crpg-book-preview-2

200-page previewJune 20151

ContentsIntroduction................................................................2Contributors...........................................................4Articles..........................................................................6What is an Old-School RPG?................................................8Unplayable..................................................................10Cartography................................................................12The Reviews.....................................................................................14Beneath Apple Manor...............................................................16Ultima........................................................................................18Moria.........................................................................................20Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar................................................22The Bard’s Tale..........................................................................24Alternate Reality: The City.......................................................26Phantasie.......................................................................28Defender of the Crown............................................................30Rings of Zilfin...........................................................................31Deathlord.......................................................................32Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna........................................33Dungeon Master.......................................................................34Zeliard.........................................................................36Neuromancer................................................................37Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny.................................................38Wasteland....................................................................40Hillsfar....................................................................42Castle of the Winds..................................................................43Ultima VI: The False Prophet..................................................44Eye of the Beholder...................................................................46Moonstone: A Hard Day’s Knight............................................48Legend...........................................................................50FATE: Gates of Dawn...............................................................51Might & Magic: World of Xeen................................................52Ishar: Legend of the Fortress..................................................54Star Control 2............................................................................56Darklands.................................................................58Shadowlands................................................................60Veil of Darkness........................................................................62Bloodnet.....................................................................63Dark Sun: Shattered Lands.......................................................64Princess Maker 2......................................................................66Lands of Lore: Throne of Chaos................................................68Dungeon Hack..........................................................................69X-COM: UFO Defense.............................................................70Ultima VIII: Pagan...................................................................72The Elder Scrolls I: Arena.......................................................74Ravenloft: Stone Prophet..........................................................76Witchaven............................................................................78Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall..........................................79Albion........................................................................................80Diablo.......................................................................................82Lands of Lore 2: Guardians of Destiny...................................84An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire.......................................85King’s Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity.........................................86Gorky 17.....................................................................................87Jagged Alliance 2......................................................................88Ultima IX: Ascension................................................................90Silver...................................................................................92Final Fantasy VIII......................................................................93System Shock 2.........................................................................942000-2004 - The Rise of the Modern Gaming Industry............96Diablo II.....................................................................................98Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn.........................................100Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption...............................102Soulbringer..................................................................104Grandia II.................................................................................105Gothic.........................................................................106Severance: Blade of Darkness................................................108Geneforge...............................................................110Divine Divinity.......................................................................112The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.......................................114Prince of Qin..........................................................................116Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magik Obscura...................118Fable.....................................................................................120Space Rangers 2: Dominators................................................122Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.................................124Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.................................................126Titan Quest..............................................................................128Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords..............................130Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale...............................................131The Witcher.............................................................................1327.62 High Calibre...................................................................134Eschalon: Book I.....................................................................136Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone............138Barkley: Shut Up and Jam! - Gaiden......................................139Mount & Blade........................................................................140Divinity II: Ego Draconis........................................................142Venetica...................................................................................143Yumina: The Ethereal..............................................................144Cthulhu Saves the World........................................................146Marauder..........................................................................147Alpha Protocol........................................................................148Fallout: New Vegas..................................................................150Mass Effect 2...........................................................................152Dungeons of Dredmor...........................................................154Frayed Knights : The Skull of S’makh-Daon..........................155E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy....................................................156Dark Souls...............................................................................158The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings...........................................160Magical Diary..........................................................................162Defender’s Quest: Valley of the Forgotten..............................163Legend of Grimrock................................................................164Paper Sorcerer.........................................................................166Banner Saga............................................................................168NEO Scavenger.......................................................................170Fan Translations............................................................................172The Legend of the Sword and Fairy........................................172Generation Xth: Code Hazard................................................173Labyrinth of Touhou..............................................................173Forgotten Ruins............................................................................174SSI..................................................................................176Sir-Tech.............................................................................178Origin......................................................................................180New World Computing...........................................................182Interplay..............................................................................184Westwood Studios...................................................................186FTL...............................................................................188Looking Glass Studios.............................................................189Ion Storm.................................................................................190Troika...............................................................................191Game Index & Cover Gallery......................................................1923

Jack “Highwang” Ragasa (JR) is ayoutube game reviewer that attributesmany years of videogames to his overlyverbose nature.Jakub Wichnowski (JW) Story is whatI value the most in games and I hopethat one day I’ll be able to make a gameat least half as good as Planescape:Torment.James McDermott (JM) is a musicianthat plays too many games. He is stillwaiting patiently for Arcanum 2.Jedi Master Radek (JMR) from the verydeep of his basement is scheming totake over the world. Hoping to turn allreaders into his mindless puppets.Jörn Grote (JG) had to decide whetherto learn for final school examinations orplay Fallout. It worked out for the best.Kenneth Kully (KK) inadvertently createdthe biggest hub of Ultima news andfan activity online, and still finds timefor it when he isn’t on call as a father orScout leader!M. Simard (MS) prefers to stay in thebasement during summer, although hisGerman Shepherd does take him out fora walk every once in a whileMaciej Miszczyk (MM) Gamer sinceearly childhood, loves games of all kindsbut prefers either RPGs from mid-to-late90s or anything that’s obscure, complex,difficult or unique.Mathias Haaf (MH) Amateur writerfrom Germany and an avid collectorand player of IBM MS-DOS RPGs. Hasa YouTube channel were he posts videoson his beloved hobby.Nicolas Hennemann (NH) freelancewriter and translator, took the chanceto tell you about his favorite game andran with it.Nicole “Jaz” Schuhmacher (NS) grew upwith Pong and is still a multi-platformgamer. She gets all teary-eyed whenthinking of the games of the ‘90s.Nostaljaded (NJ) can be found lurkingin the Bearpit. No other known factsother than a quirky one who prefers theveil over limelight.Octavius (OC)Reggie Carolipio (RC) has been tryingnot to walk and turn in 90° angles or (A)ttack stray monsters without armor sincethe 80s. Tries writing about games pastand present whenever he can emergefrom beneath Mt. Backlog.Richard Mitchell (RM) got his cRPGstart with Ultima 1 on the Commodore64 in 1988. He would like to say it’s beenall downhill ever since but Star Wars andcomic books would disagree.Ryan Ridlen (RR) Hooked on RPGssince Betrayal at Krondor. Loves storydrivengames and turn-based tacticalcombat.Robert Bailey (RB) is a member of RPGWatch who still collects and plays C64RPGs and quite readily goes misty eyedupon reflecting on the games which gothim started on this grand adventure.Rob Taylor (RT) has been hanging outin Waterdeep tavern, enjoying the vibe,since 1991. He was a professional gamesjournalist in another life.Scorpia (SC) is still crazy (gaming) afterall these years. Sometimes, shewishes we were still in the 8-bit era. SeeCartography (page 8) for other times.Scrooge (SR) got into computer gamingrelatively late, being a part of the consolecrowd before. Since then she lovessoaking up everything that’s turn- andparty based.Shanga@Bearpit (SH) Cuddly fiercebear who doesn’t like to share his food,but would gladly starve and let you eat itall if you’re a nice person.SniperHF (SD) started playing RPGs oncomplete opposite ends of the spectrumwith Fallout and Diablo. He has beenaddicted to the genre ever since.Silver Girl (SG)Suzie Ng (SN) CRPG enthusiast sinceBaldur’s Gate II, enjoys party-basedgames with good NPC interactions, anddreaming of getting involved in moddevelopment.Thomas Ribault (TR) can’t stop talkingwith his hands . He loves CRPG so muchthat he is writing a PHD about them.Tim Cain (TC) has been making videogames since before it was cool. Youknow, like in the 80’s.Vadim Keilin (VK) is a scholar whoseacademic job gives him the perfectexcuse to play games - because, youknow, research.VioletShadow (VS) would like to be afigure skater in the next life. In this one,she frequents questionable forums andplays Bloodlines.Werner Spahl (WS) is an analyticalchemist who never would have thoughtthat fixing a game is sometimes morefun than playing it.Wojtek “Mico Selva” Misiurka (WM) isa failed fan-fiction writer turned worldclass time waster, with an ever-growingbacklog of stuff to do.Special thanks to:The RPG Codex, RPG Watch, Hardcore Gaming 101, The Ultima Codex, The Internet Archive, Matt Chat, MobyGames,Cyber1, CGW Museum, DJ OldGames, DOSBox, The Digital Antiquarian, Museum of Computer Adventure Game History,The LP Archive, The CRPG Addict and every unsung hero who worked on or contributed to these websites, who developedemulators, ports for modern systems, mods, fan-patches, archived rare games or uploaded footage of them to Youtube. Eventhis rough preview would have been impossible without all of you.And, of course, a most special thanks to those who created all theses games in the first place, as well as those who put theirbest into games that unfortunately never saw the light of day. This book is a tribute to your work.5

Articles& GuidesHere will be featured various articles andguides about retro-gaming, gaming history,CRPGs and how to better enjoy them. In thispreview, we included three articles:The first article is from Jay Barson, developer atRampant Games and prolific writer, full of insightsinto the RPG genre.The second comes from Michael Abbott. Hewrites at the Brainy Gamer blog/podcast, a great placefor debating games & the gaming industry.And finally, Scorpia, the anonymous legend ofgaming journalism. She was the CRPG expert forComputer Gaming World magazine during the 80’sand most of the 90’s. Until 2009 she posted at Scorpia’sGaming Lair, but has unfortunately retired. Still, shewas kind enough to contribute with an article and acouple of reviews for this book.For the full book, we intend to include articleson the home computers from the past, on the earlyPLATO CRPGs from the 70’s and a brief history ofRole-Playing Games as a whole.The map forMight & MagicIV: Clouds ofXeen, by artistMichaelWinterbauer.7

What is anOld-School RPG?by Jay BarnsonI’m going to make a confession. This is a big one,coming from a designer of an “old-school style”CRPG, and from a guy who’s constantly harpingon the joys of old-school gaming.I don’t know what the hell “old-school” means.Sure, I was there playing these old classics whenthey were new, and I still play some of them today(Hey, I just re-played Ultima III a few months ago!)I remember clearly when The Bard’s Tale was the hotnew thing. I was reading “behind the scenes” articlesin magazines and books when the big playersof the era seemed like they’d be pumpingout RPGs until the end of time … and arenow long shuttered. I’ve chatted with someof these guys at length at GDC (back whenit was called CGDC, even). But that doesn’tmean I know what I’m talking about.And sure, I’ve got my own little pet ideas, butthey apparently conflict with other people’s ideas, soapparently I don’t really understand what it means.That, or old-school is in the eye of the beholder.For example… turn-based vs. real-time (or “action”).Action-based, “real-time” RPGs have beenwith us for a very, very long time. I like to refer backto Gateway to Apshai, published in 1983 (yeah, overa decade before Diablo), which was pure action-arcade-RPG.You had the trappings of an RPG, gatheringloot and gaining levels as you used the joystickto do action-based battle against pixellated bad-guys.We can also go back to Ultima III or Telengard, twoof the earliest CRPGs I ever played. These were “real-timeturn-based” if that makes any sense. You hadtime limits to choose your actions. Worse, the only“pause” command was getting into some input loopwhere the games were asking for additional details orconfirmation of your action.I don’t knowwhat the hell“old-school”means.So really, as far as I’m concerned, and as muchas I like to refer to “turn-based” games as “old school”,the truth of the matter is that both have been with usabout as long as we’ve had commercial CRPGs. There’sabsolutely nothing inherently new or improved orbetter about action-based gaming. And there wereabsolutely no technical limitations preventing RPGsfrom being real-time / action based back in the day,Mr. Findley*. (Hopefully he’s repented of that attitudenow that they’re working on Wasteland 2). There werelots of action-RPGs back then.The variety runs the gamut. Perspective?We had top-down, first-person, iso,side-scrolling, hybrids, and variations likecrazy. Even many games that changed perspectivewhen combat started. Complexity?You’ve got dirt-simple titles from back inthe day that makes the most “dumbed-down” modernofferings seem like piloting the space shuttle by comparison.And then you have some pretty awesomelyover-the-top tactical stuff, like SSI’s Wizard’s Crown.And humongously detailed systems with tons of dynamic-generatedcontent and gazillions of factions,like Daggerfall. And everything in-between. Oldschoolgames had you exploring a single, open-endeddungeon. Or an open-ended world. Or led you alonga very constrained path, level-by-level.We can’t even agree about a time-period for“old-school.” Maybe it’s my age, but I still have a toughtime thinking of any game published in a year thatbegins with a “2” as “old-school.” It’s like… for me,you take the history of commercial computer games,which for me begins around 1979, and mark it at thehalfway point between then and now – which wouldbe about 1996 – and set that as the “old-school” demarcation.8

Gateway to Asphai: action-based battles back in 1983.Ultima III imposed time limits on your decisions.The awesomely over-the-top Wizard’s Crown.Yeah, I’ll give it a little bit of extra slosh, but Ihave a tough time thinking of a game like Oblivion asold-school. Friggin’ kids. Plus, as I’m a retro-gamerwho is still playing older games for the first time (Ijust recently finished Knights of the Old Republic II:The Sith Lords), I have a tough time thinking of someof these games as being all that old.When I talk old-school, I tend to talk about theclassic games that I personally played, which includedsome classics as well as some stinkers. Back then,I didn’t worry about whether Al-Qadim: The Genie’sCurse was a “real” RPG or not. Hardly anybody worriedabout that until the “boom” of RPGs hit its peakin the early 90s and then started contracting. Sure,you occasionally had an article explaining the differencebetween the two popular genres, RPGs vs. AdventureGames. How quaint that seems now. Really– it was all good. Except when it was bad. When didwe start worrying so hard about what box we fit thesegames into, anyway? And how did that happen?So you wanna know what “old-school” means?Maybe it means all the amazing variety of game stylesthat used to be sold but are no longer “in vogue”Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse, RPG or not? No one cared.amongst mainstream publishers. Instead, they’venarrowed their scope down to just a tiny handful ofcrowd-pleasing styles that they keep trying to perfect.But as the whole “mainstream publishing” thing isalso losing relevance (at least for PC development),I don’t even understand how important that really isanymore.I’m still going to refer to some of the things Ido as “old-school,” but like the word “indie,” it’s reallyjust a poor shorthand to potential players to resetexpectations. But old is the new new. Or somethinglike that.But really, I still don’t know what the hell I’mtalking about.March 18, 2013 1Jay Barnson been playing video games since Pac-Man and Wizardry were hot stuff, and has been creatingboth indie games and top-shelf “AAA” retail gamesfor over a decade.1 Originally posted at: http://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=11809

Two pages fromUltima IV’s‘History of Britannia’booklet,that came withevery copy of thegame.“Yes,” I replied, “They put it in there because they expectedyou to read it.” “Wow,” he responded.Some of their difficulties must be chalked upto poor teaching. I should have done a better job ofpreparing them for the assignment. I resisted holdingtheir hands because in the past I’ve found it useful toplop them down in Britannia and let them struggle.Figure out the systems, grok the mechanics, and goforth. Ultima IV may be a high mountain to climb fora 19-year-old Call of Duty player, but it’s well worththe effort.At least that’s what I used to think. Now it seemsto me we’re facing basic literacy issues. These eagerplayers are willing to try something new, but in thecase of a game like Ultima IV, the required skill-setand the basic assumptions the game makes are so foreignto them that the game has indeed become virtuallyunplayable.And as much as I hate to say it - even after theylearn to craft potions, speak to every villager, and takenotes on what they say - it isn’t much fun for them.They want a radar in the corner of the screen. Theywant mission logs. They want fun combat. They wantan in-game tutorial. They want a game that doesn’tfeel like so much work.I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to teach Ultima IV.The series is simply too foundational to overlook, andI can develop new teaching strategies. But I believewe’ve finally reached the point where the gap separatingtoday’s generation of gamers from those of us whoonce drew maps on grid paper is nearly unbridgeable.These wonderful old games are still valuable, ofcourse, and I don’t mean to suggest we should tossthem in the dustbin.But if we’re interested in preserving our historyand teaching students about why these games matter,a “play this game and sink-or-swim” approach won’twork anymore. The question for me at this point ishow to balance the process of learning and discoveryI want them to have inside the game with their needfor basic remedial help.I love great old games like Ultima IV, but I can nolonger assume the game will make its case for greatnessall by itself.September 22, 2010 11 See http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2008/10/fallout-3.html2 Originally posted at: http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2010/09/unplayable.html11

Cartographyby ScorpiaSome companies,such as Sir-Techand New WorldComputing, wouldeven gift graphpaper sheetstogether with theirgames.Many gamers today take automapping forgranted. Very likely, they couldn’t imaginea product without it. We of the (cough) “eldergeneration”, however, know otherwise. Those whogo back to the “golden era of gaming” remember well,perhaps all too well, the joys of manual cartography.I learned my lesson fairly early. It wasn’t long, as Iwandered in the mazes of Colossal Cave and Zork, beforeI realized that random scraps of paper or sheetsstolen from the printer just weren’t going to do thejob. It was time to get professional about this. I boughta stack of graph paper, a package of pencils, and thatmost important item, a blister pack of erasers.Actually, mapping out the adventures games usuallywasn’t too bad. Aside from an occasional nastytrick or mean maze, they were pretty straightforward,and most important, nothing was out there waitingfor lunch. RPGs, however, were quite another matter.Despite being on mere 8-bit machines, the RPGswere big, and seemed all the larger because mappingwas a very slow process. There you were (or I was),carefully pencilling in one step at a time, and thereall the critters were, ready to pounce and rip out yourheart, lungs, and assorted other organs for appetizers.In no time at all, you were turned around, andonly twenty minutes later (if you were lucky), did yourealize your careful cartograph was somewhat inaccurate.It’s amazing how many erasers you could gothrough mapping out just one game.The prime example for huge was the first Might& Magic. I still have my 50+ maps from that one. Yep,that many. It seems incredible now, to look at thoseold sheets, and ponder the time and effort needed todraw the maps, one step at a time.There was one saving grace, though: the dungeonswere all standardized, being the same size andshape. Naturally, size was different in different games,but if you were doing M&M, you could count on eachoutdoor area, each town, each dungeon level, beingthe same 16×16 square.Of course, that meant 256 happy little steps persection, each one carefully mapped. With notes, naturally,on where things were found, where traps were,where messages appeared (and what they said), andso on. And fighting off monsters galore almost everystep of the way (it’s odd how Monsters Galore showedup in every RPG; busy little critter!).While Might & Magic was the most excessive interms of mapping, other games weren’t far behind.The Bard’s Tale, for instance, required a fair amountof cartographical effort, though it featured a mere onetown and no outdoors. Seventeen maps for that one,each a generous 22×22 in size, and our friend Monsterswaiting for us everywhere.I don’t know if it’s possible to adequately conveywhat it meant to map-as-you-go. This was work, realwork. Okay, you knew the size of the dungeon, drewit on the graph paper, numbered the sides, and usuallyknew your starting point. Say it was X3, Y5; here werethe stairs out. Everything else was unknown.12

A map from Bard’sTale, filled withspinners and darkareas. Be glad it isn’ta teleporter maze.So you started off, taking a step, drawing lines onyour map, and hoping against hope that you hadn’tjust stepped on a spinner that turned your merryband in another direction, or worse, an undetectableteleporter that just sent you halfway across thedungeon without your realizing it.Beyond that, there were nasty little places whereeveryone took damage as they walked through,where magic was suppressed, where it was totallydark, where you could walk into pits or chutes, or anycombination of the foregoing. And remember, our palMonsters was there, too, practically every other step.Yet we persevered. We mapped. We fought.We erased. We screamed and cursed and muttered(maybe louder than muttered) imprecations againstthe evil designers. Then we mapped and fought anderased and screamed some more.We could take it. We were tough. We werededicated. We were hardcore gamers. We weremasochists. Nothing else could explain why, themoment a game was finished, we put aside the oldmaps, reached for a fresh sheet of paper, and startedon the next RPG.It’s a pity there was no Game Scouts of Americato hand out merit badges for Cartography. Not a fewof us earned one, and we still have the calluses toprove it.Ah yes, the golden age of gaming. It many ways,it was a good time. But y’know, there are some thingsabout it I don’t miss at all…Copyright © 2006 Scorpia. Reprinted by permission.Scorpia is one of the most fondly remembered gamejournalists of all time. From the ’80s through April ‘99,she was a lead reviewer of, and hint giver for, adventureand role-playing games at Computer Gaming Worldmagazine. Scorpia also ran game-related areas on Compuserve(the original GameSIG), Delphi (GameSIG), AOL(Scorpia’s Lair), and GEnie (Games RoundTable).13

The ReviewsThis is the meat of the book. Around 300 gameswill be reviewed by fans, modders, developersand journalists, listed in chronological orderand full of screenshots, quotes from its developers andeven mod suggestions. The idea is to serve both as atimeline of the genre and a guide to help players enjoythe most out of their games.We decided upon dividing this section intosmaller sections, each featuring a span of 5 years.These will showcase the events that happened duringthose years, plus add a brief overview of the changesin the gaming world during that period. These are stillbeing written, so only some are present.As with the rest of this preview, nothing is still setin stone, so if you have any comment, suggestions orcorrections, please contact us.Lord British andthe Gargoylesread the Codexof UltimateWisdom, inUltima VI: TheFalse Prophet.15

BeneathApple ManorDon Worth, 1978Apple II (PC Booter, Atari 8-bit)**BAM wasre-released in aSpecial Editionin 1982, withfancier graphics,multiple portsand the ability tosave the game toplay in multiplesessions.There are old games, and there are ancientgames. Beneath Apple Manor is ancient. Arrivingin 1978, it was the first, or one of thevery first, RPG-like games for home computers. Yes,personal computing goes back that far.It could run in as little as 16K RAM (tape version)or in 32K+ (disk version, which I had). Levelswere created on the fly as you went deeper in thedungeon. Monsters were limited to five: green slime,ghost, troll, purple worm, and red dragon. However,they increased in power the farther down you went.Each had its own type of nastiness. Slimes coulddissolve armor. Ghosts reduced your Strength permanently.Trolls regenerated. Worms could kill youin one hit, as could Dragons, who also had verytough hides.BAM could be customized, too. You chosethe number of rooms per level (4-7, depending onRAM), the difficulty factor, and whether you wantedblack & white or color graphics. With color, everythingwas a different colored block. I much preferredthe ASCII black & white, where the monsters (player,too) were represented by letters and treasure by $.You had four stats: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence,and Body. Fighting depleted Strength, soa breather after combat was necessary to restore it.Likewise, movement reduced Dexterity and spellcastinglowered Intelligence. Resting brought thoseback up, but only a Heal spell could restore hit points.This was not a game of fast movement and rapid-firecombat.Experience was earned by killing monsters andbringing treasure back to the main staircase, the startingpoint of each level (it wasn’t marked on the map,either, so better remember its location).Here you traded points at 10 xp for 1 stat point,increasing it permanently. Gold could buy upgradesto weapons and armor. Most important of all, youcould purchase a “brain scan”. It was your charactersave.My character (Y) found a treasure chest ($) while tryingto run from a slime (S). It was cursed.Commands were all over the keyboard, and each actiondepleted one of your attributes.16

“It was released two years beforeRogue came out. I was not influencedby Rogue (didn’t see it untilsomething like 1983) and so far asI know the Rogue guys up at UCBerkeley hadn’t seen BAM either.We probably both came up withthe same idea independently. Butat least I can say Rogue is “BeneathApple Manor-like”- Don Worth,Beneath Apple Manor’s creatorShould you die – sooner or later, bound to happen– the scan restored you to life at the staircase. Ofcourse, any money you had at the time was dropped.However, you were alive again as of the last scan. Andyou’d want a new scan as soon as you could afford it.Each use reduced the save by 10%. Ouch! Too manyrestores of the same scan would leave you a wimp.So you proceeded carefully along the level, Listeningat doors, Inspecting walls for secret doors,Bashing stuck doors open, Running when overmatched,and hoping you wouldn’t run into too manywandering monsters.All this had a goal: to find the fabled Golden Apple,rumored to be in a dragon horde far below thesurface. Naturally, it exists, and there it is! Or is it?You know the saying: there can be only one(though not a ring this time). But each horde had asupposed Apple; grab a fake, and you were restoringat the staircase. How could you tell real from fake?Only – haha – by taking it. You don’t always needheavy combat to induce sweaty palms.BAM had to be played entirely in one session. Thebrain scans were good only for the current game. Quit,and you’d have to start a new game next time. Still,it was meant as a “quick” play. At 5 rooms/level, youcould usually get through it in about four hours or so.Thus BAM was a prototype for Rogue and itsmany variants. Sadly, it seems to have been overlookedin the history of this subgenre, even thoughit arrived two years before Rogue itself showed up in1980.In its time, Beneath Apple Manor was a fun – ifoccasionally frustrating – diversion. While simple,the game required thought and strategy. And it showswhat could be done with limited RAM and tight,well-designed code. SCPlaying a hugefloor with colorsenabled. Welisten behinda door, whereapparently a trolllurks inside.BAM allowed you to customize the size of the levels,choose between display modes and 10 difficulty settings.Beneath Apple Manor: Special Edition added so called“hi-res graphics”, but you could still play in ASCII mode.17

UltimaRichard Garriott, 1981Apple II and Atari 8-BitGarriott wantedto call his game“Ultimatum”, butthe name wastrademarked bya board game, soit was changedto Ultima.Ultima was the first real professionally releasedRPG from Richard Garriott, and it shows. Hethrew in everything his young computer geekself thought fun, so anything went! Combining a huge,colorful and innovative overworld map, the randomlygenerated wireframe dungeons from Akalabeth andan incredibly frustrating space battles – similar to theAtari 8-bit game, Star Raiders – Ultima gave playersmany fun and interesting things to do, and it’s easytoo see why it was so successful.As the game begins, the four continents ofSosaria have already been conquered by the evilwizard Mondain, who used the Gem of Immortalityto become invincible. Your only chance them is tocollect four magic gems to power a time machine togo back in time and slain the wizard before he gainshis powers. You can basically explore the world as youwant because of how loosely intertwined the game’ssolution and mechanics are. Which is good, as at itscore Ultima takes about 2-5 hours to complete, if youknow what you are doing.Most of that time is spent gaining enough goldto buy food and supplies to survive, along with gettingenough experience points from killing monstersin order to qualify to acquire the time machine andcomplete the game. This is all XP is good for, characterlevels are otherwise irrelevant in this game.Hit Points are gained through killing monstersinside of dungeons and then escaping, or by givingmoney to one of the eight kings that inhabit the world(one of which is the famous Lord British, Garriott’salter-ego). Attribute scores are improved by locatingand interacting with sign posts spread throughoutthe world, with bonus points rewarded for going tothese sign posts as a quest for four of the kings. Doingquests for the other kings involves killing monsters inthe dungeons you would go into anyway, and you canalso try to rescue captive princess from castles.Combat itself is very similar to Akalabeth, butyou have a time limit to act, or you’ll lose your turn.And now there are random enemies encounters onthe overworld map as well, not only inside dungeons.18The innovative overworld map. I was about to reachone of the sign posts, when two dragons attacked.Here we are on the lowest floor of a dungeon, beingapproached by a wireframe Balrog... I mean BalRON!

When in space, you must dock into star bases, adquirea spaceship and shoot down TIE-Fighter clones.Towns and castles are one-screen areas wheremost of the game’s solution are uncovered via jesterstalking out loud, or by spending money in bars. Itemsand food can be bought or stolen, with the chances ofvery tough and angry guards homing in on a caughtoffender’s position. As the player progresses, thetechnology of the world advances, and various newweapons and armors begin showing up in the stores,going from swords and bows to pistols, energy swordsand even a “phazor”. That also includes vehicles, suchas a hovercraft with lasers and a space shuttle (again,anything went!).Ultima allows you to play a Human, Elf, Dwarf or“Bobbit”, as either a Fighter, Cleric, Rogue or Wizard.Those mostly just change your initial attributes, asanyone can use any equipment, but only the Wizardcan cast some of the spells. The magic system is quitesimple, with only a few different spells available intowns as one-cast scrolls. And really, only two areuseful: Ladders Up & Down. Those aid in making thedungeons somewhat light and semi-optional, as theyallow one to avoid having to seriously map or look forsecret doors in any of the many dungeons.For a new RPG player this makes Ultima a greatfirst taste of the grand-fathers of the genre, especiallyfor one who isn’t heavily invested in complicatedgames. You can read the gorgeous manual illustratedby Denis Loubet to make you feel as if you’re a part ofthis world, and then the Command Summary Card tolearn the few keystrokes required to play.Ultima was my first real RPG experience. WhileI had some understanding of this sort of thing thanksto the Endless Quest and Choose your Own Adventurebooks, this game was like nothing my 13 yearoldmind had experienced back in 1988 on my newCommodore 64. It taught me keyboard layouts andhow these “RPG things” worked. To look for clues.At Lord British’s castle, with the Jester shouting he hasthe key I need. In a RPG, that’s a death wish.To explore a world with much of its flavor in the manual’swonderful text and artwork. To BE in an adventure,as opposed to just watching the animated Hobbitfilm. This game took me a good month to complete– with only a single call to Origin’s hint line towardsthe end game – in those days before game solutionswere easily available.And it made me fall in love with the genre as awhole. Would a much more difficult and unforgivinggame like Wizardry have done the same, with itsdeadly traps and multiple characters – who couldall be permanently wiped out in an instant? WouldApshai, with its far finickier control scheme, worlddetail hidden within multiple paragraphs to read in abooklet and far slower form of character advancementhad done the same? Probably not. RMThe remakeIn 1986 Ultima was re-released as Ultima 1: The FirstAge of Darkness, with new versions for the AppleII, Commodore 64, IBM PC and various japanesecomputers, such as the MSX2 and FM-Towns.Outside Lord British’s castle, on the IBM PC version.It isn’t a massive graphical leap, but it’s nice.Fan JosephPropati createda boardgameadaptation ofUltima, madefor solo play.It’s free, andyou can findit at http://boardgamegeek.com19

MoriaRobert Alan Koeneke, 1983VAX-11/780 (DOS, Amiga and Linux)**The originalMoria was madefor VAX-11/780computers, butits creator sharedthe source codefreely, whichallowed variousversions andports – underthe requirementthat it was keptnon-commercial.The town shopsallow you toprepare yourselffor the dungeon.But beware,as beggars andthieves also roamthe streets andmay steal yourgold – or life.First released in 1983, Moria started out as aRogue clone for University of Oklahoma’s VAX-11/780 minicomputer. As the developmentwent on, the game started to differ significantly fromits predecessor: the setting became Tolkien’s Middle-Earthand the objective was to kill the Balrog.More importantly, Moria introduced severalgameplay innovations that would later become essentialto a certain subgenre of roguelikes: a townwith shops at the top of the dungeon, scrolling multiple-screenmaps, spells, artifact items with specialproperties, character classes and races and the needto carry a source of light.At the beginning of each game, a new charactermust be created. Race, class and sex are chosen bythe player while all the stats as well as the character’sbackground are randomized (the game allows rerollingso one shouldn’t worry too much). From thenon, Moria is pure dungeon crawling with occasionaltrips back to the town in order to sell useless equipmentand buy better one, replenish food and torchesand identify unknown items.The game (as well as other inspired by it) is focusedmostly on combat and exploration and doesn’tfeature NetHack’s item-based puzzles or ADOM’squests – like Rogue before it, it’s all about getting to thebottom of the dungeon while fighting against hordesof monsters. Levels (with the exception of a town) inMoria don’t persist – when you return to the dungeonfloor you’ve visited, it will be generated anew.Moria’s interface differs a bit from the one ofRogue: this time, playing area occupies the right sideof the screen, with the character information placedon the left. There are also a few graphical differenceslike the walls being denoted by a hash sign and theinequality signs being used for staircases. The gameis played through a text terminal (with the usual possibilityof playing the game remotely through telnetor ssh) and controlled with the keyboard. The controlscheme might be a problem for laptop owners asmost versions of Moria are controlled with the numpad,without the possibility of using arrow keys or thevi-style controls.Unfortunatelly, Moria is an early roguelike andit suffers from many of the same problems a playermight encounter with Rogue or Hack: it’s difficultwhile not being complex enough to provide you away of preparing yourself for the worst encounters.That would be enough to make your survival in anygame dependent on the mercy of random numbergenerator but Moria takes it a few steps further: whilethe game was being developed, each new version wassupposed to be a challenge for the veteran playerswho’ve managed to beat the previous ones. As a result,Moria’s difficulty makes the game unwelcoming evento those who’ve played roguelikes before and don’thave a problem with procedurally generated levels,permanent death and high level of difficulty.20

“I listened a lot to my playersand kept making enhancementsto the game to fix problems, tochallenge them, and to keep themgoing. If anyone managed to win,I immediately found out how, and‘enhanced’ the game to make itharder. I once vowed it was ‘unbeatable’,and a week later a friendof mine beat it! His character,‘Iggy’, was placed into the gameas ‘The Evil Iggy’, and immortalized...And of course, I went in andplugged up the trick he used towin...”- Robert Alan Koeneke,Moria’s creatorSurrounded bygiant white louse,our desperatedwarf resortsto one of theunidentifiedpotions in hisinventory. Sadly,It was a potion ofslowness.After being abandoned in 1987 by its originalcreator Robert Alan Koeneke, the game lived on asUnix Moria – or uMoria – a port that thanks to beingwritten in C provided new players with the possibilityof playing Moria on different hardware (contraryto what the name suggests, uMoria can be played onsystems other than Unix, e.g. MS-DOS). This is by farthe most popular version of Moria and the one thatinspired the creation of games such as Castle of theWinds, Angband and even Diablo.Nowadays, the popularity of Moria and uMoriahas been far surpassed by the derivative titles, especiallyAngband (in fact, the subgenre of roguelikesthat has been codified by this game is often describedAngband-like). While it’s sad that such an importantgame in the history of CRPGs is being overlooked,it’s easy to see why: Angband is extremely faithful tothe gameplay and setting (although this time playersare tasked with defeating Morgoth) of original Moriawhile greatly improving it and expanding upon it.It’s simply a better game that, while still challenging,won’t scare off less experienced players.While everyone with an interest in roguelikegames should play a few sessions of Moria to experiencean important part of the genre’s history, chancesare that more fun will be had with games that descendedfrom it. MMAngbandAngband was first released in 1990 but is still inactive development. Its gameplay and visual styleare similar to that of Moria but it has more enemies(including boss monsters), spells and items as well asa longer dungeon while at the same time being morebalanced and streamlined. In contrast to Moria’smonochrome look, Angband gives colors to differentenemies, items and HUD elements. It is also notablefor the ease of modding as all its data is stored in textfiles – this has resulted in the creation of numerousvariants, such as ZAngband and MAngband, andhelped to popularize the Moria/Angband subgenreof roguelikes.The Amiga version had mouse support and very simplegraphics, but both were more confusing than helpful.Angband allows for tilesets, as well as ASCII graphics.21

Ultima IV:Quest of the AvatarOrigin Systems, 1985Amiga, C64, Apple II, DOS, Atari STAn upgrade forthe DOS versionwas made byfans. The UltimaIV UpgradePatch fixes bugs,improves thegraphics, the UIand the music.Grab it here:www.moongates.com/u4/upgrade/Upgrade.htmMoongates allowfast travel; shipscan get you toinaccessibleplaces.It’s a very old game now, designed originally for8-bit systems with 64K RAM and CPUs runningabout 1 MHz. Regardless, the achievements ofUltima IV are astonishing.It begins with a novel method of character creation:the Gypsy woman and her quasi-Tarot cards.She presents several situations, each with a choice oftwo responses. There are no right or wrong answers.The reading is designed to gauge your mental outlook,your morals and ethics, and give you the professionclosest to them. Each profession represents oneof the eight virtues: Valor (Fighter), Honor (Paladin),Spirituality (Ranger), Humility (Shepherd), Honesty(Mage), Self-Sacrifice (Tinker), Compassion (Bard)and Justice (Druid).With many games, that’s as far as it would go.You’d have your mage or fighter or bard or whatever,and play on from there. In Ultima IV, this is only thestart of a long journey of the soul, a journey that dependson building character. On perfecting yourselfin all eight virtues and becoming the Avatar.No game, before or since, has had such an objective.All others have been concerned with making youa better warrior or spellslinger, concentrating entirelyon developing physical or magical prowess. Combatis the means to this, and it is easy to see why otherCRPGs have so much. It’s the main way to get ahead;in some cases, the only way.You certainly have fighting in Ultima IV. It’s howyou prove your Valor - but Valor is only one virtue.Developing those other seven depends upon how youreact to and treat other people.No backsliding, either. Each “eighth” (enlightenmentin a virtue) is hard to earn and not permanent.The game watches every move you make. Start actingthe wrong way, and you’ll be losing those eighths.Only a true Avatar can finish this game.Aside from character development there is UltimaIV’s open design. You can go almost anywhere youwant, any time you want; the game is very much notlinear. There are many things to do, and quite a fewobjects to gather, but for the most part, these can bedone in any order. Eventually, of course, everythingnarrows down to the end game. Until that time, theplayer has a lot of discretion as to where to go andwhat to do.While combat isn’t the main focus of the game,there is plenty of it, turn-based. Opponents are carefullycontrolled, so you won’t, especially at the start,be overwhelmed. You can explore without worryingthat a horde of orcs will show up and wipe you out.Also, enemies will sometimes run away if they taketoo many casualties.You aren’t alone, either. Over time, you gather inseven members to your party. They represent the otherseven virtues, and you will need every one of thosepeople. Further, leveling is not a big item; eight is themaximum you can reach.22

“The point is not whether youhave strong enough muscles orbig enough guns to win, the issueshould be: What have you learned?What wisdom have you gainedfrom the beginning through to theend that really means you’re nowthe appropriate person to solvethe problem?”- Richard Garriott,Ultima IV’s Project LeaderCreating yourcharacter withthe Gypsy’sTarot cards. Yourchoice is alwaysthe right one....for you.Enlightenment in virtues brings visions critical to theend game.Conversation has always been a staple of the Ultimas.An important aspect here is that people giveyou information because they like you, trust you, orrespect you. This is trust or respect you earn by youractions during play. The closer you are to the idealof Avatarhood, the more likely people are to tell youthings.There is none of the “quid pro quo” that infectsso many games. You know: “So, you want the locationof the +30 Sword of Instant Death? First, you musttravel to the lair of the Dread Funny Bunnies, andbring back to me the Drum of Ages (batteries included).”Nowhere in Ultima IV are you ever someone’s“gofer”. People don’t send you off to retrieve lost/stolenitems as though you’re some sort of pet dog. Nordo they ask you to do any “favors”. Everything youlearn, every item you obtain, is for your own use.Beyond all the above, perhaps the most iconoclasticpart of Ultima IV is the ending. As a friendof mine put it, “It’s the only game where the goal isto read a book.” Not trashing Foozle, not saving theworld (again), but penetrating to the depths of a dungeonto read the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. Therehave been other games with nonviolent endings, butnone so original as this.For all that, some of today’s gamers may find thegame unplayable. The graphics are primitive. Thereis no log, no journal, no automap, no big loot drops,no hand-holding. Patience and extensive note-takingare crucial, because there is so much to learn. You’dbetter learn it all too; you’re tested throughout thefinal dungeon to ensure you know what it means tobe the Avatar.However, if you’re looking for a unique experience,a game that doesn’t rely on hack’n’slash orendless “side jobs”, then Ultima IV is the one for you.Happily, it has been made available to run on modernPC systems from Good Old Games (www.gog.com)free when you sign up (also free). Ultima IV, still oneof-a-kindafter all these years. SCThe ParodyCreated by fan Chris Hopkins, Ultima IV Part 2:Dude, where’s my Avatar? is a parody of the Ultimaseries. It takes place in the gap of time betweenUltima IV and Ultima V, and tries to answer someof the unresolved questions from the series, such aswhat happened to Mondain, Minax, and Exodus andwhere did the Guardian really came from.Grab it here: www.80sgaming.org/ultima-parody23

The Bard’s TaleInterplay, 1985Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, C64 and DOSEight novels werewritten aroundthe Bard’s Talelore, by famousauthors such asMercedes Lackey,Josepha Shermanand Michael A.Stackpole (whoalso helped todesign The Bard’sTale III).The original AppleII release had verysimple graphics, butwas revolutionarynext to Wizardry’scrude wireframecorridors.Designed in the halcyon days of computerrole-playing games where using graph paperto map out every explorable space was practicallythe norm, the irrepressible Bard’s Tale trilogy isa deeply treasured series of games developed by Interplaythrough the mid to late 80s.Highly inspired by its older brother, the Wizardryseries, Bard’s Tale helped push the party-baseddungeon crawler forward with its emphasis on tacticalturn based combat, deviously creative and eminentlymemorable dungeon design, sheer atmosphericwriting, monster sprite animations and its deeplyunique magic system, requiring the player use fourletter code words. (ARFI, MAMA, NUKE anyone?)Michael Cranford’s ambition came in the formof a windowed first person perspective which moveswith a pseudo-3D effect as the textures change, creatingan immersing sense of truly moving through avirtual world. The player’s characters 1-6 were listedbelow, with a slot available for summoned creatures orNPCs who may occasionally join your intrepid group.Arguably one of the greatest pleasures of Bard’sTale lies in party creation: Making a diverse range ofcharacters to explore Skara Brae and meet its challenges.The rich party design gives these games a fantasticlongevity and I can vividly recall experimentingwith many combinations of paladins, warriors, hunters,bards, rogues and the spell-casting classes, seekingthat “perfect” party balance.A distinctive aspect to the Bard’s Tale charactersystem is the array of magic classes at the disposal ofthe player. In addition to the classic bard class, whocan weave a limited number of magical songs in andout of combat to influence proceedings before requiringa stiff drink, the player can also take advantage ofthe tiered magical class system. Whilst Magicians andConjurers are the only two spell casting classes initiallyavailable in character creation, after some levellingplayers can choose to change the classes of their spellcasters to Sorcerer (illusions) and Wizard (Summoning),adding depth to combat.During the early phases of the game, Bard’s Taleis an intensely demanding experience as players haveto familiarise themselves with Skara Brae’s importantlocations relatively quickly, else suffer the wrath ofone of the many random encounters which could easilysend low level characters to their collective doom.The incredible sense of danger one has when simplymaking one’s way to Garth’s shoppe, exploring a newdungeon for the first time, or the sense of dread whenmaking one’s way back to the stairs with low magicpoints to the sanctuary of the Adventurer’s Guild andthe safety of a well saved game, are memorable highlightsof this wonderful trilogy.Thus, a slow careful approach in nurturing andmanaging one’s characters in the beginning pays off asthe group progressively becomes stronger and moveswith greater assurance through the wintery streetsand dungeons: to finally face Mangar himself!24

Alternate Reality:The CityParadise Programming, 1985Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amiga, Apple II, DOS, C64 and MacintoshIn 1999 PhilipPrice and GaryGilberson teamedup again to createan MMO calledAlternate RealityOnline, but theproject wascanceled due tolack of funds.The charactercreation screen,where yourstats and wealthare rolled. Thegraphics werequite impressivefor the time.26Created by Philip Price, Alternate Reality wasoriginally planned as an ambitious seriesof seven scenarios – City, Dungeon, Arena,Palace, Wilderness, Revelation and Destiny. The Citywould be patched by subsequent scenarios, creatinga huge, seamless adventure. Sadly only the first two –The City and The Dungeon – were ever released.Kidnapped by an alien spaceship, you find yourselfdropped into the hostile city of Xebec’s Demise,fighting against the elements and a wide variety ofinhabitants from thieves, robbers and noblemen tofantastical creatures of the night as well as trying tounderstand why you were abducted.As you step through the doorway of the spaceshipthe spinning numbers above your head will rollyour initial statistics within the world of AlternateReality. As well as the traditional Strength, Stamina,Skill, Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence, the gamefeatured a number of additional statistics about thecharacter, such as hunger, drunkenness and exhaustion,which remain hidden from the players. Even 30years later there’s still discussion about the impactstats have on events and certain types of encounters.You explore a large city (64x64 squares) througha small first person window in the center of the screen,using either keyboard or joystick. Unlike Wizardryand Bard’s Tale, which used relatively simple 3D viewswhich “jumped” as you moved to each map square,Alternate Reality provided full colour textured wallswhich scrolled smoothly by as your character movedfrom one map square to another.Combine that with other graphical effects suchas numerous sprite animations, day & night cycle,rain and flashes of lightning and you have a gamewhich was graphically and aurally way ahead of itspeers. It made use of the Atari 8-bit unique strengthsto achieve some special effects, such as maximizingthe number of colours on-screen, that programmersfound challenging to port to other computers lateron. It’s elaborate opening sequence (almost 5 minuteslong and with a theme song), movie-style credits andcareful sync of sound and image were novel featureswhich only became common many years later.The music by Gary Gilbertson is memorable andwell employed. There’s a variety of songs for speciallocations and events – including a Game Over song –with lyrics appearing on-screen. During encounters,the type of music can be used to determine the natureof the encounter and how hostile it is likely to be.With the absence of any defined quests withinThe City, your goals are simply to develop a characterwith powerful stats, obtain high quality equipmentand amass sufficient wealth so that you mayhave a chance to survive in future scenarios. This isdone through encountering the city’s inhabitants anddefeating them in combat, though wealth can alsobe increased through the use of variable rate bankaccounts although a higher interest rate also meansthere is a higher risk of you losing your money!

“Life is very short and one must try todo what one can that best serves man.It’s too short to just sit back contentand watch the world go by. One isobligated to find ways to help oneanother. I received much less moneycreating games than when I workedon the B-2 Stealth bomber, but the joyI brought to so many people with thegames is priceless, completely withoutmeasure. Never underestimate thepower of joy.”- Philip Price,Alternate Reality’s CreatorAfter the release of The City, Phillip Price leftdue to issues with the game’s publisher. And so thesequel, Alternate Reality: The Dungeon, would arriveonly in 1987, developed by Ken Jordan and Dan Pinalwith some notes from Price and with Gary Gilbertsonagain providing a rich variety of music.The Dungeon is a solid dungeon-crawler, that canbe played without The City and feels like a full game.It offers several quests found either through exploringor by visiting the Oracle, who will assign quests if asuitable offering is made. Through completing thesequests the player learns a lot more about the natureof Alternate Reality’s environment and his kidnappers.New features included a greatly expanded rangeof items such as scrolls, tarot cards, magical eyes,wands as well as more unique locations across fourdungeon levels, spell casting and an interesting guildsystem where membership in one guild made you aninstant enemy with a rival guild.Sadly, the series was never completed. A designdocument for The Arena was completed but codingnever began. By that time 16-bit computers such asthe Amiga, Atari ST and the IBM PC were the rule,and the market had moved away from all the 8-bitmachines. The City would be ported to these newcomputers, now featuring vastly improved graphics,but the developers did not include the patch systemPrice had created, so the ports were unable to linkwith other scenarios.In the end, that didn’t matter, as The Dungeonnever got a 16-bit port. Versions for the Amiga andIBM PC were about 70% complete when the game’spublisher, Datasoft, went out of business.Today players still brave the streets of Xebec’sDemise and the corridors of The Dungeon, trying todiscover yet more secrets of the mysterious AlternateReality and hoping that one day they will be able tofinally bring their characters back to Earth. GDAlternate Realityfeatures intenseuse of music.Some locationshave uniquesongs, with lyricsthat appear insing-along styleon the screen.Alternate RealityX is a modern,fan remake of thefirst two games,that allows youto freely movebetween The Cityand The Dungeon.It’s currently underdevelopment, butyou can try it at:www.crpgdev.comBesides fighting, players can also try to Charm or Trickfoes if their Charisma and Intelligence are high enough.The Dungeon added a four-level maze to explore, withvarious new interactions, events, enemies and quests.27

PhantasieSSI, 1985Atari ST, Amiga, C64, Apple II and DOSIn a 2013 interview,WinstonWood revealedhe was workingon Phantasie Vduring his sparetime. However,in 2014 theproject was puton hold due lackof funding.The overworldmap is quitesimple, containingonly cities,dungeons andinns. But it’s fullof enemies, thatcan even take theparty by surpriseat night.Ask CRPG fans who Lord British is and chancesare they’ll know – he’s Richard Garriott’s alterego in the Ultima series. Ask them who LordWood is, and the answer is less certain.In the mid ‘80s, SSI released a three-game series,Phantasie (1985), Phantasie II (1986) and PhantasieIII: The Wrath of Nikademus (1987) created by WinstonDouglas Wood. In the games, he’s known as LordWood, the noble leader of the forces of good and theadversary of the evil Nikademus.Phantasie’s original box touts the game as a“role-playing odyssey,” and this is a truly fitting description.For just as Odysseus wandered throughoutancient Greece on his journeys, the Phantasie seriesdraws much of its inspiration from Greek mythology.The sorcerer Nikademus is bent on conquering theworld with the help of his patron, the dark god Pluto.Zeus cannot allow this challenge to go unanswered,and like the myths of old, he finds mortals – a partyof adventurers – to help his cause. The god also enliststhe aid of Lord Wood and a wizard, Filmon the Sage,to guide and assist players throughout all three games.Throughout the games, your journeys are manyand varied. Not only do players venture across medieval-fantasylands, but they also visit different planes ofexistence. In fact, interdimensional travel is a crucialand exhilarating aspect of the series. Players travel tothe Astral Plane, the Planes of Light and Darknessand multiple layers of the Netherworld. These aren’tjust dungeons to explore, but rather small overworlds,complete with towns and locations. Not only do playershear about the gods, but they also meet them,Zeus at Mt. Olympus and Pluto in his “smallest castle,”which is so vast it defies mortal comprehension.One of the most unique aspects of the series isthe wide range of playable races available for players’parties (15 in total). Not only can characters be humans,elves, dwarves or gnomes, but they also can beany number of D&D-inspired races, such as gnolls,orcs, goblins, minotaurs, lizardmen and sprites. Eachrace has its own graphical representation on the combatscreen, which was quite advanced for the time.It’s also possible to transfer characters from game togame in the series.The flow of the games follows a pattern that hasbecome quite familiar in console games and JRPGs.Players’ parties advance from town to town in theoverworld, explore dungeons encountered along theway and gain more experience and better equipmentin the process. The dungeons are displayed in a basic,mini-map-style view, but are embellished with textdescriptions to bring them to life.The story is mainly told through scrolls foundscattered across towns and dungeons. These scrolls doan excellent job of introducing players to the people,places and events that shape the world of Phantasie.Players also encounter many puzzles and personalitiesin the dungeons, such as Filmon and Lord Wood.28

The dungeons are a highlight. You’ll encounter variousskill checks, interactions and secrets while exploring.Upon defeat, your characters’ souls are judged. They canbe resurrected, destroyed or turned into undead.In combat, enemies organize thenselves in rows, whileyour party remains on the bottom of the screen.However, few encounters are so benign, andcombat is an ever-present reality in the Phantasieseries. The battle system is phase-based with enemiesorganized in rows and closely resembles the earlyFinal Fantasy games, which arrived several yearslater. This system is the same in the first two games,but it’s improved with the addition of ranged weaponsand the ability to hit different body locations in thethird game.Not all battles are random though, and there aremany unique encounters to experience in the games,Phantasie III offers improved graphics and locationaldamage – you can injure, break or even cut off limbs.such as a creature called J.R. Trolkin in the first game,an obvious homage to J.R.R. Tolkien. More memorablethough are Pluto’s Minions from Phantasie II(1986), a collection of nine unique and challengingmonsters whom Pluto keeps as pets.This all leads to a final confrontation withNikademus in Phantasie III (1987). Though the seriesis mostly linear, players are presented with a choicebefore the final battle. Should they defeat Nikademusand be hailed as heroes by Zeus, or should they betrayLord Wood and side with Pluto? You decide. BSJapanese Games:The Phantasie series was localized in Japan byStar Craft Inc. Several changes were made,such as altering the art style and using aside-view combat screen. The games were asuccess, and in 1991 Winston Wood traveledto Japan and worked with Star Craft todevelop Phantasie IV: Birth of Heroes, thatsadly remains unreleased in the West.The side-viewbattle interfaceof the JapanesePhantasie MSXport (left), andthe Japan-onlyPhantasie IV(right).29

Defenderof the CrownCinemaware Corporation, 1986Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIgs, C64, etc**Defender of theCrown has morethan a dozenports and remakes,incluidingrecent ones foriPhone, Androidand even webbrowsers.From the stairs tothe shadows, thesword fights area nice tribute toErrol Flynn, andwere an amazinggraphical feat in1986.The originalAmiga versionwas rushed out,and later portsincluded featuresthat were cut duelack of time, suchas more elaboratearmy battles.Defender of the Crown in its original incarnationon the Commodore Amiga was a “SystemSeller”, a game built around showcasingthe hardware it was on, more like a technical demothan an actual game.However due to the game’s success and inherentlyappealing and fun core concepts it ended upbeing ported to every platform under the Sun, alwaysamongst the best looking games on these machines.Overall, the game is an excellent pickup and play“Koei Kingdom Simulator” styled Strategy/RPG thatcan appeal to many different audiences. Based on theNorman invasion of England during the Crusades,the player is tasked with picking one of a handful ofSaxon lords to defend the land. Each of them havedifferent abilities in Swordfighting, Jousting, andLeadership. The former two affect the difficulty ofsome of the game’s action sequences while the latteraffects the meat of the game, which is effectively abeefed up version of Risk.Set with amazing music and graphics, you spendthe month long game turns defending territoriesfrom the five other lords, attacking in turn, raidingenemy castles for money or to rescue a maiden in theswordfighting minigame, and engaging in a joustingminigame for fame (increase your Leadership), orterritory. There is also a simple action sequence forusing a catapult when you siege enemy castles but itisn’t connected to the three abilities.It all plays relatively fast and is a good primer foraction players who might want to dip into the Strategyor RPG pools. In general an entire game can becompleted in about an hour or less, with the differentSaxon lords and randomized starting positions givingsome replay and difficulty settings.The entire game is done in the concept of an“Interactive Movie” with various text and graphicsscreens coming up to give context and feel to your adventure,something most Cinemaware titles would doto great effect.While only just barely an RPG, it provides a goodand quick pickup game when you want to conquer anation with fantastic audiovisuals.And you get help from Robin Hood! Whowouldn’t want that? RM30

Strategic Simulations Inc., 1986Atari ST, DOS, Apple II and C64Rings of ZilfinRings of Zilfin is one of those early CRPGs thatreally makes you wonder how differently thegenre could have evolved. The game is a uniquemix of light RPG mechanics with King’s Quest-styledadventure and fast-paced arcade-like battles.The plot is the usual save the world fare, butit’s played with some twists. The world of Batiniq isthreated by the evil Lord Dragos, who has one of thetwo legendary Rings of Zilfin. Your rather challengingquest is to somehow get both rings for yourself anduse them to destroy Dragos once and for all.The world is divided into a series of locations,such as villages, forests, mountains, deserts and dungeons.You must journey the land, collecting items,purchasing equipment, talking to NPCs in search ofhints and battling the occasional enemy.Most of these foes are fought in the ground, inreal; you can slash them with your sword, cast spellsor use the bow at point-blank range. However, somefoes are flying creatures that must be shot down withthe bow or with projectile spells – Space Invaders style.Your endurance will go down with each hit youtake, but you’ll also have to manage your fatigue,which is necessary to perform actions such as attacking,casting spells or just traveling. Luckily, there areplenty of magical mushrooms and healers in Batiniq.However, while Zilfin has an interesting world, itbears a critical flaw. Instead of directly traveling fromone area to another, you must always go through along and repetitive side-scrolling travel, battlingmonsters, collecting food and resting. These all lookand play exactly the same, which gets boring reallyfast, especially when you must cross a large number ofareas. You’ll eventually gain access to a teleport spellthat speeds things up, but few players will still be playingby that point.It’s a shame really, for the rest of the game is surprisinglysmooth and well-crafted, even though it’s aneasy game, clearly meant for beginners. It wouldn’t befar-fetched to consider Rings of Zilfin a lost precursorto the famous Quest for Glory series.The creator of Zilfin, Ali Atabek, would move onto develop The Magic Candle series in 1989, where afew of these concepts would get a second, and muchmore enjoyable, chance to shine. FENight Birds mightappear during yourtravels. You mustquickly shoot themdown, in SpaceInvaders fashion, orthey will call moremonsters.Towns and villagesprovide places suchas shops, healersand taverns. Talkingto the NPCs willprovide importantclues to succeed inyour quest.31

DeathlordAl Escudero and David Wong, 1987Commodore 64 and Apple II*Al Escuderorecalls: “I wasgiven 5 weeksto change allthe art, story,spell names,equipmentnames, locationnames, etc.I was quite upsetabout it.”The city of demonsis locatedinside a volcano,so prepare to getsome lava burns.Some say Wizardry IV is the RPG that hates youthe most. Others – the more elitist types whosnicker at something as mainstream as Wizardry– might name Deathlord instead.Combining Ultima’s top down view with a Wizardry-likecombat system, Deathlord takes place in anOriental fantasy world with Japanese names for everything,but it was not originally conceived this way.In a move that will not surprise anyone familiar withthe company’s history, Electronic Arts demanded, justfive weeks prior to the game’s release, for the setting tobe changed to Japanese – from Norse.*As a result, Deathlord lets you play a Toshi and anObake, a Mahotsukai and a Ronin. There are 8 racesand 16 classes, including 4 mage classes, each with itsown compelling set of spells. The character systemis solid, and every level-up brings you a significantincrease in power, allowing you to brave areas youpreviously would not dare to.And with Deathlord’s 17 continents and archipelagos,there are a lot of areas to brave. The game’shuge world may feel too empty at times, but the locations,from towns to dungeons, are consistently good.They have traps, clues, and secrets to find. They areoften cleverly designed. Many show more than theyexplicitly tell, by way of their surroundings and theNPCs that inhabit them, such as the masterful portrayalof the eternal yet unstable opposition betweenFort Demonguard and Malkanth, the volcanic city ofdemons.Another high point is how exploration is presented.There are no quest objectives, or quests at all.There is only the starting clue that Deathlord, thegame’s villain, gives you. Further clues are obscureand difficult to find. There are some places, such asprisons or private residences, that you cannot simplyenter; you can only break into them, with the consequenceof taking on the entire town guard that comerushing at you. However, you might learn somethingvaluable if you do take the risk – all the greater giventhe game’s “permadeath” save system with only one,automatically overwritten slot.At its heart, Deathlord is a hardcore Wizardry-styledungeon romp translated to a top-downview with an added overworld. The ingenuity ofDeathlord’s design is to make this transition flow reallywell despite the difficulties involved in bringingtraditional dungeon hazards, from chutes to secretdoors to teleporters, over to a top-down perspective.Most dungeons have a unique and memorabletheme, and are as unforgiving as they are inventive.You will not make it far without accurately mappingthem out, and some secrets are only noticeable if youstudy the map.To an enthusiastic dungeon crawler, Deathlordis one of the ultimate games. CB32

Sir-Tech, 1987Apple II, DOS and PC-98Wizardry IV:The Return of WerdnaWizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, is notjust the fourth game in the legendaryWizardry series - it’s famously the hardestgame in the history of computer RPGs. The majorityof those who have played the game were unable toleave the very first room. Incidentally, Wizardry IVremains to this day one of the most innovative roleplayingtitles.Wizardry IV turns the standard RPG premiseon its head. In this game you play Werdna, the villainyou defeated back in Wizardry I, trying to escape hisescape proof underground prison. Stripped of hispowers, Werdna starts out extremely weak. Doingaway with the customary experience-based characterdevelopment system, the game has you rely onsummoned monsters and only increase your powerat pentagrams - specific, sparsely placed points in thedungeon, so that your power is directly tied to yourprogress. Allied with monsters, you battle parties ofadventurers fully intent on banishing you back toyour eternal rest. Simply put, Wizardry IV has youfight as a monster party against an adventuring party.Monsters are, however, an unruly bunch. Theydo not follow Werdna’s orders directly. To makethings worse, most enemies you encounter - Werdnasarcastically dubs them “do-gooders” - can kill you inone or at most two hits, and you tend to encounterthem every other step. An unlucky roll of a die, awrong step or a foolish decision, and bam! you’redead and have to reload the game.Beginning at the bottom of the penal dungeon,you struggle to climb up to the surface. Useful lootis minimal, being mostly limited to puzzle-relateditems, and there’s no way of telling a plot-criticalitem from a fluff one beforehand. And even if bysome miracle the enemies don’t get you, the dungeonitself will. To that end, Wizardry IV features the mostsadistic, and brilliant, dungeon and puzzle designthat no other RPG, except maybe The Dark Heartof Uukrul or Chaos Strikes Back, can compete with,where not only every step you take may mean certaindeath or a devilish puzzle or both, but the dungeonitself is basically one large puzzle that you must figureout to make progress or at least survive. The dungeonis also insanely hard to map.If you’re in the mood for some fantastic andincredibly punishing dungeons, be sure to check outWizardry IV. CBThe enemiesyou face areactually otherplayer’s partiesfrom previousgames, that weresubmitted to Sir-Tech by mail.Each Pentagramoffers a differentset of monsters tobe summoned.33

Dungeon MasterFTL Games, 1987DOS, Atari ST, Amiga, Apple IIgs and SNES*Dungeon Masterwas a massivehit at the time,becoming the bestselling Atari STgame of all timeand winningdozens of awards,including a “SpecialAward for ArtisticAchievement”from CGW.While most otherRPGs were stillusing text parsers,Dungeon Master’sinterface wasmouse-driven,graphical and veryintuitive.34Dungeon Master is one of the games that havehad the biggest impact on me. I’ll never forgetwhen I faced my first zombie. It was behindbars, I had a dagger, and to my joy throwing the daggerat the zombie through the bars actually worked!Immediately I knew this game was something special.Dungeon Master was a revolutionary CRPGfeaturing a pseudo-3D world presented in first-personperspective. Players controlled a party of fourcharacters that acted as a single “blob” (hence theterm “blobber”), moving in real time from square tosquare. Controlling four characters in real time maysound like a daunting task, but the game is fairly slowand all actions take a certain time to execute, with thevarious types of attacks having different speeds, sothere is no frenetic clicking involved.The combat is the weakest aspect of the game,since it’s too easy to side step enemies, attack them,and side step again – the infamous Two Step Dance– but that is a general problem with all real-time firstperson party- and tile-based RPGs – aka “blobbers”.Apart from the combat, however, Dungeon Masterwas a step forward to RPGs in most respects.The audiovisuals were unrivaled for a long time.DM was one of the first games to use 3D audio, soyou could actually use sound to keep track of yourenemies. And while there’s only one type of dungeongraphics throughout the game, it looked very good.Dungeon Master was also one of the first CRPGsto discard the traditional XP system, and instead useda system where skills increased by usage, somethinglater adopted by the Elder Scrolls games. The game didhave the traditional character classes of Fighter, Priest,Wizard and Ninja, and characters could advance in allclasses. Using melee weapons increased Fighter levels,missiles weapons and generally throwing things increasedNinja levels, casting spells increased Wizardlevels, while making potions increased Priest levels.You didn’t create your own characters, but insteadhad to choose up to four heroes from The Hallof Champions. And what a colorful and diverse lotthose champions were! Who can forget characters likeHisssssa, Wuuf the Bika or Halk the Barbarian?Dungeon Master featured a wide assortment ofenemies, from skeletons and zombies, to shriekingslow moving trees, to giant rats, scorpions and purpleworms. And the most annoying creature of them all –the gigglers, who would run up to the party, steal anitem, giggle and run away.There wasn’t really much of story in the game,but the manual included a well-written back-story tointroduce players into the game. It tells that one daythe Grey Lord found a Power Gem, but unleashing itspower resulted in his essence splitting into two halves– a good wizard and the evil Lord Chaos. The playertakes the role of Theron, Lord Grey’s apprentice, whoselects and controls the four champions. The task isto enter the dungeon, find the Firestaff and then useit to stop Lord Chaos.

