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CRPG Addict - Review Roundup (Part Sixteen)

by Arhu, 2015-09-14 08:48:28

Continuing in 1989, here's part sixteen of our "CRPG Addict review roundup" of CRPG history.

1989

Knights of Legend (1989)

Knights of Legend is the damnedest game. (..) Its deficiencies are just jaw-dropping (..) And yet, there are moments of genius and stark originality (..)

The numbers add up to 44, but I'm subtracting one point for an unforgivable bug, which puts the final score at 43. That's not bad as things go. It puts it in the top 25% of games I've played so far, on par with games I honestly enjoyed, like Star Command, Demon's Winter, and Chaos Strikes Back. But this is the rare type of game that's lesser than the sum of its parts. There are some really good elements here that just don't effectively come together in what we might call a "good" game. If the score doesn't adequately reflect that, I hope the text does.

  1. Game 94: Knights of Legend (1989)
  2. The Sweet Taste of Victory
  3. The Agony and the Ecstasy
  4. Hardly worth the BOTHR
  5. Who's the Monster?
  6. Knights of Legen...Wait for It...d.
  7. Questing by Numbers
  8. The Fearsome Creatures of My Quest
  9. Won!
  10. Final Rating

Prophecy I: The Fall of Trinadon (1988)

Prophecy is the opposite of [Knights of Legend]: a fast-paced action RPG with relatively rapid advancement, limited tactics, and the ability to save anywhere, any time. (..)

The final score of 39 is a very respectable rating that puts it above most of the other action RPGs I've played so far, and in the top 20% of all RPGs from 1988/1989. It's the first action RPG that I've truly enjoyed, and it does a good job of being not all action.

  1. Game 97: Prophecy I: The Fall of Trinadon (1988)
  2. Won! (with Final Rating)

Legends of Murder: Volume I - Stonedale Castle (1989)

Legends of Murder isn't much of an RPG, but it's a reasonably fun game nonetheless. There's always something pleasant about a simple game that knows what it's about and does a decent job within its limited goals. It's quick: I won in about four hours. (..)

The final score of 24 is relatively respectable. I wouldn't have wanted to play a 40-hour game with such limited gameplay options and combat, but it was nice enough for a four-hour diversion.

  1. Game 98: Legends of Murder: Volume I - Stonedale Castle (1989)

Girlfriend Construction Set (1989)

The annoying thing is that the "scenarios" section of the game isn't a bad idea. I wish more CRPGs featured them. Though Girlfriend Construction Set isn't a role-playing game by any means, it is a game in which you "play a role," with relatively clear choices between good and evil (though I'm not sure the developer actually realizes which ones are good and which are evil). It'll still be several years before these choices start appearing with abundance in proper CRPGs.

  1. The Game I Didn't Want to Post About: Girlfriend Construction Set (1989)

Dragon Wars (1989)

To me, the game world is unquestionably the best part of the game. Sure, we've seen "kill the evil wizard" in a lot of games before, but rarely has it been done with this much detail and attention to the plot. (..)

The final score of 51 puts it just below the top tier of games in my list: the Gold Box series, the Might & Magic series, the Starflights, and the last few Ultimas. It has some great elements, and with a little extra effort, it could have been among those greats. But it was certainly good enough to keep me addicted and playing well into the wee hours of the morning.

  1. Game 100: Dragon Wars (1989)
  2. Where Be Dragons?
  3. Ours Not to Reason Why
  4. Won!
  5. Final Rating

The Land (1985-2009)

The world of the Covenant books is obviously quite large and rich, but The Land doesn't really make any attempt to ease non-Donaldson readers into the lore of the world. The player's place in the world never really becomes clear throughout the game. (..)

You take a risk with shareware games from a single developer, and in this case the risk doesn't pay off in a way that the initial sum of scores doesn't make clear. The bugs, lack of documentation, overabundance of combats, and difficulty conspire to create a game that I cannot really recommend--a game that essentially feels unfinished--and for these reasons I feel compelled to subtract 3 points from the initial sum [edit: reduced to 2 in light of Mike's willingness to talk about the game and fix problems] to arrive at a final score of 30 [Edit: 32 with the modifications].

  1. Game 101: The Land (1985-2009)
  2. The Land of the Lost
  3. The Land of Make Believe
  4. Final Rating
  5. Won!

Mines of Titan (1989)

The pacing of the game is just bad. You have to do all your character development in the first two-thirds, and the last third is just a boring trek through featureless hallways. (..)

This gives a final score of 40, which is frankly higher than I want to rate it, but I can't think of any reasons to lower the score that I haven't already used in one of the categories. (..) In fact, if you look at he entire range from about 35 to 45 in my list, you'll see a host of games with intriguing elements but, ultimately, significant flaws that keep me from fully recommending them.

  1. Game 102: Mines of Titan (1989)
  2. Mines of Titan, Ship of Theseus
  3. Won. (With Final Rating)

 

1980

Eamon (1980)

Eamon is a cross between an RPG and a text adventure. Aside from the opening-screen graphic, the entire interface, including all commands, is text. Each module, or "adventure," is a self-contained story that takes maybe 10-30 minutes to play. (..) An updated version of Eamon for Windows exists, called Eamon Deluxe, created by Frank Black, last updated in 2012. It runs in DOSBox and provides a graphic interface, with icons and commands similar to Ultima I and II. (..) Final Score: 21

  1. Game 93: Eamon (1980)

Maces & Magic: Stone of Sisyphus (1980)

Maces & Magic is what you get when you combine the irreverent text adventure style of Zork, a character sheet with attributes and inventory, and the limited selections that you'd find in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. (..) It's startling how similar this game is to Eamon (which I just reviewed), which came out at the same time. Final Rating: 14

  1. Game 95: Maces & Magic: Stone of Sisyphus (1980)

Fracas (1980)

I don't think there's enough variety in gameplay for Fracas to be authentically "fun" today, but it would have been a joy when I was 9, playing with friends, letting our imaginations embellish what the screen was telling us. (..) Final Rating: 16

  1. Game 96: Fracas (1980)

Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure (1980)

We see a very similar mechanic, minus the equipment, in games like Pirates! and various strategy games, but Clardy's games are the only ones I know that use armies as the central unit of an otherwise conventional RPG experience. (..)

The final rating of 21 isn't horrible for a 1980 game and it reflects Odyssey's complexity, but it's several points lower than what I gave Wilderness Campaign; I had more fun with the predecessor.

  1. Game 99: Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure (1980)

 

Editorials

Cheats and Liars

My employment of the ridiculously favorable gambling odds in The Land prompted a fun and interesting discussion on what does and does not constitute "cheating" in computer role-playing games. This subject has been on my mind since at least December, when I capitulated to looking at spoilers for NetHack.

  1. Cheats and Liars

 

Explanation of the the final score: The GIMLET.

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