A [[PsychoSupporter loyal servant of Melzas]], Ronan corrupts the villagers -- without them even realizing it -- through false promises of harmony and peace. When hero Alundra arrives and begins to discover the truth about Melzas's church, Ronan attempts to rally the locals to drive him away, committing murders in secret and pinning the crimes on Alundra. As Alundra remains defiant, Ronan starts targeting those close to him, including [[WouldHurtAChild Sybill]] and [[ParentalSubstitute Jess]]. When confronted about his actions later on, Ronan smugly speaks of his twisted piousness while laughing at all the misery he's wrought. Finally, Ronan transforms himself into a HumanoidAbomination with the intent of carrying out more evil in the name of his monstrous god.
%%* CultClassic
* GameBreaker: The Legendary Sword (which can be obtained after getting the Power Glove) has the highest attack power in the game, and can defeat any non-boss enemy in one hit (and the bosses themselves don't last much longer).
* GoddamnedBoss: The Hidden Eye, from Elene's Nightmare is a ShieldedCoreBoss with [[DamageSpongeBoss high HP]]. While it's not a hard boss (all it does is slowly moving around the arena), it's annoying having to kill it ''five'' times (in three boss battles) in a single dungeon.
* JerkassWoobie: Giles. He's not the nicest guy around, but considering the fact that his distrust of outsiders and fanatical prayers are all to protect his younger sister whom he genuinely loves, [[spoiler:and eventually dies saving,]] it's somewhat understandable.
* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Every boss defeat qualifies, but a special mention has to go to [[spoiler:the moment after the final boss fight where you use the fire wand to burn Melzas to death right before you escape the sinking Lake Shrine and are able to watch the ending and credits.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Ronan is simply a {{Jerkass}} at first, graceful to the villagers but hostile to Alundra for being an outsider. However, he gets more and more riled up, and gradually begins to blame Alundra (and Meia) for everything bad happening to the village, though [[JerkassHasAPoint he's technically half-right]] given Melzas' violent escalations to counter the pair. Then he [[spoiler:[[WouldHurtAChild snaps Sybill's neck]] in the middle of the night and just leaves her corpse to be found in the street]]. And even worse, he's doing this entirely of his own free will and blind devotion. At this point, all sympathy of potentially being BrainwashedAndCrazy goes flying out the window, and is further compounded when he subsequently [[spoiler:murders Jess, an adoptive father-figure and mentor for Alundra, and ''[[KickTheDog tries to pin the blame entirely on Alundra himself]]]].''
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The sound of Jess smithing a new weapon. On one hand, hey, new weapon. On the other hand, somebody had to die for it to be made.
* {{Narm}}: In a game with such a depressingly dark story at times, the fact that Working Designs published and localized it in the US cracks through given their tendency to slip in random jokes at times, though thankfully never in the main story itself.
** Well, except for one particular moment [[spoiler: of a pun made about Bonaire's SurferDude speech habits in the localization -- [[BlackComedy while checking his corpse.]]]]
** There’s also Beaumont’s lament about not getting basic cable. It’s not incorporated in text necessary for the plot but to continue you cannot skip talking to him at that point in the game.
* NintendoHard:
** The puzzles! Especially the block puzzles in the ice manor and Kline's Dream, which were difficult enough that Working Designs had to post a solution on their webpage for a short time.
** The platforming can get pretty frustrating as well, in no small part to the game's top-down isometric perspective [[DepthPerplexion making it hard to tell where anything is some of the time]].
* PlayerPunch: Don't be fooled by the rocking intro and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda-style]] gameplay mixed with a 90s anime aesthetic; this game will get you to know the villagers of Inoa, and then [[AnyoneCanDie brutally gut punch you.]] ''Repeatedly.'' And just when you think you're almost through, [[spoiler: half of the remaining villagers are given a SurprisinglySuddenDeath out of sheer spite by Melzas, including all but two of the people you managed to save previously, almost coming into a hair's breadth of a ShaggyDogStory.]]
* ScrappyMechanic: With the exceptions of herbs, you can only have one unit of each consumable item. In a game where most treasure chests contain healing items, you will often be forced to waste a Strength Elixir or a Wonder Essence to heal ScratchDamage, just so you can open up a slot.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The game is essentially ''VideoGame/{{Landstalker}}'' with classic ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' visuals.
* ThatOneBoss:
** The Watcher In The Water, considering his high health, great attack range, and your limited weapons and items at the time.
** The Soul Leech from Giles' Nightmare is more annoying than hard, as all you have to do is to stay far away from his VacuumMouth, ignoring his minions, and spam bow attacks (or use bombs) until it dies; what makes him tough is that you have to prevent Giles from being swallowed up by the boss, which will lead to a NonstandardGameOver (and the last save point is very far from the boss room). Giles himself don't help much, as he [[ArtificialStupidity keep walking in circles instead of going to the southern side of the arena]].
** Zorgia. Even with the decreased boss HP in the English version, he still takes a metric ton of hits to kill, and his buzzsaws are hard to avoid and do a ton of damage, easily turning the fight into a war of attrition that you're most likely going to lose.
* ThatOneLevel:
** Magyscar is the DroughtLevelOfDoom; ''Extremely'' long, has a dearth of health items and only one save point/refresh station at the very start, and deals mainly with thorns that damage you if you accidentally walk into them and infuriating platforming segments.
** The Lake Shrine is a fitting VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: long, convoluted, with puzzles that will make you tear your hair out, troublesome and difficult enemies, dearth of healing items... and at the end, three tough sequential boss fights.
* ThatOnePuzzle: Any BlockPuzzle with [[FrictionlessIce ice pillars]]. Kline's Nightmare has a few notable ones.
* ThatOneSidequest: Collecting '''all fifty''' of the Gilded Falcons to get the Spirit Wand. Doesn't sound too bad? Well guess what: you can miss some of them permanently and in some instances, you have only ''seconds'' to retrieve them until they're gone for good.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Giles is supposed to be one of the greatest victims of Melzas and Ronan's manipulations and thus deserving pity, and he did kind of 'redeem' himself by refusing to kill his sister and dying with it. However, he spends most of the time being an utter {{Jerkass}} to Alundra, being an UngratefulBastard who [[spoiler:blames Alundra for the death of Sybill, while he was also onboard with the idea with Ronan, even after Alundra ''saved'' him from his own nightmare]]. For a good portion of the fans, his RedemptionEqualsDeath is considered too little, too late and Giles is remembered as an unlikable {{Jerkass}} whose unpleasant nature overshadows [[JerkassWoobie whatever sympathetic points he may have]].
* TheWoobie: There are many possible candidates such as Kisha, Meia, Nadia, and Sierra [[spoiler:after her daughter, Sybill is killed]], but Sybill is the obvious choice.

----