“We had a ‘hunch’ that DungeonMaster would do OK. I guess becausewe felt we were trying to do a typeof game that had never been donebefore. That is a game that blends realtimeaction with a rich environmentto play in. I guess the closest analogto what we were trying to do was tocreate the dungeon equivalent of a‘flight simulator’.”- Wayne Holder,Dungeon Master’s ProducerDM was followed by Chaos Strikes Back (1989),at first advertised as an expansion, but then releasedas a stand-alone game. It allowed you to import yourcharacters from DM and also came with a ChampionEditor tool, which allowed players to customize theChampions names and portraits – pixel by pixel.Chaos Strikes Back was like Dungeon Masteron steroids, with even more deadly enemies, fiendishpuzzles and possibly the most intricate 3D dungeonever created, with all 13 levels interconnectedvia numerous stair and pits. In my opinion it was theultimate game in the real-time blobber sub-genre ofCRPGs. One of my best gaming moments ever wason a level containing both illusory walls and dragons.Unlike me, the dragons could see through the walls,and even breath fire through them. But I could heareach dragon stomping about, which meant I couldlocate them by sound and then do the “Two StepDance” though the illusory walls!Later RPGs would have prettier and more variedgraphics, and have more of a story and better NPCinteraction, but none could rival the level design andpuzzles of Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back.Another thing that set DM and CSB apart fromlater games is the interaction with the environment,from using doors and traps, to chopping and fireballingdoors, to something as basic as throwing thingsthrough bars. For example, in DM a Fireball actuallyhas a physical presence in the dungeon and can burnwooden doors or be sent through teleporters.Dungeon Master is a landmark in gaming history,creating a new CRPG sub-genre and inspiring dozensof clones – even after Ultima Underworld appearedin 1992 with a natural evolution of the formula.However, all the real-time blobbers that followed wereevolutionary dead ends; even though some of themwere fun to play, for me they were all anti-climaxesafter Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. OCThe variousattacks have differentspeeds andpower. Characterscan also throwtheir weaponsand pretty mcuhanything in theirinventory.*Dungeon Masterstill has an activecommunity offans, that createdvarious ports(Windows, Java,Mac and Linux),tools and over ahundred customdungeons forDM. Visit them atwww.dungeonmaster.comIf the dangers of the dungen weren’t enough, players stillhave to keep all characters feed and hydrated.Spells are cast by inputing the correct runes at the rightside of the screen – if your character has enough skill.35

ZeliardGame Arts, 1987DOS, NEC PC-8801 and X1As happenedwith many othergames at thetime, Zeliard’s USbox tries to maskthe Japaneseaesthetic of thegame, featuringa viking on thecover instead ofthe manga-styledcharacter thatactually stars thegame.The hints providedby the townsfolk arevital to uncoveringsecrets and finishingthe game.Zeliard is among my earliest gaming memoriesand I remember it mainly for three reasons:the game is huge, extremely difficult and Ionly finished it a few years after my progress stalledin the final dungeon. At the time when I first playedit, I could barely understand English so had to parsethe in-game text with a dictionary and missed animportant hint. Thankfully I kept my save games anda few years later managed to finally finish it.One of the first free-roaming, explorationdrivenplatform games (popularly known as the“metroidvania” genre), Zeliard was originally releasedin Japan in 1987 – a year after Metroid and Castlevania.It’s also one of the earliest games of its kind that hasa slight influx of RPG elements. It features a hiddenexperience system (you never see the numbers) andonce in a while you level up when sages in town deemyou experienced enough, which increases hit points,damage and magic.Zeliard also has a simplistic inventory system:one slot for a weapon, one for armor and one for ashield – which will break after a certain number of hits.The various potions you can buy in towns regeneratehealth, magic, raise damage or repair your shields.You can attack with horizontal, upwards anddownwards sword slashes, and after defeating eachboss monster you will also get new spells – all of themoffensive in nature. As in other “metroidvania” gamesthere are also items that grant you access to otherwiseunreachable areas, such as boots to climb slopes, or acloak to resist intense heat.Story-wise, it’s your usual fantasy fare; you’reDuke Garland, sent to save the Kingdom of Zeliardand its princess from an ancient demon who can onlybe destroyed by assembling nine mystical orbs hiddendeep inside eight dungeons.All of which doesn’t sound very impressive whencompared to other “metroidvania” variants, especiallymodern ones. However, Zeliard stands as the onlygame of its kind that recaptures the feeling of oldschoolCRPG dungeon crawls. It cannot be masteredby just being good at the action part, you have toalso map the entire game meticulously, explore everyinch of each level and also note down every hint thetownspeople utter to succeed.Mapping is made difficult both by the fact thatlater levels consist of two or three layers intricatelyinterlinked and by a very unusual quirk of the overalltopology: the maps are circular. Wherever you maybe, if you go far enough right or left, up or down, youwill end up where you started. It easy to get lost evenin the first level, and without a map you won’t get farin the later ones. And while the game came with allmaps printed out, those didn’t show invisible wallsand other obstacles or where the doors led.Zeliard’s platforming mechanics have longbeen surpassed and its fusion of 2D action and RPGelements is by no means unique these days, but theoverall dungeon design make it stand in a class of itsown even today. If you enjoy a challenge, that is. JG36

Interplay, 1988Amiga, Apple II, C64 and DOSNeuromancerEven with titles like Circuit’s Edge, cyberpunkis one of those genres I wished had gotten asmuch play in CRPGs as they did on tabletops.For their part, Interplay went straight to the sourcewith William Gibson’s Neuromancer including wordof a potential film emblazoned on the box (the movienever happened). The result was a sort of cross betweena traditional 2D adventure and a CRPG, a yearbefore Sierra’s Quest for Glory hit retail.The game doesn’t follow the events of the book,but uses the same setting and some of the characters.In the year of 2058, people plug into the ‘net in a literalsense thanks to a surgically implanted jack in theirhead transforming all those 0s and 1s into a digitalhallucination. And someone or something in there ismaking all of your friends disappear one by one.As a cyberspace ‘cowboy’ that only has six creditsto their name and who spent the last night face downin food that they haven’t paid for yet, they’ll be pulledinto the same mystery talking to NPCs for leads, findingways into places they’re not wanted in Chiba City,and eventually hitting the matrix in search of dataand the credits for upgrades and connection time.One could also sell organs replacing them with cheapplastic though don’t expect what’s left of your meatbody to survive more than a minor biofeedback shockin cyberspace.Skills are learned via chips that can be boughtand upgraded the same way software and your cyberdeckcan be. Spells are software. Those are used incombat within cyberspace against intrusion countermeasureelectronics (ICE) and the occasional AIshackled as corporate watch dogs in data fortressesprotecting their secrets.It’s also not much of a stretch in seeing how WarrenSpector’s Deus Ex shares elements of its gameplayformula with Interplay’s creative adaptation within itsown detailed slice of fiction, NPCs to shake down forclues, and in using your own wits to map your waythrough all of that data. It makes sense.Neuromancer’s cyberpunk manifesto continuesto influence dystopian futures where flesh is cheap andinformation can flash fry the wetware between yourears. And Interplay’s interpretation is as close to theoriginal chrome as you could probably ask for. RC“I supposethe ultimateNeuromancergame would pityou against areal AI...”– Willian GibsonA big part of thegame is spenttrying to getmoney to survivethe harsh cirty ofChiba.Surfing throughcyberspace,you’ll use ‘warez’to infiltratedatabases.37

Ultima V:Warriors of DestinyOrigin Systems, 1988DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, C64 and NESUltima V carriedon the proudtradition fromU4 of including aphysical trinket inthe box that waskey to the plot:in this case, theCodex coin.From chairsyou could sit into torches youcould steal andbarrels you couldmove, Ultima Vcreated a livingworld.The entire Ultima series is near and dear to myheart, but none more than Ultima V – a gameI spent over five years of my life striving to recreatevia a Dungeon Siege mod called “Lazarus”.What makes Ultima V so special? While the firstthree Ultima games established foundational designtenets for CRPGs in general, and Ultima IV pioneeredthe concept of morality in games, Ultima V was thefirst RPG to introduce true world simulation. By“world simulation,” I mean the collection of systemswhich grant players the illusion of a living, breathingworld that exists independent of their actions, ratherthan simply a game board upon which the player canstab monsters.Earlier Ultimas had already introduced primitiveday/night cycles where visibility and monsterspawning varied based on time of day, but Ultima Vtook that a step further and introduced NPC scheduling– merchants get out of bed in the morning andwalk to their shops to open for business, while guardsclose down city gates after nightfall to keep out wanderingmonsters.On top of that, environmental objects were actuallyrecognized by the game for the first time – eachpotted plant or bookshelf wasn’t just a painted bit ofthe background, but a physical thing you could movearound. Harpsichords could actually be played, and acareful look through the game’s manual could teachthe player how to play a specific tune with specialeffects in the game world. While this sometimes allowedfor puzzle solving, it mostly just served to makethe game world feel more real and to give playersmore opportunities for interaction.And that was the beauty of it – Ultima V wasperhaps the first time a game designer realized hecould generate a tremendous amount of fun by simplycreating an immersive world with some limitedagency and letting players run wild. The groundworklaid with this philosophy would later emerge (withimprovements) in everything from Grand Theft Autoto Skyrim.On top of its accomplishments in world design,Ultima V pushed forward on the narrative front,turning Ultima IV’s focus on virtue upside-down asLord Blackthorn – the prime antagonist of the game –codifies the eight virtues of Ultima IV into draconianlaws. To some characters you meet, Lord Blackthornis a vile usurper and his laws are unjust, while othersare benefiting from his rule and see the player characterand his friends as dangerous outlaws.You play a Robin Hood-esque role, never entirelycertain who you can trust and who might turnyou in to the authorities. This situation leads to interestingquestions like “does virtue still have meaningwhen compelled?” and introduces shades of grayto the moral equation of Ultima, creating situationswhere “what’s right” isn’t always readily apparent andkeeping players on their toes.38

“[...] where Ultima IV was fairlyblack-and-white – I mean goodguys are good guys and bad guysare bad guys – Ultima V unfolds ina gray area. Lots of characters tryconvincing you that Blackthorn isdoing things just right; some sayhe’s a evil force; and others realizehe’s wrong but are taking advantageof the situation for personal profitand are willing to fight anyone whoopposes Blackthorn.”– Richard Garriott,Ultima V’s creatorWith Lord Britishnow missing,Blackthorn tookcontrol andimposed a darker,extremist versionof the virtues.Another place Ultima V worked wonders wasin the Underworld – a massive new region addedto the game world for the first time in the series.The Underworld was a sprawling cavernous regionevery bit as big (and as open) as the surfaceworld, linked to the realm above by a network ofdungeons. The impetus for the game’s story is thedisappearance of the rightful king (Lord British)into this shadowy expanse, and the developers ofUltima V used this fact as an opportunity for immersionby providing a written chronicle of theking’s expedition into the darkness.Smart players could read carefully through thechronicle and use its words to guide them in-gameas they followed the lost king’s footsteps. The ensuingconnection between shared experience of thereal player and the character they controlled wasremarkably powerful.In conclusion: From its morally ambiguousdilemmas and intriguing story premise to its primitiveworld simulation and vast play space, UltimaV paved the way for all the great RPGs to come. Ifyou haven’t already played it, you owe it to yourselfto pick up a copy and experience this key piece ofRPG history! IFUltima V: LazarusLazarus is a 60+ hour Dungeon Siege mod that recreatesUltima V from the ground up, with modern 3Dgraphics, CD-quality music, real-time combat, richerquests and dialogues, and an optional “evil” paththrough the game.You can find it here: www.u5lazarus.comUltima V: Lazarus uses the Dungeon Siege engine torecreate Ultima V with more modern technology.Ultima V would be the last game of the core series tofeature a first-person view when inside dungeons.39

WastelandInterplay, 1988DOS, Apple II, C64 and Windows**Wasteland wasre-released in2013 by InXile,featuring newsoundtrack,reworked art andnow incluidingall the text onthe game itself,with no need tocheck paragraphson the manualanymore.Equipping theGeiger Counteris a necessity forcareful desertnavigation.Ialmost passed on Wasteland on the shelf of EBGames way back when. Like, way way back when.I had tried almost every other CRPG in the store,from the big companies like Interplay, SSI, Origin –checked out their games from Wizard’s Crown, Bard’sTale, Ultima, Eternal Dagger, Might and Magic... untilWasteland was the only thing left in the store.Yet I didn’t want to get it. It looked weird. I likedpost-apocalypse, sure, but the player mechanics andthe layout of the maps in the screenshots seemed tobe an odd mix of Bard’s Tale and Ultima. Finally, twothings lured me in: the Bard’s Tale character layoutscreenshot on the back cover, and the Interplay name.I loved Bard’s Tale, I trusted Interplay, and I trustedBrian Fargo. And when I sat down and plugged in thisspiritual ancestor to Fallout into my Commodore 64,I could not stop exploring this unique, highly-imaginativeworld devastated by nuclear war.I fought giant garden pests, communed with adrunken hobo who saw the future in snake squeezin’s,upheld the Desert Ranger tradition of bringingjustice to the wastes and helping the downtrodden,cloned my party members (!), repaired toasters, firedhowitzers, got wasteland herpes from a three-leggedhooker, and fight a menagerie of enemies from killerrobots, leather jerks, to rad angels that glowed with alife of their own.At the end... and I didn’t want it to end (you canstill keep playing, too!)... I was floored. I didn’t realizeCRPGs could be this way. I still refer to Wasteland’smechanics today in game design, a brilliant blend ofarea design context and RPG systems used to createsome amazing scenarios.Wasteland has numerous strengths and weaknesses,but the strengths definitely overshadow theweaknesses. The area design, ambiance, the systemspread and applications, and the narrative itself weretop-notch, while the system balance, attribute use,healing and the rare applications of one of its pillars:the ability to divide your party, diminished the experiencesomewhat.The narrative shines through in the game contentitself, and also in the well-written (and amusinglyso) narrative book included in the game, filled withrichly described characters. The wasteland is simplyan amazing blend of raider-occupied towns, mutantagricultural centers, robot factories, Las Vegas... andeven the inside of an android’s brain, where I almostfeared the game had jumped the shark, it was soamazing. The quests and encounters there are innovativeand interesting, and although the overall questdoesn’t kick into full gear until over halfway throughthe game, there’s plenty to keep you going. The peopleof the world respond to your actions, even as soon asthe first area of the campaign, and remind you of theharsh world that you’ve found yourself in.Wasteland comes with a slight learning curve notpresent in other RPGs at the time, reflected first in its40

The infamous Scorpitron, one of the deadliest robotsyou’ll face in the game.character creation. Its skill-based and attribute-basedsystem for character creation and development wasa bit more complex than say, Bard’s Tale, but allowingfor that attribute and skill-based advancementmade role-playing your characters richer (somethingit shared with Wizard’s Crown and its sister, EternalDagger). If I wanted to do a Russian explosives expertwho liked to throw knives, I could, and that wasa much richer development tree than “Fighter.”The system design is elegant, difficult, and confusingat the same time. The elegance comes in thesimple mechanic of being able to select any attribute,item, or skill, and then select an object in the environmentfor that to act on. An adventure game mechanictaken to the extreme with brilliant results. If you wantto use Intelligence on an object, you can. If you wantto use your proton axe on a wall or door in front ofyou, you can. Being able to re-arrange your skills anditems on the character display is key (usually Doctorbeing the top of the list), a welcome feature since theskill and item list is lengthy, and the skill list can evengrow beyond what’s presented in the rulebook.It is touches like this where Wasteland shines.The fact the skill tree grows beyond what’s in themanual added a powerful element of mystery, drivesyou to explore more of the world and see what’s in thenext library, and made the world deeper as a result.You also want to use your skills often, trying themout in the environment, as using them in combat andnon-combat situations can reward you with a surprisinglevel-up that makes you stronger, whether climbing,shooting, or swimming.That said, Wasteland has its share of design confusionin the skills presented to the player and thevalue of attributes as well. It is often difficult to seethe differences in combat between Pugilism, MeleeWeapons, and Brawling... and some skills break theCults, cults, and yet more cults, all willing to embraceyou with radioactive, glowing arms.compact with the player, in being largely useless overthe course of the game, while other skills are absolutelycritical and the party cannot do without (Doctor,for example). The same is true for stats: Some attributes,such as Charisma, hold little value at all.Wasteland also had an annoying auto-save functionthat could sometimes trap you in dead-end situations(some area designs can push you out of an area,say, by falling into a river and irradiating everyone,then saves the game right after, almost guaranteeing aslow death). This often forced me to quickly yank thedisk when this occurred or, when I was older, set upindividual copies of the game in sub-folders to preventbeing trapped in a deadly situation that would wipeout my party members with no hope of salvation.It’s worth mentioning that one of the hallmarksof Wasteland was you could split the party, and exceptfor a few forced segments of the game (to solvepuzzles, or even to choose who enters the men’s andwomen’s restrooms), the interface required to handlethis via turn-based was largely a hurdle and seemedto have little return for the investment. While someof this may have been due to the fact that few RPGsincluded this feature at the time, overall, it was notenough to justify its inclusion.Wasteland is one of the best role-playing gamesI’ve ever played, and it’s echoed in the design philosophyand how they accomplish so much by exposingtheir systems to design. That, matched with the sheercreative brilliance of the levels and the novelty of thesetting, has kept it in my heart for over 20 years, Scorpitrons,androids, bloodthirsty rabbits, and all.I swore that if I ever had the chance, I’d want towork on a sequel, and thanks to Brian Fargo, I got theopportunity, with Wasteland 2 coming out in 2014.I hope the next generation enjoys the wasteland asmuch as I did. CATo avoid playersreading the paragraphswithoutbeing prompted,there were fakeones hiddenamong them.Some had falsepasscodes, whileothers told anentire storylineabout an alieninvasion.A sequel calledMeantime wasworked on. Itwould be basedaround time-traveland featurecharacters suchas Albert Einstienand Cyrano deBergerac, butsadly the gamewas cancelled.41

HillsfarWestwood Studios, 1989DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, C64 and NESHillsfar is full oflocations to exploreand troubleto get into. Forthe right price,you can also hireskilled individualsto assist you.Picking locks isthe best way toopen chests, butif you are clumsyor take too longyou may set off atrap!Part of SSI’s AD&D series, Hillsfar is a veryelaborate side-quest and, like all side-quests,there are rewards to be had for those daringenough to seek them.Instead of importing your characters from Poolof Radiance straight into Curse of the Azure Bonds,you can import them into Hillsfar, then transfer themback out. Characters cannot level up in Hillsfar, butthe experience they earn will transfer with them.The game plays much differently than its GoldBox brethren. Your party camps outside the city ofHillsfar, where the mage Maalthiir has taken power,outlawed magic and oppressed the populace. Youtake individual characters inside the city to questalone. Based on their class, they find quests by visitingtheir respective guilds. Quests range from finding lostitems to investigating a kidnapping, and may requireyou to fight for information in the arena or check outthe latest gossip in the taverns. Three quests, withincreasing rewards, are available for each class.Most of the action takes place in the form ofarcade segments. Traveling to outlying areas requiresriding a horse across dirt roads while avoidingobstacles. Investigating locations (or breaking intothem) takes place in a top-down perspective as youexplore mazes for treasure and clues, avoiding thetown guards and magical traps. There is an archeryrange where you may compete for prizes and an arenawhere you may fight for the same (sometimes yourlife). All combat takes place in the arena, and sincemagic is outlawed, magic users will not be permittedto cast spells during the game. The mini games arethe same despite your class, though class will affectcertain aspects of them. For instance, chests that youfind will often be locked, and you can either forcethem open, risking dangerous traps, or if you are athief you may engage in a lock-picking mini gamethat requires good eyes and fast fingers.Although as a standalone title the game can betedious considering the lack of an overarching quest,as a companion-piece to Pool of Radiance and Curse ofthe Azure Bonds and a chance to build your charactersbeyond the usual methods of experience farming,Hillsfar is an entertaining diversion and a fun placeto explore. CH42

SaadaSoft, 1989WindowsCastleof the WindsCastle of the Winds is one of the few CRPGsI remember playing and winning as a childof the 90’s, partly because it was available asshareware to set up the commercially released secondpart of the story, so the first part was shorter. Beyondthat, it has an addictive charm derived both from itsroguelike tile-based dungeon-delving and its cleanwindow-based interface.Originally produced in 1989 as an early piece ofsoftware using the Windows graphical shell in MS-DOS by Rick Saada, it was released with its sequel in1993 by Epic Megagames. In the first part, A Questionof Vengeance, you are an orphan who must avenge thedestruction of your hometown and retrieve a stolenamulet given to you by your parents. After two dungeonsand a boss, finding and activating the amuletallows the character to be imported into the secondpart, subtitled Lifthransir’s Bane, which features amuch larger town and many more items, enemies,and encounters. Its deep dungeon has 25 levels withmultiple bosses and monster hordes.What earns Castle of the Winds a notable place inCRPG history is its unique blend of Norse mythologyand addicting dungeon crawling in one of the earliestWindows-based graphical interfaces. Today that givesit a utilitarian aesthetic but, unlike most roguelikes,its gameplay is mouse-driven with a drag-and-dropinventory and a customizable spell button bar.There are no classes or races, so characters canuse every item and spell. A new spell is granted eachlevel, and more can be learned from books. The gameis entirely turn-based, but time passes in varying incrementsdepending on actions taken. Inventory ismeasured in both bulk and weight, so packs can runout of room even if the PC can carry more weight. Thedungeon levels are persistent once generated, plus afew have set encounters, such as a memorable potion-shapedspider room, or a prisoner to free withina limited time. Foes include vicious wildlife, humans,standard fantasy creatures, undead spirits and specificallyNorse monsters like jotun – giants.While some aspects of the game are very simple,Castle of the Winds has enough complexity to satisfythat itch to explore dungeons, increase in strengthand tackle ever fiercer enemies. ASIn 1998, Saadareleased bothparts of Castleof the Winds asfreeware on hiswebsite.The Windowsbasedinterfacesets the gameapart from othersof the time, withits drop-downmenus andmouse-drivengameplay.The stats anditems are simple,and the graphicalinterface is veryintuitive, makingthe game acessibleto those newto roguelikes.43

Ultima VI:The False ProphetOrigin Systems, 1990DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, C64 and SNES**Thanks to Nuvie,Ultima VI can alsobe played underWindows, Linuxand Mac OS X.The game alsohad a japaneseFM-Towns version,that addedvoice acting byRichard Garriottand other Originemployees.The Shrines ofVirtue allow theAvatar to level up,once they havebeen liberated.Each confersdifferent statbonuses, basedon its respectiveVirtues.Ultima VI must have come as a shock to Ultimafans when it was first released, so wildlydid its graphics depart from the design of thefirst five titles in the series. Gone were the overheadtiles and dual-scale worlds that had been staples of theseries; full-color isometric graphics and a continuous,open world awaited the Avatar.From the first moments of its introduction,Ultima VI marks itself as different. The turn-basedcombat is the first aspect of the game that players experience,and the initial battle plays out in the middleof Lord British’s throne room!It’s a grim picture that is painted as the gameopens: Britannia is under attack by a new and terrifyingfoe. The Gargoyles have marched out of thedepths of the world, killed many of the realm’s soldiers,and have seized the eight Shrines of Virtue.And it’s up to you to stop them. Ultima VI thus seemsto set up a very generic tale about a hero ridding afantasy realm of an army of monsters. And were thisany other game, that might well have been the scopeof its story.But this is an Ultima; Ultima VI twists its storyaround in a brilliant act of narrative subversion. TheGargoyles, we soon learn, have a legitimate grievanceagainst Britannia, one which upends the Avatar’sseemingly noble actions in Ultima IV and Ultima V.For, as the player will soon learn, the Codex was notBritannia’s to claim; it has, in fact been stolen. And therescue of Lord British precipitated a horrifying cataclysmthat devastated the Gargoyle people and theirhome. Now, bereft of their holy book and reeling fromthe destruction of much of their world, they have setout to pay back Britannia in kind for its misdeeds.And it is only by finding a way to reconcile the warringsides, to forge peace, that the Avatar can prevail.In fact, Ultima VI gives players the option toalmost completely avoid the use of violence. It isn’teven necessary to level up to finish the game, andthere are only two or three fights that are genuinelyunavoidable. (The opening battle, notably, is not oneof these.) Clever players can, for the most part, findways to carry out each piece of the game’s plot usingnon-violent methods, and some parts of the plot caneven be skipped entirely.Not that one can’t find combat if one goes lookingfor it; there are plenty of random encountersscattered across Britannia. Ultima VI’s monsters areusually not difficult to best even at lower experiencelevels, but some of them can be truly devastating incombat. (Battle-hardened Avatars can even test theirmettle against the dragons of Destard...if they dare.)Of course, you don’t need to throw yourself outinto Britannia alone. The Avatar’s companions fromprevious games can be found all across the land, someof them eager to join you again. New NPCs can alsobe found, to further fill out the ranks, and up to sevenparty members can be recruited.44

Eye of theBeholderWestwood Studios, 1991DOS, Amiga, Sega CD and SNESThe game’s storyand villainouscharacters aretaken from astory arc fromthe official AD&Dcomic book.Barring the occasionalrecruitableNPC, the clan ofDwarves are theonly friends you’llmeet. Be nice tothem.Eye of the Beholder was a point-of-no-returnfor me when it came to RPGs, it looked likea deep and complex game with stunning visualsand a gripping atmosphere. I had never heardof anything called Dungeons & Dragons before this,and in hindsight EotB served as a wonderful entrypoint into that realm. The intro blew me away as itlaid down the plot: A party of adventurers is sent tolook for an evil presence within the city of Waterdeepand told to start in the sewers. The game mesmerizedme so much that I didn’t stop to ask “Wait, sewers?”but was instead eager to start my adventure and seewhere it would take me.EotB’s character creation appeared both simpleand complex at the same time, but it wasn’t untilmuch later that I realized why that was; the developersdecided to merely use the AD&D rules as a guidelineinstead of wrapping the game in them. Turnsout that half of the main stats are useless and manysmaller rules are either ignored or hidden from theplayer. Looking back on that I can imagine that hardcoreroleplayers would be miffed, but to a newcomerlike myself it was perfect. I did as the manual suggestedand created a mixed party of 4 characters thatcould deal with whatever dangers lay ahead, knowingthat I could recruit 2 NPCs in-game if somethingwent wrong.Once the game starts it won’t take long to getimmersed in the game’s atmosphere. Bare bones liepiled up in the corner and glowing eyes stare at mefrom a sewer grate. No music is played beyond thetitle screen, which left me only with environmentalsounds to break the silence. After checking my gearand opening a rusty door I stood face to face withmy first monster, a little kobold with a vicious glintin his eyes. I was familiar with older games tellingme in plain text what monsters I had run into, buthere I saw first-hand that I was facing one murderouskobold, and that I had to act fast to deal with him asEotB is real-time, after all.The game’s design firmly points to “figure thingsout for yourself ”. Except for a crude map of the startinglevels, a compass in the UI and a few vague cluesgleamed from the mostly useless manual, I was utterlyon my own, trapped in a sewer. Even when Iaccidentally discovered that the game has hidden“Special Quests” I was mostly clueless as to how Itriggered them. Not that I cared, I was having toomuch fun exploring.At first I thought my party would never meetanyone to talk to, but as soon as I cleared the sewersand reached the levels beyond I was proven wrong.Interactions with NPCs are just walls of expositiontext, but sometimes I was given a choice like should Islay an injured dwarf or spare the drow leader’s life...not that any of that mattered in the long run.Death is never far away in Eye of the Beholder;while characters can be raised from the dead there46

The various plot-locked doors and undetectable trapsmake the thief class almost useless.The eponymous monster of the game even gets to saya few lines.Eye of the Beholder 2 was an improvement in every regard,adding more of everything... Including monsters.Not even giant mechanical scorpions could save EotB3from being the weakest game in the trilogy.Death is never far away in Eye of the Beholder;while characters can be raised from the dead thereare few opportunities to do so, especially early on.The early monsters didn’t pose much of a threat, butthen I stumbled upon that infestation of 6-foot tallspiders that wiped out my entire party several timesdue to their poisonous bites. And that was just thestart of my adventure...Around the time I bought EotB the sequel Eyeof the Beholder 2: Legend of Darkmoon had alreadybeen released. Having two EotB games to play simultaneouslywas a slice of heaven for me, as the sequelbettered the original in almost every conceivable way.When Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on MythDrannor was released, I snapped it up immediately.While it delivered more of the same it just didn’t havethe same magic touch as the prequels. Turns out thatthe developer and publisher had parted ways whichforced the publisher to finish the game in-house in ahurry, leading to some strange elements appearing inthe game. It was a bad end to a great game series. ÁVIf you’re havinga hard time, TheAll-Seeing Eye isan automapperfor the first twoEye of the Beholdergames, thatalso provide somecheats and a charactereditor.Ports & RemakesEye of the Beholder’s success resulted in faithful conversions to the SNESand the Sega CD in 1994, that added a new soundtrack by composerYuzo Koshiro, famous for his work on the Streets of Rage, Ys and EtrianOdyssey series. Curiously, a remake for the GameBoy Advance wasmade in 2002. This remake made various changes, such as employingthe D&D 3rd Edition rules, adding non-combat skills like Bluff andIntimidate, and even using a new isometric tactical combat, similarto that of the Gold Box games. Unfortunately, the slow combat andawkward interface don’t fit well, resulting in a mediocre game.47

Moonstone:A Hard Day’s KnightMindscape, 1991Amiga and MS-DOSMindscapetried to sell aconsole portof Moonstoneto both SEGAand Nintendo,but neither ofthe companieswanted to releasea game withso much gore.A year later,Mortal Kombatwould changeeverything.The small butperfectly craftedworld map is apotpourii of lairs,villages, ancientshrines and wizardlyhangouts.Just beware ofthe red dragonon the lose.48The finger-drumming, fidget-inducing drudgeryof the loading screen has tested manya gamer’s patience down the years. Not inMoonstone. These precious moments of downtime –illustrated with such portentous quotes as “The godspause for a moment to contemplate your fate” – werea chance to gather wits, wipe down your sweat-soakedjoystick and prepare for the carnage that awaited.Moonstone is not just my favorite RPG, but myfavorite game ever. After a spine-tingling intro inwhich a red-garbed knight is initiated into the questfor the titular moonstone by a sect of druids on behalfof their deity Danu, the adventure began in earnest.Not your typical title by any means, Moonstonewas a curious mixture of genres; a Frankenstein’smonster that, astonishingly, has never been revisitedby either direct sequel nor indirect imitator. To hijacka football analogy, it’s a game of two halves – the firstbeing a fantasy map in which you move the icon ofyour knight around. Each turn you can move a bit andperform an action, such as attacking other knights,investigating lairs, pestering wizards, gambling awayyour hard-gotten gold and so on.This first half was patently influenced by boardgames like Talisman and Dark Tower. From AD&Dcame elements like purchasing swords and armor,finding magical scrolls and potions or using XP toraise stats like Strength and Constitution. Up to fourhuman players could quest to find the moonstone,leading to memorable multiplayer sessions litteredwith back-stabbings, betrayals, unstable alliances, acouple of thousand beheadings and some of my mostcherished childhood memories.So far, so predictable? Possibly. But players mustraid monsters’ lairs in search of the four keys to theValley of the Gods, where the moonstone (and itsguardian) rest. And when your knight enters a lair,Moonstone’s second half grabs you by the arm, ripsit clean off and proceeds to beat you to death with it.Each lair pits the player against an eclectic arrayof foes, from lion-like trogg warbeasts who impaleunwitting warriors upon their horns to skull-facedmudmen who pounce from their wetland lairs todrag unsuspecting heroes into the earth and a giant– seemingly invincible – red dragon who randomlycruises the world map and snacks on knights.Moonstone’s combat consists of insanely unforgivingbattles that fairly drenches the screen in gore.Inspired by the classic hack & slash game Barbarian,your knight can execute different combat moves bypressing the attack button together with one of eightdirections. A range of satisfyingly meaty thrusts andparries lie at your disposal, varying in power andspeed of execution. Collision detection is spot on, andas such players rarely feel cheated when they die.Timing, strategy and lightning reflexes are key,as limbs are severed, bodies hacked in two and ripenedyellow cornfields become innard-soaked charnel pitsas Moonstone’s true legacy becomes brutally clear.

“Rob [Anderson] was in discussionswith Mindscape about Moonstone 2but, because it was not release in theUS, they decided not to go forwardwith it. What happened there wasthat Toys R Us took a look at it anddecided it was too violent for them tocarry. At the time Toys R Us sold 25%of all computer games in the US, soMindscape decided they would notrelease in the US. The irony there isthat one year later Toys R Us madegonzo money selling the consoleversions of Mortal Kombat.- Todd Prescott,Moonstone’s DesignerThe fierce baloksof the northernwastes hithard, but fallharder. Bewaretheir bonecrushingstompsand brutalshakedowns.What, to my mind though, truly sets Moonstoneapart from not only its contemporaries but – heck –every other video game ever made is that intangiblequality simply known as… well, atmosphere.Whether it’s Amiga’s maestro Richard Joseph’sdread-inducing, funereal dirge that plays over eachloading screen (or, indeed, the incongruously jollyballad that signals a trip to a tavern) the sparse useof sound effects literally ripped from the Conan andRed Sonja movies (screech! roar! grunt! squirt!) or thewonderfully evocative knight and monster designs –in fact, the entire game is gorgeous – every aspect ofMoonstone begs to be committed to memory.The sparse, subtle narrative feels unsubstantial,wrath-like, scary. The fantasy world, a sort of pseudoDark Age Britain (if, indeed, the olde isle I call homeever hosted hulking Baloks, bestial Troggs andMedusa-like demons) is a far cry from the happyclappyhigh fantasy that usually permeates the genre.Why, then, did so few recognize this? Moonstonewas a critical curate’s egg and a commercial failure,only ever achieving – at best – a certain cult notoriety.In a pre-Mortal Kombat world, its extreme violenceshocked and dismayed. Gamers stayed away and USretailers refused to sell it. What a terrible shame.Is Moonstone’s gore over the top? Undeniably. Isit tasteless? Possibly. Is it tongue in cheek? Crucially!The game’s creator, Rob Anderson, cites LooneyTunes cartoons as a principal combat inspiration. Thegame’s black knights (and their amusing penchant forlosing limbs) are a tip of the hat to Monty Python andthe Holy Grail. Even the eyebrow-raising subtitle is aquirky nod to the iconic Beatles tune.Moonstone, then, is as misunderstood as it iscriminally underrated. Almost a quarter of a centuryafter its release, the game is finally garnering long dueacclaim, and there’s even talk of a Kickstarter-fundedremake on the horizon. Danu be praised! RTMath the wizard is a generous sort, sharing various gifts,but test his patience and you might be turned into a toad!Some players believed the red dragon was unbeatable.A few magical talismans can make him a lot easier.49

LegendMindscape Ltd., 1992Amiga, DOS and Atari STA sequel wasreleased on thesame year, calledWorlds of Legend:Son of the Empire,this time with aneastern setting.A tricky riddleroom at theDark Tower. Youmust mix andcast a couple ofcomplex spellsto open the fourdoors to the west.Mixing a deadlyspell. All runesare present andour Runemasterhas a good stockof reagents too.When, as a 12-year-old, I first played Legend(titled The Four Crystals of Trazere in theUS), I was left confused. Until this dayRPGs for me were always turn-based, but now myparty ran in real-time, sometimes fighting monstersfaster than I could react. Nevertheless Legend quicklybecame one of my all-time favorite RPGs, because ofthe fascinating magic system and isometric view - twofeatures that were new to me as well.The land of Trazere is a state of emergency as anancient force of chaos begins to transform ordinarycitizens into monsters. Seeking to save the kingdom,four heroic adventurers gather at the city Treihadwyl:The Berserker, a warrior prone to uncontrollable rage;the Troubadour, who plays magical tunes; the Assassin,a master of deception who can turn invisible andbackstab enemies; and the powerful Runemaster.Legend plays in two levels, the map view andthe dungeon view. At the map the group can travel totowns, villages, forts and special locations – includingenemy armies in the field. They can visit blacksmiths,apothecary, taverns, temples, artificers and level up atthe Guild – if they are experienced enough.When the party enters a dungeon, the gameswitches into an isometric view. Enemies appearrandomly and combat is mostly automatic – clickon the rally icon and the group will seek the nearestenemy and start to fight – but you can also individuallycontrol each character. Each dungeon level also has aspecial puzzle room, which must be solved by castingvarious spells with the Runemaster.The magic system is the highlight of the game,allowing the Runemaster to create various spells bymixing reagents and runes. For example – to create aoffensive spell that first hit an enemy, then all adjacentfoes around, inflicting damage and paralyzing – theRunemaster needs the runes Missile (for the flightcharacteristics), Surround (for the environmentaleffect), Damage (for harm) and Paralyze (forparalysis). The ingredients are then mixed in themortar through a nice animation and become a spell,which the Runemaster can now cast once.The combination of its unique magic system andchallenging dungeon riddles makes Legend a greattitle, suitable for all fans of classic RPGs. MH50

Fate:Gates of DawnreLINE Software, 1991Amiga and Atari STFate: Gates of Dawn is an obscure, superlativeGerman game. It’s a first person turn-basedblobber with quite a few interesting features.You are able to control as many as 4 different partieswith up to 7 party members each – one of your partiescan crawl through a dungeon level while another is inthe city collecting rumours and a third one is out inthe wild exploring the gigantic world.It’s also worth mentioning how you gather yourparty: You’re able to recruit almost every (friendly)NPC you meet. Encounters usually work like this:You encounter one or more NPCs and either theyare hostile, which still gives you options like bribingthem or fleeing, or they are neutral, which is whenthe interesting part sets in. Every encounter lets youchoose from several menus – chatting, charming,joking, bragging, etc. Depending on several (mayberandom?) factors the NPCs react differently to you,from being upset and leaving without a word, togetting angered and attacking, or to starting to likeyou and wanting to join your quest, which is usuallywhat you want if you aren’t looking for information.Combat encounters are done by menus too, andfeel incredibly satisfying. The mix of 11 races and 31classes available to the player makes up for interestingparty composition – you really have to think aboutit and have several parties to be able to prevail in thesometimes hard as hell combat situations. There is atotal of over 150 spells to choose from, with charactersbeing able to learn spells from different classes tosatisfy all your character-building needs.Perhaps due German humour, there’s also someodd options, such as closing your eyes during combat,groping, mocking and laughing at enemies, or evenasking party members to kiss. The game also featurednudity, that was censored in the english release.The world itself is one of the largest in old-schoolgames, brought to life by wandering NPCs and day& night cycles, with things to discover behind everycorner. Be it a magic well that replenishes your magicpoints, a hole in which you find an NPC that mightjoin your party, or an incredible item – it’s all there foryou to discover. The continent contains nine towns,and there are a few islands to explore if you manage toget your hands on a ship.Then there’s the dungeons, which are enormoustoo. There are several carefully crafted lairs, crypts andcastles, riddled with maddeningly complex puzzles,deadly traps that will make you curse at the screenand combat encounters that feel like the developeris personally taunting you. As hard as the dungeonsare, they feel very rewarding once you find your goaland can finally leave the place for good, though everydungeon usually needs several visits.I cannot enforce enough how large the game is;even playing it with a guide would still easily requireover 100 hours. If you enjoy large and complex RPGs,you should definitely play Fate. But I advise makinggood use of the 8 save slots – there are multiple waysto completely screw up your game. SRFate’s englishretail release isextremely rare,only a dozen ofcopies were evermade. However,the game hasbeen releasedas freeware, andcan be legalydownloaded.Olaf Patzenhauer,Fate’s creator,died in 2011while working onFate 2. Fans havesince taken overthe project. Oddly,it features aJapanese artstyle.Puzzles require alot of thought andsometimes haveodd solutions.51

Might and Magic:World of XeenNew World Computing, 1992MS-DOS, Mac and NEC PC-9801New WorldComputingreleased anenhanced CDversion of Worldof Xeen in 1994that added newvoiced content tothe game.Side-questsusually are verysimple, based onfinding an objector killing a specificenemy. But theyare creative.52Might & Magic: World of Xeen is actuallyan adventure composed of two distinctgames: Might & Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen(1992) and Might & Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (1993).Played separately, these games are typical Might &Magic games, but when both are installed in yourcomputer they combine into a continuous experience.Xeen is a flat, square-shaped world, and oneach game you explore one side of the planet – firstdefeating the infamous Lord Xeen on the Light Side,then battling his master, Sheltem, on the Darkside.Magical pyramids spread through the land allowyou to travel between both sides, exploring each atyour own pace. Furthermore, World of Xeen adds anew batch of quests, requiring you to face challengesacross all of Xeen to reach the game’s true ending.World of Xeen is the ultimate 2D game of the seriesbefore the move to 3D in Might & Magic VI andbeyond. It was also the last game that New WorldComputing published independently before being acquiredby The 3DO Company. As a game developer, Ifind the games like Xeen at the cusp of a transition tobe particularly interesting.Xeen’s production values show that New WorldComputing wanted a grand game. The art is lush anddetailed, the world is massive by any standard, therewere voiced cut scenes not often seen, and the factthat the two entire games combined together to forma complete game set it apart from any other RPG.Gameplay-wise, World of Xeen is a direct descendantof prior Might & Magic games and borrowsmany mechanics, particularly from the third game.You create a party of six characters of various classesand races. You have a standard selection of weaponusers, spell slingers, and hybrid classes that can useheavy gear and spells. Your race choice gives yousome benefits and penalties in the short term. Advancementcomes from gaining new levels, as well asacquiring skills to help you in your adventures, suchas Path-finding, Swimming and Linguistics. Itemscreated by combining base types with random attributesalso adds to character power.Power inflation is the hallmark of the Might &Magic games, and you see it clearly here. Your partystarts out weak, but magical items and temporarybuffs to statistics, hit points, or magic points can makeany party orders of magnitude more powerful. Whilethis seems silly, it allows for the player’s knowledge togive advantages that simply grinding levels could not.This power inflation also makes it so that the adjustmentsyou got from your starting character choiceshave less of an impact at the end game.Movement and fighting are the usual grid- andturn-based affairs of first-person RPGs at the time.Characters with ranged weapons and spell casters canfire at enemies approaching from a distance; but bewarned, enemies can do the same. Knowing how tomove and not expose yourself to attacks can be thedifference between victory and defeat.

