Dark Law - Meaning of Death
Dark Law - Meaning of Death is a Super Famicom role-playing game released in 1997 developed by ASCII Corporation. It centers on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and story, case, or mission progress, with controls, information, and pacing arranged around television output, a directional pad, shoulder buttons, and a six-button controller.
- AI score · out of 10
- 6.5 / 10
About this game
Dark Law - Meaning of Death is a Super Famicom role-playing release centered on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and story, case, or mission progress. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make its immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on campaign length or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, maps, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while sprite animation, scrolling, color, and chip-based audio jointly carry readability and atmosphere. The main genre-specific friction is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, and language dependence can slow progress. In addition, password or battery saves, multiplayer accessories, manual dependence, regional language, and cartridge enhancement chips can affect original-hardware use. This description covers only this release and excludes emulator features, modern-port conveniences, and content from other platforms.
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Super Famicom / SNESAI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Distinctive stories and spell research demand tolerance for randomness and friction.
Dark Law is not a conventional RPG built around a fixed procession of battles. Death-themed scenarios gradually connect, while skills such as unlocking and identification give exploration practical choices. Spending action points on movement and ranged or melee attacks, then researching combinations of magic stones, provides worthwhile experimentation. Early poverty, random growth and sudden party-threatening enemies nevertheless make learning uneven. The narrative rewards persistence, but obscure tasks and dungeon codes can turn discovery into repeated searching. Expressive sprites and contrasting peaceful or rock music establish personality, although town imagery clashes and the small repertoire repeats. Menus are understandable rather than elegant; disabling battle messages and saving frequently help. Patient system researchers and curious narrative players will find more here than those seeking predictable progress.
Strengths
- Linked death-themed scenarios provide distinctive narrative rewards.
- Action points, skills and spell research encourage experimentation.
Weaknesses
- Early imbalance and random growth undermine consistent learning.
- Obscure tasks and menu friction slow discovery.
Who it is for: Japanese-reading RPG players interested in unusual stories and patient system research.
Play notes: Original SFC software; disable battle messages and save often. Fan translations are unofficial and their compatibility was not tested.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Distinctive linked stories reward persistence, while obscure tasks and dungeon repetition weaken their delivery. | Reviewed | 6.8 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Positioning and spell experimentation have substance, but uneven progression and chance can overwhelm informed choices. | Reviewed | 6.1 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Expressive art and musical contrast establish atmosphere, though inconsistent town imagery and repetition limit cohesion. | Reviewed | 7.4 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Adjustable messages and recovery help, but menu friction and poor direction still demand external notes. | Reviewed | 5.7 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- ASCII
- Publisher
- ASCII
- Release date
- 1997
- Platforms
- Super Famicom / SNES
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Tags
- Solo-friendlyExplorationLevel ProgressionStory-drivenTop-downReal-time CombatLong-term Progression2D GraphicsCreature Collection and TrainingFantasyTurn-based CombatMain Story 20–50 Hours
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Not provided
- Perspectives
- Not provided
Release editions
- Super Famicom / SNESWorldwide1997
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided