Being superficially 'worldly', The Nomad Soul seems to tacitly encourage experimentation, in terms of progression and general fiddling. "Go on - mingle!" it seems to suggest, and it's such a pisser when you discover that so few people have anything to say. Of course, the whole problem is one common to the genre. The bigger the remit, the more features are needed to make it convincing, and - perversely - the less realistic it becomes as a whole. Zelda works because it keeps things simple. Outcast, too, has countless puzzles in the form of basic find-'n'-fetch missions. They both possess contained structures, whereby you learn their internal logic systems and abide by their unspoken rules. The Nomad Soul, aspirant and allusive in equal measure, is messy by comparison.

Of course, the most frustrating problem is that The Nomad Soul can be so very engrossing at times, and solidly playable at others. Its action sequences are basic - think Doom era for the shoot 'em up and International Karate for the fighting sub-game - but somehow they work. Likewise, although hardly a great narrative opus, its storyline is similarly enjoyable. So why? How can so much be so wrong with a single game, yet so very right? How is it that The Nomad Soul garners an admirable score of 78 per cent? Again, The Nomad Soul presents a puzzle to which there appears no obvious solution.

Oh, and the much-vaunted David Bowie soundtrack is good. That annoys me too...