“I have always felt the game systemsI created were very robust, probablythe biggest strength of the gamesand still hold up today. Plus the freeform nature of the game worlds arevery appealing. [...] Although I have aspecial fondness to Might and Magic Isince I did the entire game myself, Iwould still have to say World of Xeenwas my favorite and the pinnacleof the game systems, universe andconclusion to the original story.”- Jon Van Caneghem,Might and Magic’s CreatorEnemies havelarge, expressiveand sometimeshumorousanimations. Buteven the sillyones can inflictnasty statuseffects and wipeout your party.The land in each game is large, with 24 map locationseach of which are 16x16 squares. On top of allthis explorable area, there are ten towns, castles, anddozens of dungeons to explore. Progressing acrossthe map often requires your characters to cast certainspells or to learn special skills mentioned previously.There are plenty of exotic places to visit. The gorgeousphysical maps included with the games show awide variety of biomes: huge deserts, lava lakes, denseforests and frozen expanses. In addition, there arefantastical places where you can levitate over cloudsand walk along roads in the sky. The game feels likea heroic sword-and-sorcery story, with different elementsthrown together in a hodge-podge of fun. Theimportant part is the adventure, not necessarily anythematic or logical consistent with the “real world”.The puzzles are particularly interesting, as theytend to rely on knowledge outside the game and canbe daunting to non-English speakers.For example, one dungeon has you solving acrossword puzzle using clues. The sheer number ofpuzzles makes the game challenging more than justhacking up monsters and taking loot. Of course, thoseplaying the game now can just look up a handy FAQto get past the tricky parts.As mentioned before, the game also hadcutscenes as part of a larger story. The story continueswith standard fantasy tropes that blend with slowlyrevealed sci-fi elements – another hallmark of theMight & Magic series. As the player approaches theend of the game, the true plot becomes revealed: theevents of the game are the conclusion of a grand fightthat spanned all the prior games in the series.In all, World of Xeen is a game that includes practicallyeverything. If you look hard, you can probablyeven find a kitchen sink somewhere. But, becauseof its immense scope and place in history, the gamestands as a landmark RPG for good reason. BGThe game has a unique visual style, using an iconic colorpalette, a few digitized photos and a lighthearted tone.Some areas have special requirements, like learning toswim to cross a river or casting Levitate to walk on clouds.53

Ishar:Legend of the FortressSilmarils, 1992Amiga, Atari ST and DOSIf you find Ishartoo punishing,fan-made patchesexist to removethe need to payeach time yousave the game.This friendly manis the first NPCyou’ll meet. He’seager to join yourparty... and runaway with youritems.At first glance, Ishar appears to be one of themany games spawned by the success of theEye of the Beholder series. Fortunately, it’smuch more than that. Silmarils, a French veteran ofthe Amiga scene, introduced many original ideas tothe formula.You start all alone in the middle of Kendoria, avast kingdom, a bit lost too. Contrary to many dungeoncrawlers, Ishar let you spend most of your timeoutside: no indications except a big map and a simpleobjective ; reach the fortress of Ishar to kill the evilsorcerer Khrog. A direct sequel to Crystals of Arborea,Ishar doesn’t require any former knowledge of the seriesbut offers interesting cameos.Ishar is probably the ultimate capitalist dreamsince you must pay for everything. Recruiting up tofour other characters? Pay. Getting precious food andwater to avoid starvation? Pay. Train your charactersto grow stronger? Pay. You merely want to save? PAY.While disturbing at first, the system quickly becomesa nice way to make dire choices at every step of theadventure.Combat is in real-time, meaning a lot of micromanagement on your end. Magic is useful andsince most classes get specific spells you don’t needto focus too much on it. Still it can be extra costlythanks to expensive potions to cure your charactersand refill your magic. The very “high fantasy” lookingbestiary is well endowed and the general monsterdesign very nice. A cool feature regarding combat inIshar is the possibility to create a tactical formationfor your group, protecting your spell-casters behindyour more resilient warriors for example. While a bitcrude, attacks and spells are entirely animated. Curiously,enemies don’t chase you but since the game isreally hard, that’s a relief.The sense of scale is probably one of the thingsthat Ishar makes best. Kendoria is a vast land and navigatingthrough its wilderness takes some time. Cartographybecomes vital as you step through miles andmiles of marshes, forests and open plains. Silmarils hasworked a long time on Amiga and excels in makingbeautiful lush nature making long strolls enjoyable.Strangely enough for a CRPG there is only a handfulof underground dungeons but each one is memorable.Spending most of the game outside makes dungeonsfeel claustrophobic and deadly since you can’t avoidenemies anymore. Civilization is also present throughscattered villages and one gigantic city.Adventure and dangers dwell within towns withpacks of thieves and bandits but those places also offerrest for our weary adventurers. Inns, smiths and variousshops are a good way to recruit fresh blood, trainyour merry band or hear rumors. Additionally to themain plot, various side-quests are available throughspecific NPC. For example, one of them allows you toeven cross the path of the former heroes of Crystals ofArborea, the prequel to Ishar.54

Characters will vote key decisions. Here they just refusedmy order to expulse one of the party menbers.Some charactes are clearly using you and may refuseto even tell their names.The second game have you travelling through variousislands, in search of artefacts for your quest.In Ishar, from the lowest human thief to thegreatest lizardman fighter, everyone has a voice andstrong feelings toward other races. Every time youwant to recruit, murder or dismiss someone, a voteoccurs. The outcome is democratic and characterseach have their pre-determined opinions. The mostpowerful teammates usually have the most xenophobicopinions, which can lead to dreadful consequencessuch as a character leaving the group or, worst casescenario, total party kill. Having 100% human team isweaker than other combinations but is also the safestway to control a group. Silmarils is keen to remindyou the “dog-eat-dog” nature of Kendoria as the firstrecruitable NPC in the game will take your moneyand flee after traveling a few days with you.Ishar is a hard and demanding game but thesatisfaction and the novelty of the game makes it aworthy addition to every CRPG library.Bigger, better and less confusing, Ishar 2: Messengersof Doom (1993) is probably the best of theseries but doesn’t have the awesome Basil Poledourissoundtrack. You now play as the new lord of Ishar,Ishar 3 features exotic settings and some really impressiveartwork, based on digitalized photos.Zubaran, who needs to kill Shandar, an evil sectleader. The second entry offers an expanded playgroundwith an entire archipelago to explore andsome major improvements. Saving is now free and aGPS indicate your location on the map. You can alsoimport your party from the previous game. However,NPCs will send you all over the archipelago toget an object or talk to someone, so taking notes isessential.Sadly, the last game of the series, Ishar 3: TheSeven Gates of Infinity (1994), is a disappointment. Byusing the Gates of Infinity, Zubaran & co time travelto different time periods, displaying specific environments,monsters and NPCs. While graphically enhanced,most backgrounds feel like reused assets ofIshar 2. The battle for the fate of Ishar consists mostlyof traveling back & forth between the Dragon of Sith’slair and the city to heal your wounds.On a funny note, the now speaking NPCs aremostly digitized actors, like a bearded Mel Gibson orDustin Hoffman. TRA fourth game,called Ishar:Genesis wasconsidered,but never gotmade.55

Star Control 2Toys for Bob Inc., 1992DOS, 3DO (Linux, Mac and Windows)**In 2002 thesource codeof SC2 wasreleased. Fansthen startedThe Ur-QuanMasters project,to port the gameto modern PCs.Check it at:www.sc2.sourceforge.netCombat isvery similar toAsteroid, buteach of thevarious shipsplays differently.When I am asked what my favorite CRPGis, people are often surprised when I answerStar Control 2. “That’s an adventuregame”, they reply. Oh, but Star Control 2 is so muchmore than that!You control a ship that starts off as a bare-boneshull, and as you acquire resources and credits, you canbuy upgrades to improve your ship, as well as gainnew crew and landing craft to replace any that werelost in battles and exploration. These features are a directanalog to the skills, items and hit points in a typicalrole-playing game, making Star Control 2 closer toa CRPG than an adventure game. And like any goodCRPG, Star Control 2 offers three areas of activity forthe player: exploration, storyline, and combat.The area for you to explore in Star Control 2 ishuge. It’s nothing less than a whole galactic arm (andthen some), with hundreds of star systems to explore.While a minority of these systems are important tothe game’s storyline, most of them contain valuableresources that can be harvested by landing probes.You’ll find everything from minerals to lifeforms tospecial items needed to advance the storyline.To me, one of the most amazing things aboutStar Control 2 is that the explorable area is entirelyopen and free form. True, you are limited in your explorationradius by your fuel reserves, but within thatrestriction you can go anywhere. The dialog you havewith main characters often gives you clues on whereto go, but you are free to ignore that advice and goanywhere you want.Like any CRPG, there were some areas thatneeded to be unlocked before you can visit them (orget any results from visiting them). The best exampleof this is QuasiSpace, the strange dimension that theArilou Lalee’lay race comes from. Portals into QuasiSpacewere randomly scattered around the galacticarm, and you are eventually granted the ability to enterQuasiSpace at will by using a Portal Spawner thatyou can create from pieces found on a wrecked enemyship. But until that time, many distant systems are difficultto reach, and some are downright impossible.The universe of Star Control 2 is filled with manyraces, and the dialogs with those races are varied andalways humorous (if darkly so). Most races have aunique perspective, ranging from the insult-flingingPkunk to the depressed Utwig to the mysterious, multidimensionalOrz. The conversations with representativesof these races can be hilarious and confusing,but they are needed to advance the plot.The pacing of the game was remarkably wellcontrolled by the designers, especially given theopen-ended nature of the play space. New races werefound regularly, and each one gave you additionalinformation about the history of the conflict in theregion, as well as hints on where to go next and evennew avenues of exploration. It always felt like therewas somewhere to go and something to do that wasimportant to advance to the story.56

There are hundreds of systems to explore, ranging fromour own solar system to even other dimensions.Engaging in conversations with any of the numerousalien species in Star Control 2 is always amusing.At the Starbase you can upgrade your flagship, traderesources, recruit crew members and buy new ships.When landing on planets you must weigh the danger ofhazards such as electrical storms and intense heat.The storyline of Star Control 2 unfolded overtime, as you explored the stars and spoke with theraces you discovered. Some were friendly and somewere not, which led to one of the best features of thegame, the combat system.Combat in Star Control 2 is nothing short of fantastic.Each race has its own ship, with unique weapons,defenses and propulsion. The ships fight in a 2Dtop down arena reminiscent of the old arcade gamesSpace War and Asteroid. Some ships have powerfulbut short range weapons, while others have self-guidedattack missiles, and others have inertia-less propulsionand can literally turn on a dime. The crew onyour ship acts as its “hit points”, because successfulstrikes will kill crew members and the ship is destroyedwhen all crew are dead. One ship even uses itsown crew to power its weapons!Each combat consists of one ship fighting oneship. Like the old rock-paper-scissors game, someships can handily defeat other ships, but unlike RPS, ahighly skilled player can sometimes overcome a deficiencyin a ship’s capabilities. And with over two dozenraces, by the end of the game there is a huge varietyof ship types to choose from, not counting the player’sown flagship, which is itself uniquely upgraded.No review would be complete without mentioningthe music. Each race had its own music that playedduring its dialog, and this music was based in MODformat, which uses digitized samples of instrumentsto play the notes, which are stored independently ofthe samples and in a much smaller format. This allowedfor wildly varying music for each race, but withoutthe large computational overhead (in 1994 terms)of 100% digitized music like an mp3. At the time, StarControl 2 had some of the best sounding music of anygame on the market, and that music helped define thetone of each race that you encountered in the game.Since its release in 1992, Star Control 2 has beenconsidered one of the best computer game ever developed,and for me, it remains my favorite CRPG of alltime. You can see its influence in the open-endednessof Fallout and Arcanum, and I will always rememberthis game fondly. Thank you Toys for Bob for makingsuch an amazing game! TCToys for Bobwas acquiredby Activisionin 2005. FredFord and PaulReiche III, thecreators of StarControl, wenton to createthe popularSkylandersgames.57

DarklandsMicroprose, 1992DOSDarklands comeswith an extensive110-page manualthat is required toplay the game andeven includes adetailed historicalbackground on lifein the Holy RomanEmpire.The charactersystem is classlessand extensive,with sevendifferent weaponskills and twelvenon-combatones, such asStealth, Alchemyand Religion.Ominously opening with a warning that “inMedieval Germany, reality is more horrifyingthat fantasy,” Darklands keeps its word,whether the horror is a child-gobbling Satanist or justthe tedium of digging your scabbed and beaten bodyout of jail with a spoon. Despite its age, the uniquemix of choose-your-own-adventure progression, immersivehistorical setting and classless builds makeDarklands a refreshing and original experience.Set in the 15th century Holy Roman Empire,Darklands covers a large swath of medieval Europeand portrays Greater Germany in the full glory of itsgrim day-to-day survival, arbitrary law enforcers andsuperstitious beliefs both rampant and fantastic. Thegame world itself is history come to life, thorough andwell researched. Dialogue and exploration choices arelittered with Germanic linguistics, beautiful pixel artdepicts lush medieval scenes with accuracy and detail.With a setting so rich and detailed, it is fittingthat Darklands is an open-world RPG, encouragingfree exploration from the start while you slowly unravelyour ultimate goal: avert an apocalyptic disaster.From character creation, the game is admirablycommitted to the time period, with a system that raisescharacters from infancy to adulthood with a multitudeof options for occupations and backgroundscommonly found in medieval Europe, each adjustingthe stats and skills in minor ways. If it’s your dreamto role-play a country commoner turned alchemistturned hermit, this is a game for you.In Darklands you’ll never gain experience pointsor level up. Progression is the result of your actions,successes and failures, increasing and decreasing yourattributes in small increments. With a massive varietyof skills and stats based off your chosen background,the game creates an interesting party dynamic wherecharacters have a multitude of skills they are good at,instead of the more typical singular focus of classes.Although classless builds are not uncommon in RPGsthrough the years, it was a rarity at the time, and isstill an exciting challenge to build a character withoutthe crutch of a pre-defined class.A diversion from typical fantasy, the game hasno Mage character – the closest you’ll get to the arcanearts is a brilliant system of alchemy and divineprayer. It’s a welcome change, as your builds take onqualities not often seen in RPGs, most notably withcharacters that can call on specific saints to intervenein a myriad of social and hostile situations.The historical accuracy is charming and immersive,all the while being consistently fun to play,proving that once-existing nightmares, beliefs andfolklore can be just as entertaining as the usual fantasygenre tropes. Similarly, equipment and loot arewonderfully time period appropriate. It’s refreshingto equip a pike because in the 15th century it was thebest way to skewer a wolf with your arm intact, notbecause it does +25 fire damage.58

“At the very start, I wanted theDarklands’ ‘hook’ to be that itwould use some beliefs from theera to “justify” fantastical elements,rather than trotting out theusual bog-standard wizards, clerics,bards, etc. Where possible, I like mygame designs to provide an insightinto history – a “you are there”feel. When searching for tacticaltradeoffs and interesting details,why goof around conjuring up stuffwhen there is plenty of interestinghistorical material to use?”- Arnold Hendrick,Darklands’ Lead DesignerBesides the unique setting and character system,Darklands also shines in its choose-your-own-adventuregameplay. Locations, dialogs and events are allexplored primarily through illustrated screens offeringmultiple choices based on your stats/skills and asurprising amount of free will. These screens are allexpertly written, with vivid descriptions that enhancethe role-playing aspect of the game.Whether you’re deciding how to enter a townwhen you don’t have the money to pay the tax, dealwith an unwelcome bandit visit in the forest, or discussa loan with a shrewd banker, the game often allowsfor multiple outcomes and consequences, manyof which do not end well. Darklands is as challengingas it is rewarding, and your choices inevitably leadinto undesirable scenarios such as crawling throughsewers to escape a landscape of horrors, or surrenderingagainst a vicious pack of creatures only to see oneof your companions devoured as a penalty.Interrupting your explorations are fast-pacedisometric battles, fought through a real-time withpause combat – both innovative concepts at the time.These are usually prefaced with an opportunity to putsome divine power on your side or toss an alchemicalpotion into the fray for a chance to escape. Withoutthe right equipment these encounters can be brutal,leading to bandits robbing you of everything but a fewpfennigs hidden in your boot.Despite all these notable systems and a carefullycrafted setting, the release of Darklands was met witha mixed reception, mostly due to an unwieldy amountof bugs and a tendency to crash. The game endured,however, and has retroactively been labeled one ofthe best RPGs of all time, with a content-filled scaleand scope that would influence games like Bethesda’sThe Elder Scrolls series and the real-time with pausecombat in the Infinity Engine games. H&JWLocations, dialogsand events areexplored through“choose yourown adventure”screens likethis, with nicehand-drawnillustrations in thebackground.Hendrick hinted atthe possibility ofcreating sequelsfor Darklands,set in historicaleras such as theHundred Years’War, the Warof the Roses orfeaturing Vlad theImpaler but, sadly,those were neverrealized.Darklands’ map is huge and features many cities, villages,keeps, caves, mines, churches and other places of interest.Most battles end as soon as you slay all enemies, but afew of them take part in large, trap-filled dungeons.59

ShadowlandsDomark, 1992Atari ST, Amiga and MS-DOSTwo charactercontrol the doorswitches, while athird one battlesa skeleton andthe fourth restsin peace.Shadowlands. The mere name inspire sweet anddark memories. For most people, it’s the titleof an Anthony Hopkins movie about the live ofwriter C.S. Lewis, a good friend of J.R.R. Tolkien. Butto me, it recalls all the great time I spent inside dungeons,accompanied by four adventures with Japanesemanga-styled faces. Of what is – without a doubt –one my favorite RPGs.Shadowlands was published in 1992 by Domark,who would later would give birth to the best-sellingPrince of Persia games, but at the time known fortheir arcade games. In this context, it isn’t strange thatdoubts were cast over Domark’s ability of delivering agood RPG.These doubts vanish as soon as you begin playingShadowlands. A 3D, real-time isometric world awaitsthe four heroes chosen to avenge Prince Vashnar anddefeat the mighty Overlord in his underground lair.Before reaching him, you had to define the heroes,which was relatively simple, since each one wascharacterized by four basic attributes: Combat, Magic,Strength and Health.Although these stats are important at the startof the game, you’ll also be able to further define yourheroes as the game advances, since they gain Magicand Combat points with practice. So the more spellsthey cast, the better they become at casting. This is thesame system used in the classic Dungeon Master, fromwhich Shadowlands takes many cues.The game was created in a way to allow players tocontrol the four heroes either individually or in group.Today this may sound trivial, but at the time it wasa real revolution in role-playing games. Until themthere were basically two systems: either the groupmoved and acted together, with each character performinghis specifics skills, or there was a lone hero,typically in a top-down view.The ability to spread the members of your partyand control them individually opened countlesscombat and puzzle possibilities unheard at the time.In fact, in certain moments of the game it is of vitalimportance the formation in which the group advances:walking in a line isn’t the same as advancing as ablock to face an enemy, for example. It was a strategicdimension entirely new to RPGs.But, without a doubt, the most fun and challengingare the puzzles. Besides the usual key-and-lock,sliding blocks and pressure plates, Shadowlands added– for the first time – puzzles that use light. I’ll explain.The game features a system called Photoscope,where each light source – in the scenery or carried bycharacters – illuminates the environment in real-time,fading away with distance and creating multiple levelsof shadows (thus the name of the game). This systemwas cleverly used by the game’s designers to introducea new type of switch, that required a certain level oflight to be activated.60

When creating your party the game allows you to rolltheir stats and also to customize their appearance.Each characters can only equip two items at a time, butthe game allows you to split the party into two groups.You control each character by clicking on his body parts,such as clicking the right arm to interact with objects.The control scheme is simple and intuitive,allowing players – after a bit of practice – to easilycontrol each of the four characters. And quickly too,something vital in the more complicated situationsfound later in the game. Among the things that playershave to master is how to throw objects, as the rangevaries according to the nature and weight of eachobject, plus the strength of the character throwing it.There’s little to talk about the other elements ofthe game. The plot was simple and linear, basically anexcuse to introduce a series of dungeons, packed withmonsters to kill and traps to solve.Your adventure begins in a grove, that’s no morethan a tutorial. From there you’ll enter a dungeon,five levels deep. Beating it leads you back to sunlight,where a hedge maze leads the heroes into a pyramid.Inside, you’ll face four levels packed with the game’smost challenging traps.Once you’re out, there’s another labyrinth garden,followed by a cave full of enemies and, finally, thepalace – where the Overlord awaits beside Vashnar’sbody, ready for a final battle.The sequel, Shadoworlds, was also released in ‘92. It hasa sci-fi setting and an updated UI, but feels uninspired.Regarding the enemies, there isn’t much to see.The first levels bring undead, as well as the usualdungeon fauna: rats, snakes and deadly scorpions.Further on you’ll face the memorable minotaurs, aswell as hell hounds and burning men. Among theirdangerous weapons are fireballs, which have uniqueeffects in Shadowlands’ Photoscope system. Since saidprojectiles also harm monsters, you can use them tofind clever solutions to tough situations.The graphics aren’t very attractive and offer littlevariety to the alleged different environments. Andwhile the game’s theme song is memorable and eerie,there’s no music in-game, and barely any sound effect.Of course, none of this diminishes the attractivenessof the game.In the end, Shadowlands was (and still is) a magnificentand revolutionary game in two aspects: theindividual control of heroes and the use of the Photoscopesystem. It’s rare to see a game bring this levelof originality. The game also had a sequel called Shadoworlds,set in space and using the same engine, butwithout the same attractiveness of the original. FHG61

Veil ofDarknessEvent Horizon Software, 1993DOS, FM Towns and PC-98After releasingVeil of Darkness,Event Horizonchanged theirname to Dream-Forge Intertainment.The dialoguesystemuses both highlightedkeywordsand a text parser.Combat isreal-time andbased on clickingon the weaponsin your hands– an odd mixof Diablo andDungeon Master.Your health ismeasured by abody in a coffin.Veil of Darkness is an odd game. You play asa cargo pilot whose plane suddenly crashesin a remote Romanian region. Saved by thedaughter of a local baron, you quickly realize thatleaving the valley is out of the question. Indeed, anevil vampire called Kairn magically sealed the regionusing mist, hence the name Veil of Darkness.The good news is that an ancient prophecy foretoldyou arrival and nominates you as the “chosenone”. Your task in the game is to fulfill the prophecystanza by stanza (it’s a HUGE pamphlet), following italmost as a quest log, to learn the tragic tale of Kairnand eventually kill him.Your biggest allies are in a camp of mysteriousgypsies, acting as advisers and healers. The story feelsunique, the dialogues are well done and the gothic atmosphereitself is gripping. If you are half the nerdas I am, you’re already screaming “dark lord, gypsies,fog: RAVENLOFT!” Too bad that the generic protagonistfeels out of place with his lack of personality andoutrageous yellow jacket.Even if it’s sold as an RPG, Veil of Darkness ismore like an adventure game in the end. It’s possibleto smash hordes of enemies without breaking a sweatand most of the bosses or special enemies are glorifiedpuzzles. Indeed, combat is in real-time but notvery difficult, that is IF you possess the right weapon.Like in every horror story, each monster is weak to acertain type of weaponry. Movement and combat aresolved through clicking, giving serious Diablo vibes.Before dealing with Kairn directly, various tasksgiven to you by villagers and linked to the prophecymust be dealt with: hunting down a werewolf, curinga child from madness, laying a ghost to rest, etc...Progression is left to the player’s freedom but lackof certain key-objects or weapons tend to limit youroptions. Quests are solved through specific actions,chain of dialogue or just getting a unique item. It’s notrocket science but some thinking might be required.In a nutshell, Veil of Darkness is a great adventuregame but not really a good RPG. It was Event Horizon’slast tentative to mix both genres, as they wentback to make more orthodox CRPG and the excellentpoint & click Sanitarium. Still, I would recommend itfor the nice story and the Ravenloft vibes. TR62

BloodNetMicroProse, 1993DOS and AmigaVampires are pretty cool, but you know what iscooler? Vampires in a cyberpunk setting. Atleast, that is what Microprose thought whenthey created Bloodnet.The premise is quite simple, you play as RansomStark, a private-eye living in a futuristic Manhattan.One night flirt with a cute girl ends up goes south ashe is bitten by a hundred-years-old vampire cleverlycalled Abraham Van Helsing. Stark escapes but isdoomed to slowly turn into a full fledged vampire.The objective of the game is simple: destroy Van Helsingand find the ultimate icebreaker to destroy onceand for all the vampire “virus”. It’s mostly Shadowrunwith a touch of World of Darkness.Being half-vampire, Stark has a humanity anda bloodlust pool. You must drink blood to keep thebloodlust under control, but you lose humanity whenbiting humans. The story and the dialogues are intriguingand usually well done. Ransom is a funnycharacter, the supporting cast is extremely colorfuland the vampire/cyberpunk concept eventuallygrows on you.Bloodnet uses a lot of stats: combat, hacking,social but also vampire-related skills. Party memberscan be enrolled to expand your panel of actions. Thecontrols ape point & clicks with gigantic environmentsand very tiny pixelated characters evolvingthrough them. It’s not very good looking and somecut-scenes use those god awful old early 3D renders.You can also hack into the cyberspace to access “pits”,private sectors through specific keywords to solvemajor puzzles or reach sub-quests.Combat is awful and badly explained. It’s a basicturn-based system, but some statistics don’t makesense and other are of no use at all. For example, initiativenever works and damage ratings seem completelyrandom. It’s just a mess and once you understandthat only firearms and high-tech weapons areuseful, you just power your way through and savescum like a madmen.Bloodnet starts with an interesting premise, developsit but never really succeeds in turning it into afun game. The ending is also a cop-out and feels like asequel-hook. Too bad for Microprose, Bloodnet 2000,the next game, was eventually canceled. TROne of thecharacters,BennyPuzzle, speaksin crosswordpuzzles. Here,he’s offering tobuy you a drink.Besides the skilltrees, there’s alsoa good ammountof items for you toequip your characters,includingunique weaponsand armor.63

Dark Sun:Shattered LandsStrategic Simulations Inc., 1993MS-DOSThe Dark Sunsetting wasquite popular inAmerican prisons.TSR received a lotof fan mail fromprisoners, whoidentified themselveswith theslave gladiators.Dark Sun is anAD&D campaignsetting, but itsruleset allowsyou to play withsome exotic racesand classes, suchas a Thri-KreenPsionicist, a Half-Giant Gladiator ora Mul Preserver.Athas, the world of Dark Sun, was once planetfull of life. It was turned into the desert by thepower hungry and mad wizards thousands ofyears ago. Here we follow the story of four unlikelyheroes. Slowly rotting away in prison of city state Draj,awaiting their death in the gladiator arena. Will theyrise and change the face of unforgiving Athas? Or willthey become another forgotten souls whose corpseswill be buried under never ending sea of sand?The game starts with party creation. Dark Sunis an AD&D campaign setting, so things should bequite familiar. You can choose race of your characters,alignment, their profession and adjust basic attributeslike strength, dexterity or wisdom. There are no skills,feats or perks as we expect from the games of today.There is however one thing that puts it apart fromother RPG games of its time: Psionics. Each characterhas psionic abilities that allows them to disintegrateanimate objects, absorb diseases or transform yourarm into weapon. Beware though, almost all intelligentcreatures on Athas have such abilities, and theywill not hesitate to use them.Your party begins as slave gladiators, forced tofight monsters to the death at the arena. The world ofDark Sun is presented in top drawn slightly isometricview, and fights are turn-based. The well-designedinterface is entirely mouse-driven, presented with selfexplanatory icons and is very easy to use.In between the fights you wander around penstalking to its inhabitants, solving small puzzles andmini quests. This is where you’ll slowly notice someof the great elements of Dark Sun. The dialogs offer agreat amount of text and options for the players, andmost, if not all, of the quests have multiple solutions,allowing you to choose whichever approach you like.Since you don’t want to spend the rest of yourdays counting hay straws and occasionally fightingfor the amusement of average Joe, you need to escape.If you want to use the brute force approach you canhack your way out, even teaming up with anothergang; or if you want to avoid confrontation altogetheryou can try to bribe the templars. This gives the gamean enormous amount of replayability. You can playDark Sun over and over and you will always find newquests and new ways how to complete them.After escaping the pens, the main quest begins:to rally the free villages in a fight against mighty armyof city-state Draj. They are preparing a military campaignthat is supposed to wipe out all ex-slaves. Thisis another example where Dark Sun shines: its opennessand non-linearity. You want to help all villagesor none at all and face the army by yourself? You can!Want to investigate a remote cave, visit the travelingcaravan or go deep into the lair of a mad wizard?It’s up to you where to start and where to go next.The game is divided into over 30 areas, each a hugeopened space with many quests, adding to nice 40+hours of gameplay.64

Dark Sun’s dialogs look average today, but they were novelat the time, offering players plenty of text and options.Every character in Dark Sun can use pisonics, but you’llalso see many of the traditional AD&D spells.The combat system is turn-based, using the AD&D ruleset,but the UI keeps things simple and acessible.While exploring the game areas you’ll face manyadversaries. There will be zombies and spiders, butthese are just a nuisance. The real test of your skillswill be fighting extra-planar Tanar’ri, 15 feet tallMountain Stalkers or the huge Mastyrial scorpions.And it’s not only the fauna that wants to kill you. Forgetwhat you learned about fantasy races from all theTolkien-derived worlds out there – here Halflings arexenophobic cannibals, elves are honor-less nomadsand none of the other races are any better.Graphically, Shattered Lands is very pretty, withnicely drawn environments, each area with its owndistinctive look, feel and unique variety of monsters.Unfortunately the game was set back by low qualityanimations and numerous bugs. While I have notencountered a critical one, there were occasional hiccupswhere I had to restart the quest or go back toprevious save position.The story continued in the follow-up game,Wake of the Ravager (1994). Our heroes arrived at thecity of Tyr and need to stop coming of the dragon.The sequel, Wake of the Ravager, expanded the game inevery sense, unfortunately even in the amount of bugs.Shortly said, Ravager is bigger, louder and much morebuggier. Sprites got much bigger, animations wereimproved and overall mood became much grittier anddark. The atmosphere was improved by voiced dialog,new cutscenes and a great CD-audio soundtrack.Sadly, some of the bugs were game breaking andyou could face complete restart of your game due toinability to finish one of the main quests.The Dark Sun saga was concluded in Dark SunOnline: Crimson Sands (1996), a short-lived onlineRPG, preceding the likes of Ultima Online. It’s briefhistory is one plagued with development and budgetissues, many bugs and rampant cheating by players.Dark Sun: Shattered Lands was supposed to bea breakthrough for SSI, but it was plagued by bugsand delayed releases. Furthermore, the game wasthe product of a transition era – ahead of its peersin many aspects, such as the UI, the open areas, thedialogs and the multiple quest solutions, while alsostruggling on how to implement these features. GiveDark Sun a spin, you won’t be disappointed. BMYou can transferyour party fromShattered Landsto Wake of theRavager. This,however, willcause all enemiesto have twice theHP, which willmake the gamereally hard.65

Princess Maker 2Gainax, 1993MS-DOS, 3DO, Mac and Sega Saturn**In 2004 a newversion calledPM2: Refine wasreleased in Japanfor Windows andPS2, featuringupdated art andfull voice acting.Each job has itsown pros andcons. Working asa farmer helps toraise stats that areimportant for afighter, but sociallypays badly.Princess Maker 2 is a Japanese RPG, but its USrelease is an (unfinished) adventure by itself.In 1995 SoftEgg Enterprises started to localizethe game into English, but ran into countless delays,prejudice and their publisher partner going bankrupt.By the time things were sorted out, it was already 2002and no one cared anymore for a MS-DOS game. Tothis day, no official English release exists, yet the gamebecame a cult hit after a beta version of the translationwas leaked and started to circulate on the Internet.Such fame is well-deserved, as Princess Maker 2pioneered the raising simulator genre, spawning manysequels and inspiring similar games. It also helpsthat the game was developed by Gainax, the animestudio famous for Evangelion. So let us abandon allprejudices and examine this often overlooked gem!Princess Maker 2 takes place in fantasy-medievalsetting, where players take the role of a retired warveteran to whose protection was entrusted a younggirl. As her father, players must raise the girl from her10th birthday until she turns 18-years-old, taking careof her jobs, studies, trainings and adventures.Each of those activities takes 10 days of a monthlyschedule you must plan for you daughter. Workingincreases some of her stats but decreases others anda potential pay depends sorely on her performance.For example, working as a lumberjack will increasestrength but decrease her sensibility. If she works well,she returns home with a pay. Schools are expensive,especially in the early game, but as your daughterstudies, she can advance into more expensive masterclasses, which yield even more skill points.She can also participate in more traditional RPGactivities: going on adventures bringing back money,rare items and having special encounters (tip: usuallyby camping near interesting locations). There are fourplaces to go in, each moderately more difficult thanthe previous. Every area has plenty of surprises, evenif their size feels underwhelming. Adventuring won’tusually take more than a third of the games timefor most players. Sometimes random enemies willappear, engaging your daughter into battle. Combat isvery simple, and consists only of attacking with eitherphysical hits or magical spells and using items.Stats include many skills and attributes, both visibleand hidden ones; oddly enough, attributes don’taffect skills in any way. Your daughter’s starting statsdepends on her sign and blood type and she’ll facevarious hidden checks during the game.Depending on players goal each stat is more orless useful (although some may take a part in a widervariety of goals). Increasing them may be sometimes achallenge in a face of ever decreasing funds, especiallysince developers have foreseen the most players wouldmake their daughters warriors on a first playthrought,thus making it the most difficult path. But pure mightwon’t take her far and only investing in social skillscan take her up in the social ladder.66

“It’s own type of game. It really‘fathered’ so many things. TheTamagotchi wouldn’t have existedwithout Princess Maker 2.Pokémon, I think, goes a great dealinto Princess Maker 2. [...] It’s ashame that it didn’t make it to theUS, but I think we can still see theinfluence of that game on othergames, you know, from now andwell into the future.”- Tim Trzepacz,Princess Maker 2’s localizationProducer at SoftEggDon’t want your daughter to become a fighter?Worry not, Princess Maker 2 features more than 70different careers. Once she completes 18 years thegame ends and she’ll follow a path depending on howshe was raised, as well as her friendships and actionsduring the game. She can become a hero, a dancer,a painter, a general, a queen, a martial art teacher, aBDSM queen, a nun, a writer, a luxurious prostitute,a thug, a knight or even the Princess of Darkness.Sometimes there is also an extra check to see how wellshe’ll perform in a given profession. Dancer’s successdepends on constitution and only intelligent thugscan avoid pursuit.At mid-game your daughter gets, based on herstats, a rival which she will have the pleasure of facingon festivals. These festivals take place once a year andshe can participate in a combat, cooking, painting ordancing challenge – all which wield fantastic rewardsand a great deal of fame.What really sets Princess Maker 2 apart are itschoices and consequences. Is your daughter refinedand charismatic? Then a rich man in love will startappearing and giving her free money. Did she sell thesword she got from a king? It will be found and herreputation will go down. Did she befriend a primeminister? Then as a judge of a dancing competitionhe will make sure she gets an easier time beating thechallenge. Did she slain many monster? Then she willstop having any remorse about it. Should she paint agood painting, it will be displayed in her room. Thoselittle moments are what make or break a game, andPrincess Maker 2 is outstanding in this regard.Driven heavily by stats and by player decisions,Princess Maker 2 is a great game for those who enjoythat aspect of an RPG. You won’t find challengingcombat or deep plotline here, but rest assured, it’s agame you WILL want to replay again and again. JMThe gameoverflows withstats, skills andnumbers, but onlypart of them arevisible. If you don’ttreat your daughterwell, she mightbecome a stubborndelinquent.There are sixPrincess Makergames, all ofthem releasedonly in Japan.However, thereare variouswestern spiritualsucessors, suchas Cute Knight,Spirited Heartand Long Live theQueen.During battles you simply choose between using physical ormagical attacks, and hope that all that training was enough.When out on adventures, your daughter might find wildbeasts, treasures and some very special encounters.67

Lands of Lore:The Throne of ChaosWestwood Studios, 1993DOSNot only theartwork isfantastic, butthe game is fullyvoiced, withPatrick Stewartcast as the King.The game is fullof little details,such as howthe charactersportraits reflecttheir injuries.Westwood Associates had a great run withSSI’s Eye of the Beholder and its sequel, beforeVirgin Interactive snatched them upin 1992 renaming the development house WestwoodStudios. In 1993, they put their experience to gooduse with Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos.Now free to build their own rules, they took theAD&D crunch found in EotB and tried to make it lessintimidating, while providing no less of a challenge.Much like titles from the Gold Box and Ultimaseries, the game came with a more technical manualexplaining the interface and broke the fiction out intoseparate book. It detailed the evil of Scotia, her DarkArmy, and a short, mythic history of the land whichlaid out the foundations for Westwood’s new world.Players chose one of four heroes to take up thequest with, each with their own strengths and weaknessesfrom the scaly Ak’shel and his magic to theroguish Kierean, the well-rounded Conrad or thestraight-up basher Michael. Up to two NPCs couldeventually also join your chosen hero making it moreof a “blobber” experience.Attributes were cut down to two catch-all bins –Might and Protection. Skills were similarly shortenedto three major categories – Fighter, Rogue, and Mage.But instead of using experience points to determineyour character’s development, Lands of Lore followedthe example of titles such as Dungeon Master in makingit so that using actions most associated with eachwould improve them over time.The game was also relatively linear as you foughtthrough one zone after the next during the quest, butthe first-person 3D world Westwood put togetherwas like EotB on pixelized steroids. Outdoor areas,towns, and traditional dungeons peppered with traps,hidden switches, beasts that could dissolve weaponsor disarm players, and interactive NPCs celebratedWestwood’s last dalliance with grid-based dungeoncrawling all automapped for your pleasure.Tough, brutal encounters and dungeons laterin the game were offset only by the ability to restanywhere, but Lands of Lore knew when to take thegloves off and punished unprepared players despite itsdeceptively simplicity. It’s a formula that holds up welleven today, and a crawl still worth delving into. RC68

DreamForge Intertainment, 1993DOSDungeon HackDungeon Hack is, sadly, a good idea poorlyimplemented. The game employs a reworkedversion of the Eye of the Beholder engine tocreate a real-time single character graphical roguelikethat allows you to customize its random dungeons. Italso offers some new features, such as the addition ofan auto-map and a new class – the Bard.However, making it a real-time single characterroguelike that uses the AD&D 2nd edition rules isalso what virtually damns it.Dungeon Hack is a very straightforward roguelike,where you descent a dungeon without any sortof shop or rest stops along the way, killing monstersand finding loot in a randomly generated labyrinthwith simple puzzles normally involving putting agood dozen odd keys into a dozen odd door typesuntil you find or kill the objective at the bottom ofit. Along the way you’ll battle some of the over fiftymonsters present in the game – including lichs andinvisible feyrs – plus face hazards such as underwaterlevels, anti-magic fields and starvation.Yet between the over-reliance in dice rolls, theawkward challenge of quickly controlling your actionsin real-time and its AD&D adaptation, having a properlyfun time is distressingly just out of range.Given that TSR’s AD&D rules are designed forturn- and party-based RPG combat, it should be nosurprise that they are troublesome in a game builtaround a single character exploring a dungeon in real-time.There was no effort in adapting the rules, soclasses such as the Bard, Mage, and Thief are practicallyuseless, as the game hardly provides any benefitto playing them. Most locked objects require specifickeys, and the combination of real-time combat witha slow spell interface make the Mage virtually uselessand easily killed here.Had Dungeon Hack been a party based roguelikethe issues with its constant “Save or Die” elementswould have been lessened, and more than a handfulof character builds would be genuinely viable.As it stands, the game is only worth trying if youare a big fan of the roguelike genre, willing to lookover the obvious gameplay flaws. It’s just sad that theconcept behind Dungeon Hack had so much morepotential than the game was able to deliver. RMThe graphicsare improvedover the alreadyexcellent Eye ofthe Beholder. Theadded minimap isalso welcome.One nice touchis being able tocustomize therandom dungeonand then share itwith your friends.(You can also getrid of unfun leveldraining undead.)69

X-COM:UFO DefenseMythos Games, 1994DOS, Amiga, CD32, PS1 and others**X-COM had anofficial Windowsport in 1998,and recently gotversions for Linux,Mac and evenAndroid thanks toOpenXcom.Every actionrequires a setnumber ofTime Units tobe executed,X-COM’s versionof action points.Istill fondly remember that rainy day back in 1994.A friend told me that he had just gotten a CD-ROM full of different game demos. So I went overand fired up the demo for UFO: Enemy Unknown(known as X-COM: UFO Defense in the US). I was13. I had no idea what I was doing but the art style,the haunting soundscape and the fact that my soldierscould throw grenades – or more likely, blow themselvesup with their own grenades, and boy was I sold.Of course, in just few months, Jagged Alliance wouldblow my mind again but UFO was the first and, asthey say, you always remember your first love.Originally intended as merely a sequel to LaserSquad, input from MicroProse led to a growingscope of the game, including both UFOPedia and theGeoscape, the strategic element in the game. This wasultimately a huge boon for the game. As good as thetactical battles are it’s hard to see the game becomingthe kind of cult classic that it did without the strategicside. More importantly, MicroProse UK’s head ofdevelopment Pete Moreland suggested Gollop use aUFO-theme. Rest is history.X-COM/UFO is played on two distinct levels: thestrategic side based on the Geoscape, and the tacticalside based on turn-based squad-level battles.In the Geoscape, players decide where to buildbases, what to build in those bases, what to researchand manufacture, how many personnel must berecruited, what gear will be bought and how it will bedistributed, which UFOs will be hunted by airplanesand where will the squad(s) of soldiers be sent.Various countries world over are funding theX-COM initiative but unless you tackle the alienmenace inside their borders, they will not happilykeep giving you money. And it’s possible to lose countriescompletely, as they are taken over by the aliens.The second level is the tactical combat, whichhonestly is the meat of the game. Your transportplanes will take your troops – ranging from 12 towhopping 26 soldiers in larger planes – to the mainstreet of an American city, the potato farm of somePolish farmer, between the dunes in Sahara or evento the cold wasteland of Antarctica. The maps are allrandomly generated, which help stave off boredom.Missions can happen both during the day andduring the night. Aliens usually have time to spreadout from their craft and prepare ambushes, so theplayer needs to carefully recon the area instead of justrushing in. When an alien is encountered, it’s betterto be behind at least partial cover – that wooden fencemight stop a single shot and thus save your soldier.But take care, as absolutely everything in the environmentcan be destroyed. Bullets and laser beamswill knock out walls, grenades take down trees andbigger explosives can wreck entire buildings or eventhe near-impenetrable alien craft. Which you usuallyneed to enter to bring the battle to a close, especiallyif you want to take prisoners.70

The Geoscape is where you’ll monitor for UFO activities,dispatching jets and later ground teams to investigate.Your soldiers begin as wet-behind-ears greenies,protected by gray overalls, carrying automatic riflesand puny hand grenades. They will get winded, scaredand even mind controlled. But with careful mixtureof in-game knowledge and real-world small unit tactics,the player can lead them to victory, neutralizingall aliens on the map and hauling a trove of alien techback to base, where scientists will swarm over it. Andwhile soldiers are generic, you quickly form bondswith your veteran troopers, and losing them is a hardblow – both emotionally and game mechanics wise.The sparse story is conveyed through the variousscientific breakthroughs – alien autopsies shed lighton their background and interrogation of capturedaliens, especially their commanders, unveils their sinisterplans, ultimately leading to a risky operation totake the fight back to the aliens and thus saving Earthfrom a fate worse than death.The game didn’t pull any punches – the story isbleak and the fact that civilians can easily be killedby both the player – “accidentally” – and the aliens incombat – lends additional gravitas to it. Not to mentionthe content of the ending slides when the playerfailed. And I say “when”, not “if ”, because the gamewas punishingly hard.You can build eight bases around the world, allowingyou to handle multiple threats at the same time.Unlike so many other games, were the Big Bad ispatiently waiting for the Heroic Party to finally reachthe Castle of Doom, in X-COM the aliens are activelywaging a campaign on their own and will also try tolocate and then invade your bases! The first time I wasraided was a thrilling experience – getting to see upclose all the facilities I had built, being on the defensivefor once and having to deal with large numbers ofhostiles without destroying my own base.The sequel Terror from the Deep (1995) increasesthe difficulty even further – if you thought you hadmad skills, the game soon proves you wrong. Aliensare now awaking near the bottom of the oceans andraiding not only coastal towns but cruise liners andcargo ships. Battles are fought both underwater andon dry land, introducing an additional problem, as notall weapons can be used in both environments.Unfortunately, both the original game and thesequel suffered heavily from bugs. Some where badenough to cripple the game, but by now fans havemostly fixed all of them, thanks to years of hard work.To sum it up – X-COM/UFO is a groundbreakingmix of strategic and tactical game play married withRPG elements and an intriguing plot. There is reallyno reason for anyone not to play it, even today. GAX-COM wasfollowed byX-COM:Apocalypse(1997) and manyother attempts at aspiritual successor,such as UFO:Aftermath (2007),Incubation: Time IsRunning Out (1997)and Xenonauts(2014). It also got amodern reboot in2012, called XCOM:Enemy Unknown.The game also gota number of spinoffs,among whichare some shooters,a flight simulator,a board game, aRussian MMO andeven a play-bye-mailgame.OpenXcomThis open-source clone of the original game adds manyquality of life improvements, allows fixing the remainingbugs and modifying the game to a previously impossiblelevel, plus the creation of various ports.It uses the original art and sound assets and in fact, owningthe original game is required for the installation. Thewebsite contains a handy database with over 140 modsavailable for the download.Grab it here: http://openxcom.orgOpenXcom allowsyou to use manymods, includingnew weapons,armors, soldiersprites andrandom levels.71

Ultima VIII:PaganORIGIN, 1994MS-DOS (Windows, Mac and Linux)**Pentagramis a fan-madeopen-sourceprogram thatenables Pagan torun on moderncomputers.You witness anexecution as soonas you arrive,setting the grimtone of the game.No one knowsabout the Avatarhere, and theywon’t hesitate toexecute you.Ultima VIII: Pagan is overall the thirteenthgame to bear the Ultima name, and it is oneof the franchise’s most controversial entries.Rushed to market in 1994, many aspects of the gamewere scaled back, cut, or – at worst – left unfinished inthe final product. The material that remained in thegame unscathed suffered from a strangely disjointedsense of direction, as if competing development ideologieshad not yet been hammered into a cogent whole.A dark – at times even morbid – tale of Machiavellianethics and moral expediency contrasted sharply withan inexplicable focus on jumping mechanics and Mario-esqueplatforming – leading some to derisively dubthe game “Super Avatar Bros.”Yet despite its monumental development woesand lack of overarching direction, Ultima VIII remainsa compelling and distinct entry in the Ultimaseries – foreboding, unfamiliar, viciously morallyambiguous, and possessed of a truly unsettling, claustrophobicatmosphere. Had it been given the care itdeserved, it may have proven a worthy successor evento the mighty Ultima VII duology. Instead, it is an enduringtestament to the way in which the “business”side of the gaming industry can cripple a projectbrimming with potential and creativity – a hard lesson,and unfortunately still a very relevant one today.The narrative of Ultima VIII begins directlywhere Ultima VII: Serpent Isle ends. The Avatar findshimself helpless in the hands of the Guardian, an evilinvading deity hell-bent on conquering the Avatar’sadoptive fatherland, Britannia. In order to punishthe Avatar for continually meddling in his plans, theGuardian exiles him to the eponymous Pagan, a barrenland of darkness. From there, the Avatar mustsearch for a way to return to Britannia – all along ina desperate race against time, as the Guardian has alreadybegun his grim conquest.Though Ultima VIII’s story functions as a directcontinuation of the Ultima VII duology, the gameplaymechanics are substantially different from its two immediatepredecessors – and even, to varying extents,from any of the previous games in the series. Goneis the slant-overhead camera perspective of UltimaVII – Ultima VIII was the first, and is currently theonly, game in the series to have a pure 3D-isometricperspective. The Avatar’s “Companions,” iconic partymembers present even in the earliest games, are missingfor the first time – the Avatar must journey alone.The turn-based, battle-scene combat of earlierUltima games had already been simplified in UltimaVII into a more fluid, real-time action system; inUltima VIII, that system was even further simplified– some would say devolved – into what is, for allintents and purposes, “hack ‘n slash” combat. Themagic system was also overhauled from the onefound in Ultima VII – spells now require a lot moreeffort and time to cast, arguably marginalizing themin favor of weapon-based attacks.72

“With Ultima VIII, I wanted to beeven more severe with the sinisterelements. That’s where your characterwent off to the land of Pagan, whichwas the Guardian’s home world. Thisworld wasn’t your standard, virtuousgoody-goody-two-shoes setting, tothe point where if you tried to upholdthe goody-goody-two-shoes life in thegame, you couldn’t get anywhere. [...]The storyline is basically one of those‘sometimes you have to fight fire withfire’ stories where, when you’re facedwith true evil, you’ve got to cheat inorder to win.”- Richard Garriott,Ultima VIII: Pagan’s ProducerThe newly added platforming sequences are achore by any metric, but the initial release of the gamecoupled them with absolutely horrific jump controls,clunky enough to be virtually broken. The initial uproarcaused by these jump mechanics was so vehementthat EA released a patch altering them into asignificantly more manageable endeavor.So – with all of these caveats, flaws, questionabledesign choices, and development woes, what worthdoes Ultima VIII offers? For one, the atmosphereholds up incredibly well. Despite the many cuts andrevisions, the developers have still managed to craft acompelling, alien world, full of oppressive dread andan inescapable sense of vulnerability. The Avatar is astranger in Pagan, and the player, too, is meant to feellike a stranger – alienated from the grim, featurelesslandscape, the vile NPCs, and even from the Avatar,who commits progressively more uncomfortableatrocities in his urge to return to Britannia.Even today, Ultima VIII’s depictions of bloodyhuman sacrifice and demonic summoning can stillprovoke shock and disgust. The narrative – thoughfraught with plot holes, dropped arcs and other inconsistencies– nevertheless communicates its maintheme quite viscerally: that the Avatar, in pursuit ofhis own “just” ends, is systematically perverting andshattering his own code of virtues – Courage, Honesty,Compassion, and so forth. At the game’s conclusion,it is clear that the Avatar’s victory is Pyrrhic at best;and at worst, it is not a victory at all, but rather thefinal collapse of a moral code that the Avatar has spentmany Ultima games striving to uphold and protect.Ultima VIII is one of gaming’s most disappointingexamples of squandered potential. And yet, beneathall of its faults and missteps, there lies within itan important philosophical counterpoint to the optimismof Ultima IV: take care that you do not abandonyour virtues, even in pursuit of the greater good. CRThe Guardianis worshiped inPagan and hisvoice constantlytaunts you,providing falsehints, laughing atyour actions anddescribing howhe’s destroyingBritannia.An expansioncalled The LostVale and a CD-ROM enhancedversion whereplanned, but bothwere cancelleddue to poor sales.Read more aboutThe Lost Vale atpage XXX.Each school of magic has a different way of preparingspells – such as arranging reagents in a pentagram.To jump you must press both mouse buttons at once.I assure you, it’s even more awkward than it sounds.73

The Elder Scrolls I:ArenaBethesda Softworks, 1994DOSSince 2004Bethesda hasmade Arenafreely availablefor download attheir website, aspart of the 10thanniversary ofThe Elder Scrollsseries.Seasons alter theweather, clothingand races changewith each regionand even landmarkssuch asMorrowind’s RedMountain canbe seen in thehorizon.The Elder Scrolls: Arena is the first game inBethesda’s long running Elder Scrolls series.It came out in 1994, roughly two years afterUltima Underworld opened everyone’s eyes to theconcept of a first-person, free-roaming RPG.But Bethesda had their own ideas. In 1990, theysharpened their open-world teeth with The Terminatorlicense, casting players as either Kyle Reese or theTerminator and set them loose in an open-world sliceof Los Angeles. It was crude, but it paved the way forArena. Instead of a dungeon, or a city, Bethesda setout to create an entire continent filled with both.Lead Designer Vijay Lakshman and his teamwent out to create their own world and lore, inspiredby old pencil-and-paper RPGs. The continent of Tamriel(Arena is the only game in the series to feature theentire continent) measures “three to four thousandkilometers east to west”, and is populated by a varietyof races, enviroments, flora and fauna. It also includesa day-and-night cycle and even its own calendar, withholidays and special dates unique to each region; allthat inside a stack of eight 3.5” floppies.Tile-based CRPGs have been doing that for yearswith smaller, 2D worlds, but taking those conceptsinto the interactive intimacy of a free-roaming 3Dexperience raised the CRPG bar as much as UltimaUnderworld did.Fiction filling the opening pages of the manuallay out a familiar starting point that Elder Scrolls fanswill immediately recognize – a captured prisoner. InArena, you languish in a dungeon beneath the ImperialCity, where careless exploration could easily killyou even before begining your epic quest to find thepieces of the Staff of Chaos and end the rule of theusurper hiding in the Emperor’s skin, Jagar Tharn.Eighteen classes await in Arena, along with D&Dlikestats to shape their ideal character from one of theeight races in the game. Or, borrowing a page fromOrigin’s Ultima IV, a series of questions suggest whichclass will be best for the player. I remember spendingan hour or so carefully mixing different classes andraces together, testing them in the opening dungeonagainst sewer vermin, and then starting over again totry another class and mix of statistics.Despite the Ultima IV inspirations, there’s noalignment or strict moral fiber tying players’ hands.You’re free to bash down doors in the middle of thenight to break into stores, steal everything and kill theguards on the way out with the loot if you want, whilesearching for a way to end Jagar Tharn’s rule.Combat appears to be simple button-mashing,but hides some unexpected depth. Melee attacks aredone by holding the right mouse button and movingthe mouse across the screen. Each movement executesa different type of attack; moving sideways leads to aslash, while a vertical movement results in a thrustingattack. Attacking at the same time as your enemy willparry the attack.74

“Up to that time, Bethesda hadnever done a role-playing game,only action games like the Terminatorseries and sports title likeWayne Gretzky Hockey. I remembertalking to the guys at Sir-Tech whowere doing Wizardry VII: Crusadersof the Dark Savant at the time, andthem literally laughing at us forthinking we could do it.”- Ted Peterson,Arena’s DesignerTo help vanquish your foes, Arena features about21 weapon types and 26 armor pieces, all of which canbe made from one of eight different kinds of metal –such as Iron, Mithril or Ebony – each with a differentbonus. Furthermore, enchanted items might be foundin dungeons or bought in stores. And if you’re lucky,you might even hear rumors pointing you towardsone of the legendary artifacts of Tamriel.Also, if the 50 spells available are too boring youcould always try and create your own from a hugenumber of factors and effects (which could sometimeslead to making mages wildly overpowered).As you keept playing, the randomly generatedquests made it easy to ignore the main campaign. Theway that the game randomized the end goals for sidequests, dungeon locations, and the rumors one couldhear from one town to the next fed into that sandboxillusion with more and more hours spent wanderingthrough each province just to see what was there.As compelling as the smoke and mirrors were,technology only went so far. Despite seeing it on themap, there was no Red Mountain (or mountains forthe most part) and doing so many side quests wouldmake some of those dungeons in the wilderness seema little too familiar after so long with a bit of repetitionthrown in.But it was the sheer geographic vastness andthe idea of infinite adventure that made the world ofTamriel a sandbox of possibilities that other CRPGshad only paved the way forward for.With a 3D viewscreen, action-oriented combat,and blending all of that in with attributes, playerdrivenmorality, and a world filled with a wide varietyof equipment and empowering loot, Arena lived upto its name as a crucible for players to find their ownway and become the first stepping stone to Bethesda’sbiggest series. RCIn Arenathe Khajitdescend froman intelligentfeline race, buthave humanappearancedue to memorylimitations.Arena can besomewhat trickyto run properlyunder DOS Box,so we recommendthe handyArenaSetup package,that comespre-configured:http://wiwiki.wiwiland.net/index.php?title=Arena_:_ArenaSetup_ENAt Mage Guilds you can pay to create your own spells,combining up to three effects in any way you want.It’s vital to talk to NPCs and ask them directions. Theyalso provide side-quests and useful rumours.75

Ravenloft:Stone ProphetDreamForge Intertainment, 1995DOSStone Prophethas an interestinguse of in-gamemusic, featuringa spirit that singsthe “Song of theElusive Ghost”,which tells thestory behind theevents happeningin Har’Akir.The inhabitants ofthe Har’akir desertare sufferingfrom a terriblecurse and blameoutsiders such asyourself for theirfate. Some quitedisturbing scenesare presented.After traversing a mysterious wall of light, twoadventurers are trapped in the desert land ofHar’Akir. A wall of searing heat, known asthe Wall of Ra, prevents their escape. A flesh-rottingdisease and devastating storms threaten the survivalof the remaining inhabitants of the desert, most ofwhom are concentrated in the Village of Muhar. Thusbegins Ravenloft: Stone Prophet.The game takes the form of a first-person dungeoncrawler, using an early 3D engine that feels verymuch like that of The Elder Scrolls I: Arena. It includesan auto-map, that is extremely useful to maintain one’sorientation, and also supports jumping and flight bymeans of the appropriate spells – although these gamemechanics are much less polished and useful than in agame like Ultima Underworld. The party begins withtwo characters you create at the start of the game, andcan grow to include two additional NPCs for a maximumparty size of four. Stone Prophet also featuresday/night cycles, and the blazing sun battering thedesert by day requires players to maintain a supply ofwater in order to survive.The combat system is real-time, very similar totitles such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore.The game features a rich bestiary, and being aware ofthe abilities of each creature is important to be ableto overcome them – enemies can poison, diseasing,paralyzing, stunning, exploding upon death, or castingcertain spells. While most creatures can be defeatedusing normal weapons and spells, some require aspecial approach. For instance, desert trolls can onlybe killed by acid, fire or water, and the three greatermummies in the game are so powerful that they cannotbe destroyed by normal means.There are few friends to be found among thefrightened and superstitious inhabitants of Muhar,who believe the party to be responsible for the plagueand the storms. Nonetheless, many NPCs contributeto the quest with interesting conversation and bits ofhistory, that add a lot of atmosphere to the game.Some of these NPCs are willing to join the party,believing that they stand more of a chance to leaveHar’Akir as part of a group effort than on their own.These NPCs range from regular humans to exoticcreatures such as a wemic, a desert troll, an undeadwarrior and even a jackalwere. Choosing which NPCsto keep is a strategic decision, as each of them has hisstrengths and weaknesses. For example, the deserttroll is an excellent combatant, especially during theearlier stages of the game; however he can’t gain experience,has limited inventory space, and can’t holdanything in his hands.The inventory is very elegant, with a simple drag& drop interface and mannequins that display yourcurrent equipment and held items with nicely drawnartwork. The inventory capacity, however, is quitelimited, both in slots and in maximum weight.76

Whenever you enter one of Stone Prophet’s dungeons,the interface changes to fit the theme of the level.These harsh inventory limitations forces playersto make tough choices, as the world is so full of usefulitems that one is frequently faced with the dilemmaof which items to keep. Especially since charactersalso need to carry plenty of water skins to survive theblazing desert – or rely on a Create Water spell.Spellcasting follows the typical AD&D magicsystem, and is quite similar to that in the Eye of the Beholdertrilogy, featuring typical spells such as Fireballand Magic Missile. Some spells are particularly useful(such as Knock or Teleport), and a few are actuallyessential to complete the game (such as Speak withAnimals, which allows conversation with key NPCs).Strahd’s Possession & Menzoberranzan:Stone Prophet is actually the third title in a series of similarRPGs developed by DreamForge using the same engine.The first of these is Ravenloft: Strahd’s Possession (1994),which shares some common themes: after being drawninto a strange land crawling with undead and trapped by aborder of poison mist, the party must find a way to defeatthe dark lord of the land and find the necessary items tosecure their safe passage back home.The game’s exotic companions all have different abilities.The wemic, for instance, can jump to reach high places.Ravenloft: Stone Prophet provides a welcomedeparture from typical sewer treks with its massiveEgyptian-style open world. The desert of Har’Akir isvast and fraught with dangers, but also provides manyinteresting encounters, in terms of NPCs, items, anddungeons to visit. Each of the dungeons, ranging fromancient burial catacombs to richly decorated temples,provide important insight into the plot as well as itemsnecessary to progress in the quest to leave Har’Akir.A delight for avid dungeon-crawlers, Ravenloft:Stone Prophet was the third – and best – title in a oftenoverlooked series by DreamForge. So, if you’re curious,be sure to give the other games a try as well. DDThe second game is Menzoberranzan (1994), which is seton the popular Forgotten Realms setting. In order to rescuevillagers captured by Drow, the party descends intothe Underdark, to eventually reach Menzoberranzan, thecity of the Drow. On the way, they enlist the aid of DrizztDo’Urden, a legendary Drow ranger who has abandonedthe evil ways of his people. The party eventually becomesembroiled in a feud between various Drow houses, in abid to free the villagers and Drizzt himself.Ravenloft: Strahd’s Possession was the first of the threegames and featured a distinct horror atmosphere.Menzoberranzan capitalized heavily on the presence ofDrizzt, one of AD&D’s most popular characters.77

WitchavenCapstone Software, 1995DOSThe neat fake-3Dclay sprites thatwere so fashionablein the 90s.Witchaven is not a full-fledged RPG –it’s a first-person shooter (or rather,hack’n’slasher) with RPG elements.There are quite a few of those elements: XP, levelingup, degrading weapons, different types of armor,spells, traps, secrets and other goodies. There are fivedifferent types of potions to collect, various combatand utility spells to learn. But there’s no charactercreation, no NPC interaction and not a single choiceto be made – besides gore and difficulty levels. You arestuck with the knight Grondoval, who is tasked witheradicating the witch Illwhyrin, period.Gameplay-wise, that’s not a problem, becausethis knight is a one-man army! You’re just as proficientwith physical weapons as with casting combat spells(though you will rarely have to rely on the latter,except for tougher enemies of later levels), and yousoak up experience like a sponge. Killing trolls, impsand other enemies (or finding treasure, for thatmatter) will make you level up and become tougherstill. Higher levels also mean less weapon corrosionand access to more potent spells – and you will needthose to be able to defeat Illwhyrin.Talking about defeat: The need to think tacticalor die is exactly what makes Witchaven so compelling(another strong point are the neatly rendered fake-3D-sprites). In the beginning, combat is mostlya close-quarters affair, but you will soon find outthat the combination of degrading weapons andimprecise controls makes it an especially dangerousone. Thankfully, most of Illwhyrin’s minions are justas susceptible to terrain-induced damage as you are,so using the environment to your advantage will endmany fights early.In later levels and at higher difficulty, llwhyrin’smiserliness comes into play: You will find lesspotions, scrolls and even weapons, and chances arethat you will run out of essential supplies at the mostunfortunate moment. Discovering that you have nospell scroll left when the trapped corridor you reachedby flying turns out to be a dead end (and you haven’tsaved in a long while!) would be such an example. Butif you were a little thrifty yourself, you might still beable to cross the corridor with the help of your bowand arrows – provided you saved up some of those.Witchaven might have a few shortcomings(mainly squishy controls and – as opposed to thedetailed sprites – visually poor interior design),but the game scores with its clever use of physicsand gripping combat. Defeating opponents withenvironmental help is even more rewarding thandropping the ‘Nuke’ spell on them.Witchaven stands today as a product of histime, when games like Doom and Hexen were kingsand everyone wanted a piece of the pie. Too bad thatthe sequel expanded primarily on the shortcomings:Witchaven 2 suffered from horrible controls thatrendered it nearly unplayable. NS78

Cyberlore Studios, 1995Windows and MacEntomorph:Plague of the DarkfallThe second game set in the World of Aden andthe last RPG published by SSI, Entomorph issomewhat of an hybrid title, featuring a bit ofpuzzle and item hunting, light role-playing elementsand a heavy dose of arcade-like real-time combat.However, the exotic setting and plot are wherethe game really shines. The island of Phoros was oncea thriving nation, raising giant beetles for both laborand food. When an incident known as The Darkfallled the beetles to vanish, it fell into chaos. Ten yearslater, a group of nobles start to bring the beetles backinto the island, but multiple reports of missing peopleand savage insect attacks begin to appear as well.You play as Warrick, a squire who returns fromtraining in search of his sister, last seen heading forPhoros. In an interesting change, your adventures hereare narrated by a storyteller, as he recounts it to youryounger brother – sometimes spicing details up a bit.Another cool twist is that, as your quests advances,you will eventually mutate into an insect yourself.Unfortunately, there ends Entomorph’s appeal.The game uses Al-Qadim’s engine and tries to followits blend of RPG, action and adventure, but none ofthe different elements work very well here. It openswith a big village full of interesting NPCs and a fewside-quests, but quickly devolves into a linear andpoorly told story, that feels rushed and incomplete.Combat is crude – there are no skills, armors oreven weapons, you literally just punch your enemies.And there are no stats or experience points either –you only grow stronger by progressively mutating intoan insect. The magic system is more robust, featuring22 different spells, and you can set how much manato spend when casting each one. A nice idea, but youhave so little mana that you’ll rarely cast anything buthealing spells, except during the rare boss fights.Above all, what really dooms Entomorph is justhow frustrating its quests are. The game is horribleat directing players, and you’ll likely spend hourswalking without any clear goals, blindly trying to finda quest item or where you were supposed to go.It’s a shame really, as the concept behind the gameis refreshingly original, the presentation is rich andthe soundtrack is great. But, unless you are starved forexotic games, it’s best to avoid Entomorph. FEJoe Minton, oneof Entomorph’sdesigners, wrotea short storycalled Rise of theFire, which servesas intro to thegame’s plot.You’ll morph intoa giant mantisas the gameadvances. Moreinsects will appearas well, and theisland’s vegetationwill slowly bedestroyed.Some NPCs havenicely detailedbackstories, andthere are a fewside-quests youcan take to earnmagic items andhealing potions.79

