Current version:Super Famicom / SNES
Dark Law - Meaning of Death

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
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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 / SNES

AI review

AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:

6.5 / 10Super Famicom / SNES

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
DimensionReview stateScoreWeight
Dimension

Distinctive linked stories reward persistence, while obscure tasks and dungeon repetition weaken their delivery.

Reviewed6.8 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Positioning and spell experimentation have substance, but uneven progression and chance can overwhelm informed choices.

Reviewed6.1 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Expressive art and musical contrast establish atmosphere, though inconsistent town imagery and repetition limit cohesion.

Reviewed7.4 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Adjustable messages and recovery help, but menu friction and poor direction still demand external notes.

Reviewed5.7 / 10Not 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

Sources

Not provided