AlbionBlue Byte Software, 1995MS-DOSAlbion beganas a sequel toAmbermoon, butThalion Softwareclosed down andthe developmentteam moved toBlue Byte, creatinga new story andsetting.Each race andclass has accessto different items,equipments andspells. For example,the Iskai canwield an extrasmall weapons intheir tails.In 1995 I went to my local computer shop andasked the owner for a new good game. Heknew my preference for role-playing games andsuggested a game called Albion, from Blue ByteSoftware. A Sci-Fi RPG made by German developers?I was a bit skeptical at first, but after hearing that thegame designers were also involved in Amberstar andAmbermoon – two of my all-time favorites – I wasconvinced and bought the game. I was starving for anew good CRPG and was positively surprised when Irealized after a few hours of playing that I already wasin love with this new fantastic game.First of all, Albion shines with an immersive anddetailed story. In the 23rd century powerful multi-nationalcompanies from Earth try to mine natural resourcesfrom uninhabited planets with great miningspaceships. You play Tom Driscoll, a pilot from themining ship Toronto who crashes with his shuttleduring a reconnaissance flight onto the exotic planetAlbion. Albion is supposed to be a barren world,ready to be mined, but Tom discovers quickly thatnothing could be further from the truth.Barely surviving the crash, you wake up in anvillage, surrounded by Iskai – exotic and intelligentcat-like creatures. Together with your scientist partnerRainer you must earn their trust through gooddeeds and intelligent conversation, while trying tofind a way to warn the mining ship about its mistake.Albion is full of alien tribes and factions to interactwith, historic places to explore, rich and variedlandscapes and various useful equipment to find.Blue Byte decided to make a game for a mature audiencethat addresses alien first-contact, environmentalismand anti-capitalism, similar to the 2009 movieAvatar. The story features also some twists, betrayal,murder and ancient Celtic magic.The main plot is linear, but each major locationoffers plenty of things to discover. You can feel thatthe level design in Albion is a labor a love. Every littledetail, creature, item and puzzle is carefully planned,created and placed manually. Around every cornera new little adventure or secret is waiting for you tobe discovered. This makes exploring a rewarding andexciting experience. The limited inventory, the deepdungeons, the serious wounds or conditions, the lackof provisions, the need of rest and some adventuregamestyle puzzles will force you to backtrack quite alot. And you’ll discover many optional areas as well.Albion is a very long game, with over 166 NPCsand 60 different monsters, and interacting with themis always interesting: You can ask everyone aboutmany topics (listed in a dialog screen) or type in keywordsto learn about new topics, secrets, culture, language,quests, potions, gossip and relations. The storydevelops slowly through interacting with people, soyou have to read, guess and ask a lot. Of course oftenyou’ll only get answers by doing some side-quests andsometimes by recruiting new party members.80

Albion features various different types of perspectives.Dungeons are usually explored in a 3D first-person view.Inside buildings you usually play with an isometric view,exploring rich enviroments full of items and NPCs.But not all dungeons are in first-person, some of themore puzzle-intense ones are explored in isometric view.You can build a party with up to 6 members.Each party member has a predefined class and aspecific background related to the story, and everycharacter has an inventory which is limited by theirstrength, so you’ll have to micromanage your itemsand provisions. Albion features many different items,some with very unique purposes. For example, you’llonly get an in-game time display if you find a watch atsome point in the game, which is good for monitoringthe day/night-cycle and the shops’ opening hours.Battles are turn-based, very challenging and takeplace in on a five-by-six grid. Combat is very tactical,featuring whopping 52 spells and enemies are quiteclever - so be prepared. As long as one party membersurvives you can heal the rest of the party afterbattle. Strategic positioning of the characters on thebattlefield and tactical decisions like protecting magicusers, getting the first attack by moving a characterrelative to the enemy, luring enemies into weapon/spell ranges etc. are critical to win.When a monster reaches you, combat begins. It’s turnbased,set on a 6x5 tactical grid and very challenging.Albion has beautiful graphics; featuring a 2D/3Dhybrid system. When in most towns and dungeonsthe game switches to a 3D first person view, while ininterior locations and outdoor areas a 2D isometricview is used. The controls are simple and easy to learn,and the game includes a helpful auto-map feature..With Albion, Blue Byte has created a fully believablealien world including the fauna, flora andarchitecture. Exploration is interesting, there are alot of NPCs to interact with and you’ll have to learntheir customs and culture to succeed. The storylineis gripping with many surprises, and the whole gamefeatures many different gameplay elements, with anattention to detail rarely found elsewhere.Albion is a beautiful, fascinating, serious andentertaining game that I recommend to all CRPG-fansthat are patient and mature enough to understand andenjoy demanding game-mechanics and challengingtactical combat. Dsarii-ma, my friends! HX81

DiabloDiablo wasinspired by DavidBrevik’s addictionto Moria/Angbandduring college,and was pitchedto Blizzard as aturn-based DOSgame.“Stay a whileand listen” saysDeckard Cain,one of the mostrecognized NPCsin gaming. He’lltell you tales andidentify items,but will chargeyou for that.Blizzard North, 1996Windows, Mac and PS1“Ahh, fresh meat”. Those now immortal wordsof Diablo’s infamous first real antagonist, theButcher, give an apt foreshadowing of whatis to come. Diablo and its sequels are like a butcher’smeat grinder. A haunting experience where playersfind themselves faced with a never ending onslaughtof ungodly creatures. Your journey concluding by facingdown the ultimate evil himself: Diablo.A player’s journey in Diablo starts off simpleenough with the choosing of a character class anda name. Each class has attributes pre-allocated anda special skill. The Warrior specializes in meleeweaponry and repair. Archery and trap disarming arehandled by the Rogue. Finally the Sorcerer specializesin powerful spells and the ability to charge magicalstaves. Further abilities however are not locked into your class selection – new skills and spells areacquired by finding or buying arcane tomes andcan be learned by any class – as long as they havethe required attributes. Classes also have assignedspeeds of attack, casting, and blocking. Great depth incustomization wouldn’t come until Diablo II.Diablo excels at world building. Tristram is aquaint little gothic town that’s church sits on top ofa mysterious labyrinth. Each new game has a randomlygenerated dungeon where the adventure takesplace. But your first experience isn’t killing monstersor grabbing items. It’s the serene sounds of one of thebest single tracks in gaming history. Strong voice actingand nuanced dialog introduce you to the world inDiablo. Each of Tristram’s cast tells a part of the storythrough quality voiced dialog in addition to theirgameplay functions.The cast of characters, music, and gothic styledart of the town create an atmosphere where the playeralways wants to learn more. As you delve deeper intothe dungeon you’ll find books detailing past eventssuch as the possession of the prince, the King’s subsequentmadness, or details on unique quests. The plotitself fails to live up to such great world building asyour mission is laser focused on ridding the town ofevil and defeating Diablo.Diablo’s core gameplay is built on an addictivefoundation of killing monsters, leveling up, findingitems, and doing this over and over again. This gameplayloop became so popular that it spawned an entiresub-genre known as “Diablo-clones”.Killing monsters is simple. Left-click to attack,right-click to use spells and press the numbered keysto consume potions in the hot bar. Monsters comesin various shapes and forms – including color paletteswaps – and occasionally you’ll also encounter uniquefiends that come with special abilities and resistances.Experience gained from killing monsters eventuallyleads to a level up where you can allocate 5 points toStrength, Dexterity, Vitality, or Magic. Each of theseaffect derived statistics like damage, chance to hit, life,and mana.82

“A bit into the development, theidea of turning Diablo into a real-timegame started whispering around theoffice. I resisted for a while, but eventuallyI decided to give it a try, and Iremember it like it was yesterday. Ispent the day converting the code toreal-time, and the first time I pressedthe mouse button, the warrior walkedover and smashed a skeleton apartin a smooth and satisfying motion.*gasp*! The clouds parted outside, aray of light beamed into the office andangels sang.”- David Brevik,Diablo’s Senior Designer& Lead ProgrammerWhat makes this loop fun is the item system.Each item you find will be randomly generated froma preset pool of qualities. Regular items have no specialproperties; just a damage or armor rating. Magicalitems combine a prefix and suffix attribute whichprovide various bonuses to your character. It couldbe faster attack speed, additional character stats, oreven curses. And Unique items are extremely rareand powerful. Diablo captures players with the constantpromise of a better item just around the corner,maybe in the next chest or enemy, driving you to keepfighting monsters till the early hours of the morning.Together with Diablo, Blizzard also launched theBattle.net service, where you could play competitivelyor cooperatively online. The big downside was therampant cheating, as Blizzard did not police hacksand exploits much. This alienated some from onlineplay, so the company was much fiercer in enforcinganti-cheating measures on future titles.Diablo also saw an expansion called Hellfire. Itbrought some welcome convenience features like theability to move faster in town. Oddly, Hellfire was notdeveloped by the same team or even company, so itlacks the same consistent quality as the base game.Still, extra content in the way of a new class – theMonk –, item upgrades and quests make Hellfireworthwhile for Diablo veterans, and some featureswould eventually work their way into Diablo II.Not many RPGs succeed in minimalism likeDiablo. The game world is not to be missed and theseminal loot system provides limitless replay value.There’s always another item to find, another monsterto kill and a new gothic labyrinth to navigate. SDMods:Belzebub: Also known as Diablo HD, it adds widescreensupport, new content and extensive gameplay changes,such as rebalanced classes and features from Diablo II.Diablo Awake: Adds new monsters/bosses, spells, quests,and items, plus a few bug fixes and gameplay changes.The Hell: Boasting to be the hardest of all Diablo mods, itadds new classes, items and over 500 named monsters.The Rogue facesthe macabreButcher, one ofDiablo’s uniqueboss enemies. Hisroom is coveredin blood, full ofmutilated corpsesthat didn’texactly pleaseparents.The Hellfireexpansion addedthe Monk class,but the discalso containedtwo unfinishedclasses – theBarbarian and theBard. Both can beplayed by editingthe game’s files.The small grid-based inventory forces players to go backto town frequently, for a brief moment of respite.The Belzebub mod also adds some content that wascut from the game, such as the Butcher’s Chambers.83

Lands of LoreGuardians of DestinyWestwood Studios, 1997Windows and DOSLuther is playedby Paul Bastardo,who was an employeeat WestwoodStudios andhad also actedin Command &Conquer.Sometimestransformationswill happen at theworst possibletime, turningyou into a small,fragile reptile rightnext to an angryskeleton.The game neverexplicitly tells youthat, but it offersa few alternatives,such as killing theKing and stealinghis treasure,instead of trying topersuade him.Westwood Studios had a strong tradition in2D art, creating some impressive artworkin Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore.But the 3D craze and the popularity of the FMV scenesin Command & Conquer clearly changed something,and so Guardians of Destiny came as a 3D title, withreal actors, full voice acting and many pre-renderedcutscenes – enough to fill 4 CDs. Despite the effort,time wouldn’t be gentle, and the game’s graphics haveaged far worse than those of its predecessor.Guardians of Destiny puts you in control ofLuther, son of Scotia – the evil witch defeated inLands of Lore. However, Luther isn’t a villain in searchfor revenge, but rather a wise-cracking reluctant hero,who must find a cure for the ancient curse he bears.This curse causes Luther to randomly (yes, itmight happen at any time) transform into a tinylizard – that can pass through small openings and castpowerful spells – or into a huge beast, strong and ableto move large objects. Apart from that, however, thegameplay is very simple. There are no party members,no classes to choose from, level-ups are automatic andthe real-time combat usually boils down to clickingthe attack & magic buttons as fast as possible.Luckily, combat and stats aren’t the focus ofthe game. Guardians of Destiny features a designthat clearly favors exploration instead of combat,with its well-designed levels populated by just a fewenemies. Instead of monsters, the areas in the gameare filled with alternative paths, for each of yourtransformations, and secrets – not only a few hiddenrooms and treasures, but entire levels, items, spellsand even lore-related cutscenes that players mightnot see. There are also various interactions with theenvironment, such as stacking boxes to climb a ledge,igniting oil or destroying pillars to cause a cave in.Better yet, the game features two paths – a goodand a evil one – each offering a few unique eventsand endings. There are no dialog choices in-game,everything is made through direct interactions, suchas killing NPCs or using/destroying key objects.These fine details remind you that Guardians ofDestiny was made by Westwood Studios, long-timeveterans of the genre. While it may look cheesy, it’s stilla charming RPG, with a charismatic main character,great level design and many secrets to uncover. FE84

Bethesda Softworks, 1997DOSAn Elder Scrolls Legend:BattlespireThe Battlespire is a training center for aspiringImperial battlemages. It is built into a secretcorner of the Daedric realm of Oblivion.When you enter the premises to take your final test,you discover that the academy has been taken overby Daedric invaders! And now that a seal blocks theportal you entered by, it looks like your only way outof this nightmare is through…Originally planned as an add-on to Daggerfall,Battlespire was published as a stand-alone game in1997. All the action takes place in the seven levelsof the Battlespire and the regions of Oblivion intertwinedwith it. The character and class creation systemis classic Elder Scrolls, even if only six player racesmade the cut. Also missing are the rest function, goldand shops. But it’s not as if sleep was a good idea, anyway,with all those Daedric minions breathing downyour neck … and if you need more equipment, findit on–site or take it off dead bodies. By the way, lootis the only randomized instance in Battlespire: Unlikethe Daggerfall dungeons, the complex maps are entirelyhandcrafted, so you won’t end up starving in amis-built labyrinth.No, you’ll pretty likely die in combat instead.Enemies in the Battlespire are a lot tougher thanthose you encountered in Daggerfall. You need to outmaneuverhostiles if you want to survive! Now don’tget me wrong: Battlespire may be more action-orientedand linear than Daggerfall, but it’s not all aboutbloodshed. You’ll have plenty opportunity of gettingto know the invaders... and make allies. Yes, you heardright: Allies. Not all Daedra are evil, nor does everyoneagree with Mehrunes Dagon’s plans of conquest.While you can get far by being impolite or just resortingto violence, you would be a fool to not take advantageof all the political intrigue going on.It’s not as if this grey-on-grey morality had tokeep you from being evil: If it’s more your style tobetray your allies after they outlived their usefulness,just do so!Playing Clan leaders off against each other orteasing horny (but impotent) Spider Daedra can beinsanely funny. In addition to that, Battlespire addsto and draws on established Elder Scrolls lore. Youenjoyed Oblivion and want to learn more about theDaedric realm, Mehrunes Dagon and his infightingcourt? Go play Battlespire!My only minor gripe are the bugs. While vanillaBattlespire is not the bugfest Daggerfall was, youmight have to start levels over again. Glyphs tend tofall through floors (these things are needed to progress,mind you). But if you plan on ignoring this funand demanding game just because of this, you’ll commita grave error, because patching it to version 1.5will help a lot. The scheming, the voice acting and the(often hilarious) dialog options are too brilliant tomiss out on. NSAlways horny: Thedenizens of theBattlespire.85

King’s Quest:Mask of EternitySierra On-Line, 1998WindowsShooting enemiesin first-personmode duringa platformingsection isn’texactly what thefans expectedfrom a King’sQuest game.One of the threeendgame trials toprove yourself aworthy championis a sliding puzzle.How exciting.The fabled designer Roberta Willians had a bigproblem in the late 90’s. The gaming marketwas booming, titles were selling millions, butadventure games – her trade – were considered dead.Sierra, the company she founded in 1979, was still agiant corporation, but Roberta and her husband hadsold it in 1996 (although they still worked there), andSierra’s new owners were desperate for a big hit.So Roberta took some of the most popular gamesat the time – Quake, Tomb Raider and Diablo – addedthen-innovative 3D graphics and tried to create a newstyle of adventure game, one that would attract thismodern gaming audience into her King’s Quest series.The result is an action-RPG that can be playedin either first- or third-person mode, complete withreal-time combat, platforming sections and even agrappling hook that allows you to climb walls. ManyRPG elements also were added, such as levels andexperience points, various weapons and armors andeven a Diablo-like toolbar of potions and healingitems you can devour during combat.However, little from the previous King’s Questgames is present. While occasionally you’ll comeacross one or two puzzles – such as using an axe tochop down a tree, so that it diverts the flow of a riverand stops a nearby mill – those are extremely rare.And don’t expect a single dialog tree either. Most ofthe time you’ll progress by killing everything thatmoves, and then clicking on everything that doesn’t.All could eventually be overlooked had the restof the game been good. But it just isn’t. Moving andjumping feels cluncky (the infamous “tank controls”),combat is nothing but clicking on enemies whilechugging potions, environments are dull and empty,the writting is childish and the game simply nevermanages to excite the player in any way.Looking back, Roberta was in a difficult positionand tried her best to reach this new gaming audience.It’s easy to criticize her now, but such wild bet madesense at the time. In fact, Mask of Eternity was releasedin the same year as the much revered adventure classicGrim Fandango – and outsold it 2-by-1.Does that make it a good game? Definitely not,but serves as a cautionary tale about the whims of thegaming industry and its fans. FE86

Gorky 17Metropolis Software, 1999Windows, OSX and LinuxGorky 17 (known as Odium on Americanshores) is a title I didn’t mind replaying forthe sake of giving it a modern review. The primaryreason being that it’s short and sweet, elegantlyborrowing elements from many other genres.The game places you in command of threeNATO Soldiers who are dropped in the middle ofnowhere (ahem, ‘a military complex somewhere inPoland’) with limited supplies and equipment, unsurewhat they are about to run into.First thing to know: Gorky 17 is tough. Healingconsumables are very limited, and if anyone in yourparty dies, you have to restart the battle or reload thegame. The battle system is standard tactical phasebasedRPG fare. During your turn, each charactergets to Move, Select a Weapon/Item, Face a specificdirection and Act (Shoot, Defend, Heal, etc...) in almostany order. The interface is easy to pick-up andprovides plenty of visual cues as to what is going on.The game attempts to keep combat fresh, and forthe most part succeeds. Many objects can explode orbe pushed to form makeshift barricades, and the playermust also consider factors such as obstacles, armortype, weapon ranges, directional facing and so on. Forexample, attacking a target from the sides or back willgrant bonus damage. Additionally, various status effectseventually come into play. Combatants can bemade ‘Flammable’ and subsequently be set aflame fordevastating damage using a variety of weapons… orsimple matches.Typical enemies appear to come straight out ofa cyberpunk nightmare. The AI is aggressive, but notsuicidal, and even just one of these mutant creaturescan be a serious threat. Then there are the monstrousbosses, each introduced by a short cinematic, whichmust be typically approached with different tactics.Your characters becomes more proficient themore they use a weapon, and experience points aregained from attacking in combat. Every level grants5 points to distribute in a handful of stats but, unfortunately,there isn’t much gameplay deviation fromthose stats except for ‘Calmness’. Unlike other stats,‘Calmness’ can be decreased, making the character goberserk more frequently – which can be good or bad.Outside of combat, the emphasis is on semilinearexploration, character banter and light puzzlesolving.Battles and events are all scripted, triggeredat certain locations, and areas have pre-renderedbackgrounds that look nice, if a bit crowded. You arestarved for ammo/supplies most of the game, makingefficient tactics and loot discovery fairly rewarding.Gorky 17 offers what not many game publishersdare to offer nowadays, which is mix up many differentgenre staples in one tough, slightly unforgivingpackage. It has the experimental goodness of an indiegame, coupled with the quality that could be expectedfrom a 15 years-old AAA title. Definitely worth the 20hours playthrough. MATwo other Gorkygames exist:Gorky Zero andGorky Zero 2.Both are a thirdpersonstealthaction games,set aroundcharacters fromGorky 17.Gorky 17 hassome elementsfrom adventuregames, requiringyou to collectobjects and solvesimple puzzles tomove forward oradquire extra loot.87

JaggedAlliance 2Sir-Tech Canada, 1999Windows, Linux (Mac and Android)**Since the releaseof the sourcecode, dedicatedmodders managedto createports of the gamefor Mac andAndroid.JA2 brought multilevelfights tothe series, withmany undergroundhide-outs.Jagged Alliance 2 is an isometric turn-based strategygame where you hire and command a bandof mercenaries in order to free a fictional countrycalled Arulco from the rule of its ruthless dictator,Queen Deidranna. Or is it?Reassessment and reflection occours each timeI’m asked what JA2 is. I’ve seen people drawn to thisgame for all possible reasons, from professional soldiersloving its strategic layer to gun nuts droolingover immense arsenal available, expanded even furtherby mods. Others praise the game for a creative,alchemical approach to RPG genre and its chess-liketactical depth.Aye, Jagged Alliance 2 is generous enough toallow you to enjoy it from all perspectives and playstyles.If you want to treat it as an isometric shooter,one-man team, fine, there’s enough action for everyRambo out there; if you want to instead take an armedstroll and explore the country, you’ll have a laugh anda whale of a great time too.Such flexibility is achieved through uniqueblend of strategy and RPG. While borrowing somerules of combat system from its predecessor, JA2 setsits narrative in brand new colourful world filled withdynamic characters. Want to be BFF with the localganglord? Help him solve some “problems”. Want toget rich quick? Rob his silver cache and spend the restof the game stalked by assassins he sends. And whoknows, they might catch you with your pants downjust as you’re visiting the local brothel.Having played so many games where your unitsare just cannon fodder, you’ll be surprised how muchthis old-school game tips its hat to your mercs’ personalities,especially in comparison to its siblingslike Fallout Tactics or X-COM. You do not commandclones with different stats; in Arulco, you get to createyour own custom merc fighting alongside men andwomen. From all walks of life, each have their ownfears, quirks, opinions and they are unafraid to voicethem. Several unforgettable one-liners will stick andyou grow to loathe a few and adore many.When you’re called upon to sacrifice one overanother you will find yourself doing your best to saveyour favourite rather than that obnoxious one. It’swhat you called virtual character bonding, somethingyou could hardly experience in a cinema or literature.You get to be both an actor and director in your veryown B-action movie.On top of that, JA2 offers a solid gameplay. There’splace for climbing roofs and cutting fences or blowingup walls, full auto shootouts and karate brawls orstealthy night assassinations and sniping from behinda cover, disarming mines or setting booby-traps andmuch, much more. Deep game mechanics, where thedevil is in the details, are an integral part of its vastpossibilities and seductive allure. All in all, when itcomes to squad tactics and turn-based strategy, there’syet a game to match JA2’s level of complexity.88

“Even though it wasn’t the focalpart of the game, I found some ofthe NPCs to be the coolest part -especially watching people theorizeon how the game worked in thisrespect. Whether it be Pablo, Kingpin,Deidranna, or any other NPC, therewas more talk about this aspect of thegame than the actual combat. And I’mhappy with that, the combat in JA isa given, so it’s the “extras” that I getoff on.”- Ian Currie,JA2’s Director and ProducerYou can commandvarioussquads at once,and the localsshow their supportby fightingalongside you asmilitia.Released two years later as last brain-child of IanCurrie and the already dying Sir-Tech, JA2 UnfinishedBusiness was the swan song of the series. The newcampaign is short and leaves you hungry for more.Sadly, there was nothing more to be had.But everyone back in the day wanted JA2UB becauseit came with the much awaited map editor.MODS:The JA2 community has added tonnes more of absolutegoodness, fixing bugs, improving features and adding newones, creating new stories and expanding it to a level nosane developer today would only dream about.A short-list hardly does them justice, but we’re sure thesewill give you a taste to try more. All mods are featuredand available for download at: www.bears-pit.comMods for Jagged Alliance 2JA2 Urban Chaos: The very first complete fan-made sequelof JA2, offers a complete new adventure in Danubia,with some revolutionary changes to systems and tactics(the name implies urban warfare and you will get plenty).It was rated by Finish Pellit gaming magazine as a 8.5/10(the same score as Jagged Alliance 2 itself).The irony is huge. The game that ended the originalseries actually was the one that kept it alive untiltoday, thanks to the massive modding boom thatit sparked. This and the decision by the publisher tocall the curtains on JA2 and release the source codewere Jagged Alliance’s bite of the vampire. It died, butit went on to live forever. SHMods for Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished BusinessJA2UB Vietnam SOG’69: BecomingX’s campaign landsyou in Vietnam, together with some very interesting newcharacters. One of the most played UB mods.JA2UB Shady Job: Shady Job is an amazing Russiancommunity response to the JA2 Urban Chaos success.The mod takes JA2UB and turns it into a whole new game,with new tactical map, new markets, new characters andnew weapons.JA2 Stracciatella: A complete overhaul of the JA2 sourcecode, started by modder Tron, transforming the engineinto a true platform independent piece of software. It allowedports of JA2 to Linux, Mac-OS and lately Android.JA2 v1.13 platform: Revered among fans for completelyoverhauling JA2, v1.13 brings thousands of new featuresand items to the game. And the beauty of it all, ittransformed JA2 into a mod-friendly game, spawning animpressive array of v1.13 based mods and features. Ohand it adds multiplayer...SOG’69 is the first JA2UB mod to completely changethe face and story of the game.89

Ultima IX:AscensionORIGIN, 1999WindowsAround the timeUltima IX wasreleased, RichardGarriott hintedat the possibilityof remaking theentire Ultimaseries using theUltima IX engine,releasing them asonline episodes.Shortly after,Garriott departedfrom Origin andthe project wascanned.Ultima IX’sinventory is stillbased on multiplecontainers, butthey are nowgrid-based,making themmuch easier toorganize.Ultima IX, published over 16 years ago, is thelast single-player Ultima, and the conclusionof both the Age of Armageddon trilogy(which began with Ultima VII) and the story of theAvatar. It’s also the most controversial entry in the series;no other Ultima game has so sharply and clearlydivided the opinions of the fandom.Development on Ultima IX began soon after therelease of Ultima VIII, with Mike McShaffry as theproject lead at the time. An enhanced version of theUltima VIII engine was selected as the technologicalbase for the game, which McShaffry soon convertedfrom a 2D engine to a software-accelerated 3D engine.However, he was soon removed from the project.It would have been after his departure that thewell-known Bob White Plot was written, likely basedon Richard Garriott’s own designs for the plot of thegame (a leaked version can be read online at websitessuch as the Ultima Codex and the Ultima Wiki). Atthe time, EA felt the game worthy of significant investment;many of the CGI cutscenes used in the finalgame were rendered around this time.However, much of the team was reassignedto assist with completing Ultima Online, and worklargely paused on Ultima IX until mid-1997. Muchhad changed in the intervening months; hardwareaccelerated 3D had taken off, and it was decided thatUltima IX should make use of this new technology.A new team was hired, and Ed Del Castillo wasbrought over from Westwood Studios to serve as thegame’s producer. He rewrote the plot treatment significantly,but was soon dismissed from Origin Systems.With pressure from EA to cancel the game andfocus on Ultima Online mounting, Richard Garriotttook direct control of the project, and the plot wasre-written once more. EA gradually removed fundingand resources from the Ultima IX team, and eventuallyimposed a firm release deadline which left theteam scrambling to complete a playable build of thegame. With only weeks to spare, a playable build wasachieved, and the game was greenlit for release.Upon release, Ultima IX was – as might be expectedgiven the above – very buggy and unstable, somuch so that Origin Systems opted to re-release anupdated version of the game on new CDs to all whohad purchased it.The game was also heavily criticized for payinglittle heed to the canon of the Ultima series; theending of Ultima VIII and many other key eventsfrom the series were ignored or re-written, upsettingfans who had followed the Ultima lore for almost twodecades. Other common complaints include that itlacked party members, that the game world felt overlysmall, that combat was crude, the plot limited, thedialogue unpolished and the voice acting poor.There is validity to all of these criticisms. Therewas little time during the race to finish the game fordesigners and editors to iterate the written dialogue;90

“He [Richard Garriott] wantedBritannia to come alive. And we didour best to do that. We had birds thatactually flew out of trees and went andhad a place for their nest, and they satback in their nest. We had all kinds ofcool features to just make the worldcome alive. And the amount of effortthat took robbed us of the ability toput in a lot of the more traditionalRPG elements, like a party, like NPCschedules, like who owns what object,like crafting.”- Bill Randolph,Ultima IX Lead ProgrammerThe game’s plotrevolves aroundthe corruption ofthe Virtues by theGuardian, whoraised mysteriousblack columns allover Britannia.designers would often write a scene and hand theirfirst-draft script directly to the audio producer, whowould get the actor(s) involved to record it that day.The game’s technology and scripting were very complexfor their day, and more polish was required thanOrigin had time to apply.And yet, Ultima IX was – and in some ways remains– a technical marvel. It features a fully open 3Dworld, and offers some of the best dungeons – Hythlothexcepted – to be found in the Ultima series. Manyobjects in the world can be freely manipulated, andcontainer objects (e.g. barrels) even have buoyancy.The ability of the player to manipulate scenery objectsat whim is a feature that largely disappeared from 3DRPG design for about decade after Ultima IX’s release.Ultima IX also brings the story of the Avatar andthe Guardian to a satisfying end, and drives home thenow commonly-accepted point that ultimately, it wasthe Avatar who was the cause of many of the misfortunesthat befell Britannia. And the soundtrack, byGeorge Oldziey, is truly excellent.Despite its reception, Ultima IX is not without alegacy. German RPG developers Piranha Bytes drewsignificant inspiration from the game whilst developingGothic and, later, Risen; both games improve uponthe formula that Origin Systems never had the timeto fully develop, and are classics in their own rights.For me, personally, there was one other thingthat Ultima IX offered. You see, I grew up playing Ultima.I love the series and its setting; Britannia was myNarnia, my magical land hidden just out of view. Andin Ultima IX, finally, I could see its sky. KKMods:Dialogue patch: a re-writting of the game’s dialog, tobetter fit the lore and continuity of the Ultima series.Forgotten World: provides several patches and updatesfor Ultima IX, improving its performance, fixing someof the remaining bugs and restoring some of the contentthat was cut late in the game’s production.Follow it here: www.forgottenworld.deBeautiful Britannia: improves the game’s textures andadds several areas there were cut from the game.Combat in Ultima IX is simplistic; most of the time you’lljust hit the left-mouse button as fast as you can.Modded Ultima IX, with enhanced graphics, widescreensupport and restored content.91

SilverInfogrames, 1999Windows, Mac and DreamcastSome enemies aremore susceptible tocertain elements.The goblins, forexample, hate fire.An early versionof the radial menupopularized in somemodern RPGs.Silver is a game of many contradictions. It wasdeveloped as a Japanese console-style game bya European studio and released for the PC in1999. It was marketed as an RPG, yet many of thefundamental elements of the genre were overlooked.The polygonal characters were represented with verylittle detail, but the pre-rendered backgrounds werelifelike and beautiful. It is, therefore, hardly surprising,that Silver was released to wildly mixed reviews.The one aspect of the game, the critics almostuniversally dislike, is the story. It is your standardfantasy fare: in the world of Jarrah a young knightDavid sets out on a quest to defeat Silver, an evilsorcerer who kidnapped his wife. The mood is setby brilliant, atmospheric music, composed by DeanEvans. The presentation, however, is a mixed bag.While the detailed 2D backdrops and animationsshine, the 3D characters could use some polish.The adventuring party consists of up to threemembers. You can directly control one character,or select a group and give them basic orders. This isachieved via a radial menu, which can also be usedto access equipment and spells. Real-time combat isfast-paced and surprisingly complex. Apart from basicattacks, magic and artifacts, you can use mouse gesturesto perform thrusts, swings and dodges. Unfortunately,clunky controls and the lack of active pause, detractfrom the experience. Since the focus is on action andthe screen is often crowded with enemies, getting themost out of the available tools requires skill, reflex andprecision. As a result, combat is the most satisfyingwhen you only control David against a single adversary.Those duels often play out as puzzles: you have to learnthe opponent’s behavior and use his weak points andthe environment to your advantage.As a fan of classical RPGs, I cannot but noticeSilver’s shortcomings. Character development isautomatic, dialogues play out with hardly any playerinput and there are no meaningful choices andconsequences. Yet, despite those obvious flaws, thegame managed to win me over with its wonderfulmusic, diverse world and the indefinable sense ofadventure. When the credits rolled, I was left with thatfeeling of satisfaction you only get for a few seconds,after you read a good book or see a great film. AM92

Square Co., 1999Windows and PlaystationFinal Fantasy VIIIThe Final Fantasy series always had one veryunique characteristic: every game is different.After the huge success of FFVII, it would beeasy to just make a more-of-the-same sequel (andsome fans still want one), but Square had other plans.The first change is obvious: the art is completelydifferent. In the two years since FFVII, Square wentfrom crude, cartoonish characters to very realisticmodels, especially on the superb FMV cutscenes.The combat has been changed as well, andFFVIII’s magic system is the most exotic of the series.Gone is the concept of mana; you now must stockmagic spells, that are acquired from enemies. So ifyou own three Cure spells you’ll only be able to castCure three times, then it will be unavailable untilyou collect more of it from monsters. Of course, thiscan lead to grinding enemies for spells, and to helpcounter that the game scales all monsters to your level.As a side-effect FFVIII is arguably the easiest game inthe series, as enemies are never too strong for you.Summons work very differently too. Now calledGuardian Forces, they must be assigned to charactersand each offers different abilities and passive bonus,allowing you to customize your party. They still canbe used as regular summons, delivering powerfulattacks that can be used at will. This doesn’t kill thechallenge, but will test your patience, as every timeyou call a Guardian Force you’ll have to watch theentire summon animation over and over again.All of this is honestly a side-show. When talkingabout FFVIII, there’s no escape: the story is the mainattraction here, and it goes everywhere; high-schooldrama, love during wartime, political struggles andeven time travel. But, at it’s core, it’s a coming ofage story. The main character, Squall Leonhart, is areluctant hero, a loner struggling with his own feelings.Many consider him to be too annoying in histeenage angst, and at times the personal momentsof the characters are overwhelmed by the bizarreplot, but those who look past these faults may findthemselves shedding a tear over the ending credits.The music deserves a separate mention. NobuoUematsu composed an epic, emotional soundtrackthat matches the story perfectly. Definitely worth alisten, even if you’re not interested in the game.Last but not least, FFVIII features the addictingTriple Triad card game, a great way to spend evenmore time in this “love it or hate it” masterpiece. FEFFVIII was portedto PCs in 1999,and re-releasedon Steam in 2013.This new versionsupports higherresolutions, butuses a low qualityMIDI soundtrack.A mod namedRoses and Winefixes that.The “draw” commandallows you toabsorb magic fromenemies and eithercast or store them.Final Fantasy VIIIfeatures almost anhour of pre-renderedcutscenes.No dialogs wereadded, in an effortby the developersto convey emotionthrough bodylanguage alone.93

System Shock 2Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games, 1999Windows, OS X and LinuxBy demand ofthe publisher, SS2has a multiplayerco-op mode.But beware, thedevelopers statedmany times thatit’s a game bestexperiencedalone.Besides shooting,you’ll also haveto hack, repair,modify and evenresearch stuffyou find.Who could ever forget playing System Shock2? Who could forget the mindless, pipewielding mutants patrolling dimly lit hallways.The ungodly sight of blood and bizarre biologicalgrowths covering walls and ceilings while a horrificsymphony of terror created by computer terminals,whirring security cameras and the ship‘s relentlesslydroning engines plays in the background. The cyborgmidwives tending to their “little ones” while rattlingoff motherly stock phrases of affection. The exceedinglypolite, if somewhat pushy and accident-proneprotocol droids, or the partially vivisected monkeysrising up against their captors. The creeping feelingthat the very environment you inhabit is your mortalenemy. How could anyone possibly forget playing –No, experiencing! – that?Whether the 1994 System Shock can be consideredan RPG is up for debate. The fact remains thatin an age where games like Doom limited its contentto navigating mazes, finding keys and shooting stuff,System Shock featured a complex (if convoluted) UIthat allowed the player to jump, crouch, peek aroundcorners, jack into cyberspace, read logs and managean extensive inventory. Sadly, in what would becomea pattern for Looking Glass, releasing a product thatwas years ahead of its time didn‘t pay off. System Shockobtained wide critical acclaim, but sold poorly.However, the game managed to develop a cultfollowing over the years. Among the select group ofaficionados was a young Ken Levine. His company,Irrational Games, was granted the rights to work ona sequel, allowing for a proper, triumphant return ofSHODAN, the devious rogue AI that had so masterfullyserved as the first game’s main adversary.Developed on a shoestring budget in an officethat can be aptly described as Looking Glass’ broomcloset, there was constant symbiosis between the twocompanies. First and foremost, Irrational had accessto the Dark Engine, which would first come to usein the 1998 stealth classic Thief. As a result, SystemShock 2 shares many of its strengths with the originalThief: The player is able to hide in the shadows of thelarge, intricately designed levels, with different surfacesgenerating different levels of noise, potentiallyalerting nearby enemies.What truly separates SS2 from its predecessoris the use of a complex character system, resulting ina game that is both FPS and RPG in equal measure.Early on the player chooses one of three classes: thegun-toting marine, the psionically-endowed OSAagent or the techsawy navy hacker. Throughout thegame the player can customize his character howeverhe chooses: improving his attributes, selecting traits,training the skills required to equip and repair morepowerful items, finding implants or learning any ofthe 35 available PSI-powers, that range from temporarilybuffing stats to firing mental projectiles andeven the ability to teleport yourself.94

“For me the important part ofSystem Shock 2 is the difficultyand the resource scarcity. I wouldprobably describe it more as beingabout tension than horror. There’sa horror element to the story andcharacters are terribly disfigured or inpain or whatever, but that’s actuallyless important to me than the factthat the game is really, really hard.It requires you to constantly be veryfocused and intense. There are a lotof things that can go wrong.”- Jonathan Chey,System Shock 2’s Project Managerand Lead ProgrammerResources are scarce though: weapons degradewith every single shot and have a nasty tendency toeither break or jam during tense firefights. Enemiesrespawn over time, and even areas which have beenpreviously cleared can become death traps. The highdifficulty crowns SS2’s unrivaled sense of danger.To add to the atmosphere, the ghosts of the VonBraun – the faster-than-light spaceship where yourdescent into hell takes place – still inhabit the vessel.Both figuratively – in the form of increasingly desperateaudio logs – and literally, as apparitions that recreatethe crew members’ final, ghastly moments.System Shock 2 struck a nerve, but despite anoverwhelmingly positive reception and the fact thatit would go on to inspire both FPS/RPG hybrids andhorror games to this very day, it sold below expectations.And with Looking Glass going out of businessin 2000, the jarring cliffhanger that concludes therushed final levels remains unresolved to this day.Irrational Games would live on to see the financialsuccess that Looking Glass was never allowedwith the 2007 release of the popular Bioshock series,which – to the disappointment of many fans – did notturn out to be the next step in the logical evolution ofFPS/RPG hybrids they had hoped for.System Shock 2 stands unchallenged both in itsseamless blending of genres and in its ability to trulymake the player feel like a pathetic creature of meatand bone, panting and sweating as you run throughSHODAN’s corridors. NHMods:A very active community at www.systemshock.org stilloffers advice and releases great mods. Here’s a selection:Shock Community Patch: big collection of fixes fromthe devoted SS2 community. Highly recommended.TF’s Secmod: rebalance things, change enemy positionand add new skills, items and guns. Perfect for a replay.System Shock Fan Missions: adventures that rangefrom sequels to SS2’s story to exploring medieval cryptsor snowy planets. Most are very polished and even offervoiced logs. Christine’s Ponterbee Station is a must-play.Enemies roamthe halls and arogue AI watchesover your everystep. There’s nosafety in SystemShock 2.SHODAN is voicedby Terri Brosius,who not onlyworked as writerand level designerfor Looking Glass,but was also partof an early 90’srock band namedTribe.Managing the inventory, saving resources and keepingweapons functional are mandatory for your survival.Some fan missions, such as UNN Polaris, offer newmonsters and enviroments to the players.95

2000-2004The rise of themodern gaming industryIf the 90’s were a time of great technological jumps, then the start ofthe new millennium was a time of drastic changes in the business side. Itwas a period of consolidation, that re-shaped the gaming industry.Previously, the successful fifth generation of consoles, led by thePlaystation and the Nintendo 64, had sold millions and greatly expandedthe gaming audience. Now the Playstation 2 was spearheading the 6thconsole generation and breaking all sales records, but the developmentcosts also kept rising at an alarming pace.While a few PC companies like Maxis, Valve and Blizzard struckgold with hits such as The Sims, Counter-Strike and Diablo II, the topselling list became entirely dominated by consoles and handhelds.Former PC giants like Sierra, Brøderbund and Origin had alreadybeen sold in the late 90’s, and the harsh scenario of the early 00’s sawthe end of Interplay, SSI, Hasbro Interactive, Infogrames, MicroProse,Acclaim and the 3DO Company, among others.EA and Activision purchased many of these, further consolidatingtheir position as rulers of the US market, while others had no choice butto close doors and declare bankruptcy.In Japan, Square would merge with Enix and become Square-Enix,an attempt to fight the ever increasing development costs. Even on thehardware side things were getting tighter, with 3Dfx being acquired byNvidia, leaving the graphic cards market as the duopoly between ATI andNvidia that stands to this day.One of the biggest changes happened in the console market; SEGAleft the fight with heavy losses after the consecutive failures of the Saturnand the Dreamcast. But a new challenger, Microsoft, rose in its place.And what a challenger that was.The first successful US console since the Crash of 1983, the Xboxwould have a major impact in the industry. Culturally and geographicallyclose to western developers and with the mighty Microsoft providing asense of economical stability, the Xbox was the gateway for companieseager to try their hand in the blooming console market. To ease them in,the Xbox (a contraction of “DirectX Box”) was designed from the startso that veteran PC developers could easily understand and work with.In the early 00’s, the Xbox managed to bridge the gap between PCsand consoles, and the US market became almost entirely controlled byfew large companies.96

Trends:“The Death of PC Gaming”: The late 90’s had already been rough, but the early 2000’ssaw the end of some of the biggest and most respected PC companies of the past decades,such as SSI, Interplay, Origin, New World Computing, Westwood Studios and Microprose.Some were adquired by giants like EA and Activision, others closed down. Next to the evergrowing popularity of the consoles, this crisis led many to weave grim prophecies aboutthe “Death of PC Gaming”.Westwood, Originand Bullfrog were allbought by EA in the90’s and shut down inthe early 2000’s.Diablo Clones: Diablo’s success in 1997 had already led to a few followers, such asDarkstone and Ancient Evil, but with the blockbuster hit that was Diablo II they became apopular sub-genre, with games like FATE, Sacred, Heretic Kingdoms, Throne of Darkness,Nox and many others to this day. Unfortunately, this trend was harmful to some titles – theisometric action-RPGs Prince of Qin and Divine Divinity featured elaborate quests andstorylines, but were overlooked as “just another Diablo-clone”.Diablo II sold 1million units in itsfirst two weeks, arecord at the time.Handheld Consoles: The phenomena that was Pokémon In 2001 Nintendo introducedits sucessor, the GameBoy Advance. A few other companies tried to follow, such asNokia’s N-Gage – a cellphone/gaming device hybrid. Nintendo DS, released in December2004 and to date the best-selling handheld console of all time. In the same month Sonywould release its Playstation Portable – the PSP –, starting a rivalry that still continuestoday with their successors, the 3DS and the PSP Vita.All Nintendo DSmodels combinedhave sold over 150million units, secondonly to the PS2.The Playstation 2 is released.It dominated the 2000’s andbecame the best-selling videogame console in history, withover 155 million units sold.The Gamecube was a bet on“family-friendly” consoles,but the lack of third-partygames made it struggle.It sold 22 million units.The Xbox was Microsoft’sentry into the console wars.It would revolutionize thegaming scenario in the USand sell 24 million units.Warcraft III is released.Its mod community wouldcreate Defense of the Ancients(aka DOTA) and popularizetower defense games.World of Warcraft is releasedand becomes the standard forMMOs. It peaked at 12 millionsubscribers in 2010, butremains extremely popular.2000 2001 2002 2003 2004The Sims is a surprise hit,selling 12 million units anddethroning Myst as the topselling PC game. As a whole,The Sims franchise sold over175 million copies.Bejeweled is released, at firstas a browser game. Later itwould get multiple portsand sequels. A success withcasual players, the series hasover 150 million downloads.Grand Theft Auto III takesthe world by storm, selling14 million units across allplatforms, popularizingopen-world sandbox gamesand leading to a new debateover video game violence.AMD creates the first 64-bitprocessors for home use,allowing for PCs to use morethan 4GB of RAM. By 2005AMD and Intel would alsointroduce new multi-coredesktop processors.Half-Life 2 brings in aninnovative physics engineand a more cinematicapproach. It also comes withValve’s newly-released Steamand lead to popular mods,such as Garry’s Mod.97

Diablo IIBlizzard North, 2000Windows and MacBlizzard provideda great amount ofsupport for DiabloII, patching thegame and addingnew content forover 11 years.Diablo IIbranched its lootinto the nowfamous coloredtiers, going fromLow Quality up toUnique.Back in my youth, I’d received a CD from a gamer’speriodical, ‘PC Gamer‘. Containing a myriadof game demos, one of those happened tobe Diablo. Thrown into a world of dark fantasy, I wasimmediately enraptured by its atmosphere and its addictivelooting system. The pilgrimage into the townof Tristram had become love at first fright, and I washardly the only one. Diablo sold millions, with thegame’s popularity spawning countless clones trying tomimic the formula. And in the summer of 2000, thesequel arrived. Welcome to Diablo II.After witnessing the demonic Soulstone beingwedged into the hero of the first Diablo, our darkwanderer fights to control the darkness within…andis losing. Wrestling with nothing short of the devilhimself, his journey heads east. Always to the east. Itwould’ve been easy enough for the studios of Blizzardto make “just another Diablo”; repeating the formulaand throwing in a few new enemies. Instead, theychose something different. Something ambitious.The main quest of Diablo II is a global matter, asyour champion follows the trail of destruction left byour troubled stranger. New and awe-inspiring characterswill make their debuts through thrilling andvisually-impressive cinematics; something Blizzard isstill very well-known for. It’s a well-written story thataims far higher than the original, which essentiallyboiled down to “Satan’s in the basement, go whackhim a few times”. While not nearly as complicated ifjuxtaposed with the Planescapes and the Fallouts ofthe RPG world, it still comes to mind as one of themore memorable ones.Split into multiple acts, your travels will be farmore than a level-to-level affair. The four diverse localesyou’ll explore are open-world, and come with ahandful of quests outside of quelling the threat ahead.Diablo has always employed a very simple core formulafor combat, and its sequel isn’t drastically far off.There’s no need for a roll of the die or fancy mathematicsto muddy the action; Left-Click to attack,Right-Click for magic. The major difference betweenthe two games, however, is that the sequel strives tobuild more in-depth roleplaying systems through skilltrees and the characters’ abilities. Instead of having tofrantically search for books to find your wall of firespell, new movesets become available while levelingup and are yours to choose. And with 3 different skilltrees for each class, the divergences of your characterare numerous.Straying away from a repeat of the classic Warrior/Rogue/Magetrifecta of the original, you’ll begiven more exotic options like the Necromancer andthe Amazon. Not just a new name on the label, thegameplay options can vary wildly between classeswith abilities like the Paladin’s Aura System, or theNecromancer’s ever-so-elegant corpse explosion. Totop it off, Diablo II came with a robust multiplayersystem using Battle.net. The game was designed spe-98

“We used the term “kill/reward” todescribe our basic gameplay. Playerscontinually kill monsters and get rewardedwith treasure and experience.But the rewards don’t stop there.We offer a steady stream of goalsand accomplishments to entice theplayer to keep playing. There’s alwaysa quest that is almost finished, a waypointalmost reached, an experiencelevel almost achieved, and a dungeonnearly cleared out.”- Erich Schaefer,Diablo II’s Project and Design LeadWhile Diablobattles werealways underground,its sequeltakes you throughall sort of enviroments,frombattlefields andtombs to junglesand palaces.cifically with online in mind, both co-operative andotherwise; It’s a treat for those looking to get theirdungeoning on. PvE Partying, PvP dueling, and a laddersystem added a greater replay value to the originalcampaign.The music is sublime. Composer Matt Uelmenmakes his return after the previous title, and managesto retain the brooding vibe of the original. As the gamegoes on, however, the instrumentals take on a moreinternational and experimental sound than fans maybe used to, due to the notable change in location. Themystery and mystique in these new settings are stillvery present, a testament to the talent going into theaural department of Diablo II.The graphical side is at the top of its game. Whilestill working off its isometric 2D engine, the art styleand the animation quality was exactly what it neededto be. The randomly generated worlds of Diablo II feltlike a living, breathing, haunting experience. The originaldid as well, but not quite to the same degree. Theworlds were more detailed, less confined, and encouragedexploration a bit more than its predecessor.The Lord of Destruction expansion pack arrived ayear later, building off a significant story arc and addinga fifth act to the game, as well as two new classes:the Druid and the Assassin.Diablo II is a beautiful thing. It captures the essenceof what made the original such a success, whileventuring far from a dreaded case of “sequelitis“. Thestory will grab you, the enemies will haunt you, andthe sheer variety of options will pull you back in. Thenew characters, the fan-made mods, the expansionpack, and the multiplayer components are more thanenough reason to travel once again through the shadysands of Lut Gholein, or the dire docks of Kurast.Diablo II is a must for dungeon crawlers whohunger for dark atmosphere and an entertaining action-basedroleplaying experience. GTMods:The addition of skill trees made character’s progressionmuch more interesting than the previous game.Back to Hellfire: Aims to recreate the experience of theoriginal Diablo, changing classes, skills, music and more.Le Royaume des Ombres: A huge total modificationmod, it offers a new world to explore, new skills, quests,monsters, crafting recipes and over 2000 new items.Hell Unleashed: Enhances the game, increasing the sizeof dungeons, adding new tougher enemies and makingboss fights more complex. For multiplayer play.Median XL: Ultimative: One of the most popular mods,completely change the skills, adds various new monsterswith reworked AI, new unique items and a series ofuberquests and challenges for Diablo II veterans.99

Baldur’s Gate II:Shadows of AmnBioWare, 2000Windows, Mac (iOS and Android)**An EnhancedEdition of the BGgames has beenrecently released.It adds new content,wide-screensupport and alsoiOS and Androidports.Dream sequencesare the keyinteraction withIrenicus in theearly game andreally add atmosphereto BG2.Baldur’s Gate II: Shadow of Amn for me wasmore than a game; it was an unforgettablejourney throughout the world of Faêrun thatcame alive before my eyes, with friends and villainswith believable yet interesting and unique historiesand personalities of their own. It was my first CRPGever, and one that I fell absolutely in love with.BG2 continues the story of the first game, butyou can skip BG1 if you wish without losing much.Set in the Forgotten Realms, rich in detail and history,you assume the role of Gorion’s ward, one of the manyoff-spring of the deceased God of Murder, Bhaal. Thestory unfolds as your unique heritage draws the attentionof a powerful mage, Irenicus, whose sole motiveis to “unlock your power” for his own use. I loved howthe villain’s true nature is cleverly disguised with hisseemingly unemotional nature in the beginning andhis powerful dialogues are delivered with masterfulvoice acting which blew me away. Ultimately, the storyof BG2 is a personal one; a journey of discoveryand the protagonist’s struggle against their own naturethat is mirrored by the villain.Naturally, it is fitting that your companions playa huge role in BG2, influencing your decisions as youbond with them throughout your journey. The NPCsare extremely well-developed, with their own uniquequests, personality and banters with you or with eachother, which was biggest improvement compared toits predecessor. Each NPC will remember their previousconversations with you and react to your decisionsaccordingly, allowing you to be their friend orenemy, or even start a romantic relationship. This isthe part I enjoyed the most in BG2; it was such a satisfyingexperience, to get to know them, help themdevelop and even save their soul.Most of your companions can be found withinthe city of Athkatla, which functions as your base ofoperations in the early game, where you are givenfreedom to explore and experience the city and otherneighbouring regions. Athkatla is a delight to explore;each part of the city is well fleshed out, populated bytownsfolk of different status or professions. While itoutwardly appears that the city is co-governed by amerchant council and a sinister group of mages, thereare other powerful organisations that play prominentroles and soon you will find yourself caught amidsttheir struggle over control of the city. You also havethe chance to increase your standing within Athkatlathrough the stronghold quests which vary dependingon your player character’s chosen class.During your journey, you’ll find a wealth of sidequests;so much that you might feel overwhelmed attimes. Most of the quests are varied, well-written, andoften incorporates puzzles, ranging from simple riddles,to elaborate plots with you playing the role ofa detective – for example, one has you attempting toprove your sanity by answering riddles in order to escapefrom a prison where mental “deviants” are held.100

“The real-time pause combat systemon top of the deep roleplaying gameis one of the best things that hasever happened to the RPG genre.That extra element of tactics fromthe realm of games like Warcraft II orStarcraft really opened up the combatexperience of the game, and I thinkit also drew some of the really coolelements out of the AD&D systemwhile keeping combat fierce andaction-packed.”- Kevin Martens,Co-Lead Designer of Baldur’s Gate IIYour quests will take you to many different placesin Faerûn – from a pirate island, a beautiful elvencity, the Underdark (where the most fearsome andterrible creatures reside) – or even to different Planes.You will encounter interesting and often hostile inhabitantsof the places you visit, which adds varietyand fun to combat. You will have to come up with differenttactics to survive some tough battles. Just onemisplaced spell can make a battle extremely difficultas some spells affect not only your enemies, but yourcompanions or even innocents in the area – and youwill have to deal with the deadly consequences!Magical combat is engaging and strategic, involvingmore than just blasting targets with fireballs, andthe high level cap means you’ll see some of the mostpowerful spells AD&D has to offer. Mages often havelayers of protection spells which will need to be dispelled,and will turn invisible or even stop time itself toprepare a devastating attack on your party. Of course,The great artwork and item descriptions add a lot to thegame, and the UI is easily one of the best among RPGs.your mages have the same abilities, and making bestuse of the limited number of spells they get per daycan turn a nasty beating into a thrilling victory.For the non-caster classes, there is a huge rangeof weapons available. The majority of weapons comewith their own history and lore (or sometimes humorousconversations!), often interesting and fun toread. There are also a number of legendary weaponswhich can be forged using parts found during yourjourney - most of the time it’s well worth it to huntfor these parts!Baldur’s Gate 2 is one hell of a journey; there isso much to experience, so much to see, it is hard todescribe it all using words alone – you will have toexperience it for yourself! By the end of your journeythrough both Shadows of Amn and the Throne ofBhaal expansion, you will be as eager to share yourexperiences with others as I am. SNMods:There are many mods available for BG2; they rebalancethe game, fix issues and add new companions – someeven contain their own voice-overs. Here’s a few:Baldur’s Gate Trilogy-WeiDU combines all Baldur’s Gategames and expansions, allowing you to play them as asingle game, using BG2’s superior engine and UI.Sword Coast Stratagems is an elaborate tactical/AI modthat makes combat really challenging. For experts only.Spell Revisions fixes and balances the spells in the game,nerfing overpowered ones and improving others.Ascension Mod: created by David Gaider, one of thegame’s designers, this mod aims to make the ending moresatisfying, adding new content and challenges.For more mods, visit: www.pocketplane.net/modlist/BG2 uses theInfinity Engine,featuring beautifulisometricgraphics andreal-time withpause combat.BG2’s gamemanual is an attractionby itself,spiral bound and262 pages long,describing all the298 spells in thegame.101

Vampire: The MasqueradeRedemptionNihilistic Software, 2000WindowsFighting Cappadociansinsidethe catacombsof MedievalPrague .Vampire the Masquerade Redemption has alwaysbeen overshadowed by its big brotherBloodlines. It might not be the best CRPGever, but it’s still a bloody good game. With a smallteam, Nihilistic Studios was able to construct beautifulenvironments and a compelling story with colorfulcharacters.While convalescing in Medieval Prague, a youngFrench crusader called Christof Romuald falls in lovewith one of the nuns taking care of him. His overzealousattitude leads him straight into conflict with localvampires and paints him as a worthy candidate toundeath. Turned into a vampire by the Brujah, a clanof warrior-philosophers from ancient Carthage, ourhero wanders through Prague and Vienna by nightto save his lost love and prevent the awakening of anancient wicked vampire. Halfway through the game,Christof is projected through time and awakes on theEve of the New Year 2000 in London to end his quest.The story itself is simple and extremelystraight-forward but the unique setting created byWhite Wolf is well-explained and keeps its density.A few occasional choices are given to the player, butthey don’t change much and only impact on the ending.Through the two time periods, three companionswill join Christof on his desperate quest. Entertainingand diverse, they will comment on every place andevery character encountered by distilling interestingtidbits about Vampire’s universe.While the timeskip doesn’t really change anythinggameplay-wise (except the weapons, the UI andthe characters), the cultural shock felt by Christof ispretty entertaining to watch. Putting aside the cheesylove story, the cast and the writing are good enough tokeep your attention. Strangely enough, self-conscioushumour is also present and works pretty well.Aficionados of the original pen-and-paper gamefelt deeply betrayed by Redemption’s gameplay. Indeed,while the profound political nature of the vampiresis quickly established, the game is exclusivelybased around combat. Redemption plays as a deeplynarrative Diablo-like. Love it or hate it but there is noway to avoid it. If you accept it, it is an entertainingand original experience.On the surface, Redemption’s gameplay is verysimilar to Diablo: click on enemies until extinction,get loot, rinse and repeat. The vanilla formula changesquite a bit once you become a vampire. Your PCs havethree bars : life, blood & frenzy. By draining humans(or enemies), you get blood which allows you to healyourself and fuel disciplines, vampire magic. If yourblood bar gets low, your frenzy rises up making yourcharacter prone to enter a state uncontrollable rage.Those simple facts become matters of life and deathin combat as a simple fight can turn into a total partywipe with thirsty characters. Vampire weaknesses,such as sunlight or fire, can make things go southpretty fast.102

“The game is scaled back from thevery early designs (as any gameis), but storyteller mode was notsomething that we would have consideredcutting. This was somethingthat we wanted to introduce to theRPG world, and there’s no betterproperty for this type of moderatedgameplay than Vampire: TheMasquerade.”- Ray Gresko,Redemption’s project leadStoryteller modeallows for multiplayercampaignscontrolled by ahuman GM, in athrowback to thetabletop games.Every vampire gets basic disciplines (such asfeeding) but also more exotic ones linked to his/herclan. In Redemption, there are more than ten of thoseand each one unlocks up to five different powers. Therange is extremely large: wolf form, fireballs, invisibility,summoning, celerity, cauldron of blood, etc.Combinations are pretty fun, and tailoring the disciplinesused by your characters usually end up being asimportant as the weapon they use, maybe more. Arsenaland enemies are pretty varied: Swords and spikedmaces turn into guns and flamethrowers in the modernera, each class of weapons affecting enemies differently.Non-vampiric enemies range from humans,ghosts to other monstrosities from the World of Darkness– the Werewolf probably being the nastiest of all.While the game isn’t very difficult, bosses are tough,usually spamming high-end disciplines and drainingmost of your resources.The game offers a wild variety of powers, armors,weapons and companions, both medieval and modern.The polarizing gameplay aside, Redemption succeededin offering a nice atmosphere through a coherentart direction. Graphics have aged well, exceptthe blocky-handed characters, and offer a nice visionof the World of Darkness. Sound design is creepy ashell and the soundtrack is fantastic. Composed by twodifferent artists to follow the story’s division, music isprobably one of the best in the genre. The medievalbits are dark and dreary while the modern elementsrelies on techno and rap vibes.Only remembered by a few, Redemption’s multiplayerwas extremely original. More than a yearbefore Neverwinters Nights, it tried to recreate the tabletopexperience with an omnipotent storyteller as ahost. The storyteller could change everything in themultiplayer sessions: add monsters, props, give experiencepoints, etc. Unfortunately, only two scenarioswere built within the core game and no user-friendlytoolkits were given to the players.Redemption is a schizophrenic game using awell-thought universe and a compelling narrative topromote a Diablo variation. It is definitively a goodgame and is worth a look. If you manage to bypassthe boring tutorial dungeon, then you will definitivelyenjoy yourself. TRMods:Redemption has a wide range of mods, but the highlightis The Age of Redemption 2014, a mod that allows you toplay the game’s single-player campaign in multiplayer.Also worth mentioning is Within The Darkness, a hugemod that attempts to be more faithful to the sourcetabletop game. You can check those mods and manymore at: www.planetvampire.com103

SoulbringerInfogrames Studios, 2000WindowsAt the right of thescreen there areeight slots whereyou can assigncombos, evenmixing spells andmelee atacks.The interface isoverdesignedand looks veryconfusing, but it’seasy to use onceyou’re used to it.With its isometric perspective, real-timecombat, simplistic character system and acliche story about a chosen one fightingdemons, it’s all too easy to dismiss Soulbringer as a yetanother of those Diablo-clones so abundant in early2000s. You couldn’t be further from truth, however.First, its combat, while real-time, isn’t anywherenear the frantic click-fest you’d expect from an action-RPG.It strives for the very opposite – to makesingle-character melee as tactical as it can. Each weaponhas up to 5 possible attacks, that differ in a varietyof areas like speed, reach, damage type, etc. You canalso combine those attacks into combos, presumablytailor-suited for different enemy types. In fact, you areencouraged to do so, as it’s only while performing acombo that your character can dodge or parry.Attacks are also aimed at different body parts –or more exactly different height levels, as the gametakes the attacks trajectory and elevation into account.Unfortunately, elevation seems to be the game’s Achillesheel, as the AI, while quite competent in other areas,just can’t understand it properly. This manifests ina variety of ways – from some very weird pathfinding,to enemies not noticing you two steps from them, toother enemies wasting all their spells on a bump separatingthem from you.Combat isn’t the only area where Soulbringertries to innovate. Its magic system has spells dividedinto standard five elements, that have associated skillsthat grow with use. However those skills provide younot with spell power, but with protection from saidelement – up to the point where enemy spells start toactually heal you. The trade-off is, of course, decreasingthe skill with a subsequent element – developingwater takes away from fire, fire – from spirit etc.In its less innovative areas Soulbringer is alsoquite solid. Its story is well-developed and fairlynon-linear, if somewhat cliche and not without a bitof signature French weirdness. Level design is competent,with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore andadventure-style puzzles to solve, and visuals, whileobviously dated, are quite atmospheric nevertheless.So if you’re able to turn a blind eye to the AI quirks,you’re in for a very enjoyable and unique RPG experience.VK104

Game Arts, 2000Windows, Dreamcast and PS2Grandia IIThe original Grandia, released in 1997 for theSega Saturn (and later the PS1), is often listedamong the best JRPGs of all time, thanks toits light-hearted story, the challenging, puzzle-filleddungeons and – above all – its combat system.While most JRPGs use similar turn-based combatsystems derived from Wizardry and Dragon Quest,the Grandia series has an entirely new system, wherebattles happen in real-time, but follow an initiativeorder. During battle, a gauge displays the order characterswill act, as their icons travel from left to rightthrough three phases – Wait, Command and Act.During the Wait phase characters will, well, wait.As each character reach the Command phase, you’llgive them an order and they will execute it at the endof the Act phase – with each type of action requiringa different amount of time to be executed. Not only itfeels dynamic, but both the player and the enemies canuse attacks and skills to delay their foes’ actions – oreven cancel them all together, if timed correctly.Grandia II, the only game of the series ported toPCs, further improves the combat system by featuringa fully 3D combat area. Now characters must moveclose to their foes to attack, and position and speedplay a big role when timing your actions.Unfortunately the whole system feels underused,as the encounter design is quite poor and battles arevery easy. You characters all have multiple powerfulattacks, vast pools of mana and bags full of items,overpowering most obstacles – even boss battles.Grandia II puts you in the shoes of Ryudo, ayoung mercenary hired to protect a priestess duringan exorcism ritual. Things go bad, the girl gets possessedand they both set on a journey to save her soul.It’s a good premise, with a few memorable charactersand plot twists – but also many cliché JRPG tropes.While it’s an entertaining title, Grandia II lacksthe impact of its predecessor. The plot works well andwill please JRPG fans, but the main attraction here,the excellent combat system, is wasted on easy battlesand boring enemies. Overall, the game stands more asa curiosity than a solid recommendation.If you’re interested in the combat system, be sureto take a look at its recent copycats: Child of Light andPenny Arcade’s Precipice of Darkness 3 & 4. FEGrandia II’sexcellentsoundtrack wascomposed byNoriyuki Iwadare.A few of thegame’s releasescame with anadditional CD ofhis music.Grandia II’sdungeons arevery simple andstraighforward,even displayinga compass thatpoints the wayout. Enemies arevisible on themap and can beeasily avoided.The initiativegauge at thebottom cornershows the orderand stage of thecharacter’s action.Attacking someoneduring theirACT phase caninterrupt them.105

GothicPiranha Bytes, 2001Windows and MacGothic supportswidescreenresolutionswithout the needfor mods, butyou must set itdirectly in thegame’s .INI file.Combat is quickand deadly. Youcan performfront, left andright attacks orblock. A trainedfighter can alsochain attackstogether.Gothic came literally out of nowhere in 2001,and, in my view, set a whole new standard forsingle-character hiking simulators, aka “ThePiranha Bytes RPG”. Funny how the developers didn’teven label it as an RPG at its release.When talking about why Gothic was somethingfresh and unique when it was published, it’s definitelyimportant to start with the general theme and story,since it’s essentially “Escape from New York... withswords!”. You are just a bloke, who’s nameless for allintents and purposes because nobody even lets youintroduce yourself. You are thrown into a prison miningcolony surrounded by a deadly one-way-entryforcefield, where the prisoners managed to rebel andtake over the whole establishment. After that you arebeaten senseless (“baptized”) by a bunch of cops andleft on your own. The premise in Gothic is a very goodhook because it presents a mix of low key matters witha fairly unique setting. It also manages to uphold thatto the end, as even though bigger and more fantasticalevents start happening, your character’s only motivationis basically to get the hell out of the colony.The general writing style, which would stickwith Piranha Bytes henceforth, also emphasized thedichotomy between the vulgar and the fantastical verywell, as you’d be coming across various really colorfulcharacters, who are on the one hand rather typical –pompous mages, brutal thugs, dumb peons -, but onthe other extremely believable and amusing.But Gothic’s biggest strength was not just showingyou this strange prison colony, but also letting youvisit its every nook and cranny. The world of Gothicwas simply massive, as well as beautiful, with tons ofplaces to check out, beasts to murder, secret cavernsto penetrate and ancient tombs to raid. And aboveall, it was hand-crafted, full of verticality and almostwithout barriers, so you could just go off and explorewhatever you wanted – provided you could survive.And that was where Gothic was tricky, becausesurviving was a lot harder than in most games. Youknow it isn’t fooling around when your first opponentis a turkey that can horribly murder you in a few hits.And it was this ridiculous brutality that gave the gamemost if its unique charm. It simply didn’t cut you anyslack. If you wanted to get somewhere, you had towork for it, and the simple thought that straying offthe beaten path could mean certain death made everystep into the wilderness something special. Especiallyat night. Through a forest. With no map.The key to thrive was to quickly get better gear,beg people to train you in combat and master thefighting system, which I consider one of the best onesin Action-RPG history. At first it seems clunky andunresponsive, but once you get accustomed to it andtake on harder opponents, every fight becomes anadrenaline-pumping effort where every mistake couldmean death. Various enemies would also fight in differentways, and force you to adapt new tactics.106

“We wanted to create a livingworld, so we decided to make itsmall and interesting, rather thanvery large and boring. And insteadof a bright faery-tale atmosphere,we preferred to create a dark andgloomy setting. Combine these twothings and you end up with a prisoncamp surrounded by a magicalbarrier.”– Alex Brüggemann,Piranha Bytes co-founderand Gothic’s designerThe final outstanding quality of Gothic was itscharacter system and how it tied into the game andstory themselves. Sure, you could gain massive XPfrom monsters and quests, but once you leveled up,essentially nothing happened. You only got a bunch ofskill points that required visits at specific trainers thatwould teach you, but only to the best of their capabilities– if they even respected you in the first place.Furthermore, while your character started as aclassless bloke, to actually acquire a specific class youneeded to join one of the three very distinct factions,each of which had its own agenda and quests. Notonly was this very neat because tying the leveling tothe narrative was a nice throw-back to P&P RPGs, butalso because it piled up many layers of choices andconsequences. You might agree with one faction, butjoining it will prevent you from learning somethingfrom another, or completing quests for the third, etc.Gothic allows you to climb on ledges, offering a level ofverticality and exploration that few other RPGs provide.I’d lie if I said that I wasn’t not an obnoxiousfan of Piranha Bytes’ RPG formula. I remember howamazed I was by the openness of the world, the feelingsof seclusion and the brutality of the entire settingin just about all aspects when I played it for the firsttime. I also remember how glad I was when they tookall that and made it even better in Gothic II. After thatboth the series and the developer would start meandering,but no matter what happened, it would nevertake away the first two games from me.And while the sequel very much improvedeverything from Gothic, skipping this one “because it’sthe same but a bit less” would be criminal. Honestly,both games are just parts of one great whole, and youcan’t have one without the other. DRMods:Unofficial Patch: Fixes most of the few bugs left.Player Kit: A handy tool that allows you to run andmanage Gothic’s mods. Required for some mods.Textures Patch: Offers new, higher resolution textures,mostly made based on Gothic II’s textures.Golden Mod: Restores cut content, adding alchemy,a few new quests, items and a new area, while alsomaking the whole game less linear. Great for a replay.The Trial: Adds a new short adventure about a Countaccused of massacre and allows you to recruit NPCs.Dark Mysteries: A fan-made expansion for Gothic,with new areas, quests, items, NPCs and featuressuch as wearing helmets, blacksmithing and cooking.Diccuric: A huge mod with an entirely new campaignand world, both about the same size as the original game.Also features improved graphics, taken from Gothic II.To succeed, youmust not onlywork for thefactions, but alsoearn the respectof individualsas well, so theymight agree tohelp or train you.Gothic Reloadedis an ambitiousfan project seekingto completelyoverhaul Gothic’svisuals with HDtextures, newmodels and UI.It’s currently underdevelopment,scheduled forsummer 2015.107

Severance:Blade of DarknessRebel Act Studios, 2001WindowsAn Xbox port anda sequel was underdevelopment,but Rebel Actclosed down in2002 after weaksales. Formermenbers foundedMercurySteamand developedthe Castlevania:Lords of Shadowseries.The lightingengine remainsimpressive tothis day. Not badfor an indepentSpanish studio.Made by the Spanish studio Rebel Act Software,Severance: Blade of Darkness (alsoknown as Blade: The Edge of Darkness) isan interesting hack & slash game which heavily relieson CRPG aesthetics and conventions. The story ispretty cliché but does the job: a dark god is going toescape from his prison and it’s up to you to put himback to his place, using the fabled Blade of Darkness.In a straight-up Gauntlet fashion, four charactersare available, each having their own strengthsand weaknesses. The amazon is an extremely fast andnimble fighter who specialize in bows and lances, butshe is also very frail. The knight is a balanced characterusing a sword-and-shield fighting style, andcan equip some of the best armor in the game. Thesluggish barbarian is a powerhouse using gigantictwo-handed swords and having plenty of combos.Last but not least, the dwarf is an unsinkable tank buthis lack of combos and his short reach make him thehardest character to master.Blade of Darkness is a third-person hack & slashwith a very strict sense of timing and a high difficulty.In par with your health bar, your character possessesa power bar which depletes after each attack à la DarkSouls. The more powerful a weapon or combo is, themore energy it will consume. Coming from a verylarge bestiary (orcs, demons, tainted knights), enemiesare restless and won’t go down easily. To makethings worse, they use the same tactical array as you:blocking, poisoned weapons and deadly combos.Don’t be fooled by the hack & slash nature ofthe game, cautiousness and tactical progression arethe only way to progress through the game. Tacklingmore than two enemies, even weak ones, at the sametime is always a perilous task. Fortunately, you geta few edges to fight the relentless hordes thrown atyou. Weapons start pretty weak but new ones can bepicked up along the way. Every class of weapon offersdifferent combos, so it’s always a good idea to keepa spare mace to crush skeletons for example. Fewranged weapons are present but only the amazon willfind them useful, puzzles non-standing.Severance employs a lock-on system, similar toOcarina of Time. You can dodge and block attacks, butrange and durability are always an issue, so be careful.A few types of armor are hidden through the levelsmaking your character a bit harder to kill. A small inventoryallows to stock a handful of health and power-uppotions for the most difficult passages. The RPGaspect is limited to a leveling up system automaticallyboosting your life, power and unlocking new combos.Leveling up also refills your life-bar making it a godsendin the middle of a tense fight.Blade of Darkness is divided into a dozen of levels,with a first level specific to each character. Thelevel design is so-so, some levels being pretty labyrinthinewhile others are just a succession of arenas. Fortunately,the general aesthetic is much better and the108

“I didn’t want a combat systemthat required button mashing todefeat enemies, I wanted a systemthat could turn every fight into atest, that any enemy could be achallenge, where you couldn’tadvance without being cautious.I wanted feeling, not a simulation,something that could transmit akind of adrenaline surge when yousee an enemy approaching, insteadof thinking: “I can kill it by pressing[a button] twice.”- José Luis Vaello,Severance’s Lead Artistgame will send you to very different and exotic placessuch as Arabic oasis, abandoned fortresses and deepwilderness. Doors, gates and various mechanismswill always bar your way so you will keep most of thegame looking for keys. Traps of all sorts are present atevery corner and levels are extremely long, so savingoften is always a good idea.Once the titular Blade of Darkness is acquired,you can either choose to proceed to the final boss’slair or backtrack to previous levels. Indeed the magicweapon is weakened and its power needs to be unlockedby using eight runes, hidden through the entiregame. It’s better to keep a lookout for those earlyon because revisited levels are filled with high-endmonsters. Collecting those runes will unlock a additionallevel and the true final boss. He is pretty toughbut at this point you should have seen worse.Beyond its tough as nails difficulty, Severance’snovelty at the time came from its use of lighting.Completely coded in Python, the game engine displaysbeautiful shadows and make a clever use of lightsources. Some levels, like the knight’s starting level,offer a gothic and dreary atmosphere propelled bytorches and eerie sound design. Fire can also be usedto inflame wooden structures and solve a few puzzleswhich is a pretty cool feature.The funniest thing about Severance and one ofits most marketed features is the omnipresent gore.After a few exchanges, your character and the enemyalike will be covered with wounds and the groundrepainted with liters of blood. Fights end up by dismemberingmost of the loser’s body parts with armsand heads flying everywhere. It’s pretty satisfying andcompletely ridiculous at the same time.Mixing old classic deathtraps like Dungeon Masterwith hack & slash mechanics, Severance was reconsideredthese last years in light of the Demons’ /Dark Souls series. While I doubt that there were anyinfluence from either side, the parallel is interestingand made new players aware of Severance’s existence.Harsh but fun, as it definitively should be. TRMods:Severance has a fantastic community, that created variousmods with new combos, levels, features and even addednew game modes. Here are some highlights:BOD Loader: This exceptional mod manager makesinstalling and playing mods a cakewalk.Gladiator: A survival mode where you fight increasinglypowerful enemies. Highly customizable and replayable,with various maps and a even a score. A must-play.Fugitive: A huge multi-chapter campaign, has amazinglevel design and extra RPG elements, such as dialogs.Fugitive III is arguably the best Severance map ever.Dwarf Wars: You must protect a heavily guarded fortressagainst hordes of enemies, in a endless massive battle.The Blade of Light mod uses ENB to add some heavypost-processing. Pretty, but not for everyone.Combat willbe familiar toDark Souls fans,but Severanceadds combos,breakable shields,mutilations andblood galore.If you have aninterest in mods,be sure to checkArokh’s Lair,where Severancemodders and fansstill gather: www.arokhslair.net/forum/109

GeneforgeSpiderweb Software, 2001Windows and MacThe gorgeousillustrations ofthe game aredone by artistBrian Snoddy,who did numerousworks forRPG books andcard games.The writing inGeneforge issolid, and choicesyou’ll face neverhave obviousanswers.Geneforge, to me, is what an RPG game shouldbe about. A nameless protagonist walks intothe world, and chooses their destiny. Skillsare built, alliances formed, enemies made. You canbe the loyal ally, the backstabbing traitor, or simplyslaughter everyone before you have a chance to decide.At the end you have what is a personal experience,something built by the choices you have made.The first few steps in Geneforge did not immediatelygrab my attention. Being from a small studio,the game is built with budget graphics, and the combatmodel is relatively simplistic. What first started topique my interest was a well crafted backstory. Themain premise of the game is a world in which a rulingclan, the Shapers, uses magical (genetic?) techniquesto build servants, and retain tight control over thosepowers with the premise that abuse would be deadly.This creates in essence a ruling class, with completedominance over their sentient creations. The moralquestions raised by this situation continues throughoutthe series, and to my satisfaction is never resolvedin black and white fashion.The combat, while simple, can play out very differentlybased on character build and skill choices. Youcan focus on combat skills, magic skills, or shapingskills. Shaping skills tend to be my favorite, as eventuallyyour character ends up with a group of creaturesthat gain strength as they survive combat. Do you sacrificethe little guy, who has travelled with you fromthe beginning, in order to create the newest monsteryou discovered? Do you even care? While the gamecan get repetitive with padded encounters, there is anice feel of the progression of power that I feel an RPGneeds. As the games progresses, the battles will playout differently depending on your character build.Shaping is what differentiates Geneforge froma typical fantasy setting; you are creating and toyingwith life, and as the series progresses, the story revealsa more technological approach to creating creatures.The “art” of shaping often blurs the line between sci-fiand fantasy, or magic and technology. Shaping couldbe easily dismissed as another word for summoning,but regardless of the terminology, Geneforge allows formore control of “shaped” creatures than other gamesdo. Shaped creatures consume a certain amount of energyfrom your character, and an experienced creaturecan be a valuable companion. The balance betweenthe energy used for maintaining old creatures, creatingnew ones, and maintaining a reserve for spellcastingcan be more strategic than the actual battles.This all sets the stage for a beautifully open endedstyle of game. Your character, arriving on an abandonedisland, meets different populations of humansand Shaper creations that have radically differentviews on the world of the Shapers. The world is yoursto explore, at times limited by game events or necessaryitems, but mostly limited by the prowess of yourcharacter and the allies you have made.110

“The basic idea was that I wanteda game where you could makethis horde of creatures to serveyou, and care for them or let themget slaughtered according to yourwhim. I had to think of what sort ofpeople could gain this power, andhow they would treat it. And then Ithought about how they would interactwith the world around them,and, more importantly, how theywould interact with the creaturesthey make. And that’s where theplot came from.”- Jeff Vogel,founder of Spiderweb SoftwareYou can useShaper magic tocreate creatures,in whatever wayfits your playstylebest.This, in my opinion, is where the game trulyshines. Your choices, both in character build and NPCinteraction, have tangible consequences in the gameworld. What is one player’s hometown is another’s enemyfortress. Do you consume power at all cost, ordo you try to do what you think is right? All optionsare available, and power is yours for the taking if youare strong enough or cunning enough. The sense ofpower, as I mentioned earlier, is satisfying as yourentourage of creatures grows, your magic gets morepowerful, and your combat skills improve.The choices continue to lead up to the ending ofthe game. There are several endings possible, and notjust of the “last minute good or evil” type. Your choicesthroughout the game lead up to set of ending slides,which describe the impact of your choices. Again, thegame does not disappoint; “good” choices do not alwayslead to the type of ending that you might think.For me, the first game was just a starting pointto a wonderful series. What creator Jeff Vogel hasdone with this series is create a coherent story of theShapers that spans all five games. There are highs andlows along the way, but taken in total they providedme with a wonderful experience, and a fantastic storyof a strange world. Throughout the series, the choicescontinued to provoke my thoughts about the moralityinvolving the control of power, and whether endsof containing deadly power or ending unjust slaveryjustify whatever means necessary. By the end of the 5game series, I had become attached to the world of theShapers, and sad to see the journey end.The Geneforge games, like both Fallout and Arcanum,impress me as games where not only does theplayer explore the world, but the player shapes theworld. BLSucia Island is massive, and exploration is node-based.You’ll have to search carefully to find hidden areas.Combat is turn-based and somewhat simplistic, but theenemy AI can often surprise you.111

Divine DivinityLarian Studios, 2002Windows and MacLarian’s first RPGwas an called TheLady, the Mage &the Knight, developedin partnershipwith AtticEntertainment.It was cancelledin 1999 and salvagedinto DivineDivinity. An earlydemo and designdocuments werereleased as extrason the DivinityAnthology.Combat is indeedvery similar toDiablo, but youcan pause at anytime.Larian Studios’ Divine Divinity has got a lot ofundeserved reputation since its release. Theproblem is that it was released in 2002, a timewhen various Diablo clones were popping up left andright. Furthermore, if you looked at various screensor played it for half an hour or so, it really did seemto be just another Diablo clone, so the moniker’s stuckeven today. Even though Divine Divinity was so muchmore than that.Sure, there are many elements of a generichack’n’slash here. The UI, the randomised tons of phatloot, hordes of monsters and similar core mechanicsare all something we’ve seen countless times already.However, these are only superficial, and Divine Divinity’sunique aspects only become apparent once youspend a few hours to find them. The easiest one tonotice is the character system, which is much moreRPG-y than your average H’n’S. Not only is it ultimatelyclassless, since all characters can learn all skillsas they see fit, but it also has quite a few non-combatqualities, such as pickpocketing, sneaking, hagglingor alchemy. The game also tracks your reputation (influencedby various events), which changes merchantprices and people’s personal opinion of you, whichmay in turn lock or unlock new quests.But the most important difference that makesDivine Divinity an actual RPG and not just a slasheris the lack of procedural generation. All quests,maps, events and conversations are hand-placed, theonly random element is loot. This is especially greatwhen it comes to exploration because the land mapis simply huge, while the dungeons and caves provideyou with plenty of puzzles and secrets. Puzzles andsecrets that employ Divine Divinity’s most uniquefeature – the Ultima VII-inspired environmental interaction.Literally every prop can be tossed aroundto reveal hidden chests and passages underneath,and various items can be activated to secret effects,which rewards thoroughness and perceptiveness.Sometimes this juggling can lead to rather interestingdiscoveries, often bordering on bug-exploitation,such as finding a bed that can be put in your backpackbecause it weighs nothing. But running aimlesslyaround the map simply looking for opportunitiesis also rewarding for more technical reasons – DivineDivinity’s graphics are really pleasant to look at, andits soundtrack is simply amazing.It is also important to note that Divine Divinityvery often focuses not only on combat, and somechapters will have you not draw your weapon forquite long periods of time. Instead, you’ll be runningaround towns just talking to folks, doing variousquests, robbing them blind and chasing secrets,and there are a variety of settlements in the game, allwith different themes and problems to solve. These“pacifist” chapters are made even better by Larian’snow-trademark witty writing. Everything is not justgenerally well-written, but the dialogues are often112

“The thing is: you always knowwhere you start, but to be honest,you never know where you aregoing to end. So the best approachthat I learned is that you try tohave fun as you make it, and thenhopefully that fun is going to brushoff on the player and he’s going tohave fun as well. And you do yourbest. What more can you do?”- Swen Vincke,Larian’s founder and CEOgenuinely funny, employing various tongue-in-cheekmethods, poking fun at the fantasy genre in general,and sometimes even going into self-parody. This alsomakes all the otherwise generic fetch quests muchmore interesting and fun to do because you can alwaysexpect some sort of a little twist to the tired oldformula.Unfortunately, it would simply be unfair to notmention Divine Divinity’s biggest flaw, which is theendgame. Apparently, the game was much bigger andmore ambitious than the developer and the publishercould chew, which resulted in the final chapter beingterribly rushed. Most of the qualities that make Divinityunique simply disappear in the last chapter, leavingyou with fully railroaded, non-stop mindless fightingagainst annoying, health-bloated mobs of enemies.Although at least you can just go ahead and run allthe way through, ignoring all opposition completely.Ultimately, if you really dislike hack’n’slash combat,Divinity might also be not up your alley becausethere’s no denying that it has a lot of combat in manyplaces. I did like, however, how at times it can even getpretty challenging, and how the game’s systems leaveyou a lot of room for personal customisation andways to shamelessly break them to your advantage.What is left to conclude, then? Divine Divinityis simply a neat game. Not flawless by any means, butridiculously absorbing and long enough to entertainyou for weeks – it’s one of those games that make youthink, “a combination of fetch quests and genericfighting has no right to be this damn addicting!”. Itwas also the start of the whole Divinity series, whichincluded some better (Divinity 2) and worse (BeyondDivinity) titles that are also worth more than a casuallook. Because casual looks are deceiving and makeyou think Divine Divinity is a Diablo clone. Which itisn’t. Get that into your head once and for all. DRThe writing isalways amusing,and have grownto become one ofLarian’s trademarks.All the musicin the Divinityseries is done byKirill Pokrovsky, aRussian musician,whose mix oforchestrationsand new ageelectronics makethe soundtracksan intrinsic partof the franchise.You select a class at first, but you can learn any skill anduse any equipment if you meet the requirements.Being able to move and carry around almost every itemin the game is pure fun. Here I stole the Duke’s throne.113

The Elder Scrolls III:MorrowindBethesda Softworks, 2002Windows and XboxThe interface isthe last in theseries made withPCs in mind,making greatuse of tooltipsand multipleresizeablewindows.My first trip to Vivec City was an unforgettablehour of confusion and awe. The ElderScrolls’ cavalier attention to detail, bothlarge and small, reached an apex there.Vivec is like a cramped cyberpunk cityscape, butit’s presented inside the brown sandstone of medievalfantasy. Eight floating stone pyramids comprisethe city’s eight districts, with a network of gondolasand bridges connecting them to each other and themainland. Each district has four explorable interiorlevels each, containing innumerable businesses andresidences that house hundreds of named NPCs.They all have their own inventories, their owndispositions, jobs, haunts and hangs that combine togive each NPC their own personal little story. Thefictional economy that supports these fictional livesis on full display--their houses, their businesses,the farms that grow their food and the sewers thatfunnel away their waste are not spared for detail.Administrative businesses, libraries, treasuries andoffices take up space next to the rowdy taverns andghastly magic shops.Vvardenfell, the massive island you explore inMorrowind, is one of the few sandbox maps that feelslike it was built without any intention to turn it intogame, as if it was designed and mapped to serve thelore more than playability. As far as the player’s loftyquests are concerned, all those administrative detailsbehind Vivec City’s economy aren’t relevant. You canlearn all about the process of how the nearby Netchfarms churn out Netch leather which turns into Netcharmor, and it’s only flavor text. There are almost twohundred different books to read (well, not reallybooks so much are they are a few paragraphs, but still)that document everything from the world’s history todirectories of the council members that currently leadits political parties.All this detail doesn’t really make or break thegame, mechanically speaking. It’s just there. It’s flavortext the player can skip. But what this massive amountof detail does do well (and indeed, its very purpose tothe game) is to reify Vvardenfell as a world that is almostas complicated, ancient and dynamic as our own.Look at how the game handles transportation foran example. Instead of pointing and clicking on a mapscreen to fast-travel (like in the TES games before andafter Morrowind) you use Vvardenfell’s public transitsystem instead. The people of this island use animalmounts, ferry boats, and magic teleporter booths totravel around. So during the early game you use thosefacilities too.Critics during the game’s launch rightfully bemoanedMorrowind’s slow walking speed and constrictingfast travel system, but those caveats serve asbuildup for a divine payoff later on. They build anticipationfor a revelatory moment that the player maynot experience for tens or perhaps hundreds of hourslater. Until then, Morrowind is a slow burning game.114

Mods:Bethesda released The Elder ScrollsConstruction Set with Morrowind,allowing for many mods to be created.A good start is Morrowind Overhaul3.0, a compilation of hundreds ofmods, in an easy to use installationpack, vastly improving the game andgraphics, while keeping the uniqueatmosphere of Morrowind intact:Grab it here: www.ornitocopter.net/morrowind-overhaul/Transportation starts off slow. Combat starts offincredibly awkwardly. Since the world seems like itwas designed before the gameplay was designed, itdoesn’t lead you through roads and villages that arecleanly organized to funnel you in the right direction.The names are hard to pronounce, there are no omnipotentobjectives prodding you this way or that way,and wherever you end up there will be just way toomuch stuff there.What gives you guidance is your own sense ofadventure and a brilliantly self-aware main quest thattasks you with becoming the omnipotent God-kingof Vvadenfell. Eventually some overpowering statprogression happens after level 10 that makes combatand walking much more fast, and during that timeyour understanding of Vvardenfell will also increaseimmensely. You will come to learn the hard-to-pronouncenames of its numerous towns and locations.You’ll get to know its tribes, its council members, itspolitics and its religions because the main quest tasksyou with meeting and manipulating every last one ofthem.Soon you’ll be able to teleport across the map,fly from city to city, and sprint with blinding speed!You’ll forget about the public transit system because,just as all the flavor text of the main quest suggestedyou’d do, you’ll become a godlike warrior-poet whoknows this island inside and out whether you weretrying to pay attention or not.The most brilliant twist Morrowind takes is thatyou’ll actually have a mental frame of reference toknow how great your progression feels. It’s not aboutincreasing numbers on a stat sheet. It’s about thoroughlyunderstanding a large, intimidating and alienworld that is almost as complicated as our own. GWMorrowind’sdialog is verycomplex, beingaffected by bothfaction and personalreputation,and featuring arobust keywordsystem.OpenMW is aproject seeking torecreate Morrowindin a new openengine, allowingfor greater moddabilty,improvingall aspectsof the game anda Mac version.You can followthem here: www.openmw.orgMorrowind adds the option to switch to a third personcamera, although the animations are quite simple.The landscape of Vvardenfell is exotic and fascinating,going far beyond traditional fantasy cliches.115

Prince of QinObject Software, 2002WindowsThe craftingsystem is veryunique. Thereare only 5 typesof ingredients,but each typefeatures a widevariety of itemsand abilities.Prince of Qin is a fascinating game, with aspectsboth familiar and alien to a western gamer. Itseems to have been influenced by the Baldur’sGate series and Divine Divinity. Like Baldur’s Gate, it isa real-time with pause, isometric CRPG in which youform a party of adventurers from a number of NPCsyou meet along the way. Like Divine Divinity, youcan learn special abilities through skill trees in orderto later perform them in combat via an expendablemana pool. Also like Divine Divinity, it’s commonlymistaken for just another Diablo clone.Despite these influences, Prince of Qin runs ina completely unique direction, using a magic andcombat system based upon five elements (Fire, Water,Wood, Metal and Earth). In this five element system,some elements are stronger or weaker against theothers, similar to rock-paper-scissors or Pokémon.Each character in your party, and the enemies theyfight, have an element associated with them, and soyou have to keep this in mind in larger fights and setcharacters against opponents whose element theyhave an advantage over.Exploration is interesting since the enemies arefairly diverse up through the middle of the game, andmany of the sidequests are long and related to thegame’s historical lore. One aspect I found satisfying isthat you can fail a quest if you do not make the correctdecisions – it may frustrate some players, but it’sa gutsy move by the game designers to forces playerto think about the consequences of the their actions.A poorer game design decision was the inclusionof respawning enemies in certain locations. I supposethey added those so that players could grind for experienceif they so desired, but the creatures respawn soquickly that you party might get overwhelmed.The story itself is a revealing microcosm of ancientand modern Chinese culture. You play a princecalled Fu Su, a historical figure from one of the manychaotic revolutionary periods of ancient China. Theactual Fu Su died through nefarious political maneuvers,but the story twists events slightly to enable himto survive and act against his conspirators.The game is still somewhat of an educational experienceas the plot progresses based on true historicalfigures and events, full of tragedy, hope, betrayals,and regrets. At the same time, the reform-minded FuSu is sometimes made to be a sounding board of thewriters, criticizing the plight of peasants and abuses ofthe ancient mercantile system with a voice that resonatesmore with modern liberal sentiment.The character class system follows the same sortof strange, but familiar behavior as the rest of thegame. Fu Su is a paladin in-game, but that does notequate to the typical Poul Anderson sort of paladinof Three Hearts and Three Lions fame that D&D ultimatelyadapted. Instead, a paladin in Prince of Qin isa warrior with artisan skills, allowing Fu Su to craftspecial equipment through the game.116

The story offers a glimpse into Chinese culture, but thetranslation is wonky and the voice acting is quite bad.Classes have a linear progression, but there’s a bit ofwiggle room to customize your attributes and skills.It’s important to carefully consider the elements of eachcharacter and enemy, as they’ll heavily impact battles.The game features an excellent crafting system inwhich Fu Su can produce magical-infused weaponsand equipment, often quite a bit more powerful thanmany special items you find during the course of theadventure. The decisions you make during the courseof the adventure will also create some variation as thecast of NPCs available will be affected by your choices.Due to the diverse cast of NPCs available, and therandomness of dropped loot and created artifacts, thefinal composition of the party is going to vary incrediblyfrom game to game.There are four more character classes, such asthe well-named Muscleman, who specializes in meleecombat and the summoning of creatures to helpfight in battle. The Assassin character class is a helpfulranged combatant with trap springing skills, andthe Wizard is your elemental-based spell slinger, firingartillery blasts from the back of the party formation,but in a twist he can also heal damage and statuseffects. Finally, there is the Witch who can also firemagical blasts from afar, but also has the capability ofbuffing your companions in battle.In Seal of Evil, the prequel, you play as Lan Wei, who mustfind who killed her father and stop an impending war.Although you are limited to five characters, youare not forced to have each character class representedin the party, and so you could have two Paladins, twoWizards and a Witch if you really wanted to roll thatway. Without a Wizard, you have no healing magicand must really on different types of food to replenishhealth. Without an Assassin of appropriate skill, youwill not be able to open every chest and find some ofthe uniquely powerful in game items.Prince of Qin also came with a multiplayer mode,where you could play a separate (and simpler) campaign,which could support up to 500 players playingin a MMO-like fashion. Its success, mainly in China,led to the release of the online-only standalone expansionPrince of Qin Online - The Overlord of Conquerors(2003) – later renamed World of Qin.Object Software would still a great single-playerprequel called Seal of Evil (2004), with more magicalelements and a story showcasing events that led tothe creation of the Qin Empire, and World of Qin 2(2005), a full-fledged MMO. DT117

Arcanum:Of Steamworks & Magick ObscuraTroika, 2003WindowsA sequel to Arcanumwas planned,titled Journeyto the Centre ofArcanum. Inspiredby Jules Verne’snovel, it was to becreated in Valve’sSource Engine butTroika failed tosecure the necessaryfunding.Combat is theweakest partof Arcanum. Itcan be fought inreal-time or turnbasedmode, usingaction points,but neither reallyworks well.118Arcanum, in my opinion, offers the most completerole-playing experience of any CRPGever created. The breadth and depth of mechanicsand content ensure that one playthrough justwon’t be enough. Two or three won’t cut it either. Thediversity of character options is immense, not justat character creation, but through gameplay and dialoguechoices throughout the huge open world ofArcanum.Creating a character in Arcanum is a very involvedexperience. The system is classless, so youwon’t pick a class, but there are no less than 8 racesand over 50 backgrounds to choose from, allowingyou to tailor your character to very specific tastes andalso getting the player into the role-playing spirit. Theeffects of backgrounds range from the minor to theextreme. If you just want to tinker a little or add someflavor to your character, you could be an apprenticeto a shopkeeper or a halfling orphan for some minorbonuses and penalties. But if you want to go all in,you could be a supermodel, or an idiot savant or evena Frankenstein monster with huge bonuses and penaltiesacross multiple stats and skills.When you’re finished creating your avatar, theopening cinematic plays. You are aboard the IFSZephyr, a zeppelin on its maiden voyage from Caladonto Tarant, when it is attacked and shot down bytwo ‘strange flying machines’ (i.e. planes) piloted byOrcs. At the crash site you talk to a dying gnome whogives you a silver ring and tells you to ‘Find the boy.’You are then engaged by a fellow named Virgil, a recentconvert to the Panarii religion, who claims youare the reincarnation of the ancient god Nasrudin.Virgil offers to accompany you to the nearby town ofShrouded Hills to meet his superior, and your journeythrough the world of Arcanum begins.Arcanum boasts a huge number of quests withseveral ways to resolve them, usually using the trioof solutions established by Fallout – combat, stealthand diplomacy. The complex character system adds alot of depth here, as a beautiful elf in an elegant dresswill have an easier time getting a murderer to confess,but an ugly mage can still try a charm spell, or evenuse necromancy to get a testimony from his victims.The world is massive and very open, with fewgates to pass through. There are many optional locationsscattered across the map to stumble upon, fromaltars of old and forgotten gods to ancient dungeons,hidden villages and a few easter eggs.A lot of smaller touches really add to the charmof Arcanum. For example, every skill in the game hasan associated master. You’ll have to find them andoften do a special quest for them if you wish to betrained. You will also see your own actions, or theconsequences of them, as headlines of the Tarantian,the most popular newspaper in Arcanum. You’ll readand hear various rumors as well, that serve both asleads into obscure side-quests and as subtle hintsabout future areas and the game’s antagonist.

“Leonard [Boyarsky], Jason [Anderson],and I had made character systemsbefore, but in the case of Arcanum,we wanted the system to reflect thesetting. This meant that not only wouldthere need to be magic spells andtechnological skills of some kind, butthere would need to be a mechanicthat measured the character’s aptitudewith each. We wanted the strugglebetween the magic and tech that wastaking place in the world to exist withinevery character as well.”- Tim Cain,Arcanum’s Project Leaderand Lead ProgrammerArcanum’s setting is quite unusual for a CRPG.It is high fantasy set during the industrial revolution,resulting in a widespread conflict – the dichotomybetween Magic and Technology. This conflict is thelense through which much of the game’s content isseen and it is reinforced within the gameplay itself;your dwarven technologist might craft swords andpistols from scrap, but magic spells and potions aren’tgoing to have much effect on him; and your highlymagical half-elf better learn to teleport, because hewon’t be allowed to board trains anymore.The scope and scale of Arcanum is astounding,and so it’s hardly surprising that it shipped somewhatunfinished and quite buggy. Combat sufferedthe most of any element because of Sierra’s demandsthat a real-time mode be implemented alongside theintended turn-based mode. As result, combat is quiteunsatisfactory and unbalanced, becoming a choreduring some of the larger, combat-filled dungeons.On the bright side, Sierra did supply Troikawith the talents of Ben Houge, who composed oneof the most memorable, sophisticated and thoughtfulsoundtracks ever produced for a game. His stringquartet pieces set a relaxed pace while managing tocapture a sense of the grand scale of Arcanum. This,married with the 19th century steampunk aesthetic,creates a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere.Arcanum’s greatest achievement is giving theplayer a real sense of agency. It is perhaps gaming’sgreatest strength but so few games, let alone RPGs,deliver on it. There is conflict everywhere and youhave the power not only to solve these conflicts, butto prey upon them or exacerbate them according toyour desires and skills.More than any other title before or since, Arcanumshowed us what CRPGs could be. Although itdid not achieve all that it set out to achieve, the visionand ambition of Troika’s debut is remarkable. JMArcanum’s worldfeels alive andbelievable, withissues being bornout of political,economical,ideological andracial conflicts,not of “goodversus evil”.Terra-Arcanum is afan site dedicatedto Arcanum,where you’ll findall mods releasedfor the game,incluiding theUnnoficial FanPatch and theWidescreen Mod.The character system is extensive, with various attributes,skills, schools of magic and technological disciplines.You’ll find a wild range of items, from ancient magicalswords to electrical top hats – all beautifully rendered.119

Fable:The Lost ChaptersLionhead Studios, 2004*Windows, Mac and Xbox*Fable was firstreleased in 2004for the Xbox. ThePC port came in2005, now calledFable: The LostChapters andfeaturing extracontent.Misbehavinginside towns willresult in fines, andthe guards will tryto make you pay.But you can ignorethat, murdereveryone and buytheir now-vacanthouses and shops.Talking about Fable, unfortunately, is impossiblewithout talking about its creator, the famousPeter Molyneux, and his ludicrous promises.Fable was hyped to the high heavens as an innovativeRPG, an extensive simulated world where the yearswould pass, your character would age, form a family,the sons of murdered enemies would swear revengeand, famously, you would even be able to plant anacorn and see it grow into a tree in real time.Unsurprisingly, the game didn’t deliver all itpromised, and more than a decade later that stilltaints any debate about the title. Which is a shame,since Fable is an excellent – if limited – game.Designed for the original Xbox, Fable’s isn’taimed at hardcore RPG veterans. Molyneux set outto create an RPG for all audiences, taking elementsfrom The Legend of Zelda, Knights of the Old Republicand even from The Sims. The result is a streamlinedaction-RPG, where players will make binary moralchoices and endure the consequences, while travelingacross a simulated fantasy world that, while not asrevolutionary as promised, is still quite reactive.You begin as a child, just as your village is raidedand your family murdered. Rescued by a wizard, youare accepted at the Heroes’ Guild, where you’ll learnmelee combat, archery and magic. These are tied tothree stats – Strength, Skill and Will, respectively –which are the core of Fable’s character system.Every enemy you kill or quest you completewields XP, but you’ll also gain extra points for howyou act. Using magic wields Will Experience, whichcan only be used to improve Will-related skills. Thus,by casting spells you’ll learn new ones and become abetter mage, and the game will reflect that visually.You’ll exit the guild as a weak, skinny teenager,but your appearance will change as you play. You’llgrow larger as you raise your Strength, taller as youraise your Skill and if you focus on Will arcane signswill appear over your body and begin to glow. Evenmore, you can grow fat by eating too much food, gainscars as you get injured, get a tattoo, cut your hair &beard, and even grow horns if you become too evil.These details are where Fable excels. The game’ssimulation is in fact a collection of countless smallsystems, that while shallow and unimpressive on theirown, bundled together create an immersive illusion.For example, you can marry almost any NPC in thegame, by flirting with them, taking them to a houseyou purchased and gifting a wedding ring. You caneven get divorced afterwards, and other NPCs in thestreet will comment on how unfortunate that is.It all sounds very impressive, but looking closelyyou’ll see the obvious limitations of the system. Youcan only interact with NPCs by choosing a limitedset of expressions, such as “Flirt” or “Sexy Hero Pose”,getting married serves no purpose, buying houses isalmost useless and NPCs have just one or two lines tosay for every important action you perform.120

“[...] we keep making games for thesetwo separate audiences. We makethem for the core gamers here, thecasual gamers here, and there’s abig great wall between them. If youdevelop games for casual gamersyou’re just frowned on a bit. Andmaybe part of Fable is about this –look, can’t we create a game that bothof these people can play and enjoy?Okay, you’ve got to give the coregamers all the carrots they love, andcasual gamers the accessibility thatthey want. And that’s what we tried todo with Fable. ”- Peter Molyneux,Fable’s CreatorWhile limited, Fable knows how to use its world.It’s quite gratifying to come back from a quest and becheered and applauded as you walk into a tavern, withNPCs commenting on how you acted. The excellentsoundtrack and the colorful art style adds a lot to this,giving a light-hearted tone the game. The PC versionfully supports HD resolutions and still looks great.What haven’t aged well are the small and linearareas. Instead of offering in a huge open world, Fableis divided into small interconnected areas, separatedby a loading screen. Another flaw is the save system,which doesn’t record your progress mid-quest.Fable also offers very few weapons and armorsto play with, and is quite easy and unbalanced. Whilethat will frustrate players looking for a challenge, thegame tries to compensate by offering plenty of secrettreasures to find and a clever “boast system”, allowingconfident heroes to add extra challenges to quests,such as completing them without using weapons.After Fable’s release, Peter Molyneux apologizedfor over-promising and claimed it happened becausehe was too excited with the project. The concept isindeed exciting, and even with many parts of it beingunderdeveloped – especially the stealth system andthe consequences to some of your decisions – it’s stillan unique, and often exciting, game to play.While you won’t get the extensive role-playingoptions of something like Arcanum or Fallout, Fableoffers an accessible, visually charming and instantlygratifying RPG experience. It’s a great introductionto the genre, while also offering a few secrets andoptional challenges for experienced players. FEFable: Anniversary Edition:In 2014 Lionhead Studios released a remake of Fable,called Fable: Anniversary Edition. It features a newdifficulty mode, better save system, updated graphicsand mod support. Unfortunately, the PC port is amess, with a confusing interface that has no mousesupport, longer loading times and an exaggeratedamount of post-processing. Unless you intend to playwith a controller or mod it, stick to the original game.Interactions arelimited to a fewexpressions andposes. NPCs willmostly cheer andadmire a goodhero or flee interror from adark hero.Fable has avery small modcommunity, but itmade some nicenew items andrebalance mods.You can find themat www.fabletlcmod.comBoasts allow you to wager being such an epic hero youcan complete a quest with extra handicaps or objectives.The remake adds heavy post-processing and a subduedpalette, which clash with the original’s colorful art style.121

Space Rangers 2:DominatorsElemental Games, 2004WindowsThe European andNorth Americanretail versions ofSpace Rangers 2came with aexpansion packcalled Reboot,plus the originalSpace Rangersgame.Space Rangers 2: Dominators is a space explorationRPG set in a fictional universe where severalalien races are fighting for their survival againstthree factions of a robotic species intent on rulingover all organic life.It is not as if the alien races are providing a unitedfront, however, as often each race runs its own definedterritory, and each planet inside these territorieshave their own focus on industry and system of government.Because the many planets in the game areso diverse, the prices of their goods and commoditiesalso range greatly from planet to planet, resulting ina significant amount of trade in legal and illegal materialsdespite ongoing interstellar war. Piracy is alsoa factor, and it is not rare to see one trade ship withdecent guns and shields target a richer, but less armedtrade ship.Due to all of this chaos, the aliens races createa loose confederation in order to deal with both theDominators and growing crime, and the most importantsolution is the creation of an interstellar policeforce known as the Space Rangers. This is where theplayer comes in, creating a character who is a traineeseeking graduation into the ranks of the interstellarpolice force. After some tutorial missions, the player isset loose into the open universe in order to do... well,whatever it is the player feels like doing really.As hinted at before, the universe in Space Rangers2 is quite open-ended and the player will want to earnfunds in order to beef up his space ship or to purchasea new and better vessel. To do this, the character cantake missions to hunt pirates or protect convoys. Alternately,he or she can decide to be a miner of asteroids,a trader of commodities from planet to planet, orto engage in a little of that piracy action. Since thereare so many various factions in the game and ways tointeract with them, the player will find his popularitychanging through his decisions. For instance, if theplayer saves a member of a certain faction from a pirateattack, then the aided faction will trust the playermore while pirates will see him more of a threat andmay start attacking him on sight.122When fighting the RTS battles on planets, you can makeyour own custom troops and even directly control them.You’ll face amusing choose-your-own-adventure minigames,such as escaping prison or running an election.

“One of the things we really enjoyabout it is the variety; it really pullssomething from just about everygenre out there and rolls it up intoone really great game. It’s not justabout turn-based space combat, orRTS robot battles. It is an RPG withyou customizing your character’sabilities to create just the characteryou want, it’s an adventure gamewhere you explore an immense living& breathing universe, it’s a gamethat’s packed with hidden details andthings to discover!”- David Mercer,Space Rangers 2 ProducerSpace explorationand combatare turn-based,and you cancontact allies andenemies at anytime to trade,make requests orjoin forces.There are also important mini-games inside themain space game. There are ground combat missionsthat can be taken which hearken back to the real timestrategy games like Command and Conquer, completewith vehicular combat, tower defense and resourcegathering. For those that enjoy choose-your-own-adventures,Space Rangers 2 have several text-based scenariosavailable such as managing a ski resort, underwaterexploration and trying to escape from a prison.You truly get the feeling that the Russian developerswho made this game were themselves gamers whotruly loved games that were popular when they werein school.There is a sandbox charm to Space Rangers 2, asthe Dominator threat will never completely take overthe galaxy. Territorial gains will ebb and flow betweenthe coalition forces and the Dominators, but each sidewill eventually overextend themselves and be pushedback before making a final conquest. Therefore, theplayer can explore, improve stats, and acquire wealthat his or her own pace. Space Rangers 2 is a uniqueexperience, full of charm, danger and a sprinkle ofzaniness. DTHD Version:In October 2013 a new version of the game was releasedon Steam as Space Rangers HD: A War Apart.It supports modern computers, wide-screen resolutionsand adds a lot of new content, such as new text adventures,quests, equipments, planetary battles and a newsub-plot regarding a pirate threat to the galaxy.There are five races and five classes to play, and eachcombination has different ships and relationships.There are various ships, an arsenal of equipments, skills,personal traits and even trophies to pursue.123

Vampire: The MasqueradeBloodlinesTroika Games, 2004WindowsBloodlinesfeatures ninelicensed musictracks, fromartists such asLacuna Coil,Tiamat andGenitorturers.However, thesewere all chosenby the publisher,with no inputfrom Troika.Bloodlines isquite faithfulto the tabletopversion, includingthe obligationto respect theMasquerade.Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines was thethird and final RPG from Troika Games, thecompany founded by the Fallout veteransLeonard Boyarsky, Tim Cain and Jason Anderson.The game was created using an early build of Valve’sSource engine, was rushed out by Activision and sufferedheavily from being released in the same dayas Half-Life 2, resulting in numerous bugs and weaksales. However, over time it became a cult classic.What’s so great about VtM:Bloodlines? A lot of things,ranging from the overall storyline to minor details.The game manages to do the impossible, mergingclassic RPG gameplay with modern FPS visuals.You experience the game as one of seven differentvampire clans, who have different vampiric powers,and you can play Bloodlines like a shooter, a stealthgame, a hack’n’slash or for a good part even as an adventuregame, solving many situations without force,but by lock-picking, hacking, persuading, intimidatingor seducing people. Besides these various options,the game world itself manages to bridge two otherextremes: you get large playable hubs that open upin the progression of the storyline and offer dozensof unique side and main quests, but the quests themselvesare more linear in style and convey plot andatmosphere better than any sandbox game could do.Still, there are often multiple approaches possiblein a quest depending on your character, and othercharacters will react accordingly to your behavior,coming alive due to the great facial animations of theSource engine, some of the best voice-overs in gaminghistory and the witty writing of Brian Mitsoda. Hecreated many very memorable characters and funnydialogs for Bloodlines, especially for the mad Malkavianclan, that has entirely different dialog options.Imagine talking to a TV set or to a STOP sign! Imaginea thin blood making references to the whole storythat you can only understand once you finished it!There are other great moments in the gamewhere a character revelation may surprise you witha deepness unusual for a computer game and some ofthe different endings may make you laugh out loud,showing at the same time that everything in the plotmade sense right from the start, but probably not exactlyas you suspected.The beautiful handcrafted levels push the alphaversion of the Source engine to its limits and enableyou to visit the greater area of Los Angeles; the windybeaches of Santa Monica, the busy skyscrapers downtown,the fancy streets in Hollywood and even thefar-eastern charm of Chinatown, with excursions toseveral external locations like strange mansions ordark caverns thrown into the mix as well. Your adventureswill vary from straightforward fights againsthumans, vampires or other supernatural creatures tosolving the mystery of a haunted hotel without anycombat, a level that is regarded as one of the spookiestlocations in gaming ever!124

“I like the characters to comeoff like people actually do – theydon’t say “hi” when strangers comeknocking, they say “who the hell areyou?” or they’re expecting you andknow more then they let on, or theydon’t care. I don’t like my NPCs to bestanding around as if their lives beginwhen the character starts talkingto them and end when the playerleaves. Characters are the protagonistsof their own game, from theirperspective.- Brian Mitsoda,VtM:Bloodlines’ writerCombine this with the powerful music of RikSchaffer and the mature handling of adult themes andyou get an atmospheric dark RPG that fits the Worldof Darkness setting perfectly!Also impressive are the lengths the game goesto honor the source material. Besides the aforementionedMalkavians and their unique dialogs there’sthe Nosferatu, hideous vampires that must avoid beingseen at all costs and cannot dialog with NPCs normally,forcing you to make clever use of stealth.Although Troika closed its doors after releasingonly two official patches, the community stepped inand an Unofficial Patch appeared that fixed most ofthe open issues and restored a lot of unfinished or cutcontent most of which was still hidden in the gamefiles. The patch is still being updated ten years afterthe rushed release of the game and with it Bloodlinesfinally becomes the last masterpiece of Troika it deservesto be! WSMods & Patches:Unofficial Patch: The basic patch fixes countlessbugs, and the optional plus patch restore a lot of cutcontent, including dialogs, quests and even maps.Mandatory for anyone trying to play the game.VtM: The Final Nights: A fan-made expansion packthat adds 7 new clans, new disciplines, NPCs, items,quests, a haggle system and other surprises.Clan Quest Mod: Adds a series of quests to thegame, including one quest specific to each clan.VTMB: Camarilla Edition: Overhauls how Disciplineswork and other interesting changes such as makingyou constantly need to drink blood to avoid starving.Arsenal mod: Adds 30 new weapons to the game,including swords, grenades and several rifles.Companion Mod: Allows you recruit NPCs and evenembrace select human companions later in the game.Not only thereare variousdialog skills suchas Inimidateand Seduction,but all dialogsare complelydifferent andtwisted whenplaying as aMalkavian.Project Vaulderieis an attempt toport Bloodlinesover to theUnity Engine,allowing for Mac& Linux versions,facilitate thecration of modsand add variousnew featuresand graphicalimprovements.Follow them atwww.projectvaulderie.comMelee combat is done in third-person mode, but thegame switches to first-person when you equip guns.The game offers various amusing side quests, most ofthem with various different approaches and solutions.125

Dungeon Crawl:Stone SoupRobert Alan Koeneke, 2006*Windows, Linux and OsX.*The originalCrawl wasreleased in 1995,but the StoneSoup developmentbranch began onlyin 2006.How many gamesallow you to playas a stealthyoctopus assassin?Far from a meregimmick, each ofthe many exoticraces offers anunique playstyle.Ahuge part of the roguelike games’ appeal istheir mystery: random generation meansthat no two games will be the same andmakes memorization infeasible while the permanentdeath of player characters discourages careless trialand error.As a result, the player is expected to learn thegame’s rules and adapt to different situations by bothin-game preparation (leveling up, collecting items)and the knowledge of different strategies for dealingwith the inevitable appearance of something he can’tface head-on. Failure to do so means their characteris lost forever, with no option but to start again.The trade off here is that the larger games in thisgenre take an unimaginably large amount of failedattempts to figure out. In fact, this can be such a bigtime investment that learning games like Nethack orADOM by yourself is simply not expected and thenumber of people who were able to finish them withoutreading spoilers, watching other people play orjust asking more experienced players for advice isvery, very low.One of the main design principles of DungeonCrawl: Stone Soup is to avoid this while still keepingthe game random, complex and difficult. To achievethis, the developers made Crawl almost completelyfree of instant deaths or difficult puzzles.On the other hand, they’re actively fightingagainst any sort of grinding and disproportionatelypowerful tactics – even going as far as to remove theability of selling items in shops. In addition to tryingto make their game fall into the ‘hard but fair’ category,Crawl developers are also making their game asuser-friendly as possible by including graphical tilesand full mouse support (old-fashioned fans can stillopt to play the game in ASCII mode. There’s even anautomatic exploration mode supposed to reduce thetedium of uncovering everything on the map.Crawl is generally considered to fall into the‘hack-like’ tradition of roguelike games (inspired byNetHack: persistent levels with special rooms, multipledungeon branches, focus on preparation ratherthan leveling etc.) although it features large, scrollinglevels reminiscent of Moria or Angband and its complexityis not in the interactions between items butin countless possible character builds: there’s a largevariety of races to choose from – 26 to be precise –and while the standard ones differ mostly in stats,the more outlandish ones play completely differently,such as Ghouls who must devour corpses to avoid rottingor Formicid, humanoid ants that can dig throughwalls. There’s even a race of sentient housecats thatcan’t use weapons and armor but get additional livesafter leveling up.There’s also a choice of class, although that affectsonly starting skills and equipment – differentskills can be learned by using them and what startedout as a warrior might end up being a mage.126

“My favourite gameplay mechanicis roguelike perma-death: acharacter who took hours to buildup can be destroyed forever by afew poor decisions and a single turnof bad luck. When you can’t justreload a save from two minutes agoagain and again until you get pastany obstacle, decisions becomemeaningful and the game stopsbeing a quasi-interactive movie andbecomes a game again.”- Linley Henzell,Crawl’s original developerCrawl shines onits attention todetails, such ashow using cuttingweapons on ahydra will spawnmore heads,giving it moreattacks per turn.Religion plays a very important role in Crawlas your character can worship many different gods,each providing him different benefits while at thesame time requiring to follow a specific code of conduct– those range from simple, like Elyvilon wantingyou to destroy weapons and avoiding evil magic,to strange, like Ashenzari wanting you to wear cursedequipment. Some of the gifts given by those gods canbe interesting too: followers of Dithmenos are surroundedby darkness, high level Jiyva worshippersreceive random mutations and those crazy enough tobecome Xom’s playthings will turn Crawl into unpredictable,unfair and extremely difficult game.The game begun its life back in 1995 as Linley’sDungeon Crawl when it was still being developed bya single programmer, Linley Henzell. The ‘stone soup’version was supposed to be a temporary fork whenthe dev team went on a hiatus but after some time itwas clear that the project was abandoned and DCSSbecame the official version of Crawl.Like many roguelikes, Crawl is light on the plot– you search for Runes which will allow you to enterthe realm of Zot to retrieve a mysterious Orb. It’s notthe most fascinating premise, although religion-relatedflavor text and some of the dungeon brancheshelp to flesh out the world a little bit. Still, it’s justa minor complaint about an otherwise excellent andwell-designed game.While Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup might not bemy favourite roguelike, it’s a great introduction to thegenre before trying to get into titles like NetHack andprobably the best choice for those who find typicalroguelikes antiquated or too cryptic. MMPlaying in ASCIImode is alsopossible. Herewe abandonedTrog, the Godof Violence, infavor of NemelexXobeh, theTrickster God.A terriblepunishment forthis betrayalawaits us.127

Titan QuestIron Lore Entertainment, 2006WindowsIron Lore closeddown after releasingTitan Quest.Some of thedevelopers thenwent on to createCrate Entertainment,responsiblefor Grim Dawn.Titan Quest is a Diablo -esque action- RPG witha mythological setting. The story is simple:Greece is being invaded by hordes of monstersand it’s up to the player to find out why and stop it.The journey will lead players through ancient Greece,Egypt, across the Silk Road and finally China inoriginal game, and deep into Hades in the ImmortalThrone expansion. In each of the acts players will visitseveral historical cities and some famous mythologicallocations. Enemies are mostly inspired by Greekand Egyptian mythology, with Taoist and pre-historicmythos as minor spices.The world in Titan Quest is very linear, but thatis unsurprising considering its Diablo heritage. Still,there are more towns than in similar games, and itspeople aren’t mute – they will often tell you about localevents or myths. On the other hand, the dungeonsconsist of simple interconnected square rooms withoutbosses or guaranteed rare loot to make them interesting,and they also lack any atmosphere or backstory,with the exception of few dungeons in the mainquest line. Side quests are generic; there is little storybehind them, and they all involve killing a boss and\or bring back a quest item.Titan Quest has 9 classes (8 originally and 1 addedwith expansion).There is no character creation, insteadthe player gets to pick a class at level 2, and thenchose a second class at level 8. The skill trees in particularare very well designed, allowing for great varietyof builds and gameplay options with each class. Tome, it was at the time the best class/skill system in anyaction- RPG. The game mechanics are also done reallywell; the character is very responsive and most attacksand skills can be dodged with fast reflexes and enoughspeed increase stat.Unfortunately, since the game is easy, neitherare really required, nor is a proper character build.Looting, alongside writing, is the weakest point ofthe game. Unique items drop too rarely, there isn’tenough of item variety and some hybrid classes don’thave items with fitting stats, making them non-viablefor highest difficulty.128There are some rare essences you can use to enchantitems. They can stack, and provide bonuses at thresholds.When leveling up, you can spend points to improveskills, or to gain passive bonus and unlock more skills.

“Basically, my belief is that TitanQuest never had as much style andcharacter as it could have becausewe were afraid to do anything evenremotely controversial.When I first designed the skillmasteries, they were all based onOlympian gods, with skills modeledafter the powers or attributes associatedwith different gods in mythology.This was rejected because it waspotentially too religious and peoplemight not want to feel like they wereworshiping mythological gods toreceive their powers.”- Arthur Bruno,Titan Quest’s lead designerPolyphemusis the cyclopsthat Odysseusfools in Homer’sepic poem, TheOdyssey. Buthere, he’s justanother monsterin your way.Playing through the campaign lasts between 25-30 hours, with additional 5 -10 hours with ImmortalThrone expansion pack. If that was it, Titan Questwould have been just a decent Diablo clone with lotsof unused potential, but the modding communitytook things into their own hands and managed toturn a decent game into a great one. IMDozens of mods for Titan Quest exist, but here aretwo of our favorites ones (note that they require theImmortal Throne expansion pack to run):Diablo 2 LilithA combination of two mods: Diablo 2 Immortal, thatseeks to mix the best of Diablo 2 classes with TitanQuest’s leveling mechanics, and the Lilith and theWorld of Jalavia mod, that offers an entire new worldfor you to explore, full of new enemies, quests, merchants,bosses and even a new soundtrack.SoulvizierThis mod expands on the popular Underlord mod,adding new classes and rebalancing old ones, featuringhundreds of new hero mobs, new class of items, souls,powerful ring slot items that are unique for every heroand boss monster, a new merchant type and many newgreat items, recipes, relics and charms. There’s also newtier of skills for each class.Soulvizier is a must-have if you are an action-RPG veteran,but it can be very hard for newcomers.Playing Titan Quest as a necromancer is pure fun, andfits the game very well.Soulvizier also uses the Diablo II UI mod, among manyothers, for a complete experience.129

Puzzle Quest:Challenge of the WarlordsInfinite Interactive, 2007Windows, Mac, iOS, PS2, PS3, NDS, PSP and Xbox 360Puzzle Quest hadan expansioncalled Revenge ofthe Plague Lord.It was releasedon consoles, butnever reachedthe PC. Fans thenmade an unofficialport of theXbox version.The world mapexpands as youprogress, and thereare usually manydifferent quests tochoose from.Puzzle Quest 2trades the 2D mapfor a beautifulisometric dungeonwith various levels.Steve Fawkner was once known as the man behindthe Warlords series. But for a new generationhe’s the creator of Puzzle Quest, the Puzzle/RPGin which you battle foes in a Bejeweled-style game.Combat in Puzzle Quest takes place on an 8x8board where the aim is to match three or more tilesof the same type. Each tile has a different function:coins give you money, purple stars give XP, skullsdeal direct damage to the opponent and the coloredglobes serve as mana for spells. The satisfying aspectof the game comes from the simplicity of the coremechanic, combined with the skill required to chainmultiple groups together, deny your opponent accessto mana and earn extra turns.There are four character classes available –Druid, Knight, Warrior and Wizard – each withhis own set of spells and passive skills. Spells rangefrom dealing direct damage to altering tiles on theboard and even taking multiple turns at once. Youunlock new spells by leveling up, but can only equipa maximum of six different spells. Choosing the rightloadout of items and spells to counter your foe is ofvital importance, and experimentation is encouraged.Exploration is done through a 2D map with anappealing, painted art style. There you can visit towns,buy equipment, take quests and listen to rumors. Theworld is limited at first, but as you progress new areasare unlocked. Over time, enemies pop up and blockroutes, meaning you must either find an alternativeway or fight them to progress.The story itself is a little bit flat and your mainmotivation for the various missions is really justto gain XP and gold. There are four realms to visit,focusing on different factions, and these introducenew enemy types to fight or capture. Some questsoffer you choices, and you can gain companions whoprovide handy support abilities, such as damaging anenemy as the battle begins.The big appeal of Puzzle Quest is taking analready addictive puzzle game then adding depth andRPG elements to it. Later in the game you can capturemonsters to use as mounts, learn spells from enemies,hunt treasures, craft your own magical equipment andeven build siege weapons and conquer entire cities.The formula became quite popular and led to anumber of follow-up games, including Puzzle Quest:Galactrix (2009), which had a sci-fi setting and usedhexagonal tiles – akin to Hexic – and Puzzle Quest 2(2010), a direct sequel with similar mechanics butfocused on dungeon-crawling. GE130

EasyGameStation, 2007*WindowsRecettearAn Item Shop’s TaleOne day Mr. Lemongrass left home, eager tobecome an adventurer. However, Recettearisn’t about his heroic deeds, but rather hiscollateral damage. More to the point, it’s about thehuge debt he left after vanishing, that must now bepaid by his daughter, Recette. She’s a naive young girlthat never worked a day in her life, and has inheritedthe task of opening an item shop and making enoughmoney to repay the whole debt in one month.With this very unique premise, Recettear placesthe player as owner of a small shop in a typical RPGtown, full of adventurers and surrounded by dungeons.Your job is to run the shop, purchasing itemsand reselling them with a profit.At its core it’s a very simple system, but has manynuances that add to the experience. For example, ifyou feature only expensive items and decoration,your shop will be considered too fancy, attracting lesscustomers. There are also special events, such as dayswhen certain types of items are cheaper or sold out.Over the course of the game you’ll meet variousadventurers. After gaining their friendship you canhire them to explore a dungeon for you. Once youdo, the game changes into a isometric Action-RPG,where you explore randomly generated levels, defeatenemies and collect treasure. Many items can only befound inside dungeons, including ingredients to craftpowerful weapons – that you can either give to youradventurers or sell at a high price. The dungeons havefew enemies and can quickly get repetitive, but at leastthe boss fights every 5 levels are interesting.Since there’s limited time to pay the debt you’llhave to manage your schedule, setting time to run theshop, buy supplies, explore dungeons and talk to thetownsfolk. Sadly, the later is underused, rarely resultingin anything besides one-note stories and jokes.Recettear also features post-game content, withextra dungeons and boss battles, two New Game+modes and the hellish Survival Mode, where eachweek you must pay increasingly high debts, tryingyour best to keep the shop open as long as you can.Of course, not everyone will have the urge to masterCapitalism, or the patience to explore dungeons with100 floors, but the main story is short, lightheartedand a nice change of pace from other RPGs. FE*Recettear wasfirst released atthe 73rd Comiketin 2007, and thenlocalized intoEnglish by CarpeFulgur in 2010.The combat isvery simple butevery adventurerplays differently,and some floorshave specialconditions.A poor adventurerasks for anexpensive item.Do you lower theprice to equiphim better, or doyou priorize yourprofit?131

The WitcherCD Projekt RED, 2007Windows and MacIn 2008 anEnhanced Editionwas released,with countlessimprovements,new adventures,an improved editorand even optionalfan-mademods. It was afree update forregistered ownersof The Witcher.Geralt can beruthless attimes.The Witcher is a single-character action-RPGbased on Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski’sseries of novels, featuring Geralt ofRivia, the eponymous witcher, a magically-mutatedmonster hunter for hire. The plot follows Geralt tryingto retrieve formulas and items required to createmore of his kind, which were stolen during an attackon Kaer Morhen, ruined fortress serving as haven forthe few remaining witchers. However, this turns outto be only one thread in a much more complex seriesof events, in which the protagonist gets involved.The game was created by CD Projekt RED, developmentstudio branch of Polish game publisherand distributor CD Projekt. It was the studio’s firstrelease and clearly a work of passion, as it shows thatcreators were the book series’ fans. The Witcher’sfaithfulness to the source material and attention todetail is remarkable, maybe even a bit too much, withsome characters, ideas and dialogues clearly recycledfrom the books, sometimes with a different name.The Witcher was created on highly modified versionof Neverwinter Nights’ Aurora engine, but youprobably would not notice that, if it was not writtenin huge letters on one of the splash screen. Graphicsare vastly improved, even compared to Obsidian’sNeverwinter Nights 2. Sound design is very good, andthe bleak music may not be very appealing to listenoutside the game, unless you are trying to fuel yourof depression, but it complements the game’s settingperfectly. However, CD Projekt RED have not avoidedthe trap of adult = sex, violence and profanity, as TheWitcher has more than its share of each.The world created by Andrzej Sapkowski is aplace, where happy endings are very few and far between.Its inhabitants are usually savvy enough to understandthis, and try to cope using (often dark) senseof humour and cynical attitude, only emphasised bythe fact that almost nobody in the world cares aboutreligion. This creates an interesting mix of classic fantasyand mature themes with a semi-serious approach.Monsters roam the countryside, with most peoplehelpless against them. Human dominance has forcedelves and dwarves exist to live in ghettos or take uparms as guerillas (or terrorists, depending who youask). Mages reserve their miracle-working magic forelites, who can afford their services, while human andinhuman life is valued highly only by a selected few.Geralt is one of those people, as much as hewishes he was not. He tries to be a cold professional,but more often than not he ends up helping people,because nobody else will or can. He repeatedly tries toremain neutral in the affairs of the world and just dohis job. In the novels he usually fails, in the game theplayer decides which path is the right one, or ratherthe least wrong one.While The Witcher is not an open-world game,each chapter puts Geralt, in a fairly large area, whichhe can explore, and interact with its various inhabitants.Character progression is hand-waved as Geraltregaining his skills and knowledge lost due toa near-death experience and subsequent amnesia.132

The Witcherbook series popularityin Polandis incomparableto any other fantasyfranchise.One week afterthe long-awaitedgame’s release inOctober of 2007it was out of stock everywhere andalmost impossible to buy. One ofThe Witcher short-stories collections‘The Last Wish’ remains the onlyPolish fantasy book adapted into afilm (and a TV series).The universe ofthe Starflight serieswas adaptedby fans into amonstrous 744page pen-andpaperRPG book,available freely.On each level up, Geralt earns skill points (called talents)of three types: bronze, silver and gold. These talentscan be spent to improve his abilities, with higherability levels requiring the more rare silver and goldones to unlock.As witchers are superhuman monster hunters,Geralt is able to take on multiple enemies at oncefrom the very start, using one of his two swords - steelagainst humans and their like, silver against monsters- and a fast, strong or group fighting style (whichwork well against agile, armoured and numerous opponents,respectively). Using other melee weapons ispossible – but suboptimal, as Geralt’s kill only workwith his swords – but ranged combat is not possible.The game offers two camera modes for you toplay in. Clicking on the enemy when in top-down viewwill cause Geralt to automatically close the distanceand attack, while clicking on the ground will movehim away and/or evade attacks. Over-the-shouldercamera makes controls more action-like, with manual,keyboard-controlled movement. In both modeswell-timed button presses will chain attacks into combos,with increasingly more elaborate animations andhigher damage as the protagonist’s abilities increase.The Witcher features sex scenes and full frontal nudity,that were censored on the US version.Geralt also knows five simple spells, called signs,which can help him in a pinch, and can be quite significantlyupgraded. The toughest fights may also callfor preparation in the form of alchemy, used to createpotions temporarily enhancing Geralt’s abilities.Most of the time, however, is spent talking topeople living in the city of Vyzima and its rural surroundings.Over the course of his adventure Geraltwill meet villagers, merchants, minstrels, craftsmen,child prophets, guards, knights, bandits, medics,prostitutes, spies, princesses, freedom fighters (terrorists)and many more, including even a privateinvestigator. Player will get immersed into the worldmostly by interacting with this lot, solving their manyproblems, fist-fighting, playing dice and occasionallygetting drunk in good company.Because ultimately, this is what this game is allabout - becoming the witcher and living his life for alittle while. And it does it very well. WMMods:CD Projekt released part of the tools they used to createthe game, leading to some interesting fan-made adventuresand mods. Your best source for those is the officialWitcher forums. Here are some of them:Medical Problems I & II: A fantastic two-part saga,where Geralt must uncover the mystery behind a strangeillness. Features multiple endings and over 15 hours ofgameplay, with great writing and design.And a Curse, and Love, and Betrayal: One of the biggestfan-made Witcher adventures, you must cleanse a mineand solve a lover’s curse. More than 12 hours long.Full Combat Rebalance mod: This huge mod completlyrevamps the combat of the game, aiming to make it closerto the books. It can make the game very challenging.The mod was developed by Andrzej ‘Flash’ Kwiatkowski,who also did Flash’s Witcher Mod, that adds higher difficultysettings to the game, bug fixes and other features.The mod’ creator was later hired by CD Projekt Red.The Witchercaused somecontroversy duethe addition ofcollectible ‘sexcards’, whichwere awardedto the player foreach womemGeralt bedded,depicting them invarious states ofundress.133

7.62 HighCaliberApeiron, 2007WindowsIn 2008 Aperionreleased 7.62:Reloaded, a standaloneexpansionto High Calibre.Unfortunately, it’sonly available inRussia.Although it was released back in 1999, JaggedAlliance 2 still reins alone – a highly complexand detailed tactical game that to this day it’sstill played by fans, with many mods still being madeto keep the game alive and going. Many JA2 wannabegames exist, but the consensus is that none can compareto what was achieved in JA2 with mods, not eventhe recently released Jagged Alliance Flashback.It turns out JA2 also had a cult following in othercorners of the world, and in 2005 a Jagged Alliancewannabe called Brigade E5: New Jagged Union wasdeveloped in Russia. It didn’t do well with professionalcritics but developed a loyal a fan base. Two yearslater, a sequel was released called Brigade E6 (knownas 7.62 High Calibre in the US), featuring a more nonlineargameplay and other various changes.By far the most interesting part of the game is itscombat system. Instead of using turn-based combatlike JA2, High Calibre features an unique real-timewith pause system. The easiest way to explain it is thatevery single action takes time. For example, want toturn around? It will take you 0.20 seconds. Want tograb a med kit stored in your pockets? 0.89 secondsare used for that!Every action in the game takes time, includingthe most basic ones like changing stance, picking upobjects and, of course, firing your weapon. While thismay sound clunky and messy, it actually makes thecombat really deep. The player must make intelligentchoices and calculate its time to play effectively.The amount of depth underneath the system isstaggering – there are four shot types, six movementtypes, customizable firing modes, a locational damagesystem and multiple variables that alter the speed ofeach action. Even adrenaline plays a big role, makingcharacters act faster, but less accurately.Apart from the combat, another great featureis the number of weapons available. From pistols tolight machine guns and sniper rifles, High Calibre featuresover a hundred weapons, a number which canbe further raised by installing mods.Weapons have stats such as accuracy, magazinesize and damage, but also other stats like the timeit takes to aim them and their reliability. Unreliableweapons like the Colt M16 must be kept well repairedand clean, or they might jam at the worst possiblemoment – meaning some players might prefer thelegendary reliability of an AK-47 instead.134You can start as one of eight different mercenaries, eachwith a set of attributes, but with customizable skills.It’s vital to carefully maintain your guns, consider yourloadout and optimize your pockets for quick access.

“Each command performed byyour soldier takes some time, realtime. This time depends on soldierskills, his condition, and so on. Allyour soldiers perform their actionssimultaneously with each other andenemy soldiers. This brings realismin the combat. Interruptions in turnbasedsystem are but an attempt tosimulate this. Unsuccessful attempt,I should say.”- Dmitry Ivashkin,High Calibre’s Lead ProgrammerStats also vary between the classes of weapons.Pistols are weak and inaccurate but are much fasterto aim and fire, making them very good close rangeweapons, when accuracy is not a problem. Someweapons can even have their stock folded to makethem faster to aim at the cost of reduced accuracy.There are also many weapon accessories, such asflashlights, suppressors, foregrips, bipods, bayonets,under barrel grenade launchers, laser sights andmultiple types of scopes. Some attachments also haveweaknesses – laser sights and flashlights can makeyou easier to spot by enemies, and using long rangescopes will reduce your field of view, making easierfor enemies to flank you.With so many options, combat feels rewardingand fresh. This is fortunate because the rest of thegame is not so well designed. Sadly, High Calibresuffers from various bugs and a boring “FedEX quest”storyline, filled with uninteresting characters andsaved only by its exciting battles.You’ll start as lone mercenary, hired to find aRussian businessman that is currently hiding in theSouth-American nation of Algeria. High Calibre is anopen, non-linear game, so you can move around themap to different cities, take multiple side-quests andside with either the rebels or the government forces.Later on you’ll be able to hire mercenaries tohelp you in battle, partake in highly intense battlesto capture and control cities and other valuable areasand also create militia to defend your locations fromenemies. If they die you will have to capture the areaagain in more high intense battles – an activity mostJA2 players should be used to.Unfortunately, 7.62 High Calibre isn’t the JA2successor we all have been waiting for. However, withthe help of a few mods, those into tactical battles candefinitely still have a great time. SGMods:Blue Sun Mod: The most well known mod for thegame, it adds a new quest-line, more mercenaries torecruit, more maps, hundreds of new weapons andstat balancing and many essential bug fixes. It isrecommended even for first time players.Silver Girl’s Armory: Adds more than two hundrednew weapons and improves some weapon models. Italso rebalances weapon stats and adds more diversityto enemy weapon usage. Recommended for first timeplayers as well. Requires the Blue Sun Mod.There’s also the popular HardLife Addon and theARMA Realista mod, both excelent standalone modsthat unfortunately are only available in Russian.Your stats,skills, injuries,adrenaline levelsand even inwhich pocket youplaced an itemwill all affect thespeed of youractions.The BlueSun Mod isendorsed by thedevelopers andcan be directlydownloadedby Steam. Justenable it in the“Betas” menu.There are various locations to travel to, and you can buya vehicle to go faster and store items in the trunk.Inside cities you can take quests, hire mercenaries, buyweapons and even conquer or defend the whole city.135

EschalonBasilisk Games, 2007Windows, Linux and MacEschalon: Book Iwas supposedto have anexpansion, butit was cancelleddue to technicalissues. Book IIhowever got afree expansion,called The Secretof Fathamurk.Pitch blacknights and darkdungeons maketorches essentialequipment.When a lone developer started talking aboutthis old-school fantasy RPG that he wasworking on back in 2005, most peopledidn’t believe he could pull it off. Much to everyone’ssurprise he not only released Eschalon: Book 1, butalso managed to release two more sequels.“Old-school” describes Eschalon pretty well, itlooks like it walked straight in out of 1992. SVGAgraphics, a clunky turn-based interface and very littlein obvious charm. But give the game a minute ofyour time and its true magic will show itself. Eschalonboasts an elaborate skill system that allows for severalsolutions to various problems. The character creationsystem follows the standard formulas and is easy tograsp, but for me Eschalon stands out as being oneof the most thief-friendly RPGs I’ve ever seen. Light,sound and line of sight are all taken into account andlocks and traps come in several qualities and designs.The setting seems unimpressive and clichéd,with the player character an amnesiac that wakes upin a ruined house. A cryptic chain of letters guideshim onto the main quest, but soon enough he’s travelingacross the lands, invading goblin strongholdsand stealing dwarven treasures in order to prevent aworld-shattering cataclysm from taking place.Probably the greatest feature of Eschalon is thefreedom of exploration, there are very few artificialbarriers in place to “guide” a player along a pre-determinedpath. Instead the game opts for the moreorganic approach to give the player travel advice viaNPC conversations and readables. Only rarely aregates used to block further progress, and walking offthe beaten path is often rewarding.Another part of the exploration aspect is themap. Eschalon has a detailed auto-mapping system,but asks that the player invests points in the Cartographyskill for it to be of any use. Sadly there are norecruitable characters to help the player, and whilecharacter dialogues aren’t badly written I still couldn’tshake the feel that NPCs were nothing more thanquest dispensers or shopkeepers. At least some questsallow for multiple solutions.But the bread and butter of Eschalon is the combat,the turn-based system allows for a tactical approach,but in general it comes down to ranged ormelee combat. The environment can give an advantage,like slamming gates down on monster’s headsand laying traps of your own in tight passages.But sadly Eschalon’s versatile system is unbalancedto the point of being broken. Most of the spellsin Eschalon outright replace various skills and equipment,rather than being sidegrades or buffs. Magecharacters become nigh-unstoppable powerhousesas a result. Speaking of skills, some of them are onlyused in a handful of circumstances, or maybe even asingle map.Another oddity in Eschalon is fighting in thedark. With a little skill training and using the correct136

“What inspired me to start this projectwas actually the sheer disappointmentthat I have felt with the design of mostmodern RPGs. They are created with theidea of targeting as wide a demographicas possible, and in doing so, they’ve shutout the niche market that gave birthto this genre in the first place. Today’shardcore RPG fans have an extremelylimited number of true RPGs from whichto choose. With the Eschalon series, wehope to alleviate this lack of choice byoffering an RPG that is inspired by thegreatest ones of all time rather than tryingto reinvent the genre all over again.”- Thomas Riegsecker,Eschalon‘s creatorCharacter creationfeatures allthe standards,plus options likechoosing a homeregion and areligion.spells/potions it’s easy to make the darkness work foryou and become the proverbial ninja; raining deadlyblows upon the monsters from the shadows. It’s fun,but it feels like cheating the system.The series evolves somewhat through the twosequels; the second game does many things right likebringing more of the same, along with new additionsand also overhauling the UI (so now it looks like a1993 game). Among the new additions are weatherconditions and a customizable difficulty level, includingchoosing whether you want weapons to breakdown with usage or if the character needs to consumefood and water.By contrast the third game feels like it was rushedand is only half-finished, the ending comes abruptlyand the writing takes a nosedive in quality, to thepoint of making the whole story anti-climactic anddisappointing. The ending goes so far as to make theother two games in the series feel irrelevant, whichfrankly is unforgivable. There’s also the question ofthe graphics, as the Eschalon games only support ahandful of non-widescreen resolutions at best, eventhough the last game was released in 2014.Sadly the poor performance of the third gamehas all but killed further support for Eschalon, leavingthe trilogy hanging by a thread when it needs alifeline. ÁVFan-made Editor:In 2008 an unofficial character and map editor wascreated by Eschalon’s community member xolotl. Sincethen the editor has been officially endorsed by BasiliskGames, and modders have already created a dozen ofsmall mods for Eschalon: Book III. These mods and theeditor can be found here: http://basiliskgames.comCombat is turn-based and somewhat simplistic, but it’sagile and helps with keeping the pace of the game fun.The sequels add small but welcome upgrades, such asdifficulty customization, item wear and a better UI.137

FortuneSummoners:Secret of the Elemental StoneLizsoft, 2008WindowsFS had a Deluxeversion releasedin 2009 in Japan,with additionalcontent and voiceacting. But onlythe original versionreached the west,localized intoEnglish by CarpeFulgur in 2012.You can switchcontrol betweenthe three maincharacters onthe fly, as well ascustomize theirbehaviour whenbeing controlledby the AI.Fortune Summoners is a hardcore sidescrollerARPG in the vein of “Metroidvania” games,featuring three classes (combat roles) and astrong emphasis on character stats and skills.The main character, Arche, is a physical fighterwho controls in the manner similar to fighting games.Sana and Stella, on the other hand, are magic userslacking Arche’s combo acrobatics. Sana’s water magicis slow but diverse, ranging from healing to statuseffects to offensive, while Stella is an aggressivespellcaster capable of freely moving around thebattlefield, relying on fast homing spells and conjuringup walls of fire.In addition to HP and MP, characters have fourbase attributes - Attack, Defense, Spirit, and Resist -increased on leveling-up or through consumables.Each character eventually learns many spells andabilities, and using them correctly without sticking tojust one or two is crucial..Generally, combat is what the game does best.Enemies react to your moves, acting ahead if youractions get too simplistic, dodging your attacks,taking advantage of the pauses in your movement,and inflicting status ailments. They also block, flank,stunlock you, fly, jump, do leap and ranged attacks,cast powerful spells, heal themselves, float out of yourattack or spell range, and move faster than you do.Much of the game’s difficulty comes from managingyour timing and momentum (which may provefrustrating to some). The companion AI is competentenough that the player might find herself worse atcontrolling the girls (in particular Arche) than the AI,but also highly customizable.Fortune Summoners never holds your hand.Dungeons get labyrinthine and span many screens,featuring puzzles that involve jumping, switchpulling,crate-pushing, and discovering hiddenpassages. Similarly, the game’s quests tell you what youneed to do, but not how you should go about doing it.Unfortunately, exploration can get fetch quest-y andlinear, with a back-and-forth design that often expectsyou to find the one NPC amidst a hundred of othersto advance the plot.Starting off with Arche the transfer studenton the way to her new school, the game’s story anddialogue are nothing if not cliché-laden – luckilytreated playfully, not seriously. The pervading spirit oflight-heartedness and camaraderie, perfectly capturedby Carpe Fulgur’s translation, eases you into the wholenonsense pretty well, too.Fortune Summoners takes pride in its old schooldesign, with good reason and to good effect. Thecombat is engaging and challenging, the writing isupbeat and charming, and the dungeon crawling,while at times artificially prolonged by backtracking,is enjoyable with many secrets to find. As a result, itremains one of my favorite action RPGs. Give it a tryif the anime presentation does not turn you off. CB138

Tales of Game’s Studios, 2008Windows and MacBarkleyShut Up and Jam: GaidenB-Ball. B-Ball never changes. The year is 2053- Basketball is dead. Ravaged by the mightypower of the Chaos Dunk, the lives of countlessinnocents were inadvertently taken by CharlesBarkley. Basketball became forbidden in the Cyberpocalypse,putting the sport into disarray. In the sameyear, the storm of dunking had come again. A mysteriousplayer had reduced Manhattan (and millionsof lives) to cinders. And from the ashes of slammingdevastation, a veteran of basketball would struggle toarise. Life in the Cyberpocalypse is about to change.Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is difficult todescribe. It’s a comedic RPG, and yet the world andits characters take themselves very seriously. Inspiredheavily by Chrono Trigger & Earthbound, the gameplayand mechanics should fit like a glove for thosewho grew up with them. The game is a dungeoncrawler at heart, but what makes it special is what theybuild off of that formula. Globetrotting around NeoNew York and its surrounding areas is a journey intothe bizarre, with quests and characters that can go inoutlandish directions.You’ll write poetry, discover long forgotten historyof the spherical rubber wonder, and realize thefull potential of the chicken dew. If a talking gas pumplectures you on the sublime nature of Chrono Cross,things have clearly taken a turn for the strange. Thewriting and dialogue is a strange amalgamation ofBasketball references, allusions to JRPGS, and justabout everything else in between. Suffice it to say, theamount of creativity jammed into this slam-athon isone of the games’ major highlights.The combat will feel very familiar to fans of FinalFantasy and other JRPGs. With up to 4 party members,you can choose between your normal attacks,items, and special abilities. The combat also embracesthe absurdity of the setting. Clashing against Basketballspiders, Zombie Referees, and Robotic Killer Gatoradesis a slice of what Tales of Games has come upwith. The special moves of your characters can varywildly between one another in terms of gameplay, andit makes each scuffle feel unique instead of just anothergrind. Only in Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden couldyou breakdance with Uzis while curing a bad case ofdiabetes.Graphically speaking, the laugh-out-loud designsof some of these enemies, bosses, characters,and locales are almost worth the trip itself. And themusic. Cooked up by composer Chef Boyardee, it’s anoriginal soundtrack that appropriately takes a seriousCyberpocalyptic atmosphere and ocassionally headsinto silly territory.Any gamer with a sense of humor, or someonelooking for RPG nostalgia could find nirvana here.Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden is a treasure trovefor RPG fans both old and new, serving as a reminderthat some of the best things in life are free (like thisgame). GTMix & match yourabilities with thevaried combatsystem. Slam themfrom downtown,or have yourselfsome chickenfry - the choice isyours.139

Mount & BladeTaleWorlds Entertainment, 2008WindowsMount&Blade:Warband is astand-aloneexpansion packreleased in 2010,that adds a newfaction, the abilityto manage yourown kingdomand a multiplayermode.You should notonly purchasebetter horsesand equipment,but also keep aneye out for tradegoods.If you take visceral hack and-slash combat akin tothat found in Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, add ina smaller scale, more intimate taste of battle managementa la Medieval: Total War, and wrap it all inthe trappings of a simplified medieval sandbox worldsimulator with RPG elements, your end result is themulti faceted and engaging game by Paradox Interactivenamed Mount & Blade.The soul of Mount & Blade is the battles. Whetherit be two forces clashing on snow -cover hills at dawnor the spot where siege tower meets fortress wall in thedead of night, the battles are where the 3D renderedlandscapes, character, weapon and armour models,sound of hooves, clash of blades, and cries of battle allcome to life.As the leader of forces you hire and train, youmay hastily issue one or two initial instructions, butwhen you close with the enemy you find yourselfacting and reacting as the battle erupts around you,clashing with targets of opportunity and making snapdecisions as the unpredictableness of battle unfolds.There’s something deeply gratifying about carvingyour way through a group of crossbowmen who’dmere moments ago been picking off your companionsin the throng of the battle proper...and something gut-tightening about the scrape of a dozen short swordsunsheathing as your recently head shotted warhorsecrumples beneath you, spewing you face first onto theground amongst them. Such hectic, in -the- momentexperiences in battle are what keep you coming backfor more throughout the game.While there’s no respite for careful thought inthe heat of battle, while roaming the lands of Calradiaeither as an avatar on the game map or while exploringone of the towns or castles that dot its surfaceyou are able to stop, rest your troops, and plan yournext move amongst all the chaos of a land contestedby five factions. This is when the sense of all of yourbattles being small cogs in a larger wheel sets in; asyou interact with NPCs either through dialogue or atthe tip of a sword, other NPC units are likewise pursuingtheir own objectives all around you. Factionrelations and interactions are ever shifting, and theirleaders will have their armies constantly on the move.Fortunately, significant events you don’t encounteryourself while roaming the land are flashed to you intext and logged into the game’s bank of reference material,providing general glimpses on the state of theland when needed.The lands of Caraldia are alive with more thanjust the faction forces: army deserters, the manhunterstracking them down, sea raiders, villagers, tradecaravans and more all move about and interact, makingthe otherwise sparse land come alive with the simulatedlife of the population. Conflicts, either smallskirmishes or all out battles with hundreds of troops,are occurring throughout the land, and your role in itall is up to you. At night sight lines are reduced, and itmay come as a shock to find just how close an enemyforce is when dawn strikes. Fortunately, everythingon the land freezes when your force is stopped, givingyou time to plan your next move.140

Mods for Mount & BladeBattle Size Changer: allows you toincrease the maximum number ofsoldier in battle at once, from thedefault 100 to a max of 1000.The Last Days of the Third Age:lets the player fight on either sideof the War of the Ring, as one ofTolkien’s various fantasy races.Star Wars Conquest: A total conversionmod set in the Star Warsuniverse, allowing you to freelyexplore and conquer the galaxy.Sword of Damocles adds a kingdommanagement system, 100+new troop types and much more.Mods for Mount & Blade: WarbandAnno Domini 1257: a massive totalconversion mod set in 13th centuryEurope, during the Crusades andMongol Invasions.Brytenwalda: Huge and complexmod set in Britain after the fall of theRoman Empire. The focus is on beinga warrior, rather than a war leader.Floris Mod Pack: a compilationpack of mods created by the community.Extremely recommended.Prophesy of Pendor: A challengingmod, offers an interesting anddangerous world, with tougherenemies and a hard combat.The Last Days of the Third Age modallows you to defend Minas Tirith.Conquer the galaxy as a Sith withthe Star Wars Conquest mod.As a sandbox game there is no overarchingnarrative guiding progression in M&B, so ‘winning’falls to a player’s own particular interests. This couldmean aiding your faction in achieving dominance,but could also involve more character -specific goals.Want your character to become a god among men?Advancement in M&B has several layers. XP gainedfrom kills and completing missions increases stats,which in turn opens the door for higher skill levels.All skills are passive, freeing you to keep your mindon parrying that next mace or wooing that next lady.Weapon proficiency is tied to battlefield use with anemphasis on higher difficulty useage, making thatlong range throwing axe headshot you pulled-off allthe more satisfying.Perhaps aiding a pretender to wrest the thronefrom her rival and in turn be granted lordship of acastle is more your style. Both your Renown (earnedin battle) and your Relationship rating with lords andtownspeople will determine if they even acknowledgeyou, and are impacted by quests and the decisions youmake.The effort at realism and care for detail put in byTaleWorlds to create a faithful medieval experiencerather than a fantastic one is an endearing facet ofMount & Blade: weapons and armour are more ruggedthan gaudy, castles, towns and villages are made ofhewn wood or stone rather than being grandiose anddecadent, and the people of Calradia look and act thepart: the poor are unwashed and weary, while the nobilityare somewhat clean and focused on self -interest.Even the (optional) blood effects on your hero’s warhammerand tunic feel grimy and genuine. This lackof sparkle and shine, combined with the resemblanceof the factions to real -world historical groups, createan overall feeling of authenticness to the game.Ultimately the core of Mount & Blade is reflectedin its name, giving a harrowing and entertaining tasteof being a medieval battle commander. But it doesso within a subtly immersive world of conflict andchoice shaped by your victories or defeats by mountand by blade. BWIn 2011 a secondstand-aloneexpansion wasreleased, Mount& Blade: With Fire& Sword. Set in1600’s Poland, itadds pistols, riflesand grenades.The graphics on the world map are very simple, but thetight gameplay keeps it exciting.Sieges on fortifications can be extremely chaotic.141

Divinity II:Ego DraconisLarian Studios, 2009Windows and Xbox 360Larian wouldreturn for moredragon battles inDivinity: DragonCommander(2013), an exoticmix of RTS battles,strategy maps,dragon combatand politicalsimulator.The third-personaction-combat issimple, but getsthe job done.Trigger warning:Cooldowns.While amazing thefirst few times,battles in Dragonform can getrepetitive. Larianwould later makebetter use of themon Divinity: DragonCommander.This is a game where you can (at will) turn intoa dragon, attack a flying fortress and the armyof demons protecting it, land in the courtyard,kill the guards with a mix of fierce sword fighting andspellcasting, subdue the fortress’s commander andthen read his mind to find out his deepest secrets. Allthis 100% gameplay, no cutscenes involved. It has tobe one of the best RPGs ever made by man, right?Unfortunately, no. Larian’s ambitious vision forDivinity II included a multi-player campaign and evenRTS elements. However, development issues, lack offunding and the hardware limitations of the Xbox 360forced them to make some deep cuts in their project.While the end result is still an entertaining thirdpersonaction-RPG, it’s also a very uneven one.As an apprentice Dragon Slayer you are sent onyour first hunting expedition, but the tables turn asyou suddenly find yourself bound to a dragon – ableto transform into a mighty flying beast, but on the runfrom your previous companions.Larian always set themselves apart by their cleverwriting, and Divinity II is no exception. Some of thedialogs are exceptional, the quests are highly creativeand the game overflows with interesting ideas, suchas the aforementioned mind-reading skill, the mightydragon form, an undead “pet” you can customizeby collecting body parts and even a personal battletower, complete with servants you must recruit.The problem is that the game often doesn’t playto its strengths, tiring players with dungeons full ofmindless enemies or repetitive battles against flyingfortress, when the real treat lies in its dialogs andquests. The combat isn’t bad per se, featuring a nicerange of spells and abilities, but i’s poorly balanced,and occasionally it feel like you’re fighting enemiesplaced there just to extend the game’s length.The original release was plagued by bugs, but the2011 Dragon Knight Saga re-release fixed most issues,enhanced the graphics, redesigned some areas andadded the Flames of Vengeance expansion pack, withabout 20 hours of new content. In 2012 Larian wouldrelease the Developer’s Cut version, adding a optional“cheat mode”, design documents, concept art and afascinating documentary about the development ofthe game and the various obstacles they faced.It’s hard to shake the feel that Divinity II couldhave been much more than it was – especially afterwatching the development documentary – but it’sstill a solid Action-RPG, spiced by a few novel ideas.And if you have any sense of humor, the writing alonewill guarantee you a good time. FE142

DECK13 Interactive, 2009Windows, Xbox 360 and PS3VeneticaVenetica begins with a rather unique premise:You are Scarlet, a young girl from the smalltown of San Pasquale. Suddenly, the town isattacked by assassins, your fiancée is killed and youmeet with Death itself... Who reveals that he is yourfather, and that you must help him save the world.The game is a light action-RPG in the veins ofFable, filled with side-quests to take and moral choicesto make, but more focused on story and exploration.Most of the game is spent in a fantasy version of16th-century Venice, divided into five large districts.Venetica is no Assassin’s Creed II, but the team madea great job, filling the city with stunning sights and afew hidden side-paths, while using a colorful art styleto compensate for the small budget.The combat is simple to a fault. There are fourweapon types – swords, spears, hammers and theundead-slaying Moonblade. Each one comes withdifferent damage types, combat skills and combos youcreate by timing your attacks right. Or at least that’sthe theory, as it’s too easy to get behind enemies andstun-lock them by quickly mashing the attack button.As the daughter of Death, Scarlet also has accessto some handy powers. First of those is the ability tocome back from the dead. As long as she has enoughTwilight Energy, she’ll always revive when slain. Asthe game advances, you’ll unlock new powers, suchas the ability to speak with the deceased, see throughthe eyes of ravens and briefly warp between the landof the living and the realm of the dead.It’s fascinating in concept and occasionally thegame allows you to make great use of these powers– like casually letting a robber cut your throat, thenreviving and killing him. Sadly, those are very rare;Venetica fails to explore its immortal character andsome powers are used only once during the story.Scarlet is the main attraction of Venetica, beinga strong and charismatic character while still allowingroom for players to role-play her. You’ll be able tochoose Good, Neutral or Evil paths, as well as join oneof the three guilds in Venice: Warriors, Messengersand Necromancers, each with a unique set of quests.Unfortunately, while the game works as whole,its parts feel constrained and rushed. Elements suchas the combat, the interface, Scarlet’s powers and theconsequences for her choices all could use a few moremonths of polish, and I can’t shake the feeling thatfeatures were cut mid-way through development.Despite these limitations and the poor combat,Venetica is still a charming casual action-RPG anddefinitely worth a play for fans of games like Fable. FEVenetica has amorality and areputation system,and even trackshow many peopleyou killed, butrarely use those ininteresting ways.Combat is simpleand exploitable,but the gamedoesn’t overstayits welcome ortire players withendless fillerfights.143

Yumina:The EtherealEternal, 2009WindowsThe entireinterface looksconfusing atfirst, but it’s veryefficient once youunderstand it.Yumina the Ethereal is a perfect example ofmodern PC-exclusive RPGs made in Japan.They are a different breed from the popularconsole JRPGs that reach our shores, such as FinalFantasy. These are focused on a niche market, usuallymixing Visual Novel story-telling with challengingbattles and complex mechanics – plus erotic scenes.Erotic scenes which are the reason you won’t seeYumina on Steam or being talked about in big gamingwebsites. While it doesn’t feature rape or other similardark fetish, it still shows explicit (and very awkward)sex with clearly under-aged girls. Luckily, those arevery rare and mostly optional, to the point where youask yourself why are they even there.But don’t let prejudice fool you, Yumina isn’t acheap hentai game masquerading as RPG. This is ahigh-profile release from veteran developers. It’s awell designed game with complex systems, full voiceacting (in Japanese), and some great use of 3D backgroundswith 2D sprites. It’s a beautiful and polishedtitle, and I’m glad that we finally got an official release,localized into English by JAST USA in 2013.The plot starts (but doesn’t stay) simple: to avoidfailing in school, Yumina tries to become the next StudentCouncil President, so she can change the schoolrules. But for that, she must win the Election War.All that is told through a typical Visual Novel presentation,with anime-style art and humorous but overwrittendialogs. Expect at least 2 hours of expositionbefore you even reach the tutorial. Thankfully, youcan simply skip all that if you only care for the battles.Yes, battles. The Election War is quite literal.You’ll have to win “debates” against other candidates,that are in fact turn-based fights, with charactersshouting “arguments” – such as “We mustrespect effort!” – each time they attack. You controlfour characters, their available skills defined by theirposition: the front “debater” usually attacks directly,while the three others act as support, using skillsas “counter-arguments” to the actions of your frontcharacter and his foes.In a very interesting mechanic, the mana poolis shared between all characters in combat, includingenemies. It’s locked at 100, but divided into fourcolors. Each of your party members uses a differentcolor to cast his skills, and that reduces its relativeamount. Using red abilities, for example, reducesthe % of red mana on the pool and increases othercolors. Managing that through careful use of skills,formation changes and special items is the key tobattles, as characters can’t use their skills if there isn’tenough of their corresponding mana.The extra tactical layer of the mana pool adds alot to an already complex game. JRPGs went in theopposite way of western RPGs, proudly displayingas much stats, menus, skills and overall complexityas possible. Of course, that isn’t always a good thing,and often translates into overly complicated games,144

When inside dungeons, your party’s behaviour servesas hints to what lies around. Very confusing hints.During “debates”, your support characters can usetheir skills in response to enemy actions.hiding their shallowness behind a facade of numbers.But Yumina manages to hit a sweet spot, featuring asystem that is intimidating at first glance, but provesitself logical and robust once you’re familiar with it.The difficulty settings play a great part in that.The game has various routes, leading to vastly differentendings and final battles. The trick is that eachtime you finish the game, you’re offered the chanceto to play again in a New Game+ mode, keeping yourstats and items, but also increasing the difficulty. Beatall three routes and you’ll unlock the fourth route, afinal challenge leading to the “True Ending”.Another great reason to recommend Yuminais how it avoids common pitfalls of other JRPGs.Everything from dialogs to battle animations can beskipped or hasted, and you won’t have to fight countlessrandom battles with repetitive enemies unlessyou want to. In fact, the game even stops you fromgrinding, kicking you off the optional areas with randombattles after you reach a certain level.Speaking of enemies, you’ll start by facingschool students, but as your quest to become StudentCouncil President advances, the plot grows moreand more crazy. You’ll soon find yourself exploringrandom dungeons, fighting goblins, demons, aliens,giant robots and even gods. Obviously.It should be clear by now, Yumina the Ethereal isnot for everyone. Very few will stand the anime-stylegraphics, insane plot, complex system and the presenceof hentai scenes. Even fewer will have the enduranceto beat the game four times to enjoy all it hasto offer.However, if you are a curious and tolerant soul,at least try the demo. Yumina is a great game, and providesa unique experience, completely different fromanything you’ll find in western RPGs – and it’s alwaysgood to expand your horizons. FEAn expansionand a sequel toYumina havebeen releasedin Japan, butthere’s no wordon any of thembeing localizedto English.Yumina doesn’t shy from being complex, it embraces it.It can scare newcomers off, but it’s a joy to munchkins.Yes, it is. Prepare to spend a lot of time reading dialogs,but at least you can skip them all if you wish.145

CthulhuSaves the WorldZeboyd Games, 2010Windows and Xbox 360Cthulhu Saves theWorld was firstreleased for theXbox Live. ZeboydGames then rana Kickstarter tofund an enhancedversion and a PCport, which wasreleased in 2011.The game takeselements fromvarious classicJRPGs, such asthe multi-panelcutscenes fromthe Phantasy Starseries.Combat is the usualJRPG fare, butwith a few twists.For example, eachround the enemiesget 10% stronger,forcing you to killthem quickly.146Cthulhu Saves the World is a small and linearbut content-rich RPG, put out by the prolificRobert Boyd & Bill Stiernberg duo at Zeboyd.The game is mostly notable for its retro aesthetics andhilarious take on the Cthulhu-mythos.In terms of structure and gameplay, CthulhuSaves the World is a straight-forward JRPG. Wherethe game shines – the reason it is worthwhile to talkabout at all – is its plot, its characters and the obviouslove that the developers had for both. You beginthe game as Cthulhu, the Old One, being deprived ofyour powers by an unknown force. In order to regainthem, you must first become a true hero – only thenyou may resume your plans to destroy the world. It’s awell-constructed and humorous story, that most fansof Lovecraft should be able to appreciate.Ironically however, the game’s characters are alsothe game’s biggest weakness. While you never get tiredof Cthulhu cast in the role of “grumpy and unwillingsavior”, or some of his tag-along friends and thesharp developer-wit their personalities exhibit, othercharacters are downright obnoxious and unnecessary.Your first companion, Umi, is a tiresome groupiewhose shtick gets old real fast. Other characters likethe necromancer (October), the sword (Sharpe), orthe cat alien (Paws) are much more interesting andswitch between parodying tropes of the genre andbeing cool characters in their own right.As a game, Cthulhu Saves the World is a sufficientbut forgettable experience. You walk across afairly linear overworld or map with your band of ragtagsaviors, collecting items and fighting battles, bothrandom and hand-placed. The battle screen takes youto the standard JRPG line-up, where enemies andplayer characters stare each other down face to face,taking turns to inflict damage upon each other.You might think the game is bad or boggeddown from my choice of words. This however, is notthe case. Cthulhu’s characters and enemies are variedand you have plenty of different tactical options atyour disposal, thanks in part to a clever progressionsystem that offers a choice between different skills andstats bonuses at each level up.Ultimately, Cthulhu Saves the World is more thanenough fun to justify the measly 2 dollars being askedfor the game on Steam these days. It is one of thoserare games, like the original Doom, where playing itgives you a sense of who its developers were. Whatthey enjoyed, which time they were raised in, andwhat culture produced them. For this reason alone,the game is worth a glance from any would-be RPGconnoisseurs. GR

Apeiron, 2009WindowsMarauderAperion’s previous game, 7.62 High Calibre,was a real-time open world tactical RPG,heavily inspired by the Jagged Alliance series.While rather buggy and with a boring storyline, itscomplex simulationist combat and highly detailed“gun porn” conquered quite a few devout fans.Marauder, also known as Men of Prey in Europe,is instead a linear, story-driven game, based on abook series by the same name from Russian authorBerkem Al Atomi. The game places you in the bootsof Akhmetzyanov, a common man trying to survivean alternate-history Russia where the governmentcollapsed, anarchy reigns and the US is invading.Don’t expect a pleasant story. Ahkmet himselfis neither a virtuous paragon nor a noble-heartedanti-hero, but a man willing to do anything to keephim and his wife safe. You will fight militias, raidersand cannibals, but also desperate, starved neighborstrying to take some of your precious food.Marauder’s combat perfectly reinforces its harshatmosphere. The unique real-time with pause systemfrom High Calibre is still here, if slightly streamlined.Every action takes a set time to be performed, andeach has its pros and cons. The shotgun is a sure kill atclose range, but it takes 0.42 seconds to ready it, whilea pistol-wielding enemy can fire in just 0.08 seconds.You must take that into account in order to survive.While I usually prefer turn-based tactical games,Marauder’s intense and nerve-wrecking battles makegreat use of the game’s elaborate real-time system. Toadd to the challenge, Ahkmet can only see what’s infront of him and must otherwise rely on hearing toguess the enemy’s position. This is further accentuatedby the game’s overwhelming odds, pitting you aloneagainst dozens of looters or a full elite military squadwith nothing but a rifle, some mines and your wits.The game keeps the extensive and highly detailedarmory found in High Calibre, with almost a hundredweapons, and adds a few more RPG mechanics to theformula, such as character creation, a skill tree andlockpicking. You’ll also get up to three companions asthe plot advances, allowing for more complex tactics.Sadly, Marauder is extremely linear. Besides themain story, you’ll only be able to visit a bazaar, do acouple of side-quests and have one-line conversationswith a handful of NPCs. And the dialogs are all inRussian, with poorly translated English subtitles.Rough, challenging and intense, Marauder is anunique low budget tactical RPG. Its bleak story, harshsetting, high difficulty and complex combat are a suretreat to cold-blooded tactical enthusiasts. FEIt’s stronglyrecommendedto manuallyedit the game’sconfig files. Thatway you canunlock higherresolutions andbetter cameracontrols.Firing from thehip is faster, butaiming allows youto target specificbody parts andcripple enemies,or go for a letalheadshot.Weapons canbe upgraded,equipped withacessories, firedifferent bulletstypes and evenhave their stocksfolded. But theyalso decay, breakand overheat.147

Alpha Protocol:The Espionage RPGObsidian Entertainment, 2010Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360Alpha Protocolwas ready fora 2009 release,but its publisher,SEGA, imposed adelay to build uphype. The planbackfire, as APwas released rightafter Mass Effect2 and SplinterCell: Conviction,leading to harshcomparisons andslow sales.Ishould clarify right at the beginning that, in myopinion, Obsidian Entertainment’s Alpha Protocolis one of the most under-appreciated action-RPGsof all time. Sure, the game has numerous faults, so itis not entirely Game of the Year material, but it alsohas several important and well-developed elements inwhich it surpasses the competition.As one can see from the subtitle, Alpha Protocolinvites you into the world of espionage, where youencounter top secret organizations, terrorists, roguespies, gadgets right out from a James Bond movieand, of course, a secret agent who will save the day.The hero I’m talking about is Michael Thorton, whowas just recruited into Alpha Protocol, a super secretorganization in the United States.After a brief introduction, you will start your careerwith an easy tutorial, followed by your first realassignment: traveling to Saudi Arabia to find and dealwith an international terrorist. Of course, this is justthe beginning, and soon you will figure out things arenot as they look. After a few missions, you will runfor your life, with half of the American governmentbreathing down on your neck, not mentioning theRussian mafia, and some bad guys from China.If you like the political thrillers of Tom Clancy, orthe hit TV show 24, you will feel right at home in theworld of Alpha Protocol, and you won’t be disappointedby the events depicted in the game.Obviously a good story cannot exist withoutgood characters, and Obsidian pulls this off quitewell. Michael Thorton is not a pre-defined character,it’s up to players to decide what kind of person he is.An important tool for this is the dialog system, whichat first sight is very similar to the dialog wheels usedin other RPGs. However, you won’t choose what youwant to say, but in what manner you want to reply.This way, Thorton can be aggressive, professional, orsuave – the three agent archetypes, Jack Bauer, JasonBourne and James Bond – plus a few other choices,depending on the context. There is a short time limitfor choosing, which gives dialogs a nice, natural flow.Your decisions, your replies, the intel gathered,all have consequences (some bigger, some smaller)to a degree that few other games ever could match,which in itself warrants several playthroughs. You caneven choose how to approach missions, such as tryingto infiltrate an airbase right at the start or going after alocal weapon dealer for intel first.148As you level up you’ll gain points that can be spent togain passive buffs or learn new skills and abilities.Weapons and gear are costumizable in a variety of ways,thnaks to upgrades that can be found or purchased.

“The story is gameplay – thealliances/enemies you make inthe game effect missions, respect,endgame choices, reactivity, andalso special perks for your characteras well. Interaction with a characterin the game is a game systemand gameplay in itself, which wasour goal. We didn’t want the storyor dialog to be divorced from themissions or gameplay.”- Chris Avellone,Alpha Protocol’s lead designerThere are several memorable NPCs in the game,although because the story grounded in reality, theyare not as far-fetched as in games like Planescape:Torment. I have to point out Steven Heck, who must beapplauded as one of the most memorable charactersin gaming. Every minute the player spends with thispsychopath rogue agent is comedic gold. Just don’t besurprised if the guy ties up the hostages, pours somebleach on them and finally sets them on fire.However, not everything is nice and good, thanksto problems found in the game mechanics. By default,the game is a third-person shooter, mixed up withDeus Ex influences and fairly hectic cover mechanics.You can sneak around, evade cameras and knockout unalerted guards, or just draw your weapons andgun everyone down. Being a RPG, Alpha Protocol alsohas a nice (although shallow) character progressionsystem, which lets the player upgrade Thorton’s skills(weapons, martial arts, technical affinity, etc), as wellas offering unique passive perks that are unlockedbased on your choices, actions and play-style.The problem is that some of these abilities areuseless, while others are overpowered. For example,using a Stealth skill which briefly turns you invisibletogether with the Chain Shot skill allows players toeasily finish off anybody, even bosses.Sadly, the game has some shortcoming on thetechnical department as well. Controls were clearlydesigned with controllers in mind, which makes thecamera movement with a mouse pretty frustratingsometimes. It also has some texture streaming and AIproblems, and lacks some overall polish, with playerscomplaining about several minor bugs.The mini-games are a controversial point, sincepeople are divided whether or not they are designedwell. I personally feel that they are among the best oftheir kind, because they require actual concentration,hand-eye coordination, and they are not focused onquick time events or trivial puzzles. During hacking,you have to find matching lines of codes in a runningmatrix. To disable an electric circuit, you must solve avisual maze. And to pick a lock, you have to manuallymove the pins of the lock. It is true that because of thejerky mouse controls, these can become somewhatdifficult, but once you get used to how they work, theyare quite manageable. And if you get stuck, they canbe bypassed with a few EMP grenades.With all that said, who is this game for? Well,if you value good stories, like to experience theconsequences of your choices and love conspiracies,then give Alpha Protocol a shot. You might find arough diamond under the technical difficulties. JCYou have a timelimit to choosebetween thevarious dialogoptions, andthey will allhave long-termconsequences.Chris Avellonerevealed in a2013 interviewthat his plans fora sequel involveda wackier tone,similar to Kill Billand the SaintsRow games, whilealso featuring anasynchronousmultiplayerelement, inspiredby Dark Souls.However, due topoor sales, SEGAhas no interestedin a sequel.The cover mechanics are servicable, but will occasionallygive players a hard time, likely forcing a reload.The longer you keep your aim reticule over the target,the higher your accurancy and the critical hit chance.149

Fallout:New VegasObsidian Entertainment, 2010Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360Four story DLCswere released forNew Vegas. Theytell standalonestories, but tietogether to themain plot. Thegame also gottwo other DLCsthat add newweapons andarmors.A vast amountof content and avast amount ofusable items createa satisfying,complicated RPG.People will never stop bickering over whetherFallout 3 is better than New Vegas, and I lovethat. It’s a sign of prosperous times, really. Afterall they’re both excellent games that came out withintwo years of each other, they both spin the sameidea and same franchise to cater to specific tastes, andthey both provide some of the most satisfying longtermgameplay in the genre. Plus, that debate alwaysreminds me that New Vegas actually exists, whichmakes me far too giddy to get bitter about anything.Because while I think Fallout 3 is one of the betterRPGs of this generation, I think Fallout: New Vegas isthe very best game of its generation!I don’t even have to question myself. Out of anentire console generation of RPGs, I thoroughly believethat Fallout: New Vegas had the highest standardsin choices and consequences, world buildingthat was most relevant to gameplay, the funniest andmost thoughtful writing, the most impactful levelingand character progression, the most pleasant tone andatmosphere. The list goes on.It’s a dream team collaboration between Bethesda’stech (a massively detailed open-ended worldwith a meticulous level of player interaction) andObsidian’s writing (a complicated interactive politicaldrama) that combined the best qualities of the bestmodern RPGs. And it certainly helped that the MojaveWasteland of New Vegas was more contemporary,mature and bold. It evoked more Game of Thronesthan Road Warrior.The Mojave Wasteland wasn’t really a wasteland.The people around New Vegas have schools, jobs,clean water, food, clinics and a few functioning governmentswhose conflicts drive the action of the story.New Vegas itself is a vacation spot for wealthy retiredfolks coming in out of state, and that doesn’t feel likepost-apocalypse. Your character isn’t a lone scavengergrasping for survival, he’s a gainfully employed couriertrying to make a delivery. This desert wastelandwas covered in power lines and plumbing pipelines,farms and busy trade routes. The nonsensical fantasyof Fallout 3 was turned into a fully detailed economyfor New Vegas, and the productivity of its economygave actual stakes to the factions vying over it.Faction play is the star of the show, really. Thereare an overwhelming number of possibilities for eachfaction to intersect in and out of each other’s storylinesin different ways. Faction quests criss-crossinto other faction quests, the order in which you takethem can affect your possibility of taking others, andthe motivations and narrative wrappers surroundingthose quests always related to the complexities of theworld’s economy. The three biggest factions at play allfight with a reasonable and realistic amount of self-interest.You can see where they’re coming from. EvenCaesar’s Legion, who had to have been the villains.And what great villains they were! Caesar’s Legionhad an ever-expanding medieval empire that reveledin slavery, torture, sadism and warfare. And whatmade them truly terrifying is that they weren’t moustache-twirlers.Fallout: New Vegas is a game about150

“I guess the thing is, I don’t reallyview RPG and FPS as separategenres. FPS is the style of combatthat the game has outside of VATS.But the RPG always influenceshow you use that combat system,whether it’s in VATS or in first-personreal-time.”- Josh Sawyer,New Vegas’ Lead Designereconomics, after all, so Ceasar’s Legion weren’t evilsimply because they enjoyed being evil but rather becausethey had created a fairly successful war economythat required them to be evil. It required them tosystemize a banality of evil. They rationalize the horriblethings they do with economics, victim-blamingand their sneering superiority complex. If you losttrack of your moral compass, you could easily gettalked into seeing things their way. They were terrifyingvideo game villains because they didn’t resemblevideo game villains. They resembled villains from reallife. And that was horrifying.Outside of their torch lit war camps was a vastAmerican desert full of singing cowboys, loungelizards, mutated Hulks and leatherclad anarchistswho had a vast number of stories to tell. The MojaveWasteland is built as a narrative framing device for itsshort stories, little Twilight Zone side-quests that tellstrange and wonderful episodes before the three-partseries finale of the main quest.That’s how I was able to squeeze a gratifying250 hours (that were rarely boring!) out of the game,there’s simply an insane amount of enjoyably self-containedstories to be found in the side quests. You cansee this same episodic storytelling happening in theCertain companions may tear apart your faction allegiances,if you chose to travel with them.DLCs as well. As one of the few games of its generationto do DLC right, New Vegas sold four story addonsthat were each like mini expansion packs, addingin a good chunk of extra content while also exploringa new story in this universe that had something interestingto tell. And screw the haters, Dead Moneywas the best one!Fascinating stories, meaningful choices and athoughtful awareness of its world are baked into nearlyevery element of this game, and for those reasonsit is my favorite game of its generation. These are thereasons why Fallout: New Vegas is one of the best FPS-RPGs of all time, and deserves to be as highly regardedas Deus Ex and System Shock 2. GWMods:Fallout: New Vegas Mod Manager: Handy tool thatmakes mod installation, update and removal easier.JSawyer: Created by the game’s own Lead Designer,this mod makes the game harder with various tweaks,such as harsher survival conditions, less HP, lower levelcap and adding weight to stimpacks.Project Nevada: The most popular of all New Vegasmods, made by the team that did Fallout 3: Wanderer’sEdition. It’s a huge mod that adds new features, changesto the balancing, new weapons and even implants.Mission Mohave - Ultimate Edition Plus: This pack notonly contains over 27,000 fixes, but also a compilationof over 35 mods to improve your gaming experience.Fallout - Project Brazil: This mod is an entire new campaign,where a civil war erupts inside your vault.New Vegas Bounties: Allows you to work as bountyhunter, with a new questline and challenging fights.No Auto Aim: This mod removes the dice rolls fromcombat, so that gunplay is more similar to that of FPS.With VATS, theplayer can cripplespecific bodyparts, damage enemyweapons orshoot unexplodedgrenades.Part of the teamthat worked onNew Vegas hadworked on VanBurren, Interplay’scanceled thirdFallout. Manyideas from thatgame were salvaged,incluidingCaesar’s Legion,the Hoover Dambattle and theBurned Man.151

Mass Effect 2BioWare, 2010Windows, Xbox 360 and PS3Mass Effect 2had over 20 DLCpacks. Two ofthose introducednew companionsand came withnew copies of thegame. Since 2013those characterscan be freelydownloaded.Refined. Dark. Action-Packed. Emotional. MassEffect 2 is this and much more, for those willingto brave what lies unknown in the veileddepths of space. The Sci-Fi worlds were strange andmysterious, and the writing was right on par withBioWare’s library of titles. Gameplay that was practicallyuntouched with third-person shooters of thetime (pause-and-play tactics, conversation mechanics)made it a breath of fresh air for those who enjoyedaction RPGs with a touch of strategy. It was thatdelicious combination of innovative combat, cinematicstorytelling, and the well-made universe itselfthat grabbed me. By the end of the game, I asked myselfone simple question: “how will they top this?” In2010, I got my answer.After successfully stomping out one of the biggestthreats in the milky way, your role as CommanderShepard is put in an atypical position where whoyou‘re fighting for may not be so cut-and-dry. Yourgoal, above all else, is to find the best of the bestamong the galaxy. Recruiting them to your side, you’llneed to survive a journey nothing short of a suicidemission. BioWare is known for their character-drivenwriting, and that combined with the roster in MassEffect 2 makes the group of squadmates easily the bestfrom the trilogy. Previously unseen races make unexpecteddebuts, personalities vary drastically fromeach other (and collide, on occasion), with a volumeof characters spanning far beyond the original.The combat was the biggest leap the developershad made with Mass Effect 2. Similar to the original,Shepard used a combination of cover, shooting skill,and cool down-based powers to succeed against theenemy. Undaunted, BioWare had taken a great dealfrom the original and tossed it straight out of theairlock. Gunplay had greater balance, the levelingsystem was skimmed down from its somewhat overwhelmingversion via the original, and the shootingaccuracy was no longer bogged down by your firingrate. Your leveled abilities could evolve into uniquepermutations that fit your playstyle.While the original had a greater emphasis on traditionalstory arcs combined with side quests, MassEffect 2 decided to divide them up with a wide varietyof character-driven stories. Some of these were coupledinto the storyline, and some were focused purelyon the squadmate; often a search deeply tied into theirpast. And it was glorious.152The game provides a wealth of upgrades. Some can bebought, others must be discovered.You can no longer land on random planets and must insteadmine them, in a way reminiscent of Star Control II.

“We’re really highlighting theshooter aspect of it. We haven’tactually taken away any of the RPGsystems, but we want to packageit so that everything is a little bitmore intuitive, more streamlined,and overall the experience is like,‘Ah, I played through this incrediblestory.’ A typical BioWare story. Buthow we played through it felt muchsmoother.”- Adrien Cho,Mass Effect 2 lead producerMass Effect 2comes with anexplosive visualtake on Biotic/Tech abilities,both old andnew.The atmosphere of Mass Effect 2 is a quite a bitdarker than its predecessor. A spot like Omega isnothing short of pandemonium; a veritable grab bagof debauchery, treacherous fiends, and organizedguns-for-hire, looking for an excuse to gain some easymoney. The barren wastelands of Tuchanka were a fittingexample of the history of the species that roamsit, serving as a reminder of the past and something foryour character to reflect on for the future. This atmosphereis helped in due part to the graphical upgradesof the game. Biotic powers explode on the screen likethe force on steroids. Larger Set pieces add an extralayer of “wow” moments to the already lush and variedworlds. That combined with some of the new speciesmakes for plenty of incentive to check the nooksand crannies of Mass Effect 2.While the wheel of choosing dialogue options remainsthe same at its core, the newly-added interruptsystem delivers a clever set of options taking place inreal-time. Cinematics were no longer a passive event,which could in turn make the difference between thelife and death of another.In an uncommon turn of events, the choicesyou’d made in the original game could have significanteffects to those in the sequel. While the changesYour companions are the core of Mass Effect 2. Uncoveringtheir past can come with surprising results.weren’t as extensive as those from ME2 to ME3’s, it repopularizedthe idea of having your story be affectedfrom the very beginning to the very end, and not justfrom game to game. This hit a peak during the laterpart of the game, where loyalty to your comrades andknowing your team was more important than ever.Wildly different from its ancestor, Mass Effect 2is a greatly refined formula of action-based role-playinggame that bursts through guns blazing in entertainmentvalue, while building a level of squad mateinteraction that feels far deeper than people were expecting.Balanced, emotional, and all-around satisfying,it’s easily one of my top RPGs of all time. MassEffect 2 is a shining example of how to make a stellarsequel, and has earned its place in gaming history forgood reason. GTMods:Coalesced.ini Mod Manager: Makes modding easier,by handling changes made to the configuration file.Better ME2: Adds some gameplay and usability tweaks,a bit of rebalancing, cleaner HUD and gamepad support.Hybrid Combat: Aims to make the combat more similarto that of Mass Effect 1, changing how reloading worksand other tweaks, such as weapon damage.Vetron’s Loadout Mod: Changes weapons and armorsto be more similar to Mass Effect 3, rebalancing them sothat every weapon & armor has something to offer.Flash’s Mass Effect 2 Mod: This mod aims to balance afew aspects of the game and to make the gameplay closerto the game’s lore. Perhaps most important, it makesthat enemy’s shield regenerate, just like yours.High Resolution Texture Mod: Replace character’s texturesfor high-resolution ones. A very impressive mod.Casual Outfit Beyond Normandy: A big pack of casualclothes, that you can now wear even outside the ship.153

Dungeons ofDredmorGaslamp Games, 2011Windows, Mac and LinuxDungeons ofDredmor hasthree DLC thatadd numerousnew items, monstersand classes.The first DLC wasreleased for free,as a gift to thecomunity.An unexpectedmini-boss cansuddenly end anadventure. Or not,if you disabledpermadeath.Dredmor offersthe somewhat rarechance to play as adual-wielding vegangeologist piratewith mathemagicalpowers and communistleanings.Dungeons of Dredmor is an interesting take onthe modern roguelike. While many othergames try to take elements of the genre andmesh them into other models, Dredmor takes the coreroguelike formula and plays around with it to make itaccessible and customizable, but hard to master.The game offers three difficulty levels, plus theoption to toggle permadeath and increase or decreasethe size of the dungeons. This allows people to playDredmor at their own pace and get a feel for the gamebefore going for the true roguelike experience. The“No time to Grind” mode is especially nice since itspeeds up the game, allowing for quick sessions. Thisease of access helps to attract those curious about thegenre, yet still offer a challenging experience.Dungeons of Dredmor’s main objective is toreach the bottom of the dungeon and slay the evilLord Dredmor. While it sounds run-of-the-mill,everything else is goofy and light-hearted in nature.The game has no qualms about taking common gametropes and putting a ridiculous spin on things, suchas item vending machines, enemies shouting wittyremarks, countless pop culture references and somehumorous item and skill descriptions.Another unique thing about the game is its progressionsystem. Unlike standard roguelikes wherethere’s a focus on stats and gear, Dungeons of Dredmorrelies on skill-trees for character growth. Players pickseven out of the 20 skills (32 with the expansions andcountless more through mods on Steam Workshop)available to them and are dumped into the game.The skill trees range from traditional ones, such as“swords” and “smithing”, to humorous ones like “emomancy”,“communist” and “tourist”. Each skill influencesthings such as starting gear, passive traits andactive skills; however players only get one skill pointper level, so its important to choose wisely.Depending on what skills players have picked,they can also craft various forms of gear from randommaterials found in the dungeon. Crafted items canrange from the standard weapons and armor to moreexotic things such as potions, traps, wands and – whynot – a clockwork power-limb. This gives the playeran element of control they can establish among all therandom variables, allowing them to build towards optimalvictory or silly gimmick builds.Dungeons of Dredmor’s skill system offered somuch flexibility that I personally kept coming back,clocking more than 300 hours of game time. Its a greatalternative take on the roguelike model, and generallyhas something for anyone who’s willing to play it. JR154

Rampant Games, 2011WindowsFrayed Knights:The Skull of S’makh-DaonFrayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon isfull of mirthful personality from the title ofthe game to its jovial conclusion. It is a turnbasedfirst-person dungeon crawler with no charactercreation, as you are forced to play the straight-lacedelven warrior Arianna, an arrogant thief called Dirk,a healer/hipster who goes by Benjamin, and the ditzyblonde sorceress with a streak of pyromania namedChloe. Their personalities are all well portrayed,with key dialogues occurring at set times throughoutthe main quest. These four heroes are consideredoutcasts by the rest of the adventuring community;the proverbial bottom rings of the social ladder.Things are so bad for them, that even the firstmonsters battled are designed as part of a grotesquein-game joke. Yet despite how laughable the enemyis, the party will have to use many of their supplies tosurvive the initial dungeon. Later, when you are ableto stay at a local inn, the group will have to returnto rest often as they exhaust their hit points and endurance.Managing your endurance is almost as importantas your health, as an exhausted party will belimited in their available actions during combat.This game is quite tough, but more so due tothe incompetence of your party than how intimidatingyour first opponents are. Your sorceress willoften miss with her critical spells, and your rogueand priest don’t seem to do much damage in the rareinstances they can land a strike with their own weapons.Frayed Knights admirably simulates trying tosurvive a basic dungeon crawl via a party of losers.But if you are careful on how you improve yourcharacters’ feats as they level, and if you try to keepthem focused on a party role as you progress, yousuddenly find yourself almost able to call your misfitscompetent by mid-game.The game introduces a “Drama Star” system asan aid to the player, but also as an incentive not to savescum. Drama Star points are earned for overcomingchallenges, and can be used later to instantly aid theparty by restoring health, bringing back a fallen character,etc. Loading a saved game wipes the saved dramastars out. The system unfortunately works againstthose that have a busier personal life, since those thatcan only find the time to play the game for an hour ata time will be unable to fully enjoy the advantages ofthe drama stars.Towards the end of the game everything beginsto come together in a satisfying way. If you took timeto develop your party right and completed the sidequests, your adventurers have an easier time slicingthrough the final enemy masses trying to impede yourway. I enjoyed a satisfying conclusion where Arianna,Dirk, Benjamin and Chloe earned the respect of theirpeers and are finally considered heroes. As a player,you will also earn a sense of accomplishment forbuilding up a bunch of ragtag losers into a successfulfighting force. DTYou’ll fightsome laughablecreatures, butthey will prove achallenge to youralso laughableparty.155

E.Y.E.DivineCybermancyStreum On Studio, 2011WindowsBefore E.Y.E., thedevelopers createda Half-Life modcalled SyndicateBlack Ops. It wasreleased in 2004and set in thesame universe asE.Y.E.Released in 2011, E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy isthe debut of French Streum On Studio. It is anambitious and unique shooter/RPG hybrid,which is interesting, considering how shamelessly it“borrows influences” from various sources, especiallyfrom pulp fiction like Warhammer 40k, Shadowrun,Lovecraftian horror and other video games.The game takes place in an amalgam of varioussettings that you might recognize immediately – adystopian future where humanity is ruled by feudingmegacorps, where contact has been made with hostilealiens, and where the world is threatened by thecoming of the “metastreumonic force”, a mysteriousthrong of beasts spawned from psionics and nightmares.The player is a member of the titular E.Y.E– an organization of psionic cybercommando warrior-monks.But E.Y.E is no exception to the rest ofthe world – its once brotherly factions of Jian ShangDi and Culter Dei are now at their throats.E.Y.E is a game about many things, but it is primarilyabout confusion, chaos and betrayal. Make nomistake, the paragraph above shows just about theonly things you can be certain of (or can you?) whenit comes to the game’s narrative.Events that will make you question the entiregame start happening very soon, and accompany youall the way to the “end”. The atmosphere crafted in thisgame is superb, and it takes you on a true roller-coasterof emotions and sensations. This is achieved thanksto the mix of the mundane and the mystical.On one hand, you have typical spec ops missionsthat require you to infiltrate various places, performfalse flag operations, etc. But on the other, everythingis coated with a layer of esotericism – unexplainableevents take place, your character suffers repeatedbouts of amnesia, delusion and insanity. As you keepplaying, you realize you simply have no one to trust,not even yourself, and the game laughs in your faceevery time you think you finally understood it.All these aspects also contribute a lot to anotherof E.Y.E’s highlights – the non-linearity. There are afew moments where you need to take sides and makedecisions that influence the rest of the campaign. Thisadds tons of replayability, but also further enforcesyour paranoia – Do I betray the guy that is probablybetraying me as we speak for the other faction thatis shady as hell? Or maybe I should choose the thirddude who’s been acting suspiciously since the start!156The visuals vary between cyberpunk dystopias, crypticdreamscenes and windswept wastelands.The character biulding options are vast, including skills,implants, PSI powers and even a research system.

“We believe the role from thedevelopers is not necessarily toplease the player, nor to simplifythe games. Doing that might driveto what is more and more frequent:a standardization of the market.And in E.Y.E it is essential for thedramatic tension to let the playerassume his own choices. ”- Streum-on-StudioNo kidding.As for mechanics, E.Y.E manages to be both asolid shooter and an RPG, which is an impressive feat.It gives you plenty of guns that really feel like properguns, have various ups and downs, traits, recoil, hitbox-varieddamage, etc, including a 4-bullet handcannonand a miniature nuke launcher.You can also use melee weapons and grenades,set up turrets and grab a gundrone to follow youaround. The enemies obviously respond in kind,bum-rushing you en masse, sniping from afar or usingsome seriously heavy ordnance like plasma cannonsand gunships.The neat thing is that you can also toggle thedifficulty to your liking with sliders for the AI’s accuracy,reflexes, etc. From the RPG side, you have a lotof customization available to you. Apart from guns,you can also get a whole lot of psionic powers, cyberaugmentations and stat boosts, which are boughtor acquired from research and XP. You can also hackeverything you encounter in different ways – destroy,leech stamina or take control. Just be careful you don’tget counter-hacked.The differences between playing a melee beast, asharpshooter or a psyker are also fairly big and supportdifferent playstyles well.The technical side is also an important contributorto the overall atmosphere. E.Y.E is running on thedated Source Engine, but the developers still managedto squeeze a lot of juice out of it, mostly thanks tothe art direction. The environments are fairly varied,including futuristic cyberpunk cities, red dunes ofMars, mysterious ruins and Asian-inspired temples.Finally, and this is a funny point, E.Y.E has beeninfamous since its release because of its downrightterrible translation. Indeed, the dialogs and flavortexts have some seriously broken grammar and bizarrechoice of vocabulary, and are generally confusing,although not to the point to make the gameunplayable. Interestingly enough, this botched translationactually contributes a lot to the overall feelingof estrangement, as the oneiric atmosphere is onlyfurther strengthened when every character soundseither like a mystical sensei or a raving lunatic.E.Y.E is a very cool game, and one that I can recommendwholeheartedly. It takes a while to get usedto, sometimes can be crushingly difficult, and you’llwonder what the hell is going on all the time, but theride is definitely worth it, and it can also be played inco-op if you want to get confused with some buddies.Just make sure you patch it properly. DRThe hacking mini-game has you selecting actions toinvade an AI, that can and will hack you back.Some of EYE’s inspirations are a little less subtle thanthe others.157

Dark SoulsFrom Software, 2011Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360Initially therewere no plansfor a PC port, butfans created anonline petitionand gatheredmore than 93,000signatures,surprising thedevelopers.Almost everyequipment piecein Dark Souls isa viable choice,allowing playersto customizetheir charactersanyway theywant.To talk about Dark Souls, one has to first talkabout Demon’s Souls. An ARPG released onPlayStation 3 to little initial fanfare (to thepoint of being passed over by Sony for localization,a decision they later came to regret) it gradually acquireda cult following. There are many reasons forits appeal, but the most often cited ones are its unforgivingbut fair difficulty, methodical and balancedbattle system, smart level design, well-realized starklygothic setting, and unique, entirely novel asynchronousand synchronous multiplayer features.Dark Souls builds upon this foundation, addinga seamlessly traversable, interconnected world witheven more content and multiplayer opportunities intothe mix, making Demon’s Souls feels like a beta test forwhat would become Dark Souls.In terms of plot, Dark Souls is minimalistic, andit depends upon players piecing together backgroundinformation presented in item descriptions and environmentalclues to fully understand its lore. It takesplace in a universe where many humans are cursedwith the “Darksign”, forcing them to wander the earthfor eternity, reviving after each death, slowly losingtheir humanity. Players are cast into the role of the“Chosen Undead”, and must end this curse.Over the course of this endeavor, they’ll interactwith eclectic – and often eccentric – NPCs, many ofwhich are involved in their own quests. Like the mainstory of the game, most of these side-quests and theiroutcomes are not immediately obvious, and need tobe discovered. In fact it could well be the case thatanyone playing the game for the first time and withoutaccessing third-party information will not evenrealize that they are happening, and that their actionsmight have changed some outcome.Analyzing the game’s mechanics compared toother RPGs, it falls into the category of class-lessARPGs with an open story and world structure.While players choose a starting class when first creatingtheir character, it only serves to determine theirinitial stat distribution, as well as starting equipmentand spells. Afterwards, every character can freely distributepoints into various stats at level up, and useany given equipment or spell as long as they meet itsrequirements.The mechanics of saving and death are quiteunique, and linked intrinsically with the game’s story.As in Planescape: Torment, you play a character whois essentially immortal. However, unlike that gamethere is a strict penalty for death, and saving is constantand automatic, meaning you must endure everychoice you make. Upon death, the game returns youto the last bonfire (serving as checkpoints) you restedat, and all your Souls (the game’s currency, used bothto purchase items and to level up) are lost. You mayretrieve them where you died, but dying again whiletrying to do so will result in them dissapearing forever.This rather unforgiving system has earned thegame its reputation for difficulty, together with the requirementfor careful exploration and concentrationin every battle, which we will discuss next.158

“I would like players to conquerthe difficulty and enjoy taking onformidable enemies and going backand forth in dungeons. The processof overcoming the challenge andthe feeling of accomplishmentbrought by breaking through eachdifficulty is the value we would liketo offer to them.”- Hidetaka MiyazakiDark Souls’ DirectorDark Souls manychallenges seemimpossible atfirst, but theyare all fair andsurpassable by afocused player.Battles in Dark Souls are quite a different affaircompared to most other ARPGs. They don’t at all fitwith the Diablo-clones and their hordes of enemies,generally opting for a smaller number of more dangerousfoes. Neither are they trying to emulate pureaction games with their complex systems of combosand counters. Instead, they are comparatively slowand thoughtful affairs, where careful positioning andchoosing your weapons as well as the field of battlewisely for each encounter is at least as important ashaving fast reflexes.A central component to the system is stamina, areplenishing resource used up when attacking, blockingwith a shield, evading and casting spells. Managingstamina is essential to being successful in battles.Many of the game’s systems are carefully designed inorder to enhance the situational nature of battles. Asone example, Dark Souls is one of the very few gameswhere using a polearm or long sword in confined tunnelis inadvisable, as collisions between your weaponand level geometry are actually detected. This focuson rewarding careful approaches is evident in anothermajor strength of the game, its exploration.The world and its levels are deeply interwoven,filled with secrets, deadly traps, and shortcuts whichmake deeper forays from each bonfire easier. In thiscontext, Dark Souls’ asynchronous multiplayer featuresneed to be mentioned. The game allows everyplayer to place in-game messages, in the form ofglowing runes on the ground. These can point outhidden paths, treasure, traps, enemies, or they canbe entirely untruthful and designed to lead trustingplayer to their deaths. However, the latter instance isusually kept in check by a rating system for messages.As a more passive but no less useful feature in exploration,player deaths result in bloodstains in otherplayer’s worlds, and can be touched in order to see thedying player’s last moments as a phantom.On the topic of phantoms, while Dark Souls isa fantastic single-player RPG, it also features a multitudeof popular multiplayer options, which remainpopular months and years after its release. All of themare based on the concept of phantom s visiting – orinvading – the world of a host player, neatly circumventingthe plethora of continuity or design issueswhich might occur when trying to fit more traditionalmultiplayer into a single-player RPG.It is the combination of its challenging battles,exquisitely designed levels and bosses deadly for theunwary, constant danger of invasion, and punishingdeath mechanics which makes the moment-to-momentgameplay of Dark Souls so exhilarating. Whatmakes it rewarding though is that all of these dangersare almost invariably fair and can be mastered – bylearning the game’s mechanics, carefully studyingeach environment and always proceeding with caution.DUMods:DSFix: The PC version of Dark Souls is a lousy port,featuring locked framerate and capped resolution.Released the exact same day as the game, this modallows you to play at any resolution and/or framerateyou wish, among other improvements. A must-have.Mouse Fix: Dark Souls plays better with a controller,but if you wish to play with keyboard and mouse,this mod will make your life a lot easier.Self Gravelording: Black Phantoms are adittional,stronger enemies that can be summoned into yourworld by an invader to destroy you. This mod turnsthem on by default, making the game a lot harder.Hyper-Agressive Enemies: Makes enemies able tosee you from far away and chase you anywhere. Useit with Self Gravelording for the ultimate challenge.159

The Witcher 2:Assassin of KingsCD Projekt RED, 2011Windows, Mac, Linux and Xbox 360In 2012 CDProjekt releasedThe Witcher 2:Enhanced Edition.It added over10GB of newcontent, and wasa free updatefor those whoalready ownedthe game.Blizzard managedto expand thesimplistic plot thefirst game into alarge and interestingworld.The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is CDProjektRED’s single-character action-RPG sequel to2007’s The Witcher by the same company. Thistime fate puts Geralt on trail of eponymous assassins,who have recently made a habit of collecting crownedheads all over the world. One of their victims is KingFoltest of Temeria, for whom the protagonist has beenworking as a bodyguard after the events of the firstgame. Accused of regicide, Geralt needs to seek outthe real murderers to prove his innocence and, withhis usual luck, gets entangled in more than one politicaland military conflict along the way, and forced tokill a lot of people.The game’s differences from its predecessor arevisible at a first glance. It runs on an entirely new engine(called REDengine), developed from scratch byCDProjekt RED and was at the time of its release oneof the best-looking games on the market (and is stillis visually impressive now, three years later). Soundand music follow suite, although the soundtrack byAdam Skorupa and Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz ismore of a traditional orchestra than the folk-inspiredbagpipe music of the first game. The top-down viewand point-and-click movement are gone and the camerais now fixed squarely behind Geralt’s back, withhis moves controlled by keyboard only, which bringsthe player much closer to the action. There are alsosignificantly more cutscenes.Most of the systems from The Witcher are stillpresent, although simplified or streamlined. Alchemydoes not require an alcohol base any more, and canbe performed anywhere, due to meditation not needinga bonfire any more. Inventory has been switchedfrom grid-based to list-based, allowing for the use ofa controller. New additions include a rudimentarystealth mode, and quick-time events, both appearinga few times in the game. Quick-time events arealso the new system for fist-fighting, which is backalong with dice poker. The third and new mini-gameis arm-wrestling.Character system has been reworked fromscratch and consists of three separate skill trees, oneeach for sword-fighting, magic (witcher signs), andalchemy, with the most powerful skills unlocking aftercertain pre-requisites are met. In addition, Geraltwill find rare items called mutagens, which randomlydrop from monsters and/or are created as by-productsof alchemy. These mutagens can then be insertedinto slots attached to some skills (13 in total, the mostin alchemy tree), granting a permanent bonus.The game is comparable in size to its predecessor,with similar ratio of dialogue to combat to exploration.The number of people that Geralt can talk to issomewhat reduced, but they are a comparably diverseand colourful bunch and usually have more to say onaverage. It is perhaps worth noting that the numberof casual sex encounters has been reduced, as Geraltis now in a more-or-less stable relationship with sorceressTriss Merigold.160

“We really created an ambitiousgame and we didn’t want to limitour artistic expression. Nudity isconsidered normal in the best TVshows nowadays, especially whenit serves the story – so why shouldgamers be treated like children?The sex themes in The Witcher 2are deeply rooted in the story, andthey are not there just to show off.“- Maciej Szczesnik,Lead Combat DesignerWilderness areas are not as open as in the firstgame and usually resemble a collection of intertwiningwide corridors. This makes the world seemsmaller, although Geralt will spend a similar amountof time running around it, including some dungeondelving into caves, mines and crypts.Combat has been switched from hack-andslashof the original game to more typical third-person-perspectiveaction. Movement is keyboard-controlledand three separate fighting stances are gone,with fast and strong attacks instead just mapped todifferent buttons. Geralt still uses two swords, steelagainst normal and silver against supernatural opponents,and can now also throw knives for a rudimentaryranged attack. Other melee weapons, such asaxes, hammers, clubs and halberds are available, butas in the first game, much less effective than swordsbecause of witcher training focus. Defensive movesinclude rolling and blocking, the latter consumingvigor, which is also the resource used for castingsigns, witcher magic. Signs work more or less as before,except for Quen, using which now creates magicalarmour, absorbing damage.One of strongest points of the game, and in myopinion is significantly better than the first game’s, isthe plot. What makes it truly unique is the ability toDiablo II branched its loot into the now famous coloredtiers, going from Low Quality up to Unique.experience chapter #2 of the game from one of twodistinct perspectives. Depending on a choice made inthe previous chapter, Geralt will end up either in a besiegeddwarven fortress town or in a military camp ofthe army laying said siege, with both options providingunique quests, storylines and point of view for theunfolding events. This binary choice gives an incentiveto replay the game and allows for an additionalinsight into the story and motivations of certain characters,if the player plays through both of the paths.In all honesty, if you expect a straight follow-upto The Witcher, you might not like Assassins of Kings.The differences are numerous and affect the game onmany levels, and there is no question that the sequelis mechanically more shallow. On the other hand, TheWitcher 2 is still a great-looking (and sounding), enjoyableaction-RPG with great characters and deep,complex plot, just like its predecessor. It is just cutfrom a different mold. WMIn May 2013 CD Projekt released the beta versionof REDKit, a toolkit to create mods and adventuresfor The Witcher 2. They have offered ample supportand various tutorials, but not many mods have beenreleased yet. Here are the most noteworthy:Full Combat Rebalance 2: Mod created by AndrzejKwiatkowski, now a gameplay designer at CD Projekt.The mod is huge, over 8 GB in size, and includes variouschanges to the game’s balance, incluiding tweaksto the combat system and new animations.Enhanced Mod Compilation: A compilation of minorchanges that aim to remove the most banal aspects ofthe game without altering balance. Changes includereducing some item’s weigth and adding auto-loot.Lykaon: Still under development, this ambitious adventurewas chosen best mod of REDkit’s closed betaand tells the tale of Geralt first meeting Triss Merigold.While Diablo1 battles werealways underground,itssequel takes youthrought all sortof enviroments,from battlefieldsand tombs tojungles andIn May 2011, thePolish version ofPlayboy featuredone of the game’scharacter, TrissMerigold, on thecover.161

Magical DiaryHanako Games, 2011Windows, Mac and LinuxYour characterhas 4 attributes:Smart, Strong,Cute and Weird.The last one is thefunniest to focus.Using cleversolutions, liketeleporting amonster awayinstead of fightingit, awards youschool merits.What the hell? - asks the reader, looking atthis page. Magical Diary, a visual novel/RPG hybrid - I tell him - a game with oneof the most interesting magic systems ever.You’re a girl sent to a magical Hogwarts-likeschool, where you must attend classes, make friendsand overall survive college life. The writing is quitegood, and even the romances are interesting, goingbeyond the usual one-sided pandering relationships.Each week you must decide your schedule,choosing what magic classes to attend – and eventuallylearn spells. The game features five magic schools,each with 12 spells, plus 16 combination spells, thatrequire a set number of points in two schools. Soyou’re looking at over 70 spells to play with, such asFind Spirits, Anti-Magic Field and Stoneshape.These can occasionally be used to solve (or cause)daily issues, but to me the dungeons are the real highlighthere. Once in a while you’ll have to take tests,that teleport you to a maze and require you to reachthe exit. The challenges range from a monster huntingyou to a rival wizard, or just a big chasm to cross. Andthe solutions are all up to you. For example, to escapethe monster you can kill it with damage spells, teleportit elsewhere, teleport yourself to the exit, distractit, scare it away, blind it, put it to sleep, turn invisibleor even simply dig a tunnel across the maze. It’s anextremely rich system that really offers you the properrange of choices a spellcaster should have, instead ofsimply being a range damage-dealer, shooting fireballseverywhere, like in many “real” RPGs.The big downside of Magical Diary is how shortit is. Even slowly reading everything for the first timewill take you only about 5 hours, and there’s simplynot enough room to explore its magical system. Manyspells only have one use in-game, so you’re likely toend without even casting half of your spellbook. Andsadly, there are only seven dungeons in the game.Still, the game is quite replayable. It’s fun to learndifferent spells to try new solutions on the dungeons,and the story can go interesting and unexpected placesdepending on how you choose to act.Don’t let prejudice put you off; Magical Diary isa solid experience, that brings a much needed breathof fresh air into the genre. FE162

Level Up Labs, 2012WindowsDefender’s Quest:Valley of the ForgottenDefender’s Quest is simply a great game. This isdefinitely not the type of game I would normallyplay. In fact, I had never played a towerdefense game before or since. What really appealedto me about the game were the RPG elements, andit didn’t fail to deliver. The story combines with thecombat and character development to make a surprisinglyinspired game.There is an actual story to this game that driveseverything forward. The main character, Azra, is infectedby a plague and thrown into a pit from whereshe must escape. As the story unfolds you’ll discoverthe driving force behind the plague and seek to put anend to it. I really enjoyed the writing, and, while thehumor was a bit offbeat, there were several occasionswhere I literally laughed out loud. There’s the clichéd,somewhat dumb warrior (who has some pricelesslines), a sarcastic archer, a noble knight, and a greedyegotistical dragon. It’s a great mixture that allows forall kinds of comedic interactions.The game is fairly straightforward: you have toprotect your main character and defeat all the wavesof attacking enemy forces. This is achieved throughcarefully positioning your characters at choke pointson the map. Adding some tactical depth to the gameplayare the class system and magic spells. Thereare six different classes, which all have unique skillswith varying areas of effect, so careful positioning isthe key to victory. As characters level up, you spendpoints in their skill trees to unlock new abilities or improveexisting ones. Azra is immobile during battles,but can spend mana to summon allies, upgrade themor on various spells to assist in eliminating the hostilehordes. Coming up with strategies to leverage yourarmy’s abilities towards victories, preferably flawlessones, is the real beauty of the combat system.All the maps have four levels of difficulty tochoose from (with the harder tiers obviously nettingbetter rewards), and there’s a NG+ mode that adds anew type of currency for the best items. The game isalso surprisingly long, clocking around 20 hours.Believe me, even if this isn’t something you’dnormally play, it is very capable of engulfing you withits charm. I loved it so much I didn’t even hesitate topre-order Defender’s Quest II. RRWhile the initialchallenges are easyto complete, somelater stages thatmay require you tocome back stronger.Besides the skilltrees, there’s alsoa large numberof items for youto equip yourcharacters, includingunique weaponsand armor.163

Legend ofGrimrockAlmost Human Ltd., 2012Windows, Linux and MacIn January 2014a live-actionwebseriesbasedon Legend ofGrimrock wasfunded on Kickstarter,made bythe same teamresponsible forNuka Break. Italso includesChris Avellone aswriter.When the Indie game scene took off in 2008I was hoping that some of the abandonedgame genres from yesteryear might makea comeback. To my surprise a group of Finns werethinking the exact same thing and made Legend ofGrimrock, a game that honors the real-time gridbaseddungeon crawlers from back in the day.In terms of game design and what to expect,Grimrock picks up exactly where those games left offin the mid-90s, and then adds some new tricks of itsown. The de facto-standards of a full-screen view,a minimal UI, an in-built automap and easy inventorymanagement are all present, but then today’sstandards of graphics and sound are added. Realisticlights and shadows, full animations for the monstersand even a freelook view. For someone who grew upplaying many of the predecessors to Grimrock, thisfeels somewhat like riding in a horsecart with wheelsuspension and an in-built air conditioner...not thatI’m complaining.The plot is basic and non-intrusive: Your partyis comprised of convicts that are thrown into theeponymous mountain-prison with the promise thatyour escape will grant you amnesty for your crimes.A voice that speaks in your dreams urges you to comefind it at the bottom of the mountain, and you’ll soonfind journal pages of an adventurer that came beforeyou. For once the world doesn’t need saving, it’s just apersonal quest for freedom.Grimrock goes for the classical “4 party members”approach, but its minimal character creationsystem is somewhat disappointing. You have 4 racesand 3 classes, with 3 of the races being custom-tailoredtowards one of the classes and then humansare thrown in as all-rounders. Further customizationis attained through the skill system, where there areplenty of skills to learn but not enough skill points togo round. As a result Fighters have to choose a preferredweapon and Mages have to pick a preferredschool of magic. I can’t shake the feeling that theycould have done better with both the character systemand the skill system.Another valid point of criticism is the UI. Aminimal UI can be a good thing, but when it’s toosmall it becomes a problem. Misclicks become far toocommon and the spell interface only makes thingsworse. 9 runes are arranged like a keypad with certaincombos needing to be selected to cast a spell. Sounds164The monsters of Grimrock all make sense from an ecologicalperspective... except for the giant crabs.There’s a secret mode where you can enter the dungeonalone as Toorun, an unique all-around character.

“We feel that puzzles and alsoparty-based gameplay to someextent are lacking in modern RPGs,and this is one of the factors that ledinto development of Grimrock.But more importantly we are hugefans of the genre and can’t bearthat these types of awesome gamesare not made anymore. So clearlysomebody had to step in and dosomething.”- Petri Häkkinen,Almost Human co-founderMages not onlyhave to spendskill points tomaster thevarious schoolsof magic, butalso need to findthe scrolls thatcontain the actualspells.Sounds nice on paper, but it’s horrible in practice.One problem that has plagued games of this ilkfrom the beginning has been how easy it is to rendercombat almost meaningless with the “combat mambo”.Attack a monster, side-step, turn to face wherethe monster will move to and repeat until the monsteris dead. While several solutions exist for this,Grimrock takes the subtle approach of building eachlevel to minimize the amount of room available, preferringserpentine corridors rather than open spaces.Sometimes the dungeon contains small arenas,rooms with no escapes and plenty of monsters.The game feels a little lonely at times as there isno one around to talk to. This actually benefits theFan-made dungeons:One of Grimrock’s high points is the dungeon editor.As grid-based dungeons are much easier to plan andbuild, there’s been plenty of fan-made dungeons made.Here are some of the highlights::The Master Quest: It’s the original campaign withextra content. Works very well and is highly enjoyable.Mines of Malan Vael: A short dungeon with a newmine tileset. Find out why all the workers in a minehave disappeared.atmosphere as the sense of isolation made me use myresources in a more sensible manner, especially thepotion-crafting system that the game offers.Legend of Grimrock is first and foremost anhomage to a school of game design that is consideredoutdated, but clearly not unwanted, as it has spawneda sequel and a few similar games are being workedon as this is written. It’s not often that one game canrevive a gaming subgenre, but that’s exactly what Legendof Grimrock did. ÁVThe Master Key: A dungeon that’s heavily inspired byDungeon Master, a nice mixture of puzzles and combat.The author also did a dungeon based on ChaosStrikes Back, but it is not as enjoyable as this one.The Forbidden Halls: One of the earliest dungeonsmade for Grimrock is also one of the better ones. Yourparty discovers some abandoned halls and decidesto explore them. It features some odd and annoyingadditions, but overall it’s quite enjoyable.The level editor is easy to understand, and provides agreat deal of freedom when in able hands.The Mines of Malan Vael campaign features variousnew fan-made assets, incluiding a new tileset.165

Paper SorcererUltra Runaway Games, 2013Windows, Linux and MacPaper Sorcererwas made by asingle man, JesseGallagher, fundedby a Kickstartercampaign inJuly 2012. Jesserecieved 13,151dollars, from aninitial $5,000goal.Paper Sorcerer is a throwback to the glorious1980s, paying homage to great blobbers of oldand to the point-and-click adventures from theMacVenture series, such as Shadowgate.The most evil of sorcerers has been up to someusual naughty shenanigans, terrorizing innocents andwreaking havoc, so a group of heroes of the land hasbeen forced to imprison this danger to society insidea magical book. You play as that evil sorcerer (or sorceress)who must now find a way to break free andexact revenge, an obvious connection to the plot ofWizardry IV: The Return of Werdna.The monochrome visual style is original andbeautifully minimalist, with the sleek ink designillustrating the central theme of a world within abook. Those familiar with Uninvited or Shadowgatewill note the artistic similarities, and I can’t help butthink the creator must love that series very much. Asfor the 80s synth pop music, while not as enchantedby it as with the visuals, I appreciate its simplicity andhow it ties in nicely with the overall sensibility to thatdecade. The story is also thematically minimalistic,complementing other artistic and gameplay elementsin portraying a sense of urgency.The core gameplay of Paper Sorcerer consist of3D first-person exploration and puzzle solving with2D turn-based combat. The game’s dungeon is madeof different levels within the magical book prison,each having three floors followed by a boss area.You’ll encounter enemies as floating black clouds, andcombat begins once you approach them.Being yourself a powerful spellcaster, you won’thave to fight alone. Similarly to Wizardry IV, you cansummon minions to help you, creating a party of upto four characters. You may choose from creaturessuch as skeletons, minotaurs, ghosts, vampires, imps,goblins, witches, cultists, werewolves, trolls and othernasty monsters; each one possessing a wide variety ofskills and magic, giving you a wide range of differentparty compositions and battle strategies.In combat both enemies and party membershave Defense Points, which block physical damagebut get reduced which each blow. Health can only berecovered by casting spells, resting or using potions,but you always begin battle with full defense points.This leads into a interesting dynamic, where you’llhave to weight in which stat to invest and what sort ofrestoration spell to use during the heat of battle.166The various boss fights are mighty challenges, that willforce players to carefully manage their skills & resources.There are numerous locked doors, interactive objects,hidden switches and other puzzles in Paper Sorcerer.

“I think there’s good stuff to takeaway from retro RPGs, but I reallythink that developers need to moveforward and innovate more whileretaining the turn-based feel. I thinkthe reason consumers think turnbasedis getting stagnant is that alot of developers aren’t trying to doanything new with it, just mimickingclassics directly. ”- Jesse Gallagher,Paper Sorcerer creatorThe Killer Puppetis a uniquecompanion thatcan be customizedby changing itsbody parts.Characters also have an energy pool, necessaryfor casting most skills. It slowly regenerates each turn,and must be managed carefully in order to quicklydefeat enemies without running out of energy.Outside combat exploration is very rewarding,with puzzle elements that must be solved to moveahead, find secrets or collect loot. I loved that somesecrets were very difficult to find and required payingclose attention to the environment, and how eachlevel of the prison had its own unifying architecturalstyle, atmosphere and enemy types.Beside the main dungeon there’s also a safe zonecalled the Sanctuary, presented as a 2D backgroundwith a menu for accessing different areas: a room torest, a trainer to learn skills, a creepy house that leadsinto an optional dungeon and a zombie-run store tobuy armor, weapons, and potions.There isn’t a lot of text in Paper Sorcerer; thegame relies heavily on brief dialogs and cryptic hints.The overall effect is a sense of underlying mystery thatyou can never quite uncover. While exploring you canfind letters and notes that provide tidbits about theworld and even subtle hints of a love story.Paper Sorcerer comes with four difficulty settingsavailable: Easy, Normal, Hard, and the super brutal“1980’s mode”, which will challenge any RPG veteran.The downside is that the random loot drops can berather unfair, punishing otherwise successful playersand promoting save-scumming.All in all, Paper Sorcerer is a lovely crafted gamewith superb artistic presentation and thematic coherence.Furthermore, it is a very admirable effort fromJesse Gallagher who, by himself on Unity, created thisparchment world for us to discover. CVThe gorgeousartstyle is alsowell used to hideswitches, secretpassages andother goodies.167

The Banner SagaStoic, 2014Windows and MacBanner Sagawas funded bya Kickstartercampaign inMarch 2012. Stoicmanaged to raise723,886 dollars,from an initial$100,000 goal.The Banner Saga is the first game in a plannedtrilogy, a heavily story-driven tactical RPGwith a nice smattering of choice & consequenceand beautiful hand-drawn artwork.The story is told from the perspective of twodifferent groups and their respective caravans, andthe point of view jumps between these two groups.Although the story is fairly linear, which charactersremain alive at the game’s conclusion depends greatlyon player choices throughout.Banner Saga is built around the concept of anongoing apocalypse, and the developers had no problemspresenting the harsh choices that such an eventwould entail. The game gives a good framework ofevents and then allows the player to tailor how theirindividual journey plays out. Major plot points will bethe same, but the pieces that will fill in the blanks willbe customized and often memorable.Since the world is ending, supplies are limitedand required to prevent your caravans from starving,NPCs from leaving, morale plummeting, and battlesbecoming more difficult as a result. You can buy supplieswith renown, gained from battles, but it is alsoneeded to upgrade troops or buy items.The combat is turn-based, and there’s a varietyof classes with specialized skills, offering a wide rangeof tactics. You can also move your characters’ statpoints around between 6 different attributes, allowingfor greater customization of roles and play-style.For example, you can spend points making a unit intoa specialized armor breaker or boost the number oftimes they can perform a special ability. One of the attributesunits have is called Will Power, which dictatesa unit’s ability to go above and beyond their typicallimits. These points can be spent on moving furtherthan normal, or to boost an attack, and do not naturallyrefill.As you kill units, you begin to fill up your warhorn. These charges can be expended to refill a unit’sWill Power and can provide the boost needed to pushthrough a tough encounter. Exertion determines howmuch Will Power a unit can use in one turn preventinga large one time boost unless a unit is specificallybuilt to fufill that role.The unique mechanic that separates The BannerSaga’s combat from other games is the shared health/strength pool on units: damaging an enemy reducesthe damage they can do to you.168Upon achieving enough kills, all basic classes can levelup and later upgrade into one of 3 specialized classes.You’ll have to manage the supplies, morale and troopsof your caravan, as well as solve events along the way.

“We wanted something thatwould separate us. There’s lots ofvery ‘World of Warcraft’-looking,cartoony games, and we thoughtthis art style matched more withthe mature theme we wanted togo for.”- Alex Thomas,Stoic Co-FounderHowever, outright killing a unit might not be inyour best interest since the game uses an “I go, you gosystem”, allowing for full strength units to act moreoften. Therefore, it can be valuable to leave heavilydamaged units, who do little damage, alive to preventfull strength units from getting more turns and quicklyturning the tables against your army.All units also have an armor value which reducesincoming damage, as well as chance to be hit,so sometimes it’s better to knock this down beforeattempting to damage a unit. Additionally, duringyour travels you’ll encounter several magic items, thatmember of your party can equip to boost their stats.The size difference between the jarls (horned giants)and humans is made evident in combat, with thegiants taking up sections of 2x2, making them usefulfor blocking enemies, especially larger ones.The only drawback of the combat system is thelimited number of enemy types, many of which lackspecial abilities, which does erode the tactical depthof the AI a bit.Despite some minor complaints about the linearnature of the main story and missed opportunitieswith the AI’s combat options, I thoroughly enjoyedthe story and the mechanics. Banner Saga’s artworkalso deserves a lot of praise, providing an unique lookto the game, with elegant hand-drawn animation andgorgeous Eyvind Earle-styled landscapes.If the rest of the trilogy continue the dark, butengrossing, story and Stoic builds on the foundationsof the combat system, then this series could easilyturn into an epic masterpiece fans of story drivengames won’t want to miss. RRThe journey willnot be an easyone, and yourchoices willdecide the fate ofmany characters.A year beforethe release ofthe game, Stoicput out BannerSaga: Factions,a free-to-playmultiplayer gamefeaturing onlycombat.Scouting theenemies’ abilitiesis vital to identifypriority targetsand position yourcharacters.169

NEO ScavengerBlue Bottle Games, 2014Windows*NEO Scavengerhas a couple ofinteresting modsthat adds manynew features,including items,traits, recipes,locations, questsand combatactions.From a quick glance, NEO Scavenger is just aFlash-based roguelike developed by a one-manteam. However, like an expert scavenger, it hasvery few resources, but knows how to make the mostout of them and create something truly valuable.Combat, for example, is turn-based and doesn’tfeature any graphics. You select commands, such as“shoot”, “kick” or “sneak towards”, and the combat logwill describe what happened. While this may seemcrude, it allow for actions that even triple-A gamesfind too complex to animate, such as head-butting,leg tripping and even grappling (with mods*).Still, the most interesting aspect of the game ishow it obfuscates its stats. NEO Scavenger never tellsyou how many hit points you or your enemy have,how much damage a weapon does or to what extend aconcussion or a fever affects you.Everything is up to your own judgment. Youdon’t replace your baseball bat for a machete becausethe game says it does more damage, but rather becauseyou – the player – feel safer with it. It’s a very bolddesign decision in this DPS-driven era, and one thatsucceeds in transmitting an unique sense of tension,as you roll in the mud, tired and wounded, attackinganother desperate survivor with a tree branch andwondering who will drop dead first.Every aspect of NEO Scavenger follows this logic.The game features a robust survival system that requiresyou to regularly eat, drink, sleep, threat yourwounds, protect yourself from the cold and medicateagainst diseases. Of course, not every water you find issafe for drinking, and eating meat without cooking itmight be a bad idea. Even something like wearing tworight-feet boots can result in blisters and affect younegatively. Is it worse than walking around barefoot?It’s up to you to figure it out.Along the way, you’ll die – a lot. But it’s okay, thefun in NEO Scavenger lies precisely in learning howto survive this harsh post-apocalyptic world. Duringyour first few tries you’ll care for nothing but hidingfrom the roaming mutants, finding your next meal, asource of fresh water and not dying of hypothermia.The many characters you create won’t level upnor gain experience, but after a while you – the player– will learn how to scavenge, craft useful items, assessrisks and survive for a few days.At that point, you might then be ready to beginsearching for answers, to discover out what happenedDaggerfall offers a 3D map to visualize its monstrousdungeons. This one features even an underwater maze.The crafting system is very elaborate and intuitive,which is good, because using it is vital for your survival.170

“I think some folks prefer stats, andstats definitely have their place. But Iwanted to see how it felt hiding thatstuff to make it more about judgementcalls and play experience. That,and the absence of information makesus fill in the gaps with our own interpretations.Usually those are coolerthan anything I could come up with!”- Daniel Fedor,NEO Scavenger’s creatorItems degrade,plastic bags ripopen and there’snever enoughroom to carryeverything youwant – or need.Every aspect of NEO Scavenger follows this logic.The game features a robust survival system that requiresyou to regularly eat, drink, sleep, threat yourwounds, protect yourself from the cold and medicateagainst diseases. Of course, not every water you find issafe for drinking, and eating meat without cooking itmight be a bad idea. Even something like wearing tworight-feet boots can result in blisters and affect younegatively. Is it worse than walking around barefoot?It’s up to you to figure it out.Along the way, you’ll die – a lot. But it’s okay, thefun in NEO Scavenger lies precisely in learning howto survive this harsh post-apocalyptic world. Duringyour first few tries you’ll care for nothing but hidingfrom the roaming mutants, finding your next meal, asource of fresh water and not dying of hypothermia.The many characters you create won’t level upnor gain experience, but after a while you – the player– will learn how to scavenge, craft useful items, assessrisks and survive for a few days.At that point, you might then be ready to beginsearching for answers, to discover out what happenedto the world, to explore its borders, interact with itsinhabitants and follow whispered rumours towardsthe game’s cryptic main quest. Or become a cannibal.It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. FEItems degrade,plastic bags ripopen and there’snever enoughroom to carryeverything youwant – or need.171

Fan-TranslationsThis section will cover games that never were officialy translated into English, but had translation patchesmade by dedicated fans. Most titles are Japanese, such as Sword of Moonlight: King’s Field Making Tool, SnatcherSD and Sengoku Rance, but we’ll also games from othyer countries, such as Legend of the Sword and Fairy(China), The Fall: Last Days of Gaia (Germany) and Brány Skeldalu (Czech Republic).The Legend of the Sword and Fairy ( 仙劍奇俠傳 )Softstar Entertainment Inc., 1995DOS, Windows, Sega Saturn, NESThe Chinesesetting provide arefreshing changefrom the usualscenery of RPGs.During battle,powerful attackscan leave permanentmarks onthe ground.172From Taiwan with love. The defining turn-basedRPG that has captured the hearts and imagination ofChinese gamers, spawning 1 remake, 8 sequels andeven a popular TV drama.In the world of martial arts, the journey of aswordsman-wannabe unfolds. A forgotten love, anarranged marriage. The usual tropes, how forgettableit seems. It will silently draw you in by its focusedstory to invoke many shades of emotions.Questions are pondered, but seldom answered.Like a nether fairy tale with non-epic proportions,you are reminded once again that evil does triumphand wonder what all the senseless struggle amountsto.Savor at the delectable musical score coupledwith Chinese lore-inspired themes and monstersgalore. Get lost in well-designed mazes withavoidable enemy encounters. Loot, cast effects anditem summons to turn the battle tide.General controls and animations are simple-yetefficient;to top it off, the auto-battle option and saveanywherefeature makes the game very accessible. It’sserved like a 99% fat-free jRPG.However, its strongest hand is let down by translation constraints with dialogs and poetry losing theirfinesse and charm. Nonetheless, this is a “gameway” to their culture and literature.To run the game, use Whistler’s SDLPAL95 for better font and multi-platform capabilities. Chinesereaders, do opt fot the DOS version for its intended difficulty and use SDLPAL for the vital infobox. NJ

Generation Xth: Code HazardTeam Muramasa, 2008WindowsIt’s been more than a decade since the lastWizardry game in the West, but the series is stillpopular in Japan. After making the two Wizardry Xthgames for Playstation 2, Team Muramasa releasedtheir own series, the Generaton Xth trilogy.There are 10 classes to play with, 3 schools ofmagic and a decent crafting system. Battles can bevery challenging, especially against large groups ofenemies, but the dungeons are the main atractionhere. There are only a few of them, but they are huge,well designed and full of traps such as rotating walls,shock tiles, infinite corridors, elite monsters, one-waydoors, dark areas and pits you must fly or levitate over.The plot is silly, and the modern day setting hasyou playing with 16-years-old Japanese school kids, but beneath that is one of the best Wizardry-clones to reach(even if by a fan-translation) the western PCs in the last decade. The game has 2 more sequels where you canimport your party and continue your adventures, but those sadly remain untranslated. FEDespite theanime art style,Generation Xth isa Wizardry gameat heart.Labyrinth of Touhou ( 東方の迷宮 )偽英国紳士団 , 2009WindowsLabyrinth of Touhou is a hardcore (as in, brutal)indie Japanese turn-based RPG/dungeon crawler. It’squite challenging but not grind-ey if you play it in asmart way, and loads of fun. It’s also extremely abstract,being all about numbers and party customization, theonly downside being the typical Japanese anime artstyle.If you can get past that, however, the game has alot to offer. You navigate a massive 30-floor dungeon,represented as simply a network of corridors withspecial symbols for “events”, and fight in random andscripted encounters, during which the game switchesto first person combat.There are 40 player characters in the game, butyou’re supposed to build a team of 12 characterschosen from among those, with 4 of them active and8 in reserve. For each character, you must (as in, byebyeif you don’t) find out a role he or she will best fulfillin the party, depending on the overall composition ofyour party as well as your play style. There’s no savingand no resurrection inside the dungeon, there’re nohealing items, and healing spells are extremely rare.You can actually switch characters in-battle, but thatwon't help you if you approach a tough encountercarelessly, and you're probably going to lose someprogress, too. So, in any case, prepare to die. A lot. CBDying horribly ina cute game likethis can't be goodfor self-esteem.If you find thismap exciting,then Labyrinthof Touhou is thegame for you.173

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ForgottenRuinsNot only we’ll talk about the games, but alsoabout the companies that made them. Thissection focuses on the great companies of thepast, such as SSI, Sir-Tech and Interplay, who createdmany of the titles in this book but, unfortunately,closed down, were bought or simply faded away.The stories told here serve as a tribute to thosecompanies and all the talented people that workedthere, but also as an overall look at the gaming industryand the various changes it went through.The articles are all written by Reggie Carolipio,originally posted at GamesBeat, and have been reproducedand edited for length by the author.The Vault Dwelleris exiled androams throughthe wasteland inFallout.175

Strategic Simulations, Inc.1979 – 2001The very first impression that I had of StrategicSimulations, Inc. was that they made gamesfor old people. At the time, I had no idea why Ishould care about the Fulda Gap or superpowers colliding,only that it didn’t seem all that exciting. Thatis until I saw their CRPGs, which seemed a lot moreinteresting, along with the story of how the companycame to be..Joel Billings founded the company in 1979 at acrossroads in his life – go to business school after collegeor make his love of wargames a reality with hisown company? In college, Joel discovered computersand the potential they had to be compelling – andeven easier to find – opponents. Two wargaming programmersjoined his cause, John Lyon and Ed Willeger,and focused on the Apple over the TSR-80. Thatwas thanks to a chance meeting with a marketingmanager from Apple by the name of Trip Hawkins,who went on to found Electronic Arts.Computer Bismarck in 1980 was their first game,and the company eventually took off to do everythingfrom the American Civil War to the Cold War, withsome football and baseball thrown in. From fightingalong the Eastern Front on the Apple to the beachesof the Commodore 64, they eventually became oneof the most prolific developers and publishers in PCgaming history with a catalog of well over a hundredand fifty titles. If you think the WW2 genre is saturatedwith shooters, you should have seen their catalogduring the eighties when it came to turn-basedstrategy.But they also had a turn on the CRPG circuitwith the Phantasie and Questron series — along withmany others such as Demon’s Winter, the action-adventuresGemstone Warrior and Gemstone Healer,and the post-apocalyptic titles Roadwar 2000 andRoadwar Europa. Stat heavy, tile-based, and packagedwith manuals as thick as car instructions, these gamesimmersed the player in each experience with plentyof details to chew over. While they lacked in looks,that only left our imaginations and what their writerspacked into the manuals to fill in the blanks.Their biggest coup was in scoring the AdvancedDungeons & Dragons license from pen-and-paperRPG publisher TSR in 1987. So named because of thegold-colored paper used to label the boxes, the “GoldBox” series would prove to be one of AD&D’s biggestsplashes on PCs until the arrival of Bioware’s Baldur’sGate under the Interplay label almost a decade later.SSI opened up TSR’s worlds to PC players withfancy graphics, turn-based tactical planning, and allof the nitty gritty details stuffed into every statistic.For players that had never touched the tabletop versionbut had a PC, it was a great way to get a tasteof TSR’s worlds without having to find a group, dealwith temperamental dungeon masters, or buy all ofthe rulebooks. In my case, it was a little of each. Thereleases had even come with a manual that explainedhow the gameplay systems work and described themysteries of THAC0 (to hit armor class zero). Butthey would often include an illustrated “Adventurer’sJournal” detailing the monsters, AD&D concepts, andthe journal entries that would be referenced withinthe game as a form of copy protection.TSR’s worlds sprawled across novels, gazettes, andcountless sourcebooks providing plenty of adventuresfor SSI’s developers to craft around. Pool of Radiancekicked things off within the medieval, high-fantasylands of the Forgotten Realms. Dragonlance’s Championsof Krynn introduced players to a war-torn worldshattered by draconic armies of evil and dark magic.Later, new titles would reach into the horrific landsof the Demiplane of Dread’s Ravenloft with the gothicstylings of Strahd’s Possession. Even space, as seenthrough the lens of high fantasy, launched players onships fueled by magic with Spelljammer’s Pirates ofRealmspace. And if you wanted to do away with magicentirely, SSI had also taken TSR’s revamped look atBuck Rogers under its fold with turn-based battles usingray guns, Wasteland-like skill development, travelbetween the planets, and plenty of adventure withCountdown to Doomsday and Matrix Cubed.176

A page fromSSI’s 1989-1990catalog, showingsome of theirfantasy and sci-figames. Those areonly a fraction ofthe over 150 titlesthe companyreleased.SSI had also recycled their engines to a degreeunheard of today, with no less than 14 titles sharingthe same Gold Box engine, incluiding the originalNeverwinter Nights, a pioneer MMORPG released in1991. But SSI had more than just Gold Box games,such as the Dark Sun series and a partnership withWestwood which produced Hillsfar and Eye of theBeholder 1 and 2. The Dark Sun titles in particulardemonstrated SSI’s streamlining of the gameplayfrom the Gold Box series of titles, but never capitalizedon these changes — something that Biowarewould take further with their Infinity Engine.However, the heavy milking of the license lead tosaturation and decreasing sales. In 1994 TSR decidedto farm out licenses to various companies rather thanhave one handle all, ending their partnership. Afterlosing the TSR license, SSI tried developing its ownsetting with the steampunk-ish World of Aden, introducedthrough Thunderscape and Entomorph. Asdecent as they were, though, they didn’t seem to domuch to establish SSI’s post-TSR identity as a CRPGdeveloper that could survive without them.They refocused on their roots as a strategy companydeveloping and publishing deeply detailed wargamessuch as Steel Panthers, Panzer General, andSilent Hunter. Unfortunately, titles such as Bullfrog’sPopulous along with Westwood’s revolutionary Dune2 and the Command & Conquer series changed thelandscape of tactical gaming despite their criticallyacclaimed — yet increasingly niche — efforts.The storied developer appeared to die a slowdeath in the mid to late nineties. Even with conversionsof several of its Gold Box titles on the NintendoEntertainment System early on, SSI was forced tocompete against Japanese RPG houses that also floodedthis new market with games that proved to be bothmore accessible and entertaining for a new generationof players.Later, as hunger for the kind of statistics-heavywargaming that SSI excelled at producing began givingway to the popularity of the real-time strategygenre, it became more difficult to keep up with its rivals.Although its games would continue to be popularamong hardcore tacticians, the level of dominanceand the vast number of titles it once produced hadsteeply eroded.SSI was eventually bought out by Mindscape in‘94 under which it produced several impressive titlessuch as the sequel to Panzer General. After changinghands several more times, mostly through the acquisitionof its parent such as Mindscape, it eventuallylanded at Ubisoft who only used the SSI name on oneor two games before it was finally retired in 2001.All in all, SSI had a very successful run. Its gamesmay not have been the most popular — or the easiestto get into as they were often aimed at a more ‘adult’crowd — but the quality of its work speaks for itselfwith every armchair general and D&D grognard. SSIpassed quietly into history on what could arguably beconsidered a high, though muted, note. RC177

Sir-Tech1979 – 2003Andrew andRobert in 1982,or as they wouldbe known ingame,Werdnaand Trebor.The road to the first Wizardry didn’t start with arole-playing game or in someone’s basement.It started with a mailing list. It was the late seventies,and would-be dungeon master Robert Woodheadwas busy developing a mailing program to helphis mother’s novelty business. With the help of partnerFred Sirotek, Jr., who had also bankrolled a $7,000Apple computer, Woodhead created Infotree. Alwaysthe entrepreneur like his father, Sirotek saw the dollarsigns that Infotree could bring in.Taking the project and the expensive Apple tothe Trenton Computer Show, Fred’s brother, Norm,drove Woodhead on the road trip from Canada. Afterseeing the enthusiastic response that a mailing listhad created with the crowds, they came back with anew idea.Norm knew an opportunity when he saw it. Ifpeople were that excited over a piece of business software,how would they react to a game?A space-based wargame, Galactic Attack, wasthe next project, said to have been dreamt up duringthe drive back home from the show (though a vagueWikipedia entry doubts this story by saying that itwas adapted from another early PC game: 1973’s Empire).After convincing Fred Sirotek, Sr. to part withthe capital to get the project started, Infotree wascompleted and Galactic Attack sold enough to fund anew game and the company that would bring it to theworld: Sir-tech.Heavily influnced by the PLATO games heplayed at Cornell University, Woodhead joined forceswith with fellow student Andrew Greenberg in 1980to create their own RPG: Dungeons of Despair. Thegame was later renamed Wizardry: Proving Groundsof the Mad Overlord, after the Dungeons and Dragonscreator Gary Gygax had apparently threatened to litigateon account of the “double D” initials.Wizardry took a decidedly different directionthan Ultima did with its exclusively first-person viewof wireframe corridors, colorful monster graphics,and in allowing the player to customize a party ofcharacters.Being able to choose from several classes andraces to create a party with them spoke to the D&Droots that more than a few CRPGs at the time aspiredto emulate. It was like walking into a dungeon withmultiple personalities, each one armed with sharp objects.Although Ultima 3 would bridge the gap in ‘83with non-player characters who could join the player’sparty, Wizardry was already there. Others werealso inspired to follow their example such as in Japanwhere both Wizardry and Ultima proved to be influentialreferences.The first three games were also notoriously toughand offered an import feature for characters as theywent from title to title. Jumping into the third gamewithout playing any of the previous ones would almostguarantee hours of frustration and when theentire party wiped in Wizardry, it was time to startall over again with a fresh batch. But thanks to anotherinnovative twist, this new party could also find thebodies of the slain party and bring them back.As revolutionary as its features were, the difficultyand frustration of the series had also attained a sortof mythic status that is still well regarded today by itslongtime fans. The designers of the fourth Wizardryeven solicited save disks from players of the previousentries in order to turn their characters into enemies.Yes, your party could have been the bad guys in Wizardry4 and these do-gooders were your worst nightmareas you fought your way solo to one of the game’smultiple endings.178

As a first for CRPGs, or gaming in general, theboxes were stamped with warnings advising recommendedskill levels. Imagine a game like Final Fantasy13 stamped with the warning “Experts Level:Previous Final Fantasy experience required!” But thatdidn’t stop the series from receiving accolades fromall walks of life: even from a psychologist who wrotein to tell the developers that he had used the firstgame as a tool in helping to reach a troubled childcontemplating suicide.In 1988 Robert Woodhead left Sir-tech, leavingDavid W. Bradley to take over the Wizardry series.Wizardry 5 would bring some fresh air to the alreadydated Wizardry engine by having larger dungeons,filled with the additional wrinkle of interacting withNPCs via a text parser. After it’s release, AndrewGreenberg would also leave the company.Wizardrys 6 through 8 would prove to be amongthe series’s finest dungeon crawling, with updatedgraphics and hundreds of hours packed into a continousstoryline blending sci-fi hints, high fantasy,and tongue-in-cheek humor. An advanced parsersystem, deeper character builds and a developing skillsystem provided players with even more directions inwhich to experience the series’s evolving gameplay.Sir-tech was also a publisher renowned for titlessuch as the tactical Jagged Alliance series and importssuch as the Realms of Arkania. While not as prolificas Interplay or Origin, its low-key profile and consistentattention to quality gave them a great reputationamong their fans. Unfortunately, the market wasquickly changing with the release of the PlayStationand Nintendo 64, and Sir-tech failed to follow, betingon mediocre titles such as Druid: Daemons of theMind and Nemesis: The Wizardry Adventure, a forgettableRPG/adventure game hybrid.Sir-tech eventually shuttered its doors in ‘98under unclear circumstances, though money and achanging retail model were hinted at as factors. SirtechCanada, a separate entity from the publishingside of the company, continued on to finish JaggedAlliance 2 (released in 2000) and Wizardry 8 (releasedin 2001) before folding in 2003.But that’s not the end of the Wizardry story.When it first came to Japan in the eighties, Wizardrymade a huge impression on its RPG audience,inspiring early pioneers such as Dragon Warrior’sYuji Horii. The devotion to the series was such thatit spawned a massive list of spin-offs and originalproductions, incluiding light novels, manga series,a couple of pen-and-paper RPG adaptations and ananimated movie.A sample ofJapan’s passionfor Wizardry.In 2009 the“WizardryRenaissance”project waslaunched, seekingto revitalize theseries with therelease of severalnew products.The first Wizardrys would be remade years laterfor the Famicom, the PC Engine and later the originalPlaystation, complete with improved visuals. Whileonly eight Wizardry games were ever produced in theWest, in Japan over 30 titles have been released forvarious platforms, incluiding spin-offs and even anMMORPG, though only one or two of these wouldever find their way over to the West (thanks to Atlus),such as Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land in ‘01.After Sir-tech had closed its doors, Wizardry lives on.Or at least the rights do, now owned by an obscurecompany called IPM, Inc. in Japan.As for the original programmers that started thiswhole craze in the first place, Robert Woodhead iscurrently running Animeigo, a company that licensesand distributes japanese movies and animation. Hispartner in crime, Andrew Greenberg, has put asidehis evil wizard alter-ego Werdna to practice law instead.Their successor, David W. Bradley, went on towork for Origin, later starting his own company, HeuristicPark, which released Wizards & Warriors andDungeon Lords. And one of Wizardry 8’s designer,Brenda Romero, is still around today, teaching a newgeneration of designers and would-be game developersthe ropes. RC179

Origin Systems1983 – 2004Richard Garriottchecking someof Origin’s 1992releases.From his tentative steps with Akalebeth and thenon to the first Ultima and its sequel, RichardGarriott clearly saw just how successful hiscomputer role-playing game was going to be whenthe cash began rolling in and the phone calls neverstopped.Garriott (aka Lord British to his fans) foundedOrigin Systems in ‘83 partly as a result of the seriesrunaway popularity. The Ultima games would becomethe standard bearer alongside other pioneerssuch as Wizardry in defining the early years of theCRPG. Even in Japan, Ultima and Richard Garriotthad received the kind of accolades — and merchandising— that had been reserved only for propertieslike Hello Kitty.Ultima’s amazing success on both sides of theworld owed itself as much to Garriott’s hard work as itlater did in testing players later with social questionsand deep narratives expanding the fictional world ofBritannia such as when Ultima 4 revolutionized thegenre again in ‘85 challenging players to become theAvatar by learning virtues such as honesty, compassion,and valor breaking the stereotypical end gamemold of the combat-heavy CRPG. There were stillplenty of monsters, but leading a one man war againstthem was considered secondary to Ultima 4’s goal oftruly becoming a virtuous “hero.”Origin branched out and dabbled in other genresliving up to its moniker “we create worlds.” From Garriott’sdays as a lone programmer, the company grewup over the years to encompass multiple teams workingacross multiple genres as well as act as a publisher.One of those published titles was Ultima Underworldby the studio later responsible for the System Shockand Thief series – Looking Glass.Along with Ultima’s many incarnations overnearly two decades of gaming, there stood the sci-fiepic series Wing Commander and Privateer. There wasalso the ultraviolent Crusader series with its isometricaction. When I wanted to scratch my fantasy andspace-sim itch, one just had to look at what Originwas doing next.Along with a detailed and illustrated manual,Origin included a cloth or paper map with every Ultimagame at no extra cost. The same went for severalof their other games, like the Claw Marks booklet forWing Commander. All of this was considered the relativenorm in an industry that didn’t yet compromiseon extras with “collector’s editions”.Looking at Origin Systems prior to Ultima Online,it was as if they were firmly in charge of leadingthemselves into the next generation. Magazine adswere splashed with computer graphics, bullet points,and teasing stories on new, cutting-edge adventures.Even when Garriot had sold Origin to Electronic Artsin ‘92, the partnership appeared to be an ideal one onthe surface: EA’s deep pockets and distribution empirecoupled with Origin’s creative energies couldn’tfail. Looking at EA’s catalog from the eighties intothe early nineties, it seemed that they were also asinterested in trying out new things and pushing theboundaries of gaming with creative titles such as FreeFall Associates’ Archon: The Light and the Dark, OzarkSoftscape’s Seven Cities of Gold, and Binary Systems’Starflight.EA had already made early inroads into the lucrativeconsole market as well, but their connectionsand war chests had also provided funding and starpower for projects such as Wing Commander 3 whichwas regarded as the most expensive game ever made180

EA had already made early inroads into the lucrativeconsole market as well, but their connectionsand war chests had also provided funding and starpower for projects such as Wing Commander 3 whichwas regarded as the most expensive game ever madeat the time in ‘94. With its use of virtual sets and liveactors (incluiding Mark Hamill and Tim Curry), havingBiff Tannen on your wing seemed to be rewardenough for the kind of financial moxie and corporatediscipline that EA jazzed acquisitions with.But not everything was perfect. Ultima 8’s actionwas a radical departure from the successful formulaof Ultima 7. Fans criticized it for its lack of polish,the missing detail and storied focus of its predecessor,and the Super Mario-esque platforming. The reasonwas EA’s aggressive scheduling borne out of theirsports-game mentality pushing Garriott and his teamto cut corners to make Ultima 8’s release date. WhatI and many other fans saw on their monitors was theresult. “When it’s done” wasn’t something that stockholderswanted to hear.Ultima Online was introduced in ‘97. After anextremely popular beta session, EA pushed for furtherdevelopment cannibalizing team members whowere then working on Ultima 9. After Ultima 8, fanslike myself were looking forward to the next installmentreturning to what we loved about the series. Butagain, EA wanted it out in time for Christmas in ‘99,and the results spoke for themselves.Ultima 9 remains a controversial title today withseveral citing it as the sole reason for Origin’s demisewhile others laud its revolutionary concepts for beingahead of its time. The new Britannia rode the risingwave of new graphics accelerators, first-person shooters,and the 3D craze of the late nineties. With Bethesdaalready demonstrating its own panache for vast,open worlds with Arena and Daggerfall, bringing thelegendary series to life in the same way seemed onlynatural for Origin. When Ultima 9 turned out the wayit did, it becomes easier to understand why many (includingmyself) regarded its lost potential with almostas much disappointment. It was, as Richard Garriotthad put it, “the bastard child of Electronic Arts.”With Ultima Online’s growing — and paying —audience and Ultima 9’s tepid splash, EA would essentiallyturn what was left of Origin to focus exclusivelyon Ultima Online, a process that would cometo define EA’s Borg-like impression that gamers hadabout what the publisher routinely seemed to do withits acquired developers.By then, many of its designers had already leftand now more would be joining them. Richard Garriott,like Interplay’s Brian Fargo, left the house he hadbuilt shortly after the release of Ultima 9 to pursuenew interests that lay outside of the series that madehim a household name among the CRPG community.Although his departure and contractually obligatedsilence shortly after the troubled state of Ultima 9 hadraised eyebrows, his interviews afterward reveal a designereager to do more outside of Ultima in the onlinespace, a point that EA had apparently disagreedwith.By 2004, Origin simply ceased to be. By then, itwas a battered and broken shell of the multi-genre titanthat it had been now reduced to the equivalent ofa janitor assigned to provide the upkeep needed forUltima Online to exist. Its famous titles would existonly in memory or meet the arcade fate of Wing Commanderon Xbox Live Arcade.But that’s not the end of the Ultima story, at leastin spirit. A successful Kickstarter by Richard Garriottand a new studio for Shroud of the Avatar promises tocombine both the single-player focus of the originalUltimas coupled with MMO elements from UltimaOnline. Even though it’s not Ultima in name, it’s alreadypromising to carry on the same virtues that thathad shaped the Stranger into the Avatar years ago andpossibly write the first chapter of a new legend. RCSon of an astronaut,in 2008Richard Garriottpayed $30 millionUSD to be oneof the first spacetourists. He spent12 days on the InternationalSpaceStation.181

New World Computing1983 – 2003Back in the day,there were no“collector’sedition” boxes.Every copy ofMight and Magic5 came with acolored map.Out of his Los Angeles apartment in ‘83, JonVan Caneghem’s New World Computing– inspired by Wizardry, Ultima, and theirDungeons & Dragons roots — would spend threeyears programming and designing his brainchild withall of the features that he wanted to play with. The resultwas Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum,and — like the games that inspired him — it wouldbecome one of the defining titles to toss alongsidetile-based landscapes with first person, open-worldexploration both above and below ground when it arrivedin ‘86 on the Apple II.Might and Magic came in a huge box filled with5.25” floppies, a thick manual, fold-out map, and evena pad of paper with Might and Magic letterhead fornotes and mapmaking. When I didn’t have an app toduplicate the floppies for play (which was a requirementI wasn’t aware of) and wrote the address on theback of the box looking for help, I received writtenletter from Caneghem with sincere apologies alongwith a batch of fresh copies that I can only guess helabeled himself. That also says a lot about the passionof someone whose living room provided the line forcustomer service. Caneghem was a one-man marketingand distribution dungeon master.The success of Might and Magic paved the wayfor what would become one of the longest runningcomputer role-playing game series alongside Ultimaand Wizardry. And they were tough. Althoughthey didn’t penalize the player in the same way asWizardry, the game crafted its challenge with mobsof monsters, riddles, towns, and a deadly wildernesswhich all provided more than enough ways to die infirst-person bliss.Simply living long enough in the starting townof Sorpigal to earn coin for food, experience points,and retain an ample amount of hit points to make it tothe inn to save the game provided a preview for whatwas to come. And leveling wasn’t automatic: you hadto pay for each character’s training to upgrade them.The Might and Magic games were also consummatedungeon crawlers loaded with plenty of randomencounters to keep feeding experience to your party.Many monsters could actually be bribed to leave yourparty alone or the player could opt to surrender (andbe stripped of gold and food while being moved to amore dangerous area) and hope for better odds later.The series also had a hidden sci-fi arc. Althougheach early title stood alone in the most basic sense,the endings referenced a connected story of revengelater expanding to hint at a great civilization that hadonce ruled the stars. In later titles, this tie-in would bemore explicit as adventurers armed themselves withray guns and skulked through the ruins of forgottentechnology.Might and Magic 4 and 5 (later released togetheras Might and Magic: World of Xeen) overhauledthe graphics and gameplay of the previous titles andNWC flexed their creative muscles with the unprecedentedfeature of allowing both games to be combinedinto one world. This “World of Xeen” openedup a short quest and a new ending that left no doubtas to its sci-fi premise. Might and Magic 5 was like theultimate add-on.Might and Magic 6 overhauled the graphics engineyet again when it arrived in ‘98 and tossed outthe grid-based movement of the previous games forfree-roaming. The series would also find itself in competitionwith BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate as well as the182

growing popularity of new genres, such as first-personshooters and the encroaching console market. Increasedproduction costs had also begun to eat awayat NWC’s coffers.NWC attempted to port a few of its games overto consoles, such as the first three M&M games, andlike many of its peers, would also diversify into publishingand developing new titles. One of these wasthe turn-based strategy title King’s Bounty, released in1990. King’s Bounty would also set the stage for theother series that NWC would be known for: Heroes ofMight and Magic. The first game would arrive in ‘95,and the series would go on to entertain tactical armchairlords and ladies through five installments withadd-ons released for most of them.It was also in ‘96 that The 3DO Company underTrip Hawkins bought NWC, injected cash intothe company, and opened doors on what Caneghemhad hoped would be Might and Magic Online. 3DOalready had Meridian 59 - an early 3D MMORPG - soit did make sense to go with an established series fora new MMO, much like what Blizzard would later dowith Warcraft. But the partnership was a rocky one.With a new owner came new demands, one of whichwas to make NWC produce a new M&M and Heroesgame every year.From 1998 to 2000, Might and Magic 6 through 8hit store shelves, one after another. Although M&M 6was a lot of fun, M&M 8 began to show its age throughan engine that had remained relatively unchangedsince ‘98. The days of getting away with recycling thesame engine across titles as the Gold Box series didin the late eighties and early nineties under SSI wereover as far as the mainstream market — spoiled onthe 3D craze for better visuals — was concerned.Meanwhile, in a attempt to reach new audiences,many action-oriented spin-offs of the series weremade, such as Warriors of Might and Magic, Crusadersof M&M and even a online multiplayer FPS gamecalled Legends of M&M. The results however, were allmediocre at best.Other troubles had also plagued NWC’s legendaryseries. Almost paralleling what had happenedwith Origin’s Ultima 9, an unrealistic schedule and arush to release doomed Might and Magic 9. The gamereceived a critical drubbing both in the press and byfans who tried to play this practically broken game.In an interview with M&M fansite CelestialHeavens, Lead Designer Tim Lang gave a no-holdsbarredview on what went wrong. Part of the blameseems to have fallen on Caneghem’s shoulders,though, how much of 3DO’s own meandering directionhad a hand in the product’s final quality is still upfor debate. Regardless, it would be the final game inthe series under NWC’s — and Caneghem’s — name.NWC quietly faded along with The 3DO Companyin 2003. 3DO declared Chapter 11 that year andthen moved into liquidation. The series that had celebratedclassic dungeon crawling and loot collectingwith its vast worlds and endless mobs had ended on abug-filled note. But it wasn’t over.Ubisoft snagged the Might and Magic name andresurrected it with the action-oriented Dark Messiahof Might and Magic in ‘06 (developed by the ArkaneStudios, the makers of Arx Fatalis). Featuring classbasedand leveled multiplayer along with a decentsingle-player experience, it was a solid game, thougha far cry from the turn-based CRPGs of its namesake.Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes then came out in ‘09for the DS, PS3, and the Xbox 360 as a surprisinglydecent mix of puzzles and RPG gameplay.But it would be Limbic Entertainment that wouldre-introduce the series in 2014 with Might and MagicX, a CRPG hearkening back to the grid-based movementand 90° turns the classic series grew up on fromthe 80s and early 90s, much like how Almost Human’sLegend of Grimrock had also celebrated in 2012.Could it herald a new awakening for the series?At the time of this article, it’s probably too early tosay, but even so, one thing’s continues to be certain –Might and Magic lives. RCA 1987 magazinead for the firstMight and Magicgame.183

Interplay1983 – PresentSince the licenseto The Bard’sTale belonged toElectronic Arts,after finishingtheir contractInterplay triedto create theirown series withDragon Wars.Interplay once dominated computer role-playinggames in the late eighties alongside its peers. Althoughthey would later be known as a publishingpowerhouse responsible for Black Isle’s Fallout seriesand Planescape: Torment in the late nineties (alongwith the revolutionary Descent franchise), it startedwith an idea, a game, and a programmer who wantedto kill lots of monsters.Brian Fargo wasn’t the stereotypical coder livingin his parent’s garage or a student at a place likeCaltech. He was a sprinter on a track scholarshipwhen he walked out of school to work on his firstgame: Demon’s Forge. Like Richard Garriott (Origin)and Jon Van Caneghem (New World Computing), hishouse was literally his office as he managed marketingand sales from his bedroom.The company was sold in ‘82 which pocketed forthe then-19-year-old Fargo a cool $5,000. Interplaywasn’t around yet, but a company called the BooneCorporation had folded some time afterward and leftquite a few gifted programmers without jobs. Severalof its laid-off employees — including Rebecca Heineman— then banded together with Fargo to helpfound Interplay, with a little boost from a generous$60,000 windfall from a new client, but not to makegames.Interplay’s first contract was from World BookEncyclopedia to do a series of small titles. That didn’tstop a young Activision from stepping in later andhanding Interplay a contract for three adventuregames to the tune of $100,000. Despite creating MindShadow under contract, Interplay’s indie position leftthe door open for Electronic Arts to publish one ofthe genre’s most memorable CRPGs with The Bard’sTale in ‘85.Although the series wasn’t known for having interactiveNPCs and consisted of combat-heavy dungeoncrawlers, each game relied more on a player’simagination to fill in the blanks when it came to storyand was far more forgiving than Wizardry or Mightand Magic were. Its vast dungeons were still filledwith devious traps, darkness shrouded halls, spinningfloors, and mobs of monsters proved enough reasonsto religiously back-up character disks.In ‘88, Interplay kicked elves, dwarves, and orcsto the radioactive curb in Wasteland, a post-apocalypticCRPG that shied away from swords and sorceryand replaced them with automatic weapons anda vast, player-customized skillset. Its minimalist looksand top-down tiled approach went against The Bard’sTale’s first-person perspective and its gameplay systemsmore than made up for that, providing ideas thatwould later be passed down to titles such as Fallout.Dragon Wars went back to high fantasy in ‘89 witha hybrid of features seen in both Wasteland and TheBard’s Tale while casting dragons as the equivalent ofnuclear weapons.Interplay had also adapted William Gibson’sNeuromancer as a hybrid adventure/RPG bringing184

the cyberpunk classic to PCs. Software and cyberdecksreplaced swords and armor and character interactionswere handled as an adventure game in ‘thereal world.”Although the once-revolutionary Stonekeep hadbeen released in ‘95 on PCs to some fanfare and criticalacclaim complete with a hardcover novelette, itsgrid-based gameplay seemed outdated when comparedto the free-roaming worlds of the Ultima Underworldseries and Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls: Arena.Game stopping bugs on release required playersto dial into Interplay’s BBS (Bulletin Board System) ifthey wanted to finish the game. After four years of developmentand several million dollars, it wasn’t quitethe blockbuster that everyone expected it to be.Consoles were also busy making their ownmarks with Japanese RPGs such as Earthbound andChrono Trigger on the SNES in ‘95, and those provedto be more popular than CRPG ports.Strong titles such as Descent and their Star Trekbasedadventure games had also shifted Interplay’s focusaway from CRPGs, especially in the wake of flubssuch as Descent to Undermountain, which attemptedto adapt Descent’s engine into a CRPG setting withgrim results. I remember killing a lich — an undeadüber sorcerer that no eighth- or ninth-level charactershould ever solo — simply because it was stuck behindan object and couldn’t get to me.Even though Interplay had critical successes withseveral of its titles, the company continued to bleed.Since ‘95, Interplay reported a stream of losses andthen in ‘98, Fargo decided to take the company publicto drum up funding. Despite a strong showing in theearly months of its (reduced) IPO following June, thecompany’s stock went into a tailspin in October thatsame year.And then in ‘99 walked Titus Interactive withdeep pockets buying enough of Interplay’s stock toappoint Titus founders Herve and Eric Caen as leadingboard members. But who were these guys? Answersvary on who you ask. Some simply regard themas investors while others look at them as the sole reasonsfor why Interplay ultimately imploded.Titus Interactive was a powerhouse when theyfocused on PC games in Europe, but among the consolecrowd, I remember them for their largely awfullibrary. Still, someone must have liked them. Theyhad enough cash to gain a small (and then a controlling)interest in Interplay a few years later in 2001.Yet even it couldn’t stanch the red ink as lossesand debt continued to mount. Among the casualtieswere those at Black Isle Studios, whose work includedPlanescape: Torment, the Icewind Dale series, Fallout 2as well as the canceled prototypes of Fallout 3 (codenamedVan Buren) and Baldur’s Gate III: The BlackHound. Their developers landed elsewhere at suchplaces as Troika and Obsidian Entertainment.In 2002, Brian Fargo would leave the companyhe had founded. But unlike a few that simply disappearedinto history, Interplay’s “end” was riddled withfinancial mishaps following Fargo’s departure. Thatsame year, their stock was delisted from NASDAQand a number of embarrassing incidents includingfailing to pay its employees for several weeks andeventually being evicted from its own property in2004 battered the company further.Parent company Titus Interactive declared bankruptcy(and was later liquidated) in 2005 and Interplaylimped back to the web with a new look in thesame year. Yet the company that had ruled the lateeighties into the late nineties as a shining CRPG paladinhad long left the dungeon.As for Fargo, he would eventually go on to founda new company, inXile Entertainment, where in 2004,they released a new Bard’s Tale as an action RPG. Today,he’s still building dungeons along with his crewat inXile, diving into one based on Numenera by tabletopguru Monty Cook, and another that longtimefans have been waiting nearly a quarter of century foras a proper sequel – Wasteland 2 – thanks to wildlysuccessful Kickstarters. From the Demon’s Forge in ‘81to today, Fargo still has a lot of stories to share andwith the way things are going, there are going to be alot of dungeons to crawl through before anyone hearsthe last note. RCThe menu fromBlack Isle’s canceledVan Burenproject. A leakedtech demo canstill be found fordownload online.Black Isle wasa divisionof Interplaydedicated toCRPGs, foundedin 1996 byFeargus Urquhart.They wereclosed in 2003,after Interplay’sfinancial issues.185

Westwood Studios1985 – 2003Dune II createdthe RTS genrein 1993, movingaway from theturn-based strategygames of thetime.In its eighteen year history, Westwood took us toMars, swept us up into the skies on the backs ofdragons, crept through sewers, caverns, then ancientcities in search of adventure, and later shapedthe face of strategy. And it all started with a print requestbetween two friends in 1985.Brett Sperry was working as a programmer afterstudying architecture and psychology in college. Healso did freelance work on the side and was about tocap a deal with gaming giant, Epyx, for a game he waswriting called Dragonfire. The problem was that eventhough he finally had his own computer, he didn’thave a printer so he headed over to Louis Castle’splace to borrow his. The two knew each other fromgroup get-togethers at Las Vegas’ only Apple store atthe time: Century 23.At Castle’s home, Sperry was shown a demo Castlecreated called Bloodstonem, based on 1983’s arcadehit, Dragon’s Lair, imagining a camera over Dirk theDaring’s shoulder as he ran down a 3D corridor. Thatwas when Sperry found a partner for the wild idea hehad in building their own game company.Louis Castle’s parents’ 400 square foot garage in1985 became their first studio and they called themselvesBrelous Software, a portmanteau of Brett andLouis before changing it (admittedly for the better)to Westwood Associates. “Westwood” was the nameof Westwood, California, that both appreciated as agreat hang out. “Associates” came about from the beliefthat anyone working for them was more than anemployee sharing their passion for games.Their first commercial contract was from Epyxwho paid them $18,000 to put together The Temple ofApshai Trilogy, a bundle of all three chapters of theCRPG dungeon crawler. The trilogy also set the tonefor Westwood Associates’ work. Ports would be redesignedand enhanced in as many ways as possible.Sperry’s imagination jumped at the possibilities andCastle’s artistic skills would be put to the test becomingthe “HD remakes” of their day and, eventually,making their games some of the best looking titlesin the market.With more contracts from Epyx came the cashfor upgrades, equipment and new hires like BarryGreen and Mike Legg (both from Century 23). Diversifying,they also began working with SSI in 1986.In 1987, Castle, inspired by Game Designers’Workshop’s tabletop space RPG, Traveller, createdthe turn-based CRPG, Mars Saga. It was Westwood’sfirst original game produced and was releasedthrough Electronic Arts for the C64. It would laterbecome another enhanced port, this time publishedby Infocom, renamed Mines of Titan for DOS and theApple II in 1989.Sperry continued to work on ports at the timeand grew fascinated with CRPGs like Ultima III andWizardry III, eventually leading to Questron II forEpyx in 1988. The same year, BattleTech: The CrescentHawk’s Inception based on FASA’s BattleTech tabletopseries arrived as a sci-fi RPG. Westwood also adaptedGeorge Alec Effinger’s When Gravity Fails as a cyberpunkRPG titled Circuit’s Edge, releasing it in 1990. Butthey hadn’t lost their taste for swords and sorcery.The year 1990 would continue to be a busy onefor Westwood. SSI’s licensing with TSR had openeda floodgate and Westwood Associates dipped theircollective feet into the raging torrent with Dragon-Strike, a flight combat sim with dragons and based on186

Westwood dideverything: gameports, FPS, RPG,RTS, adventure,sports, movie tieins,educationalDisney titles andeven a dragonflying simulator.In 1988, there was a text-based MUD calledKyrandia that Westwood eventually bought the rightsto later using it as a basis for a point ‘n click demo doingaway with text parsers. They shopped it to Sierra,who then showed them King’s Quest V, which also didthe same thing and would come out in 1990. As Sperryrecounted, “It was a huge letdown moment.” ButSierra, and later,Virgin Interactive, had also shown aninterest in buying the company.As Louis Castle recalled, they were “betting ourhome mortgages on each and every title” puttingmore of their money into making their games thanthe publishers would. Being a part of Sierra or Virgincould change that. Sierra had a lot of money to throwaround but they also wanted a lot of control in exchange.Virgin’s bid, on the other hand, wasn’t quiteas large but they promised to be hands-off.Eventually, Westwood opted to go with Virgin in1992 becoming Westwood Studios and releasing thefirst game of The Legend of Kyrandia trilogy under theVirgin Games label. It would also be the year that theywould release the iconic RTS, Westwood’s Dune II.In 1993, Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos expandedthe lessons learned from their work with Eyeof the Beholder for SSI kicking off a trilogy of CRPGs.Another pivotal year, 1995, shook the RTS landscapewhen Westwood’s Command & Conquer made its debut.In 1997, Westwood released an adaptation of theiconic Blade Runner with a new storyline and raisingthe visual bar.Command & Conquer became a runaway hit, attractingEA, who bought Westwood from Virgin fora cool $122.5 million in 1998. They also absorved aVirgin Interactive studio in Irvine, California, whichbecame Westwood Pacific (and later, EA Pacific). Onthe following years Westwood focused on the Command& Conquer series while testing the waters withCommand & Conquer: Renegade in 2002 taking theRTS into an FPS spinoff. They would even build theirown MMORPG, Earth & Beyond, which released inthe same year and be the last game from the fabledstudio.To many, EA’s involvement with Westwood’seventual closure in 2003 only reinforced its reputationas a coldly calculating corporate machine. Asdeserved as it is in several ways, the relative retail failuresof both C&C: Renegade and the expensive Earth& Beyond were hard to overlook. But EA actuallytried working with Westwood’s Las Vegas HQ to keepthem open, eying Summerlin in Las Vegas as a potentialhome. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out locallywith the Nevada land authorities so EA focused onCalifornia instead. As Castle recalled, “We blew it, asa state.”Many employees, instead going west to EA’s LosAngeles campus, decided to stay behind. As for WestwoodPacific, it would be absorved into EA Los Angeles.Westwood veterans, such as Mike Legg, would laterform Petroglyph Games in 2003. Brett Sperry laterfounded his own art gallery in Las Vegas and start upmobile-focused Jet Set Games. Louis Castle continuedon with EA for a time, before moving on brieflyto work at other companies – such as Zynga, wherehe was a VP – before settling in as CSO at SHFL Entertainment.Westwood is gone, but the rich history and vastlibrary it left behind spans many of PC gaming’s greatestmoments. While it’s easy to overlook its CRPGroots because of the giant shadow cast by its decisiverole as an RTS powerhouse, they were no less illuminatedby the creative impetus of its team of associates.Its tale continue to inspire others today to embark onthe same road that two friends had started in a garageover a printout, almost thirty years ago. RC187

FTL Games1982 – 1996FTL Games doesn’t have the kind of catalog thatany of the other developers on this list do, buttheir first computer role-playing game wouldleave an undeniable mark. I didn’t actually get to playthis one until very recently (thanks only to the workof fans), but it’s easy to see how it had predated effortsmade by titles, such as Westwood’s Eye of the Beholder,to bring a living, real-time dungeon to life. Interplay’sStonekeep – years later — may have had cutting-edgegraphics and live video, but the basic gameplay wasalready seen in something as early as FTL’s DungeonMaster.Dungeon Master was released in ‘87 and quicklytook the CRPG community by surprise. Not onlydid it boast strong visuals for the time, it was also areal-time dungeon crawler (although, whether it wastruly the first is debatable when compared to the moreobscure Dungeons of Daggorath in ‘82 or Alternate Reality:The City from Datasoft in ‘85). Being real-timemeant that the game didn’t wait for the player suchas when they confronted a monster, which taught thelesson of click or be killed.With most of the leading CRPGs of the timebeing turn-based affairs, Dungeon Master’s real-timeexperience was a bold and refreshing change ofpace (literally). It also boasted a surprisingly realisticskill system. Instead of abilities improving on alevel-by-level basis, there were no levels. Charactersgrew more experienced in the use of their abilitiesby simply using them — something that would beechoed years later by CRPGs such as the Elder Scrollsseries.It also boasted strong writing as a part of its storiedbackdrop (at least within its manual) thanks tonovelist Nancy Holder (wife of Wayne Holder, FTL’sproducer). Even Dragonlance author and co-creatorTracy Hickman, who had also been a tester for thegame, would go on to write the hint book.In the same way that SSI had reused the technologydeveloped for their Gold Box games, FTL hadthe same hope for Dungeon Master’s and the streamof potential new titles that could be based on its engine.It would also be a model emulated later by theFPS market with licensed engines fueling their ownexcitement from Doom to Unreal. An expansion pack,Chaos Strikes Back, would improve on the gameplayin ‘89 with less linear levels within its dungeon withan editor for players interested in crafting their owncharacter portraits.And then — just as suddenly as Dungeon Master’sdesign triumphs and critical success — the industrypassed FTL by. The worlds to be crafted atop theengine never materialized.Although FTL would go on to create a new DungeonMaster for the PC-Engine (aka Turbografx-16)console in ‘92 and a real sequel (Dungeon Master 2:Skullkeep) in ‘93, they were never able to recapture thekind of magic that the first game had thrilled audienceswith. Skullkeep had also come out in Japan firstwith the bizarre decision of Interplay publishing it inthe West in ‘95. By then, it was clear that its time waswell past.FTL ceased operations as a company in ‘96,though, its name (and copyright) would live on witha licensed Dungeon Master Nexus for the Sega Saturnin Japan in ‘98. As for how much FTL or its formermembers contributed to the design of the final product,that’s up for debate if the list of credits are anythingto go by. Although they are credited with thedesign of the game, it’s also clear that a few of thoseinvolved had also worked on porting the first DungeonMaster to the SNES in Japan under JVC and VictorInteractive Software.With only one game, FTL had managed to inspiredungeon masters years later such as those workingon Ultima Underworld. Although the companyand the game it had created would not be as well rememberedas those that would follow, a quiet nod towhat its gameplay had inspired in a generation of developerscan be found in nearly every real-time dungeontoday. RC188

Looking Glass Studios1990 – 2000To many, Looking Glass Studios is a legend, thehouse where thieves helped ground the stealthgenre and where the limits of grid-basedCRPGs had slipped free. Like others in the industrytrying to stick their armored foot in the portcullis,Looking Glass started with a good idea.Space Rogue for Origin had been released in1989 and Paul Neurath, having worked on it, felt thatit had just scratched the surface of what he was lookingfor in an RPG. He liked Wizardry, yet the abstractapproach it had taken with its first-person dungeonsweren’t what he was looking for. Neurath wanted theexperience to be far more immersive, something akinto FTL’s Dungeon Master in ‘87, but with the freedomof a flight sim.Things slowly came together in the next fewyears. In the spring of 1990, Neurath formed Blue SkyProductions and hired Doug Church, who was studyingat MIT, and Doug Wike from Origin as the artist.To get the texture mapping done, he tapped ChrisGreen from Lerner Research, who shared a bit of codewith Blue Sky while working on their own projects.Neurath’s idea was for a free-roaming dungeonsim and eventually sold the idea to Origin who decidedto fit it into the Ultima series. After two years ofdevelopment, crunching together their own technologyand carving out a massive dungeon at the heart ofa volcano, Blue Sky’s Ultima Underworld: The StygianAbyss finally hit shelves in ‘92 becoming a criticallyacclaimed hit with retail success coming in a bit lateras word of mouth spread on just how different it wasfrom your typical first-person 3D game. Shortly afterward,both Blue Sky and Lerner Research merged intoLooking Glass Studios.Ultima Underworld would be a sign of things tocome. A sequel arrived in ‘93, and in ‘94 System Shocktraded dungeons and swords for sci-fi space stations,cyberspace, mutants, and lasers. Because id’s Doomhad come out a few months before in the previousyear, some would dub it the “thinking man’s Doom”.Looking Glass also proved it could do more.They released a flight sim in ‘95 called Flight Unlimited,which was followed by a sequel in ‘97. In ‘98, Thief:The Dark Project’s medieval world festooned with steampunkbits and bobs defied the FPS stereotype onceagain in becoming an iconic milestone for stealth. Asequel to System Shock followed in ‘99, again to criticalacclaim, and expanding on the concepts from thefirst game. Thief would also get a sequel in 2000, a fewmonths before the end came.By then, Looking Glass’ days were numbered.Along with its critically acclaimed and financially lucrativehits, a few others didn’t pan out as well such asTerra Nova and British Open Championship Golf (thelatter ended their brief self-publishing efforts) despitepositive words from the press. Mounting losses fromcanceled projects and a general tightening of beltsfrom potential suitors eventually sealed their fate.Looking Glass had no choice but to shutter its doorsin the same year Thief II was released.Looking Glass Studios shook up the industrywith revolutionary ideas embracing cutting edge techto deliver titles no one else had ever seen. The studiois gone and many of its key members have sincemoved on to other places within the industry or haveleft it entirely, but no one can deny that their workhas also inspired players and designers since then tocontinue looking beyond the grid. RCSix absolute classicsfrom LookingGlass Studios,that still influencegaming today.189

Ion Storm1996 – 2001 (Dallas)1997 – 2005 (Austin)Masters of Doom,by David Kushner,is a great bookfor those seekingmore informationon Jon Romeroand Ion Storm.The infamousDaikatana magazinead, perhapsthe most rememberedpartof that game.Founded in 1996 and dedicated to John Romero’scredo of “Design is law,” Ion Storm followed thefootsteps of David Crane’s Activision in the early80’s, putting its designers front-and-center. It waswhere Romero, the former co-founder of id Software,would start over with Tom Hall, Todd Porter, andJerry O’Flaherty, setting up shop atop Dallas’ ChaseTower. And like their new digs, they also wanted theirgames to be bigger and better than anyone else’s.Ion Storm Austin’s origins were much different,having started out briefly as Looking Glass Austin– where Warren Spector and his team were based.Looking Glass, however, overstretched as it was, decidedto close the Austin office roughly a year afterit opened. But the team hung together long enoughfor Ion Storm’s Romero and Wilson to come calling,convincing Spector not to sign a deal with EA for aCommand & Conquer RPG and bringing LookingGlass’ orphans onboard in 1997. As a new branch,they would also be left entirely alone to do what theydid best – make games.It was also a heady time in tech – the Internet wasexploding, dot coms were hot commodities, and AOLCDs were virally spreading from mailbox to mailbox.Ion Storm rode 3D accelerated excitement on a waveof wild anticipation from those following the careersof its founders, especially a “rock star” like Romero –co-creator of the legendary Doom. Big things were expected.Hype was king. Living up to their own press,on the other hand, proved a lot harder.Ion Storm’s signed a publishing deal with Eidos,but their very first product, the RTS game Dominion:Storm Over Gift 3, had a troubled development historyalmost from the start. When it finally arrivedin 1998, it was a title that brought little to a savagelycompetitive arena where Age of Empires, Command &Conquer, Warcraft II and Starcraft held court. Romero’soft delayed – and much hyped – Daikatana wouldfinally arrive in 2000 to a brutal wave of criticismfrom both the press and the public.Tom Hall’s CRPG project, Anachronox, managedto eke past the turmoil relatively unscathed as a Westerntake on JRPGs, often lauded for its fantastic scifiworld, moreso than its mechanics holding up as adecent title overall. With as much left on the cuttingroom floor (such as a multiplayer mode) from Eidos’pressure to finish and release another chronically latetitle, Anachronox could have had a sequel. However,Eidos had other plans, closing the Ion Storm Dallasoffice a few months after Anachronox shipped in 2001.Separated from the internal gyrations that hadrocked Dallas, Ion Storm Austin’s budget had finally allowedWarren Spector to create his long dreamed project:the dystopian future and conspiracy-laden worldof Deus Ex, released in 2000 to universal acclaim. Thesequel, 2003’s Deus Ex: Invisible War, was less well-received,and Spector and his group would close out IonStorm’s history revisiting the classic world of Thief,with 2004’s Thief: Deadly Shadows. Spector and manysenior developers, such as Harvey Smith, eventuallyleft to pursue new interests in the same year and Eidosquietly closed the doors later in 2005.To many, Ion Storm Dallas’ reckless developmentenvironment and excesses had already set whatMasters of Doom’s David Kushner called “Romero’sWilly Wonka factory” on its path to ruin. Yet to others,Ion Storm as a whole was a brave vision wheretwo CRPGs would – however briefly – pull back thescandal colored curtains on Romero’s dream for a developer’sCamelot where design was not only law, butwould remain king.“You know, it sounds like such a good idea to letthe inmates run the insane asylums, and it reallyisn’t.[...]We all felt like we were talented, creativeguys with big ideas, and if the big bad publisherswould just get out of the way we can do amazingthings. It just doesn’t work out that way. Realcreativity happens within constraints, not withoutconstraints.”- Warren Spector190

Troika Games1998 – 2005Many of the industry’s biggest names, fromPeter Molyneux to Richard Garriott, havegone back to being indies sharing a passionfor the games they made as smaller, more intimategroups focused on building their dream titles. It’s alsoone of the reasons on why Troika Games was foundedin 1998.That year, Fallout 2 was still in production. TimCain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson, thetriumvirate of designers instrumental in buildingWasteland’s spiritual successor, Fallout, had beenworking on the sequel since 1997.The decision for them to leave wasn’t easy. AsTim Cain recounts in Morgan Ramsay’s book, Gamersat Work, they had gotten a taste of how much bureaucracythey had to deal with in Fallout’s developmentciting interference with design and marketing frompeople that had little to no idea on what the game was.They survived the experience, though had misgivingsabout going through it again with the sequel.They did their best to make things work on Fallout2 but ultimately chose to strike off on their own,forming Troika Games to get back to basics. Accordingto the FAQ from Troika’s archived homepage, thename came from their days on Fallout when theywere referred to as “The Troika” by their boss, a Russianword that roughly translates to “a group of three”.Troika’s first game was a yearned-for return tofantasy in 2001 with a steampunk twist on a Victorian-styledworld. Arcanum was filled with complexcrunch, packaged in a beautifully illustrated “big box”published by Sierra with a suitably thick manual writtenin-universe to describe much of the world, its races,and its characters. If it wanted to double as a PnPderivative, it was only few steps away from the table.Their second game, released in 2003, was basedon the classic Dungeons & Dragons tabletop module,The Temple of Elemental Evil, and the 3.5 ruleset wasadded in almost literally at the last minute thanks tohaving been published during production. In 2004,Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines was released aswhat many regard as the best integration of WhiteWolf ’s famous Vampire RPG into video game formatwith a storyline rife with choices and consequences,deep development system for the character (try playingas a Malkavian for a truly unique experience), anda slice of open-world exploration and questing.As creative as the games were, things were muchdifferent on the technical level, giving the studio areputation for buggy releases. Issues during developmentand the failure to find additional funding forfuture games eventually led to Troika’s closure in 2005eventually sending its veteran designers to placessuch as Blizzard (Diablo III), Obsidian Entertainment(Pillars of Eternity), and inXile (Wasteland 2).But Troika’s CRPGs live on and not simply as anothername amidst so many others on services likeSteam and Good Old Games. Long after official supportended, tech-savvy fans smoothed away most ofthe bugs with Arcanum and Temple of Elemental Evilwith their own patches. As of this writing, Bloodlinescontinues to receive occasional community patches,doing things such as restoring unfinished content toconverting the game into a wholly new campaign repletewith revamped clans.Troika went small to make some of the bestCRPGs, that didn’t shy away from the kind of crunchhardcore players reveled in. Judging from how they’reregarded at places such as the RPG Codex, Good OldGames and forums elsewhere, the efforts of their biggestsupporters continue speaking volumes on howimportant they still are today. And that’s the kind oflegacy any studio can be proud of having. RCTroika’s gamesare the perfectdefinition offlawed gems.191

Game Index& Cover Gallery7.62 HighCalibre2007pg. 134Albion1995pg. 80AlphaProtocol2010pg. 148AlternateReality:The City1985pg. 26Arcanum: OfSteamworksand MagikObscura2003pg. 118Baldur’sGate II:Shadows ofAmn2000pg. 100BannerSaga2014pg. 168The Bard’sTale1985pg. 24Barkley:Shut Upand Jam!Gaiden2008pg. 139Battlespire1997pg. 87BeneathAppleManor1978pg. 16Bloodnet1993pg. 63Castle ofthe Winds1989pg. 43CthulhuSaves theWorld2010pg. 146Dark Souls2011pg. 158Dark Sun:ShatteredLands1993pg. 64192

Darklands1992pg. 58Deathlord1987pg. 32Defender ofthe Crown1986pg. 30Defender’sQuest2012pg. 163Diablo1996pg. 82Diablo II2000pg. 98DivineDivinity2002pg. 112Divinity II2009pg. 142DungeonCrawl StoneSoup2006pg. 126DungeonHack1993pg. 69DungeonMaster1987pg. 34Dungeonsof Dredmor2011pg. 154E.Y.E. DivineCybermancy2011pg. 156The ElderScrolls I:Arena1994pg. 74The ElderScrolls III:Morrowind20002pg. 114Entomorph:Plague of theDarkfall1995pg. 79Eschalon:Book 12007pg. 136Eye of theBeholder1991pg. 46Fable2004pg. 120Fallout:New Vegas2010pg. 150193

Fate: Gatesof Dawn1991pg. 51FinalFantasy VIII1999pg. 93FortuneSummoners:Secret of theElementalStone2008pg. 138FrayedKnights:The Skullof S’makh-Daon2011pg. 155Geneforge2001pg. 110Gorky 171999pg. 87Gothic2001pg. 106Grandia II2000pg. 105Hillsfar1989pg. 42Ishar:Legend ofthe Fortress1992pg. 54JaggedAlliance 21999pg. 88King’sQuest VIII:Mask ofEternity1998pg. 86Lands ofLore: TheThrone ofChaos1993pg. 68Lands ofLore 2:Guardiansof Destiny1997pg. 84Legend1992pg. 50Legend ofGrimrock2012pg. 164MagicalDiary2011pg. 162Marauder2009pg. 147Mass Effect 22010pg. 152Might &Magic:World ofXeen1992pg. 52194

Moonstone:A Hard Day’sKnight1991pg. 48Moria1983pg. 20Mount &Blade2008pg. 140NEOScavenger2014pg. 170Neuromancer1988pg. 37PaperSorcerer2013pg. 166Phantasie1985pg. 28Prince ofQin2002pg. 116PrincessMaker 21993pg. 66PuzzleQuest:Challenge ofthe Warlords2007pg. 130Ravenloft:StoneProphet1995pg. 76Reccettear:An ItemShop Tale2007pg. 131Rings ofZilfin1986pg. 31Severance:Blade ofDarkness2001pg. 108Shadowlands1992pg. 60Silver1999pg. 92Soulbringer2000pg. 104SpaceRangers 2:Dominators2004pg. 122StarControl II1992pg. 56SystemShock 21999pg. 94195

TheWitcher2007pg. 132TheWitcher 2:Assassinsof Kings2011pg. 160Titan Quest2006pg. 128Ultima1981pg. 18Ultima IV:Quest ofthe Avatar1985pg. 22Ultima V:Warriors ofDestiny1988pg. 38Ultima VI:The FalseProphet1990pg. 44Ultima VIII:Pagan1994pg. 72Ultima IX:Ascension1999pg. 90Vampire TheMasquerade:Bloodlines2004pg. 124Vampire TheMasquerade:Redemption2000pg. 102Veil ofDarkness1993pg. 62Venetica2009pg. 143Wasteland1988pg. 40Witchaven1995pg. 78WizardryIV: TheReturn ofWerdna1987pg. 33X-COMUFODefense1994pg. 70Yumina: TheEthereal2009pg. 144Zeliard1987pg. 36196

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